Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Why Can't He Eat or Drink After Midnight? - March 2016 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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1 6 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 1 6 T he young woman who called to check a reference on someone I'd recom- mended for a job stepped in it. As the interview about my colleague's amazing skills and qualifications wound down, she asked about my own credentials, then replied, "Oh, well, you're just a nurse." Wrong answer. A nurse is never "just a nurse." If I got the chance, this is what I'd tell all those "just a nurse" folks. On my soapbox That nursing is more than what you think you know based on watching daytime soap dramas. That we're like icebergs — not because of frozen expressions or cold hands, but because there's a lot going on beneath the surface that you don't see. Underestimate us at your peril. That we didn't just wake up one morning and decide to be nurses. And that we didn't stop learning how to be nurses at graduation: Experience is con- stantly teaching us. Maybe they heard that the job pays a lot of money (which, by the way, isn't true), but if that's the only reason someone goes into nurs- ing, you can be sure that they won't last long in the field. As for the rumors that all we're really looking for is to marry rich doctors, well, most of us learn pretty soon after working with them why that would be a prescription for disaster. So last time they visited a hospital, they saw us shooting the breeze at the desk? Sitting around, paging through paperwork and playing I'm Not "Just a Nurse" We're more than most people realize. Marginalize us at your own risk. Behind Closed Doors Paula Watkins, RN, CNOR

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