“The Most Unforgettable Experience in My Nursing Career”

Did you have any Unforgettable Experiences in your life？  Sometimes they made you cry, as if it were the end of the world；And sometimes they made you laugh like a silly dog.  I can see some of your eyes are sparkling! Some of your eyes go back and forth. Got something？  Today I would like to share with you one of the most unforgettable experience in my life.

Before I entered the hospital and worked as an intern nurse, I used to imagine I would be much more like Florence Nightingale, lifting a lamp and elegantly walking around the beds, to take care of those sick and wounded people.  And maybe I could meet some handsome boys there and have some romantic affair, just like those Hollywood movies. However, I could never imagine that just a nursing practice would have given me such a great impact and unforgettable memory.

It happened when I was 19 years old at the second grade of Nursing College. I went to practice the medical nursing at a hospital.  One day my teacher called out my name and assigned me to clean up a male patients’ bottom with stool, it was a task far beyond my imagination！ I was totally astonished and could not accept such an embarrassing task.  I ran away and had a good cry in a small closet（暫停）      What would you do if you were me?  Would you just do it?  Or, ran away and cried sneaked in the closet just like me?

　

Can you imagine?  I was so young and charming. I was only 19 years old then！ yet, I had to clean up a 50-year-old man’s bottom with stool！ That man was conscious on his mind but completely paralyzed under his neck. So I believed that he would feel as embarrassed as I did.  Finally it was one of my classmates took my place to finish the job. I felt so awful for running away from my duty. The next day, after recovering from the embarrassment experience, I plugged up my guts and did it by myself with no more excuses.

After I graduated from Taipei Nursing College (台北護理專科學校) , I worked in Taipei Veterans General Hospital(台北榮民總醫院) In the first year, I cleaned up more than 2000 male patient’s bottom with stool. It was nearly 10 bottoms per working day. Because most of the patients I served had stroke and lost their consciousness and could not control their stool and urine.  But, can you believe it?  I feel very happy from my heart, because I felt like an angel saving people from hell, At least I kept them clean and they got dignity as human beings.

Yes, I was shocked on the first day of my practice but when I changed my thought, I enriched my life, and I saw my potential. I noticed nurse play vital role in delivering health care that cannot be underestimated to patient. Well, if I can cleaned so many people’s bottom with stool ,what else cannot I do？ I was very happy afterward to be assigned with any tasks and enjoyed very much as a White-Dress Angle.