Trust Me, I’m A Nurse
Let’s go through the GIFTS again.
“G” stands for giving
“I” stands for Integrity
“F” is Focus and Follow through
“T” stands for trust and “S” is Source.
Today we’re going to do a deep dive into Trust because nurses have been consistently rated number one for years by the Gallup poll as the most trusted profession, which is really an honor.
I have the pleasure as a nurse attorney being number one as a “nurse” and at the bottom with the rest of the sharks as an “attorney!”
“T” for trust is so important in our profession. We are the eyes and ears of the doctors. We are everything to our patients, for their well being. They trust us, the doctors trust us, and administration trusts us to carry out what we’re supposed to do.
As much as trust is in that sense, I’m going to bring it into a little different light for you. First, trust your gut. Your gut always knows. Like those of us with aging parents, we can walk into their house and know in one second by taking one look at them if something’s wrong. We can walk into a patient’s room and in one second know that something’s wrong. Our gut tells us something’s wrong. And as a mom I know with my children I take one look at them and I know if something’s wrong.
So trust your gut. Don’t lose that gut instinct. It’s so important in our profession.
I know when I was having my first child and I was in labor and the doctor said, “I don’t know what’s going on. You don’t seem to be progressing. You’ve been twelve hours in labor and I think we need to do a c-section.”
My physician’s 25 years experience told him that my son Evan was not going to be delivered naturally. I told my physician “fine, I trust you” and off to a c-section we went. Fortunately my physician trusted his gut because had I continued to labor, there would have been a problem which was found during the c-section.
It is also important to trust yourself. You know what to do. You’ve been a nurse. But trusting yourself has to do with confidence and be confident when you call that doctor that something’s wrong. Trust yourself and know that it’s okay and it’s important that you need to communicate that information to the doctor.
Trust is not something that you earn. You bring trust, you create trust. It’s not something that you learn, it’s just something you do and it’s a value. And once you bring trust to your patients, they automatically trust you in return. You create that trust, just by being the competent nurse that I know you are or you wouldn’t be reading this.
So remember, trust your gut and be in your GIFTS. Because when you are, you can protect yourself and improve patient care.
