Nurses Week

This week is National Nurses Week.  It’s the one time of year that nurses get to feel appreciated for all the things they do, and let me tell you it is easy to feel unappreciated. Nursing is hard. Period.  I’ve seen a lot of posts on Facebook; those e-cards that make light of the fact that nurses are covered in various body fluids, have bladders like camels, etc.  The thing is…those jokes aren’t just jokes.  Getting bled on, vomited on (or worse), being yelled at, spit on, hit, kicked, punched, not eating or using the bathroom for 12+ hours; for many nurses that’s just a normal shift; maybe even a good one.  I know that so far this post sounds like I’m just fishing for some compliments, but hang in there.  The point is that in spite of all the difficult situations nurses have to deal with; most of us love our jobs.  

This week I worked four night shifts in a row.  It had been rough and I was exhausted Monday morning when I came home but I started to play back those nights in my head. What I realized that the things I could remember were the good things.  The quiet moment spent chatting with a patient who couldn’t sleep and holding their hand until they drifted off; that moment of relief at seeing a dangerous heart rhythm convert to a beautiful, normal sinus rhythm; the relationship that formed with the family of a dying patient; the joy of listening to the lungs of a patient go from coarse and crackly to clear over a period of 4 days; the laughter shared with co-workers over things that most of the world would find gross but nurses find hilarious.  Those are the things I remembered.  I’m pretty sure all the bad stuff I listed at the beginning of this post had happened at some point during those 4 shifts, but I had to really think to remember those things. 

Being a nurse may be hard, and we all have times when we wish someone would recognize the stuff we have to not only put up with but put up with cheerfully. But nursing is a calling, we have the privilege of being involved in the lives of the people we encounter in an intimate way.  People trust us to see them at their best and at their worst and that is the ultimate show of appreciation.  

So, to all my nurse friends:

You are amazing!  You are kind, compassionate caregivers; smart, independent-thinkers; advocates, willing to stand up for your patients; you inspire me.  Keep doing what you’re doing and know that you are loved and appreciated.  Happy Nurses Week!

To everyone else who knows a nurse:

Thank a nurse this week.  (Thank them with chocolate…nurses like chocolate.)