Jennifer Stone|Pictures by Leah Huebner
Actress and ER nurse Jennifer Rock shares exactly how tiny acts of treatment, team effort, and personal routines assist nurses remain grounded and reliable.
Can you share a minute from your job that advised you why you picked nursing?
I had a medical professional once tell me, “If you can actually touch one person a change, it’s been really effective, which’s an excellent shift.” As a nurse, you’re constantly rushing around; it’s really busy, especially in the emergency room, so it’s about the moments of tranquility with somebody who simply needs convenience or somebody to take care of them. Whether it’s an older individual who doesn’t have anyone and just wants to chat, or if it’s someone that’s really scared, you can simply attempt to make time, stop a little, and be like, “Hey, you’re all right. You remain in the best possible area, and we’ve got you.” It’s those moments of being a sense of certainty for somebody in a time of uncertainty that remind me why I do what I do.
What’s one item of modern technology or equipment that’s made your job as a registered nurse more reliable or effective?
That’s a terrific question. A great piece of technology that has made taking care of much more effective is, I hate to claim, the PureWick. We have a great deal of non-ambulatory clients, so the PureWick, a prophylactic catheter, assists patients stay more comfy without using something like a bedpan, which can feel kind of demeaning or uneasy or trigger bedsores. Also, things like ultrasound devices for hard-stick IVs. Those are video game changers. Also, updated charting systems. Having excellent shorthand to be able to chart effectively and get back to individually person care is fantastic.
Has there been a time when solid interaction, with either a patient or teammate, made a big distinction in your day?
I really did not expect that there would certainly be a lot of parallels in between acting and nursing, yet among my preferred features of both is the partnership.
Whenever I have a registered nurse that remains in my team– whether they enter when I’m embeded an additional space with a patient or I do the same for them– it’s that shorthand of seeing that a nurse has a need and teaming up. We’re all on the same group. We’re all attempting to accomplish the same point– far better person outcomes. When I have a registered nurse who, without me even asking, will certainly enter and help me with the individual, that makes me seem like we’re all working together on this together for an usual goal. That’s something that simply indicates the world to me– when nurses will certainly help each other out.
What advice would you provide to a registered nurse who’s sensation overwhelmed or underappreciated right now?
Focus on what you can control. I’ll be really sincere. For me, I understand in some cases, particularly in the earlier years, I would certainly get really mad at things that were extremely out of my control. Whether it was concerns with the health care system, or the way the system was set up and failing, I would discover myself getting really upset and dissuaded. What’s helped me is to focus on the things that I can regulate. Yes, they may get on a smaller range, but I can regulate how I respond to negativity at work or positivity at the workplace. I can manage how I talk with individuals. I can manage what I let in and what I don’t. Particularly in an ER atmosphere, or any healthcare bedside setting, there can be a lot of negative thoughts, regrettably, and it’s within your control what you let in.
I’ll be straightforward: Some days I win, and some days I shed and enable points in, for certain. There are changes I finished where I was like, “Alright, this change defeat me.” However I try to make it so I am in control of just how I reply to the medical care industry, and to know that it’s all an option. Although some days it’s tougher than others.
What day-to-day routines or tiny regimens assist you stay grounded and really feel good throughout long or difficult changes?
Getting outside, to be honest. Time stands still when you get on a 12 -hour change, so I carve out time if I can– and not every change permits it– yet when I can, I take time to just obtain outside, get some vitamin D, and take a look at some nature. It’s something to remind you that the entire globe isn’t those fluorescent lights. It’s just kind of reconnecting with life outside of the medical facility.