by Laura Wisniewski
"It's always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me like
gifts from the sea."
Jonas Salk MD
Intuition
is knowing without rational evidence. Despite arguments in nursing literature whether or not intuition has
a valid place in nursing practice, experienced nurses accept this knowing as reality.
It was a crazy busy shift on a Saturday evening in the emergency room.
It was my turn at the triage desk. The emergency room was filled to capacity. The pile of charts on my desk of people waiting
to be seen by the doctor was growing by the minute. The wait for a non-emergent patient would be several hours.
My next patient was a ten year old freckle faced boy named Christopher. He
had been brought to the ER by his babysitter. He and his brothers had been building a tree house in the back yard when
a hammer had fallen onto his head. He would need stitches for his scalp laceration. His mother had been notified
and was on her way in.The bleeding had already stopped and he felt "fine".
I asked him the usual questions:
"Did you black out?"
"No mam."
"Do
you feel dizzy, light-headed, sick to your stomach, have any trouble seeing, a headache or any other funny feelings?"
"No mam."
His visual acuity, vital
signs and balance were completely normal. Just as I was about to send him back to the waiting room, a thunderous voice
from my gut screamed at me, "SOMETHING IS WRONG!"
I took him immediately to the back of the ER, interrupted the physician while he was examining a patient and told him, "You
must see this boy now!" Within moments Christopher's condition rapidly deteriorated. He had a depressed skull
fracture and was flown via helicopter to the trauma center where he underwent emergency surgery.
Christopher recovered completely without any deficits. In addition to confirming that I should trust my
gut; remembering him has carried me through many difficult shifts.
Mary Goulet, author of the book Go with your Gut explains, we have three voices within us that
influence our decisions. These are our "head" (intellect), our "heart" (emotions) and our "gut"
(intuition). The intellect is rational and examines the evidence. Our emotions or feelings change from moment to moment. Your
"gut" issues a command, speaking in five words or less. Often our head and our heart will try to talk us out of
listening to our gut. Intuition is a gift nurses are given that save lives, ignoring that gift would be disastrous.
Action Steps:
- Ask other nurses about a time when they made a difference for a patient by following their "gut"
- Learn to identify when your "gut" is speaking to you
- Begin to trust your
intuition and act upon it
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Laura Wisniewski RN, BS, CIC is an education specialist, member of the National Speaker's Association and president
of Nursing Voice Communications Inc. Contact laura@nursingvoice.com
