I had an interesting patient several weeks ago at work and have been thinking about it ever since. This woman was also a nurse, in her late 70s. When she first said she was a nurse, she said, "I loved every minute of it." We started talking and she started telling stories of her nursing career. When referencing one of her many jobs she would use the preface, "When I served as a (such and such) nurse." She had retired several times and was asked by clergy or others to come back into the nursing field to serve a need. Through this she learned several new types of nursing. Even now, in her late 70s, she's a hospice nurse.
I've thought about it a lot and it really hit home to me. So often I fall into my generation's entitled trap of, 'what's in it for me,' 'I really don't want to be here today', or even 'that's not my job.' This patient gave me a little big of fresh air, a reality check, and made me realize that a job should be more than a job. What I do at work and for my coworkers and patients actually means something, or can. Those mundane little tasks, when added together, form a life. When I'm in my late 70s, regardless of what "job" I have done throughout my life, I hope to be able to say, "when I served" and "I loved every minute of it."
