To the Community at Large,
This morning I thought of my mother. This is really nothing new since her passing six years ago, but this morning I wondered what she would think. I wondered what would be her take on all this mess swirling around the world right now.
Mom was a nurse, and a really great one. She loved the job. Honestly more than I could ever try to do, and there are many days I wish I could be half the nurse she once was.
This morning I imagined us sharing our opinions of the news stories abounding over Ebola within our borders, and I wondered what she would think. Knowing her it would probably be something profound, compassionate, and simply amazing.
I’m not like her though. I’ll be very frank here. Sometimes I get aggravated with my chosen profession. Nursing. Often times, probably more than I’d like to admit, I complain about it. I make inappropriate jokes, vent my many frustrations, and overall likely make some people think that I just don’t like what I do. Sigh.
But I do.
When I saw the headlines about the Dallas nurse contracting Ebola I’m quite certain my first thought was one of fear. Similar to my days in the military, and when the War on Terror began, I had a moment of trepidation over being on the front lines to fight such a formidable enemy.
But do you know what emotion trumped my fear?
Do you want to know what feeling overshadows my frustration every day of my career?
Can you understand what came over me when I discovered another one of my comrades in health care had fallen ill in Texas?
Pride.
I felt pride in the field of nursing. And though I was terribly distraught for the fate of my sister nurses, overall I was proud. I was proud of them, and proud for the call to service that they accepted. They knew the risks, they knew what could go wrong, and still they charged forward with dedication to duty, and to that of their patient. Wow.
And I guess what I want you to know is that they are not an isolated event. Nurses go forth onto the field of battle like this every day. That might sound dramatic, but it’s true.
Nothing will bring this truth to light like an epidemic. Because even in the face of a challenging, frightening disease process nurses like those in Texas will be right there at the bedside.
If, God forbid, you find yourself fighting for your life, you will not be alone. You will look up, through a veil of feverish sweat, and you will see a nurse looking back at you.
It may be wrong, but that fact, that truth, it makes me proud. It makes me proud of my brothers and sisters in health care, and it makes me proud that I walk among the ranks.
Does fear still try to creep in? Yes.
Does frustration over lack of community education and properly taught protocol assault me? Does it assault me as if the blame for personal infection were placed on me too? Of course.
But do you know what places all my fear, anger, or frustration in the shadows?
My duty.
Nursing is not a simple task to be taken lightly. It is a calling, and a duty that is taken with utmost care and seriousness. Even when I joke.
This pride for the profession may make some people roll their eyes, but when you’re in the trenches of a serious epidemic that threatens to spread quickly it will be the pride, dedication, and compassion of a caring nurse that will mean the most to you.
I don’t want you to be afraid. I want you to trust God in this mess. But if you do find yourself feeling some fear I want you to know you’re not alone. There are rows of nurses standing in the gap for you. They will be there if you need them. In fact, nothing could keep them away.
I know if my mother were here she would be the first to do her job, and to do it with all she had within her. I only hope I can make her as proud of me.
If you want to take the time to thank a nurse you know, or to tell them how proud you are of them, then by all means I encourage you to do so. But it won’t matter.
Nurses will continue to do what they do because they must. The fire burns within each one so bright, and that dedication will not wane. No matter what the world throws our way. And yes, that makes me proud. I can’t help it.
Sincerely,
Your Nurse
*original image from nursetogether.com
Amy says
Well written.
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you.
Donna says
Beautifully said! Thank you for your service! Please keep that spirit because even though we may never meet, you never know…something good you did/do, may somehow roll to my family and friends through the six degrees of separation theory…
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thanks so much! I definitely believe that it’s a small world we live in.
Kathleen Coughlin RN says
Thank you for your time and your blog. I agree whole heartedly. Pride,duty,love and compassion, all rolled up in one day we seem to keep on going no matter what challenges we face from day to day. Some days we do feel like we were on the front lines combating the next task, or phone call etc. WE LOVE OUR PROFESSION.
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you for commenting, and for your dedication to duty.
esperanzamlk says
I love the way you put into words. So many things that we wanna say to the community about our professions.
Beautifully written! 🙂
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thanks so much.
Dana Skobel says
Thank you Brie for being so candid about your career. Hospitals are so depressing to me, but the nurses make all the difference. They seem to know I would rather be home, I’m scared, and need to see a reassuring smile. It means so much to observe their dedication to their ‘calling’ as you mentioned. My Sister, an RN who went into the Army with her husband and children’s support couldn’t make me prouder. She played with bugs as a child and has always been very compassionate, so when she studied so hard to get her nursing degree I was not surprised. It seemed so natural.
Brie I don’t know all the things you were talking about, but I am honored to know you, my Sister and all the nurses that make our lives easier because we can trust and put our faith in our nurse(s). Thank you once again! ?
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you so much.
Helen Marshall says
Winter ’82-83 I took care of the first HIV patient in the state of Arizona. There was no such thing as “Universal Precautions” (HIV made them figure out universal precautions) Very few people had any idea at all what the disease was, how it spreads (other than lots of gay men were getting it) and how to take care of a patient with it. There were two nurses on the night shift who would take care of Ron, Lisa Martino and I.( I imagine that they gave him to the poor float because Lisa and I were off the same weekend.) Nurses refused to take care of him, argued about his “sins”, said “He got what he deserved” they said and looked at Lisa and I like we were going to drop dead every time we walked out of the room.
When I heard about the Ebola patient in Dallas, I thought of Ron. Every night we’d put every piece of protective wear on that the hospital had and go into his room and do what needed to be done. That’s nursing, that is what you sign up for when you take the exams. Lisa and I both silently prayed that we would give the best care we could and that we would not get infected because we were giving him the best care we could.
Hospital Nursing was my mission field for 20 years. I was kicked, hit, coughed on and had other body fluids we won’t mention on every extremity I had. I also have a + TB skin test, and a muscle just below my right shoulder that gets sore fast because a patient, his commode chair and I ended up on the bed Thanksgiving day 1984.
When I was a child I was told that every person’s goal was to make the world better because you were there. For many people it’s a stretch to figure out how their jobs or their lives do that. I KNOW what I did made it better.
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thanks for sharing!