In a poll of nurses, 95 percent of those polled told us that they love their job and their line of work. That’s an inspiring number, and it begs the question: Why do nurses love their jobs? What is the best part of nursing? Well, nurses responded, citing that their relationships with their patients, their skill at the job, and the joy they derive from their work contribute most to their passion for caretaking. Take a look with Leann Thieman at these unique benefits that come hand in hand with nursing.
Top 3 Reasons Nurses Love Their Jobs (Money Isn’t One of Them…) from LeAnn Thieman on Vimeo.
Relationships With Patients
As caretakers, we enjoy taking care of others. While that’s part of the job title, it’s a passion. As nurses, we become attached to our patients. That’s great news for nurses, and excellent news for patients, since their quality of care improves. Caretakers enjoy making a real difference in the health and lives of others. And passionate nurses build meaningful relationships with those that they care for. That makes the job rewarding, so it’s no surprise that nurses list their relationships as one of the top three reasons they love their job.
Donna Wilk Cardillo sums up the joy of caretaking nicely: “When I think about all the patients and their loved ones that I have worked with over the years, I know most of them don’t remember me, nor I them, but I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them and they to me and those threads make up the beautiful tapestry in my mind that is my career in nursing.”
Being Good at Their Work
Who doesn’t enjoy being skilled at what they do? Nursing is a highly demanding field of work. Sure, nurses often have to put in long hours, and they’re constantly on their feet, but nursing requires education, experience, and skill. Caretakers love to care for others, and it’s satisfying to be good at taking care of your patients. It’s deeply fulfilling to find a passion and be skilled in that labor. Nursing is a complex role, and it requires constant education and dedication to the work. When caretakers handle their roles with grace and skill, the job is rewarding once again.
Carolyn Jarvis describes the importance of being good at the job, in both character and knowledge: “The character of a nurse is just as important as the knowledge he/she possesses.”
Enjoying Their Line of Work
Often, nurses simply enjoy being nurses. There are so many reasons to enjoy the field of caretaking. For some, it just makes sense—in the same way that painters are passionate about painting and pianists enjoy pressing the keys, nurses simply love to care for patients. Other nurses love the fact that this field promises continual growth and education. Nurses constantly learn, making the field uniquely tied to personal and professional development. Some nurses appreciate knowing that they are needed. Their patients need them to overcome illness and injury, and nurses are happy to oblige.
Rawsi Williams sums up some of the passion that caretakers bring to their work: “To do what nobody else will do, in a way that nobody else can, despite all we go through, is to be a nurse.”
In short, there are so many reasons to love nursing. It’s one of the most rewarding, fulfilling labors of love that anybody can experience. However, it’s important to note that there is still some dissatisfaction in nursing. Healthcare facilities often struggle to retain nursing talent. Patients sometimes don’t receive the care and compassion that they need. And nurses often become sick themselves since they don’t have the support to care for themselves as well as their patients.
SelfCare for HealthCare™
That’s why we started SelfCare for HealthCare, a program specifically designed to address nurse burnout. We strive to remind caretakers of the satisfaction they can find in nursing. In addition, we remind nurses that they must care for themselves and their patients. We work with healthcare facilities to talk about nurse care, and we strive to improve the caretaking field. Learn more about the SelfCare for HealthCare program, and bring passion to a field that’s built out of compassion.
