but I had to share...
Over the summer I took care of a patient at my old job that had had open heart surgery. She was younger than most of our patients and, as a result, she did really well, at least initially. A couple weeks following surgery, she developed an unexpected complication and ended up back in the ICU after a repeat trip to the OR. The complication left her pretty severely deconditioned and she spent quite a bit of time with us in the ICU before being well enough to go to a regular floor. I took care of her quite a bit during this time and loved doing so. Despite what happened to her she kept such a positive attitude, it was refreshing to take care of someone who was so motivated to do well. We developed quite the rapport, when she found out who my fiance was (he is a PA who works with the heart surgeons) she talked ot me all the time about how cute we were together and how she just knew we were going to have a happy marriage. She called him "the certain someone with those beautiful blue eyes" and she would wink at me.
Anyway, a friend of mine that used to work with me in the ICU took care of her today for an outpatient proedure in another area of the hospital. My friend messaged me on Facebook and said they had gotten to talking about her stay in the ICU and the patient asked about me. She told my friend that she felt I "directly made her better" and told my friend to tell me to "take care of Nate." When I saw the message I immediately teared up. THAT is why I do what I do every day. God must have known that I needed that right now. I've been so stressed with my new job: adjusting to the differences in patient care management, getting used to nights, making new friends; that I've started to feel a disconnect, kind of questioning at times if this is the right place for me. That rejeuvenated me and reminded me that I DO make a difference and that this is, indeed, my calling.
I'm nerdy. Thanks for listening...