We have the thinkers and the doers…in life and in our nursing profession. I consider myself more of a thinker. I admire those who can just jump in and DO, although sometimes not necessarily being able to describe the WHY of what they do; they just DO. My husband, a paramedic, is a doer. Case in point: one evening I was attempting to cook taco shells in my toaster oven. One fell down between the grate bars, landed on the red-hot burner coil, and promptly burst into flames…which then set the other nearby taco shells on fire. So, I’m standing there debating the pros and cons of using either the fire extinguisher or water from the faucet to put out the flames (meanwhile making strangled screeching noises), when my husband calmly walks into the kitchen, closes the door of the toaster, yanks the cord to the toaster out of the wall, and carries the whole smoking contraption outside. The fire died out, and the smoke dissipated without ado…and there wasn’t any mess from water or fire extinguisher residue in the house. Ah-MAZ-ing. Breathed a sigh of relief.
And then, I was frustrated…at myself. Why didn’t *I* do that???
I always wondered how to be more like a DOER, having confidence in my practice, and being able to react with a clinically appropriate intervention at the drop of a hat (or blood pressure, as the “hat” may be). In the past few years, I have come to the conclusion that the nurses that actively renew their knowledge through nursing continuing education or in-services, share their experiences with one another on a regular basis, and who are firmly grounded in the basics of nursing are the ones who frequently find the DOING of nursing comes more naturally and smoothly.
Too obvious? Perhaps. But maybe some of us discount the value of nursing professional development. How many times have I sighed at the obligations in my unit to attend in-services, or balked at completing nursing CEU, or resented the requirement to attend staff meetings at inconvenient times? Lifelong learning and the sharing of information regarding our profession is essential to maintaining our competency as nurses…not just to increase confidence, but to ensure the safety of our patients, their families, and ourselves.
The point is that even those who are skilled at DOING must not discredit the value of learning and thinking. It’s all about balancing the need to be functional in the DOING without neglecting the THINKING. Indeed, those that I have observed to be the best DOERS are usually the ones who are heavily involved in teaching others. Funny how someone asking questions will make us take a step back and really think about what we’re doing, but often we do not take the time to think about what we’re doing within our own personal practice if no one is hanging over our shoulder asking the big “why” questions. And those, like me, who relish in sitting back, thinking and questioning many things regarding nursing practice, must not become bogged down in constantly second-guessing ourselves, but take what we already know and apply it in our daily practice without fear.
I encourage all nurses to become more involved in learning, teaching, and mentoring, even virtually through our nurses network, for example. GROW at every opportunity. Stay informed about new technologies, legislation, government regulations, practice guidelines, and research. Invest in THINKING, and your DOING will benefit exponentially!
Tags: balance, critical thinking, knowledge, nursing CEU, work-life
