Understanding My Why

I think it is important to understand what my "why" is in my personal and professional life. I think it is important for anyone who wishes to be successful and passionate about what they do. When I decided to become a nurse I didn't know what I wanted to do or even really why. After I graduated from nursing school I thought I wanted to work in Labor and Delivery and Post Partum. I started my first job at a critical care access hospital and got a small sampling of many different types of nursing. At that job I played many different roles. I was an ER nurse, a swingbed nurse, a labor and delivery nurse, a medical surgical nurse, among others. At that time the qualities or words I would have used to describe myself would be confused and frustrated. I saw the different sides of floor nursing, but nothing that seemed to call my name or that made me feel like I had a purpose.

Fast forward to now and I feel that I have grown and found an area of nursing that interests me greatly. I now work on a Total Joint Center unit that enables me to see the progress in my patients on a day to day basis. I very much enjoy orthopedics and find it fascinating to see the changes in my patients from the surgery day to post op day one or two. The change is sometimes so dramatic that you wouldn't believe it. Of course there are always people that struggle more than others after surgery, but more often than not the patients we work with are motivated and excited about their new joint that leads to more activity and freedom in their personal life. That motivation carries over into their recovery and the people with the positive attitudes tend to do the best. 

If I had to describe my qualities now I suppose I could still throw confused and frustrated in there every once in a while, but they no longer are the dominant characteristics. Now that I have found an area of nursing that I enjoy I feel that I am organized, calm and realistic. These qualities help me on my busiest days. Even if I feel frazzled or overwhelmed, my organization and calm demeanor overrule the inner turmoil I may be feeling during the hectic times. 

In my opinion, the concept of enjoying what you do ties in very well with the idea of finding and understanding "my why." The Michael Jr. webcast is a perfect example of that. 

The man had a job to do. It was simply a task he was instructed to accomplish. Once he put more thought and feeling and passion into the task, the outcome changed dramatically. It no longer was just a job to do or a "what", but it was a goal that was accomplished through knowing his "why." I can bring that back to my own personal story of finding a job in the nursing field that intrigued me and that has brought me more happiness and success than previously. 

Lastly, the video titled "What is Leadership?" really opened my eyes to another way of thinking. 

Often times I think that nurses feel that we are there to take orders and accomplish certain tasks in order to tell the leader "I did it! I finished what you wanted!" There will be times in healthcare where the big decisions will not be left to the direct care staff to decide on. However, I do believe that as a bedside nurse we do have a lot of leeway and autonomy to make decisions based on past experiences and factual evidence. I for one do not check in with my charge nurse before I make every decision throughout the day. That is why it is so important to have healthcare staff that management can trust and rely on. Confidence and experience comes with time, but those in a leadership role need to trust in their staff to make their own decisions (and sometimes errors) in order to shift into more of a leadership mentality themselves. When everyone starts acting like leaders, such as in the video, the end product will be much better than having one central person making all the decisions with a group of followers never questioning why. 

References:

(2015, September 10). Michael Jr.: Know your why [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZe5y2D60YU

Leadership Nudges. (2014, May 17). What is leadership? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYKH2uSax8U