Core

There are small snippets of time in a nurse’s work day that can both rock us to the core and warm it to glowing. Depends on the snippet.  Recovering from those instances when we feel our insides shattering, to smiling warmly at the next patient at triage, tends test even the strongest of cores.

 You can be playing with a blow-up rubber glove trying to make a child smile one minute, and receive a call to prepare for a multi-vehicle accident with 3 patients, 2 unstable, ETA 3 minutes the next. There can be a moment where you are helping an elderly lady to the bathroom and a man runs into you both, screaming for help with his arm hanging in an unnatural position…… 

Your core is made stronger by these experiences. It is vital to your existence and as tough as the rock they drill out of the center of a mountain.  However, like with fruit, we have a hard inner core and a soft outer covering. This soft part is what’s exposed to our patients and their families. The kindness and caring of our facial expressions, the actions we carry out and comforts we give, helps them to overcome and/or deal with the worst.

A strong core is vital to the Emergency Nurse. Nurture it and protect it but also remember to protect the outer covering. Without the smiles, warmth and kindness we show every day, to our patients and each other, the snippets that provide direct ‘hits’ to the inner core will damage it quickly.

To keep your core in good working order, be patient and kind to yourself!  Count on each other to get through those “worst” snippets of time and your core will withstand years of use.