Stepping out of the comfort zone
For the past four and a half years, I have worked (I am including my nurse training in this!) in what has been pretty much the same speciality of nursing, and in the same trust, using the same documentation, working with the same type of patient, with the same kinds of illness. I had found myself a nice little comfort zone and I was wrapped up in the middle of it.
Last week, to prepare me for my new role as an intensive care nurse, I stepped out of it. Well, fell out of it might be a better way of putting things!
Not only was I off to a new trust, I was off to nurse on a ward whose speciality I didn’t really feel 100% comfortable with. This was going to be fun!
I was met with a friendly face, a girl I had trained with who had been on the early and was handing over to me, which was a nice start. I was also presented with two first year student nurses who would be working with me, and asking lots of questions!
I took handover of the 11 patients in my group (I had an empty bed!) and began introducing myself to them, asking if there was anything I could do to get our day together off to a good start. It was then that I realised just how much I had enjoyed my comfort zone. On my previous ward, if we had a patient requiring a syringe driver, or other palliative care, we were able to devote almost our whole time to them, as we had other nursing staff to back us up in the team. Today, I was on my own (as a qualified nurse at least) with three such patients.
Fortunately, the student nurses I was working alongside had worked on this ward for a few weeks and knew the routine, and the patients, and were able to point me in the right direction when I was taking urinals to the steri-room instead of the sluice, and also able to use their initiative and do a lot of the tasks that would have otherwise slowed me down. A set of obs for 11 patients is the perfect way to help out a staff nurse!
With their help though, we got through the shift, and so did the patients. We managed to ensure they were all fed, watered, pain free, and content when we left, and I am able to take a sense of pride that I am able to step out of my comfort zone and take on new challenges. I wish I’d done it ages ago!
A bank shift on a ward you are not used to may not appeal to you most of the time when you’re happy to make the most of your days off from your own ward, but it does give a sense of satisfaction, and it keeps you on your toes!
