nursingforsocialjustice

Sometimes I think, if life were not hard, then there would be no point in even getting up out of bed in the morning. There is some utility to feeling like making it through the day successfully (or sometimes, even unsuccessfully) was an accomplishment in itself because of the multiple challenges that were faced throughout the day. I think that is how and why I keep going back to work each week, even though I sometimes feel so defeated and deflated, disappointment and discouraged from the seemingly never-ending battle that is mental health nursing. Part of it is the hope that tomorrow will be a better day. And, strangely enough, looking back, it seems strange that the battle sometimes is an internal one, where I struggle with my own perceptions of everything that is wrong, of all the social injustices that I see. I sometimes wonder, do other people feel this way?

I worked with probably the best nurse that I have ever met when I last lived in Calgary. Even after 25+ years of nursing her attitude towards providing care, towards doing her job as a nurse, was still so optimistic, filled with a seemingly endless amount of hope, for both patients and their families but also for other nurses and the health care system in general. Her positive attitude was infectious. She made me reflect on my own attitudes and my need to check myself before I wrecked myself. From her I began to shift my perspective from one where the glass was half empty, to a place where I could see that everyone who chooses to go into nursing (probably most people who choose to work in a regulated health care profession) does so because they want to do good, they want to make a positive difference in the world, in people’s lives. How could they want anything less?

As baccalaureate prepared nurses (the level of entry to practice in all of Canada) we persevere through 2-4 years of university to get an undergrad degree in nursing. We all want to help people. We all have limitations. Somewhere along the way some nurses have great mentors and eye-opening work experiences that forever change them. And then there are nurses who have not so great role models in the workplace, that have probably bullies, shamed and beat them down psychologically to the point where the perception of the job of a mental health nurse is so distorted that they cannot actualize their true potential. I want to be the type of nurse that helps other nurses become the great nurses that they want to be. And, even 9 years into my career I still have to work to re-frame the events of the day when I feel like I was emotionally beat-down.

Peace,
Michelle D.