Only this week on my ward though I have seen that no matter how tired or over worked we are the majority of staff still will go that "extra mile".
The ward is a busy Neuro rehab unit in the North of England and we were starting to fill up as the winter pressures are effecting our acute colleagues and there is an urgency to move patients off their wards to other areas.
This particular morning a patient was admitted. As is usual there is a look of trepidation on their face. I was in the office making my hair greyer looking at the e-roster, as is a charge nurses want. When I heard one of my gorgeous Rehab Assistants say "Good morning, my name is ......, aren't you looking lovely today". I wandered out of the office to see who was there and it was the patient who I had assessed the day before. I walked down with them to their bed area and as we got there the patient burst in to tears and said "I thought you were just trying to make feel better when you said, "You'll be fine, all our staff are absolutely lovely", and you were right they are."
Living proof that being nice makes the job worthwhile for both practitioner and patient.