What Qualities Make a Good Nurse?

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Nurses are born, not made, I heard once a long time ago. What qualities does a good nurse need to have? We used to call them angels of mercy. Nursing has changed all over the world. Think about diseases and illness for a moment. Each culture has its own healing communities. In America, when I went to school, we had to have references and recomendations before we were allowed to go to nursing school. In 1971, I enrolled in a one year program. We had males and females in my class. The teachers were from various locations and degrees. Each taught special subjects like first aid, psychology, anatomy and physiology. Special doctors and scientists came in to lecture and teach us also. The dietitian taught us medical diets. Our classes were small and we were located in a private hospital setting. The students worked with patients and instructors after a short time. The floor nurses gave us ratings. These were given to our instructors. if we were not doing well in a particular way, such as bedside manner, we were taken before the group of instructors, and helped. These reprimands were not always pleasant. If we made below a B on any single test, we had to take it over alone. We were paid to work while attending school for the last three to four months. Of course we had to pay for our books and necessary items such as uniforms and lab supplies.

We were taken out into community settings to work, such as a doctors office and mental hospital. We came to love each other and our instructors. We laughed and cried together. We learned so much in only one year. There was a snow storm one morning and I drove to the hospital, sliding all over the road. When i arrived, the head instructor and one other nurse were the only ones to take care of the whole floor of patients. She thanked me for coming, and said do the best you are able to do, and I worked very hard that day, but remember it fondly. So compassion, which is another word for mercy is a good quality to have. We have emotions that keep us out of becomming nurses from our upbringing, media and such. These wil be overcome if you believe in yourself and study. Attendance and being punctual is great, for sick humans are not themselves and depend greatly on your care and touch. Appearance and being good in math and language are necessary. Giving medications can help maintain health or destroy a life, so being exact and asking questions is paramount. Having a curious side to your personality is good, for you will need to continue to study and do research to keep up with advances in medicine. Mistakes and being untruthful can also cost your patient his or her life. There are so many fields in nursing and so many degrees to be earned. If you think you will see alot of blood, you are wrong. Many women and men quit nursing because it is very stressful. Caregivers forget to take care of themselves, and each other.It is still a wonderful profession. The more you stay in the school you choose to attend, the more responsibility you will have to face in your career. Nurses still deserve respect because they risk their lives to save others.