For some personal reasons, I recently resigned from my nursing job in a military hospital in Riyadh. Leaving the work place was quite difficult for me, not because of the place itself, but because of the wonderful people I worked with and I have to leave behind.
I worked in the neurosurgery unit (ward 11) of the hospital for five years. The nursing team I worked with was so amazing. My co-nurses work very fast and they act so quick. Our unit has a very busy surgical set up and I guess the staff just got acquainted with how things work in the unit. Everybody just got used to the fast-paced ward. We dealt mostly of comatose and bed-ridden patients who are acutely-ill, and that explains why we have a very demanding work place.. Add to that was the multi-cultural mix of the staff which in one way affects work relationships, and work itself. The challenges in our department were vast. I myself would not realize how quick the day would finish because I was working every minute of the shift.
But despite of the busy routine, my colleagues were still able to find time to reach out and go beyond what’s needed to be done for the day. In between lifting patients, turning bed-riddens, and answering phone calls from doctors, my co-nurses would ask each other how their families were doing, how their last shifts went, and what their plans were for the next off. There would still be time to share a smile. And for some good laugh.
I worked in the neurosurgery unit (ward 11) of the hospital for five years. The nursing team I worked with was so amazing. My co-nurses work very fast and they act so quick. Our unit has a very busy surgical set up and I guess the staff just got acquainted with how things work in the unit. Everybody just got used to the fast-paced ward. We dealt mostly of comatose and bed-ridden patients who are acutely-ill, and that explains why we have a very demanding work place.. Add to that was the multi-cultural mix of the staff which in one way affects work relationships, and work itself. The challenges in our department were vast. I myself would not realize how quick the day would finish because I was working every minute of the shift.
But despite of the busy routine, my colleagues were still able to find time to reach out and go beyond what’s needed to be done for the day. In between lifting patients, turning bed-riddens, and answering phone calls from doctors, my co-nurses would ask each other how their families were doing, how their last shifts went, and what their plans were for the next off. There would still be time to share a smile. And for some good laugh.
It was also quite amazing that no matter how busy the unit was, everybody would still be ready to lend a helping hand if somebody needed one. I was impressed with one of my colleagues who would always go room-to-room to check all of her teammates for the shift, just to make sure everybody was doing okay, if anybody needed a lift. And that was despite her also being busy with her own patients. The other nurses, in return followed this splendid example. It was so nice to work when you know everybody was looking after each other. You feel as if you are always standing on a safe ground.
It was easy to have a bad day in the unit especially when you deal with arrogant doctors, complaining sitters, hectic diagnostic schedules. But how could you frown if there was somebody behind you, telling you to maintain your smile and to keep your sanity. By the end of the shift, everybody would be very tired, but were all still cheerful and in high spirits.
And since I have left that hospital for more than three months now, I can only wish to meet nurses as incredible as my nursing friends in Riyadh. To them I owe a great deal of knowledge. To them I owe my present attitude towards work.
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