Considering the fact that I frequently share my thoughts on the field of nursing I am privy to the opinion of many on this subject. Too often I am made aware of a stranger’s bad experience with a nurse, and many times as I go over their story I am confused. I want to ask “who is this person you’re describing,” and perhaps even, “what do you think this has to do with me?!”
My reaction comes in this form because although they’re directing their comments toward the field I have come to love they are not describing what it means to be a nurse in my eyes. Usually when I become aware of the behavior they describe I think that’s not a nurse. That’s just a really mean individual.
You see, the fact remains that mean people become nurses, and even though I too am a nurse I cannot change this. The world is full of hateful, spiteful, noncaring individuals. And sadly sometimes those folks become nurses. They also become doctors, bankers, waiters, and your child’s principal.
The problem is that too often people will take a bad experience they have and they will use this situation with which to compare all future encounters. They’ll take this mean person, this bad egg, and they’ll allow it to distort their future view of anyone relatable. A bad experience with a nurse becomes the basis with which you judge all future encounters with health care professionals. It’s like you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and you’re anticipating a noncompassionate comment at any moment.
A bad hospital stay will convince you that the organization as a whole is flawed. A grumpy employee will convince you that no one in employment at said facility gives a hoot about you or your family.
An encounter with a judgmental person who just so happens to describe themself with the term “Christian” will convince you that all followers of Christ are close-minded people incapable of unconditional love.
There’s a chance for you to encounter a great friend in the church or an awesome ally in healthcare, but you will miss the opportunity. You’ll allow it to pass you by because you have allowed one or two bad apples to ruin the barrel. How sad for you, and for the caring individuals who exist out there.
There’s also the very real fact that sometimes everyone has a bad day. It’s not an excuse for bad behavior, but I think each of us can admit to being less than our best every once and a while due to personal situations beyond our control that creep into our day. But I certainly won’t let my encounter with a rude sales associate keep me from buying more shoes. I mean, I love shoes.
It’s true; mean people become nurses. They also become lawyers, policemen, and the checker at the local Walmart. Not everyone who enters healthcare has the gift of compassion, and not every teacher has patience with children. Not every preacher or priest is kind. And not every patient is realistic of the care that is being provided to them. Not all customers expect to be treated equally; some desire to be treated like a god. Yet even as a bad customer you’ll still receive stellar service, and perhaps that’s the bigger inequality of them all.
I have encountered many mean people over my short thirty-seven years on this earth, yet I decided long ago to not focus on the bad, but rather to embrace the good. I’ve had more than my fair share of mean patients, but I don’t allow that to prevent me from opening my arms to the many, great patients and their families that exist out there.
Mean people become nurses, but I don’t let that make me mean too. I don’t throw out the baby with the bath water or even assume that all lawyers are crooked, all Christians are hypocrites, or all patients are unrealistic in their expectations of my duties. Wouldn’t that make life miserable?
I would encourage anyone out there who has had the misfortune of meeting a mean person, be it a nurse or a nun, to not lump the good folks in on that unfortunate experience, but instead to open your heart and mind to all the nice people. We’re here too, and when you judge us based on our coworkers it tends to make you look like the mean one. Just saying.