I am almost caught up on questions, but I had another great question regarding working as a registered nurse:
Hey Sarah,
What is your biggest fear working as a Registered Nurse RN? Is there anything you constantly worry about while working? Just curious.
Deb
Thanks so much for your question Deb. I think all people working in the medical profession have fears on a variety of topics. I find that many nursing students wonder what it will be like working as a registered nurse. I will cover my greatest fear below, and also some popular fears people in the medical field face.
My Biggest Fear Working as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the Medical Field
My biggest fear by far is this: Making a mistake that could cause a patient pain (or even their life). When you work as a nurse, you are very involved with the patients (much more so than the doctors), and you are usually directly responsible for their well-being. I think it would be very difficult if a patient ever died or had a major problem as a result of a medical mistake. So I am always constantly double-checking myself and try my best to ensure I do everything right.
So making a mistake that could harm a patient is definitely the thing I worry most about working in the medical field.
Some other popular fears that people experience working in the medical field are below:
- Dealing With Codes. I do have to deal with this from time to time, and I always have a little fear about dealing with it. Because when someone is going into a code, it is often life or death. That can put an enormous amount of pressure on you, so I tend to have some fear in those situations. Fear can sometimes be a good thing, though. As the fear makes me really focus in those situations.
- Getting Sued. People file a lawsuit if you sneeze these days. And the medical field is constantly having to deal with legal issues. So that is another thing people fear and worry about.
- Losing Your License. After working so hard to get a nursing degree, I certainly would NEVER want to lose my nursing license. You can lose your license for things as small as forgetting to renew it, to making a major mistake. But in any event, any medical person would have losing their license.
- Getting Involved in Family Drama–Needless to say, sometimes family members can be very emotional. Sometimes they can take out their emotions on the medical staff. So this is something I always fear (probably dread is a better word…). =)
- Forgetting a Medical Procedure. There are constantly new medical procedures that we must learn and perfect. I always have a fear that “Oh no, what if I forget how to do something.” So I always try to continue my studies and take educational classes (provided by my job) as soon as possible to make sure I know my job as best as I can.
All of those things can cause fear in the minds of a medical worker or registered nurse. For me, my very biggest fear is simply making a mistake that could harm a patient. It is a risk we all face, but hopefully we will never have to experience it.
Thanks again for the question!