Student nurse blog

'One patient can make you feel like all this hard work is worth it'

Wed, 29 Jul 2009

I have had a very tough few months as I have struggled with juggling university work, exams, placement, ill children and trying to keep my head above water as everything and everyone fights for my attention.

But an experience I had last week made everything worth while. The tears I have cried over Pharmacology, the tiredness of revising for exams while being on placement, they all faded away when one person made me so happy and made me appreciate that everything I was going through was for one very good reason.

I was spending the day with the Diabetes Team and was in the hospital reception when I kept noticing a bloke waving at me frantically. I have to admit I did think he was perhaps a bit weird so did my best to avoid looking at him. However, I couldn’t avoid him anymore when he made a point of stopping me to say ‘hello’.

At this point I was getting worried and slightly alarmed as he was a huge guy and as we continued chatting it became apparent that he clearly seemed to think he knew me. He confirmed my suspicions when after a few minutes of polite conversation he said to me ‘You don’t remember me do you?’ Well, as you can imagine, when he said that my brain was whirring as I tried to remember what I had got up to on drunken nights out. I drew a blank and had to admit to him that yes - I had no idea who he was.

‘You looked after me when I was a patient here’. Suddenly the memories started falling into place and I did remember him. He had been a brilliant patient, an absolute pleasure to look after. He had only been on the ward for one night but I had spent quite a bit of time with him before he got transferred to a peripheral hospital.

He absolutely blew me away and made me the happiest girl alive when he then said ‘I knew it was you as soon as I saw you, I had to come over and say hello. I wanted to thank you for looking after me so well, I will never forget what you did for me’. I wanted to cry. That one comment, the fact that he had come over to talk to me, well, it stunned me. I’m not usually lost for words, but he managed to make me look like a fish out of water as I gawped, gasped and struggled to find the words to thank him.

I eventually managed to splutter out a thank you and tell him that him stopping me had really made my day. I was giddy for the rest of the week, I’m still reeling now. It is amazing how one comment, how one patient can make you feel like all this hard work is worth it. I sometimes lose sight of that fact that in 18 months time I will be qualified as I get wrapped up in studying. I have always looked forward to putting on my blues for the first time, I have always worked hard and tried my best. But to be told I had done a good job by a patient who remembered me almost a year after looking after him was the best reward I could have asked for.