Have you ever felt so angry that it makes you clench your fists because someone does not view your profession as equal to them?

Such reactions are normal regarding the efforts and hard work a profession entails, yet it does not get recognition.

We get to hear different responses and reactions when we tell people our profession.

For instance, when you tell someone that you are a doctor, the common response that you will receive is, “Oh, wow, Awesome.”

These responses may sound different when you tell people that you are a nurse, and they will be like, “Oh!”

They might not have the same expression of excitement that they have for a doctor.

However, no one can deny the importance of nurses in the healthcare system and how they have played a substantial role in sustaining primary care delivery, especially during the pandemic.

Healthcare is one of the most crucial aspects of every country worldwide, no matter if it’s a third world country or a developed one.

Any medical profession requires updated knowledge as part of their job, but the busy schedules hardly allow anything else.

Many nurses that started their careers at entry levels have transitioned to better designations by pursuing masters in nursing online programs to update their skills and knowledge.

Pursuing online education with their careers saves them time and effort to commute to their desired institute.

This article aims to highlight the issues that nurses face and why nursing is an honorable profession with a purpose to inspire some of you to become the next medical heroes.

3 Main Struggles In Nursing:

1. Inadequate staffing.

The recent few years have proven to be the years of enormous expansion and advancements in healthcare.

With many baby boomers retiring and heading to hospitals to treat their chronic issues, they needed more resources to facilitate the patients and ensure primary care delivery.

Being short staffed is common in many professions.

Although we often hear that the medical field is evergreen, there are always jobs available for those entering this field. Inadequate staffing in nursing can be a matter of life and death.

2. Overtime.

A short numbered staff means that those already working would have to shoulder extra duties that may exceed their shift hours.

Usually, nurses either work day shifts or night, and their normal workday involves twelve working hours.

However, frequent turnover, inadequate staffing, or severe work burnout among nurses often put them in situations where overtime becomes inevitable.

And we’ve seen this happen over and over again during this pandemic.

The dangerous overtime practice can lead to negligence inpatient care, fostering medical errors, and may lead to communication errors.

According to a journal of nursing administration, too much overtime among nurses inhibits the collaboration that is vital in enhancing the patient care services running at hospitals.

A tired nurse is more likely to make errors or ignore certain details than to have adequate time to rest and rejuvenate.

3. Workplace Violence.

We all must have seen angry patients or their attendants yelling or creating havoc at a hospital.

We might not see it daily, but we have witnessed it once in our lives.

Workplace violence is another factor that nurses struggle with as angry patients or clients fail to understand the basic procedures or when their patience runs out.

A hospital is a place where every patient feels that they should be put first, every situation is intense, each to their own. No one can predict a violent behavior of a client or a patient, but nurses are the primary victims.

3 Reasons Why Nursing Is An Honorary Profession:

1. Patient Interaction.

As you walk into a hospital, you will always find a smiling nurse ready to listen and understand what you have to say.

If you happen to be a patient’s attendant, you can clearly remember a nurse smiling every time they walked into a patient’s room.

From asking about their well being to monitoring their progress, nurses interact with patients more than the doctors.

They are there to help patients recover and divert their minds from stressful situations.

The daily interaction between nurses and patients helps them understand a patient better and treat them with the empathy and care they need.

2. Changing Lives.

One of the most honorable aspects of nursing is that it enables one to touch everyone’s life with kindness and compassion.

Treating a severely injured patient or seeing a patient walking back on their feet is the most exhilarating experience.

The nurses never give up on the hope of seeing a patient recovering.

They stay by their side and get the chance to see them happy when they recover after fighting a long battle with their ailments.

From looking after their wounds to guiding them about the aftercare procedures or edifying their family, burses change their lives every day.

3. Patient’s Advocate.

Any patient who visits a hospital may not understand what is going on with them or the complex terms a doctor uses when diagnosing them.

Nurses are the ones helping a doctor execute their treatment plan, and they get to monitor a patient’s progress more often than a doctor.

Knowing what is best for their patient or what plan a doctor should opt for, nurses advocate for their patients and collaborate with doctors for a better treatment plan.

A patient conveys their concern to the nurses, and nurses can voice a patient’s opinion more proficiently.

What You Should Remember?

Nurse devotes a lot of their time and energy dealing with patients, and they often face situations where they have to console a grieving family or break serious news to a patient.

Nurses are always there for their patients and educate them about their health and well being. A nurse plays a vital role, from the amount of medicine they should take to the preventive measures.

No wonder nurses have always been ranked as one of the most honorable professions.

The issues are inevitable, but nurses still have a silver lining in their profession that keeps them.

The struggles might be a lot but seeing their patients leaving the hospital smiling and recovered is uplifting.