Compassion

I love and hate getting floated to the oncology floor.

I have worked in the area and at this hospital long enough to know several of the patients who come and go on a regular basis. These are not the Frequent Flyer's all hospital staff roll their eyes at, these are the patients who are dying, yes I suppose we are all dying, but they just have a better idea when.

It's a goal of mine to have fun with my patients and if I can make them or their family laugh a little all the better. Of course the situation dictates how you treat them, because some will being going home for the holidays and some won't. And the ones who don't have any family or visitors really rip at my heart, you want to know why, but it is not important at this point, they are human.

It is better that I float to oncology instead of work there all the time, because I don't want to become jaded. Most nurses are wonderful on that floor, although sometimes you can tell the ones who have been there too long and have lost compassion.

We are all allowed bad days at work, but for some nurses and doctors it has gone beyond that and into an autopilot, robotic, watch the clock, wait for my 401K to recover so I can retire mentality.