Choosing or Changing Your Specialty:
Point blank, career change is scary. Chances are, if the sheer amount of “what ifs” haven’t left your brain feeling completely noodle-like, your body is most probably screaming many conflicting thoughts, feelings and emotions due to it’s inability choose a resolution.
The solution? Simplify.
Researchers suggest concentrating your thoughts on a single question. Just by concentrating your feelings on a question like, “What do I need right now?” or “What outcome feels best at this time?” you can listen to your body’s feedback and get the intuitive information you need to make the decision that’s right for you and your nursing career.
I had a strong feeling one night approx 7 years ago in a small rural hospital on the med-surg unit . This patient was in for azotemia. He was hemodynamically stable and the only thing that was “out of sorts” was his cognition which goes with the territory.
I went out on a limb and called his doc about 1am on this gut feeling that this patient was circling the drain. I anticipated a butt chewing because I had nothing on paper to go by.
He was obviously very skeptical and just said if I started to see any clinical signs of deterioration to call back.
So after that phone conversation, I continued to do 15 min checks because of this gut feeling. My co-worker was understanding how I was feeling and was hoping I was wrong but was starting to feel the same way. On my 45 min. check post phone call , I walked into the patients room to recheck v/s and see if I was missing something and I witnessed his “arrest”.
Because I was in the room when it happened and proper ACLS algorihthyms, we saved this patient’s life that night. He went on to live a few more months and succumbed to liver failure. but not before he had the opportunity to say good bye to his family.
And after that incident, I bonded very much with that doctor, and he believed and took serious every phone call I ever made to him in those dreaded early hours. This was one of those “remember when” ‘s !