By Jen Smith, RN, Australia  

I was reflecting and appreciating recently on the fact that how I work with doctors has changed over the last few years. I have nursed for over 25 years and I had never until recently really given myself the opportunity to appreciate what doctors offer and the level of care they have for their patients. I basically viewed them from the perspective of providing a function to patients and I carried out whatever it was that they prescribed.

Early in my nursing career, I struggled with what I perceived was a hierarchy in terms of whose input was valued with patients and I had opinions about what was offered in terms of treatments. As a result I reacted to most of what I saw and decided that I was going to focus my efforts on building a career in natural therapies so that I could leave nursing behind and therefore have very little to do with doctors and what I thought was a limited way of working. I also saw nursing as lesser, with no independence and subservient to medicine.

I saw natural therapies as a way out, a way to being an independent practitioner and independent regarding how I worked with people and a way to seek recognition for the work that “I” was doing.

Studying natural therapies also had an effect on my own health and wellbeing. I thought I could treat myself for anything that cropped up with my  own health and that I could avoid seeking healthcare through the mainstream channels. This was never openly taught by the courses I attended, but with the many conversations I had with other students, this was an underlying belief many of them held. I was frustrated with the medical system and had a feeling that we could do much better. I thought that ‘better’ was going to come through the natural therapies I was studying.

Personally, as a result I never had my own GP and I never saw a doctor in over 10 years. Professionally I only ever saw my medical colleagues for what they were not doing and was frustrated by their lack of apparent interest in natural therapies. I continued to work in nursing through this, but continued to work as little as I could. I was there, but didn’t want to be there. So I was engaged as little as possible.

How I am now has completely changed and this was what I was reflecting on recently.

I now work full time in nursing in what most would view as a challenging area of practice and I do not work at all in natural therapies. I am fully engaged in my work and more. I am a long way from where I was only 8 years ago. One of the biggest shifts I am observing is how I am with the doctors that I work with.

My role is community based so I work with quite a number of GP’s and specialists while someone is in our care. I am in constant contact, providing updates when required either over the phone, text messaging or with a letter.  What I have come to observe, especially since I have been in this role is the level of care, dedication and commitment that I very clearly see with the doctors that I am in contact with. I very much appreciate the role they play and the relationships they have developed with those in their care.

I listen to patients regularly share about their experiences with their doctors and the level of respect they hold for them, not because they think the doctors are better than them, but because of how they feel being cared for by them and their respective teams. I now see that the quality of this relationship is also medicine for the patient and their family.

What I really love about this shift for me is that I am now seeing doctors for who they are and what they bring to their patients, rather than seeing them for an apparent lack of or what they are not doing or bringing.

What I do know is that this shift has happened within me, it’s not been anything that anybody else has done. I am the one that has changed how I am with myself, how I care for and nurture myself, which has impacted and influenced everything about how I am at work. To me there is no denying this … it’s a fact. For you can’t talk yourself into how you see things in life. This has come from how I am in all that I do.

It has been through the very practical teachings of The Ageless Wisdom presented by Serge Benhayon that has offered me the opportunity to understand life from a much broader and deeper perspective. How I am with myself in every moment, including work makes an enormous difference on every relationship. The relationships I have with doctors are key to the work I do as a nurse and this is such an important partnership in the care of our shared patients. I now know that even though the work we do is different, we complement each other, and the quality of care that we have for ourselves and that which we offer each other can make all the difference in the world.

Read more:

1. From Exhaustion and feeling false to feeling vital and truly looking after myself.
2. Self care at work makes sense – why is it not common practice?