National Nurse’s Week ends with birthday

This is National Nurse’s Week. It began on Saturday, May 6th and will end on May 12th, which is Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Flo is known as the originator of modern nursing. The week is designed to acknowledge and honor nurses for all of their hard work and dedication. If you ask me, these men and women deserve far more than a week in their honor.

 My daughter, Beth, is a nurse. She didn’t go into the profession to save people. At the time she was a lifeguard. She noticed that many of the mothers who brought in their little ones for swimming lessons were nurses. After talking with some of them she soon realized that nurses earn far more than do lifeguards. Perhaps that is why she dismisses me when I tell her, “Go, save a life.”

She worked in a doctor’s office while in college and told some interesting tales. The most innocent involved a Spanish speaking lady who encouraged her son to ask Beth for a date. After listening to this for a good while, Beth finally spoke up. In Spanish she said, “I already have a boyfriend.”

Upon graduation she found a job in a local hospital. It was there she met a woman, K.C., who would teach her everything about nursing that the school had left out.

They became fast friends. K.C. was one of her bridesmaids at her first wedding. Eventually my daughter transferred to another hospital where she found her love of emergency nursing. K.C. found her calling in hospice care. She was the angel on the other end of the phone line when my mother was dying.

According to the  Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2016, there were an estimated 3 million nurses. The  American Nursing Association (ANA), however, says there are as many as 3.6 million registered nurses in the United States. However many there are, they are the most vital and under-appreciated caregivers many of us will ever have.

These are the men and women who tend to us when we are at our worst. Sometimes courtesy goes out the window when we are sick, in pain, and afraid of the unknown. Yet, the vast majority of nurses still treat us with kindness and compassion.

As Maya Angelou once said, “As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul and body of our patients, their families and ourselves. They may not remember your name, but they will never forget the way you made them feel.” 

I find this to be true. All the nurses who have tended to my husband and me over the years have helped us heal in ways they can never know. The ones who held our hands, explained stuff over and over and guided us through recovery remain in our hearts.

We also remember the haughty one who erroneously told my brother and me, “All our doctors speak English.” My brother almost went over the counter after her. She may have taken care of our mom but that one statement remains as her legacy in our minds.

Nurses are vital to our health. Doctors may write the orders, but nurses are the ones doing the work. They do the tests, administer the medicine and hold our hands every step of the way. Plus, they are the only ones who know our true weight.

I hope you take a moment this week to send up a prayer for all nurses. A quote from Warren Beatty sums it up perfectly, “Always thank your nurse. Sometimes they’re the only one between you and a hearse.”