Peanut-Butter and Jelly is my all-time favorite sandwich.

Really.

I ate it on a daily basis for almost 13 years- kindergarten, grade school, middle school and a lot of high school. Sure, once in a blue moon my Mom would give me a few dollars and I’d get chicken fingers in the cafeteria (and feel badly all afternoon… I didn’t realize back then how what I ate impacted how I felt).

Even now. I make lunches for myself the days I go in to the hospital. Most days, what do I eat?

Good old PB&J.

Sandwiches. PB&J. The sticky, ‘stuckness’ between those two pieces of bread.

Stuck. Sandwiched.

Do you as a nurse ever feel stuck?

Sandwiched between departments. Put in the middle between providers. Asked to pick and choose. Do I stay late? Do I call out? Do I go in sick?

Healthcare is a complicated, intricately woven thread of personalities, devices, situations and policies. When was the last time you needed a supply for your patient, called down to the central supply service and got a sub-par response? Maybe they didn’t have what you needed; they don’t carry that item in stock. Maybe they told you to come pick it up yourself; they’re short-staffed.

Feeling sandwiched in the middle can be an uncomfortable feeling; it doesn’t feel good to be ‘stuck’.

As a nurse this can create frustration, dissatisfaction and the feeling like we have no control.

It’s happened to me and I can bet if you’ve worked in a busy healthcare system, it’s happened to you.

So what can we do about this?

I want to encourage you to do something big. Something that may be a bit difficult. Something that will require some passion and personality- which, if you are a nurse, I know that you have!

Take ownership. Stand up for yourself. Take accountability for what is great.

You can’t be that other department. You can’t fix their problems, their issues, or fill their staffing holes. You are not the person that’s to do it all.

Quit the workarounds!

I know we are known for nurse ‘workarounds’, but these things enable others to take advantage of our services. Stick to nursing and be proud of what you do.

You don’t receive recognition or appreciation for the nurse workaround. All it does is creates the environment of ‘those nurses, they’ll figure it out’. People then expect you to fix anything and everything.

Empower yourself by standing up for yourself. Be a nurse. And that’s that.

You don’t have to solve their problems. It’s not your job to staff the other departments. There is nothing that says you have to figure out their communication issues. Be you. Be a nurse.

Leave the ‘stuckness’ behind and allow yourself to enjoy the ‘art’ of nursing yet again.

I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or question below. Have you ever felt stuck in the middle? If so, what did or what can you do about it?