The Book of Nurses: Donn.

not just a nurse. Add comments
Apr 202012

How’s it going? I am from Northern California in the US of A. (No, I don’t surf to work…I snowboard to work) I have been a nurse for 11 years. The day I graduated from nursing school I got a job in a super busy ER and Trauma Center- don’t recommend doing this as a new grad. After saving lives and patching up gun shot wounds for 10 years I decided to move toward education and consulting. I used up all my money and just launched a video driven continuing education site for healthcare workers-www.clickplayceu.com

I decided to be a nurse because I think people are the most important commodity on earth and they should be protected and saved.

I have seen the profession change over the years in a number of ways but most significantly is the perception of male nurses. Ten years ago people would say stuff like…”Oh, you are a male nurse…how cute… like Greg Fokker on Meet The Parents” Now people say, “Oh wow, you are a nurse. That’s great, blah. blah.” The movie by the way did more to damage my credibility than anything else.

A pretty funny moment I had was one shift I was trying to place an IV in a elderly client with dementia. She kept moving and calling me the “Spawn of Satan”. Every time I got the IV in she would move and after my final attempt I got the IV I flushed it and the saline solution shot out of about three different pokes. My buddy walked in right at the moment the sprinkler effect was happening and offered to help restrain. A little too late for that…at which point her vitriol turned to him and he was now Satan’s spawn. Love those dementia patients!

When I am not working I usually try to do as many death-defying activities as possible- hike, mountain bike, surf, snowboard, golf-(can be deadly).

I have had many memorable moments- Helping those with less resources and medical infrastructure has been a passion of mine-I went to Kashmir, India in 2005 after the big earthquake as well as Haiti’s disaster.

Three things that get under my skin:

Bad wine, arrogant doctors and unteachable nursing students.

What would I say to the nursing world: Don’t lose your compassion- it’s the only thing that separates us from the animal kingdom.

Posted by impactEDnurse on April 20, 2012

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