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Sunday, May 6, 2018

Anatomy of a Nurse....

Happy National Nurses Week May 6th - 12th

As a seasoned nurse of 36 years, I get this photo and oh I could add so much more. 
Our profession is a selfless and giving profession, we do it because we love what we do. 
 Our feeling of worth and job satisfaction comes not from upper management or co-workers 
but from the patients themselves. 

I have cried with my patients, laughed with them, held their hands and sometimes prayed with them. I have received hugs that don't wanna let go, 
handshakes, kisses on the cheek and pats on the back.

...but there is another side, and I can speak for many. This profession is not for the weak of heart!  We have been up to our elbows in every body fluid possible, 
we've been spit-at, swung-at, swore-at and threatened. 
 We've desperately worked to safe lives, to make split-second decision, 
we have those "gut feelings".... we all know "that feeling", and we act on it! 
We are sometimes the last voice or last touch a person experiences before they die...
these are the hard things.

We are nurses, the backbone of the hospital, the patients advocate and friend. 
We encourage, reassure, and 
sometimes use a bit of tough love. 

We are Nurses.

This is basically my prayer (in a nut-shell) everymoring as I drive to work!
Prayer has always been vital in my job as a nurse...
My hands are very important in my work as I need to guide a 3.5 inch needle into my patients backs until I reach the spinal fluid, so yes I pray before each patient quietly at the bedside, Lord please take my hands and guide them right where they need to go!
When I get to where I need to be, it's always a quiet, "thank you Lord"  :)

An old photo of me in my last job as a sedation nurse, my prayer here was always "Lord,  please help me to keep my patient safe throughout the procedure.

This week Is National Nurses Week
I want to give a shout-out to all my nursing friends, co-workers, and my daughter, 
As nurses you know that everyday we come to work we will touch a life, 
or...
 a life will touch us....truth!


3 comments:

  1. Happy National Nurses Week, my dear friend. Thank you for sharing these insights with us. I'd never considered the negative sides of nursing. To remain patient and kind and caring through some of those experiences takes great self-control. I appreciate how you pray for your patients. That would be so reassuring to me. You are in the ministry where you were meant to me. What a blessing you have been to all those in your care.

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    1. Thank you for your sweet words Audrey. I guess I told people when I was little that I wanted to be a nurse like my mom. (Mom was a nursing assistant) I always felt she knew just what to do when we were sick or injured, that was my influence. Now my daughter is a 3rd generation. Guess it runs deep in our veins.

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  2. I didn't know your mom had been a nursing assistant. Three generations caring for others...what a blessing.

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