Tilda Shalof Nursing

‘The Making of a Nurse’ by Tilda Shalof is an interesting, informative and thought-provoking book. From Tilda’s perspective, one is able to navigate through the life of a nurse in the ICU section. While reading the book, there were a lot of interesting parts that struck me but three most important ones to me include the general treatment of nurses, the issue of nurses working harder and faster and futility treatments.

To start with, I was sadly touched by the way nurses were being treated in the hospital. Nurses got little or no respect from other individuals and it was evident throughout the book. For instance, Roberta stated, “It infuriates me how doctors don’t listen to nurses! We all know that can be lethal” (Shalof, 2007, p. 204). I …show more content…
A fast nurse is a good nurse. Work harder, work faster, I told myself” (Shalof, 2007, p. 77). Nurses are usually stressed out, have heavy workloads and also have little time so I see where the statement comes from. Some nurses are able to tackle a lot of problems and still find time to chat with patients as a result of their high level of experience and skills but its not the same for everyone. For instance, when Tilda started working at the ICU, she felt that she was never organized, fast or efficient enough to get things done. In my opinion, its very normal for beginners like her to stumble. I do not entirely agree with the statement because at times, a fast nurse might omit crucial steps when caring for a patient; be it the administration of medications or even noticing slight changes in a patient’s condition. Being fast means that the nurse would be rushing in and out of their patient’s room just carrying out tasks and not being attentive to their patients needs and that is awful. Patients would feel that they are not important or cared for and this jeopardizes the patients healing process. Watson theory is not in synch with this kind of action as nurses are meant to be authentically present with their patients to help them heal spiritually, emotionally and physically. An advantage of being fast would include the completion of tasks early but that does not mean that the tasks are done efficiently or ensure effective patient care. Although the hospital is a very busy environment, I believe that nurses need to take a minute or two to interact with patients. I suggest that nurses fulfill their daily task at their own pace so as to not miss critical steps in patient care. This is so because, either way, faster or quite slower, there is always a possibility of inefficiency but with time and practice one can master the tricks to getting tasks done faster and