Thoughts and Flashbacks

Potsdam, Germany
10:10 pm
Cozy cold and starry dark


A warm hello,

Sitting on my couch I’ve been reflecting on my last two days. I have been “given” to another ward (Kids age 6-17), which I did enjoy. The kids are older and I am able to properly talk to them, no “yes, you are a good baby. Yes, you are. “. LOL.

The other ward is calmer, less stressful. It’s been a change of pace. The kids were grateful for being entertained and I was happy to be entertainment. We currently have so called “S1” students on many of the wards. They have started their education to become a nurse on October 1st and this is their first practical assignment. At the ward I help out, S1’s are not considered useful but a burden. They do the dirty work, like cleaning stuff, making the beds etc. and are pretty much bored. In my eyes, nurses should start training the students from day one on. If I give a little of my knowledge to the students, they are able to take some load of me by being able to help.

Jennifer is one of those students, who I “dragged” behind me for the early shift. Granted, I did a lot of explaining, showing, controlling and some stuff took a bit longer. But at the end of the shift, Jennifer was exhausted but happy, having been able to learn more on 1 day than in the last 2 weeks and I was happy, because our work was done.

You give a little and you are able to receive a little. It’s as easy as that. During these 2 days I took my time to talk to the S1 students on the kids ward, because not so long ago I was in the same situation

My second practical assignment was on that ward and 2 days into it, I was crying after work, actually thinking about dropping the whole education, because obviously I was useless. Jennifer admitted that she, too, had cried the first couple of days at home.

I wonder whether the big part of those nurses will ever change. For the sake of good nurses in the making, I hope so.

Tomorrow I will be back on my ward (toddlers). The colleague I will be working with is the oldest nurse on the ward and every other nurse has gone through her hands. She’s sweet but intimidating at the same time. When an unexpected situation turns up, she goes into stress mode, which in turn makes me go crazy. But it’s only 8 ½ h. It’ll pass. Hopefully.

Love ya all,
Good night and sweet dreams
A.