When I was a new charge nurse on the telemetry unit at a local hospital, I was a very sensitive person. I have always been this way, but at that time I was in a position that often required thick skin. We saw many patients who had tried to commit suicide by drug overdoses. My own personal struggles with depression and suicide made these patients very difficult for me to care for without being extremley emotional. I was in with a young woman who was being discharged home with her parents going over the discharge instructions. The mother turned to me and said, “How will we know she won’t do this again.” I explained to the mother that we had arranged for her daughter to have out-patient counseling and instructions on what red flags to look for. The mother replied, “If she tries again and kills herself, it is going to be your fault!” Tears came bursting out of my eyes. I didn’t know what to say or do. Thankfully, my boss came to help me. Now I know that having thick skin doesn’t mean you need to lose compassion. There is a fine line between the two.

All the time I hear there is a shortage of nurses. My Granddaughter is a LPN and she paid to take the test to go to school to become a RN. She felt she did goo d on the test but they say she missed it by 2 points now this is just to get in the school. I asked could she see her answers and they say NO. Now she can only take this test to become a RN 2 times in her lifetime and she has to wait a year to take it again. Is this sensible. NO wonder there is a shortage. She is very passoniate about being a nurse so what gives. Do they not want any more nurses to keep the salary high. Now I know they imprt nurses from other countries to come here why not let our people that has the same culture have this opportunity. Would like to hear from other people.