A radiology nurse shares with us her daily duties and what she thinks is the most damaging part of nursing: closely-guarding wisdom to maintain a “safe position.” Can you believe it? Lives, efficiency, and overall quality of care is at stake and people are guarding their jobs? Wow. I’m interviewing people in healthcare for a few posts to make sure I have a better understanding of some aspects of their daily life. Enjoy!
Healthcare Interviewee Profile
1) What is your official job / position title?
Registered Nurse (RN)
2) What is your direct supervisor’s official job / position title?
Director of Radiography
3) How many years have you been practicing as an RN or worked in Healthcare?
4
4) What are your specialties / areas of practice?
Radiology Nurse
5) What is your highest level of formal education?
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
Interviewee Responses
01) Describe what an RN does on a daily basis and for what ultimate purpose.
We check and assess the patient. Every patients case is different so we have to make sure to administer the right medications and check vital signs. We also help patients with their personal needs. We don’t just take care of the patients but as an RN you also need to learn how to communicate with the patients families and friends and explain and teach them procedures.
02) Think back to a memorable time you interacted with another RN and share the story, please.
There was a time were I was looking for a patient. It turns out the patient is a mentally disabled child so I was looking for his parents. I could not find them so I tried talking to the child. Once I came closer to the patient the patient started going into a crazy mode and started attacking me. I was just new at my job and I did not know how to handle the situation. Another nurse was laughing at me instead of helping me. Luckily the patient’s parent appeared and they were able to hold back the patient.
03) Describe what you feel is the most fun part of being an RN?
The most fun about being a nurse is that it never gets boring. You get to see exciting things and it is just the greatest feeling to help people out. You also learn to appreciate the value of life. Patients and families share stories and it is just a priceless experience every day.
04) Describe what you feel is the most stressful part of being an RN?
The most stressful part about being an RN is dealing with aggressive or stuck up patients. It can be very difficult to talk to patients that are very aggressive because you as an RN have to take care of the patient but you also have to make sure that you don’t put yourself in danger. Another stressful part is dealing with stuck up patients. Patients who think they are better than others who think they know better than the doctors or the nurses, those patients are very annoying.
05) Describe what you feel is the most rewarding part of being an RN?
The most rewarding is just helping people. Seeing them recover. Especially seeing young children happy is the most rewarding part of being an RN. There is so much to learn every day and every day brings new experiences.
06) Teamwork is very important for all hospital staff. What can RNs do to improve teamwork in smaller teams and overall?
RN’s can improve teamwork by talking more with each other during their breaks. I think offering help to other hospital staff is a great way to improve teamwork, because it will be worth it in the long run. There will be days where you need help and someone will offer their help because you offered your help in the past.
07) Without integrity, patients and overall hospital quality declines. What can RNs do to maintain or increase integrity?
Integrity in nursing is very important. We learned in school that we need to follow the rules and ethics and offer our services to humankind with the best of intentions. We as nurses need to provide patients with the best care possible which means we need to communicate efficiently with patients and their friends and family.
08) Staying on top of healthcare industry growth is very important. How can RNs achieve this through continued education and other means?
The healthcare profession is a field that is very dynamic. Nothing ever stays the same. There are constant changes like new regulations new technologies and it is important to keep up with that trend. Not only does the hospital need to stay up to date with the trend but they also need to train the hospital staff for that. Therefore continued education is very important because there are so many changes and it is very competitive and by learning new things and staying on top of things RN’s can help the healthcare industry grow and it is also important for job security.
09) What do you think it would take to make an RN want to quit, whether or not they actually do?
It would take an RN a lot to quit. Every person is different but most RN enjoy their job and they make a lot of money. For me I would not quit to work as RN no matter what. But I can see how some RN’s would quit their job if their salary decreased.
10) What about the healthcare industry, as it relates to nursing, do you think needs the most improvement?
The healthcare industry needs improvement when it comes to insurance. It is a major problem for many families that cannot afford insurance. How should a family be able to buy insurance if they have a hard time paying their rent and bills.
11) If you owned a hospital, then what would you do to help RNs be more effective overall?
If I owned a hospital I would have meeting in where veteran RN’s can share their knowledge with the new RN’s. That way they can avoid many mistakes and it would increase the quality of care. Many RN’s are still stuck up and don’t want to share their knowledge.
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I’ve been told one of the most useful tools for building strong teams, improving communication, and strengthening coworker bonds is the Bird Personality Test. I’ve noticed this is especially true for the healthcare industry. It warms my heart to think a tool I offer is helping wonderful healers do their good work. Please consider using the tool with your team, too.