I am an LPN working on a SNF (skilled nursing facility) unit in a hospital. We deal with a little of everything, from strokes, to infections, to joint replacements, and terminal care. Sometimes people just need some therapy to beef them up so they can go back home after being ill.

I love my job. However, anyone that works with me will tell you that I am a true goof-off. Nothing is put past me to do if it's a little crazy (and sometimes even really crazy). I have been caught riding the meal tray carts down the hall and I am notorious for riding IV poles into a patient's room. I have even gone as far as to put thickener in a doctor's coffee (CH, if you read this, you are the best, and take a joke well). No one is immune to me, not even my co-workers.

My patients are usually there for at least a week, if not longer. Some have been there for up to 6 months; it depends what they are there for. So it IS EXTREMELY important to keep up their humor. I love the difficult patients the best. I pick at them, and my co-workers and I will goof-off with our patients. I had one patient who was there for 6 weeks of IV antibiotics. So to wake him up in the morning, I would turn on his CD player and play the song "Tequilla." While hooking up his IV he would fake sleep until the infamous "Tequilla" word came and he would shout it - and then laugh as I did the PEE-WEE Herman dance.

I strive for a light hearted and caring environment when most of my patients would rather be at home. Needless to say, when dealing with an elder population, body functions play a role and can be quite humorous.

It is my strong belief that laughter has a major role in healing and anything that can be made fun with makes all the difference in a day. Just today a patient was on his way to speech therapy and the therapist stopped in the hall to get a drink from the kitchen. While her back was turned I took the patient for a joy ride. We snuck around the corridor trying to hide from her but we still got him to his session on time. He loved it.

My favorite thing that my patients say is, "I hope all these pills know what they are supposed to do." To which I cheerfully reply, "Yeah, I hope they didn't give you the one that wants to be a stool softener instead of a blood pressure pill." This always gets me a laugh.

The therapists I work with have nicknamed me Tuwanda, from the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes," because while I am fun, I make them work for their goals. Most of my patients call me Sassy. We get a lot of patients who come back for joint replacements, such as knees. They remember me as the "crazy one." I had one patient tell me the other day that he knows I prepare myself before I enter a room. He told me he knows that right before I knock, I put a big smile on my face, no matter what I was thinking about just a second before.

I can truly say I have found my calling. I can't imagine not being a nurse. I love that health care is a profession where you can really see the difference you make. To have a patient come in and be unable to talk, feed themselves, or even eat, and unable to walk. On the day they go home they are telling you good-bye talking about going to McDonalds as they walk out the door. To help a family through the death of a loved one, and help that person to die with dignity is very fulfilling.

There is so much negativity surrounding health care today. I hope to bring a positive aspect to my small part of it, and if I am lucky, to bring a smile to a patient's face.

Amanda, LPN
Virginia