Y Memorable....Y to be a Nurse?
By Will Wong

Everyone has his/her dream and wants to achieve his/her goal. However, some dreams are much more difficult to realize. You need to make much more efforts and spend much more time when you want to go forward or keep it. The nursing profession is one kind of job that has many difficulties and requires persistence to overcome them.

"To do what nobody else will do, in a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; that is what it means to be a nurse," said Rawsi Williams, a famous US registered nurse. Nurses consume and spend a lot of energy and time to treat their patients. They also need to do many assignments and internship while they are under training. It is difficult to keep on performing their roles as a nurse.

A group of student nurses who are graduating next year are from Kiang Wu Nursing Colleague (KWNC) and Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM). They share their internship experiences in S. Januario Hospital and Kiang Wu Hospital.

"Empathy" is the quality that nurses should keep in mind when they take care of patients. The word empathy means "I understand you" in whatever situation you are in. Nurses should keep their thoughts positive and have critical thinking as well.

"A great person is willing to make sacrifice to society and your personal affairs," said Kay Lai and Kelly Chao in unison, two of the student nurses who study in IPM and interpreted the job of nurse in a sentence. "It is an exhausting job but it can bring your warm feeling to your patients," said another two student nurses, Maggie Cheang and Amanda Fong.

"An angel with no wings," said by Melia Wong, one of the student nurses who studies in KWNC. "Light others and consume myself" is the line provided by another student nurse, Anna Ng.

Internship is an important stage for most of the nurses before their graduations. They will gain many engraved memories in their minds. During the internship, they might encounter many difficulties and pressures. Normally, an internship can be divided into three shifts: morning shift, afternoon shift and overnight shift. They must arrive 15 minutes earlier before starting their work.

"It was a very unforgettable and disgusting memory when I saw a nurse assist a patient to pull the excretion out without wearing gloves," said Lai.

"I was very shocked when I saw a patient suddenly collapsing in the hospital canteen. After a first-aid treatment, the doctor certified him dead," said Chao.

"You will feel surprised and warm when you witness a delivery procedure of a new baby," said Cheang.

"For my first impression, I think it's difficult to communicate with mental patients. However, after getting along with your patients, you can interact with them very well," explained Ng.

"It's very embarrassing when a male doctor takes care of a female patient in the gynecology ward. He needs to extract some tissue via her vagina for testing," explained Wong.

Difficulties and pressures may come to you when you are working on a big task.  Nurses can encounter and have many different tasks in their daily routines.

"Nurses always raise many questions while they are briefing with us. It's very difficult to answer their questions," said Cheang.

"We need to submit daily documents which include targets, evaluations, measurements, reflective reports, case reports and clinical reports after our exhausted work," said Lai.

"It's difficult to communicate with doctors and they always neglect you," Ng commented.

Although you know that a nurse is a good-paying job in Macao, there are a lot of physical and psychological pressures. There are many barriers and difficulties they need to overcome. Therefore, as you want to realize your dream, you need to put much more effort and give up many things.