Activity on the nursing unit had slowed down. Afternoon sunshine peeked into the rooms on the west side of the building. The early in the day hustle-bustle of changing beds and bathing patients, combined with doctor rounds, breakfast and lunch tray delivery and pick-up was over. By two in the afternoon the atmosphere in the halls was mellow as patients either napped or had visitors. Few patients put on their call lights during this time.

The charge nurse looked up from the clipboard in her hands and said, “Kathy, I’m giving you a patient in room 25. Admitting just brought her up.”

I collected supplies to give to the patient, then I wheeled my computer and blood pressure machine into the room. The patient was a well-dressed older woman who was scheduled to have surgery the following morning. Having conversations with total strangers has never been hard for me to do, so we got along very well. Just as I was preparing to leave the room, she asked me, “How long have you been a Certified Nursing Assistant?”

When I tell people the answer to this question, they are usually surprised. I started when I was eighteen. I smiled and confessed, “At the end of September, I will have worked at this hospital for 45 years.”

The newly admitted patient looked shocked. She blurted, “Didn’t you ever want to improve yourself, to become a nurse?”

Her question seemed strange. How was I supposed to respond to questions like that? She most likely considered being a Certified Nursing Assistant to be a low value, unimportant job. I decided to treat the situation with humor, so I chuckled, “Improve myself? Why would I want to do that? I’m so nice the way I am!”

Tomorrow, we will begin the new year of 2025. Many people make resolutions at this time of year to change or make improvements in their lives. The five most common resolutions that most people make have to do with improving physical fitness, losing weight, saving money, pursuing career ambitions, and increasing time spent with family. Unfortunately, few people stick to them.

Making changes in our lives isn’t always fun. Physical fitness means going to the gym, leaving a warm house and ending up with sore muscles from doing unfamiliar exercises. Losing weight requires giving up eating the second slice of pie or the bag of potato chips while watching a movie after supper. Saving money requires giving up things you want. Advancing or making a change in your career is intimidating. Spending more time with family reduces the “me” time we all like to have. These goals are good, but getting there isn’t fun.

Since few people stick to their New Years resolutions, I suggest we simply make fun resolutions. For example, it would be easier to resolve to hold a once-a-week board game night. Having a once-a-month ethnic food night would be fun. Resolve to say to yourself each morning, “This is going to be a good day.”  Say it even though you know it probably won’t be a good day. Maybe that should be said especially on those days! Have family members take turns looking up random trivia and reporting on it at one meal each week. Compete in doing good deeds for each other.

My suggested resolutions may not be as impactful as the most common resolutions, but they surely would make life more fun.

The patient I assisted thought that at some point during the many years I worked at the hospital, I should have improved myself by becoming a nurse. I’ll admit that I certainly thought about doing that from time to time. If I had made the change, I would have earned so much more compared to what I earned as a Certified Nursing Assistant! But every time I thought about pursuing a change in my career, I realized I didn’t want the responsibilities of a nurse. I never wanted to make calls to the doctors, have limited patient contact and an overload of charting. I told the newly admitted patient I didn’t need to improve and considered myself nice the way I was. That probably sounded very cheeky to her, but the more I think about it, it was the truth!