I have encountered a number of nurses in the last few months. There were the wonderful men and women who prepped me for my total knee replacement surgery and those who worked with me once I returned home. They checked on my progress continually and responded to my questions so quickly that I never became anxious that they may not have received my messages. Their understanding of my concerns was unflagging and contributed greatly to my eventual recovery.
My father-in-law has been in and out of hospitals, rehabilitation centers and a nursing home since the first week of December. During that time his nurses have worked diligently to keep him comfortable. Sometimes they have even sat with him through the nights when his anxieties have overtaken him. All the while they let him know how much they care about him even when he becomes grumpy in frustration at the downturn in his life. Florence Nightingale would have been proud of the professional and loving way that they have so patiently worked with him both day and night.
My brother has been plagued with one heath problem after another since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He has always been an energetic man who loves to go on long hikes in rough terrain. He loves to travel and do wood working and all of the activities that he thought would be part of his retirement. Sadly he has mostly spent much of his time with illnesses and injuries related to Parkinson’s that have landed him in the hospital over and over again. Just as with my father-in-law nurses have watched over him and done their best to help him heal in as much comfort as possible.
Nurses are truly angels among us and yet we do not always treat them with the kind of respect that they deserve. They are highly educated individuals who do not always receive salaries commiserate with how difficult their jobs actually are. Most work twelve hour shifts in hospitals where they are lucky to be able to stop long enough to have a break or to eat. They are on their feet rushing from one room to another and then keeping charts up to date with the distribution of medications and the symptoms of the patients. Theirs is an exhausting vocation and yet they remain calm and pleasant even when frustrated patients bark at them.
Nurses spend time with patients long after the doctors dash in and out. They are the lifeline for those who are suffering, usually having far more medical knowledge than we generally give them credit for having. Sometimes people even treat them as though they are servants rather than the professionals that they are. Most folks have little idea of how difficult the courses that they take to get a degree actually are. Nurses know and understand biology and chemistry and anatomy and can explain how medications work. They notice things that even the doctors may not see. They are the true backbone of our medical system.
Nurses have been so important to my husband as well. When he was in his mid twenties he contracted a fungal disease that required weeks of chemotherapy. His veins began to break down but the doctor did not want him to have an implant in which to apply the medication. A wonderful pediatric nurse came to his rescue each time he needed an infusion. She took a tiny needle and created a perfect IV with an accuracy that was stunning. She remains one of his all time favorite people on this earth.
Later my husband had heart surgery and was recovering when it was a nurse who saw that his heart rate was unsteady. Even when the doctor said it was no big thing she continued to monitor my husband and pushed over and over again to note the fluttering of his heart. Eventually a cardiac specialist confirmed that her concerns had been real and my husband now wears a loop recorder to alert the doctor of any dangerous changes in the beating of his heart.
Much as with teachers we do not always give nurses the same level of respect that we would provide to a business person or an engineer. While nurses make a somewhat decent living they still fall below the salaries of those in other professions that may or may not require the higher level of knowledge that they must have to be effective in their work.
In this month where teachers and nurses get lumped together for appreciation as though they were an afterthought we ply them with flowers or goodies but far too rarely take notice of how truly important they are. At the same time many of us never see give them the same level of regard as others with a college degree. Is it because most of them are women or is it because we do not clearly understand how much learning and training is required for a nurse to be ready to tackle daily challenges that consume every hour of their workdays?
There are those who seem to think that we might one day be able to use artificial intelligence to replace nurses, teachers, engineers and sometimes even doctors. Such thinking fails to see the importance of the human touch that nurses provide. No program or machine will ever be able to extend the gentleness and kindness that nurses bring to their patients. It is their warmth overlaid on their knowledge that makes them indispensable.
I often hark back to a time after the birth of my youngest daughter when I was in the hospital recuperating. I was exhausted after a complication during my hours of labor. I was sleeping peacefully one night when a nurse quietly entered my room and checked my vitals as discreetly as possible. When she had finished she pulled the blanket over me and gently tucked me in like my mother might have done. She smiled down at me like an angel and whispered that I should rest. I will never forget how much her gesture meant to me in that moment. I can still see her face which calmed me and told me that I would be okay.
I would like to believe that one day we will all elevate the status of nurses to the place of high regard that should be theirs. Until then find a nurse and tell her how thankful you are that he or she was there when you needed the most care. This is the very least you can do for them.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 