Nominated by Laura at Adventures in Juggling, our August 25, 2008, Winner
Sean earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in December 2006 and, after two years working on a busy surgical unit, transitioned to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in March 2008. However, his career has not progressed in the way he hoped. He candidly writes that he quickly and quite suddenly “went from being excited about my career, from engaging and learning, from dreaming of future career paths, to hating every moment of every day that I had to be a registered nurse.”
Laura nominated A Dark Place after receiving the Post of the Day Award on August 25, 2008. A veteran Registered Nurse working in a Neonatal Unit, Laura saw a younger, less experienced version of herself in Sean’s writings, but also recognized the universal issues with which Sean is struggling:
I imagine in literally any career, vocation or walk of life there are “young ones” like Sean who find themselves in a similar dark place where they are just trying to fit in and do their job well. I would hope that anyone who would read what Sean shares would be able to identify with him, even if they aren’t ICU nurses and perhaps gain a little more grace and acceptance for those around them.
Sean enumerates the eight different aspects in which he feels “as though there is a dark cloud over me and my career,” including his frustration with constantly having to confront novel situations. “There is never a moment where I get to feel comfortable. There’s never a day I walk in and see my patient and say, with confidence, ‘I know exactly how to deal with this.’” He is also frustrated with some of his more experienced coworkers, including some who, unlike him, have become callous and jaded. “I don’t say rude things about my patient, such as ‘what a waste of skin!’ within hearing distance,” he tells us.
Equally as interesting and informative as Sean’s post are the comments from other health care professionals, many of whom have taken the time and trouble to assure Sean that his feelings are quite normal. One of his visitors noted, “I could have written this very same entry 10 years ago” and, along with several other visitors, shared her own experiences as ICU nurses and insights into the demands placed upon health professionals.
Laura was right, of course, about readers identifying with Sean’s predicament irrespective of their own professional or vocational backgrounds and pursuits. The challenges about which Sean writes are not unique to nursing or, for that matter, any profession. Feeling overwhelmed when you realize how much you don’t know soon after completing your education and entering the workforce is commonplace, but can be terrifying, as well as exhilarating.
Writing about his feelings has already proven cathartic for Sean, and he reports feeling encouraged by the many affirming comments posted at Nurse Sean dot com.
Admittedly, when I first saw the title of the post Laura recommended and noted that it was on a site maintained by a nurse, I cringed and hesitated to read it, anticipating that it would be a discussion of the many human tragedies witnessed by the ICU staff. Sean also wrote And then there’s the tragedy … , revealing that “not a day goes by that I don’t hear wailing coming from some distraught family. There’s also the fighting between family members,” a topic with which I am all-too-familiar.
Today’s Post of the Day Award goes to Sean in recognition of his brave and forthright revelation of the day-to-day issues he confronts in his chosen profession, as well as his struggle to find self-confidence and fulfillment in his professional life, along with The Rising Blogger’s best wishes to Nurse Sean dot com for a long, successful, and, ultimately, gratifying career.
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