"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 I had a very emotional few weeks this past month and as I laid in my bed unable to sleep, these words flowed onto a note that I made in my phone. I held them to myself for a month now, reading and rereading. When ever you decide to take a step into controversy, you first must know that what you are going to say is 1- important, 2- appropriate, and 3- useful. Otherwise, I think you need to not waste everyone's time, I believe that is called whining. I feel like this note holds the truth to what burdens my heart, and very likely, many nurses, and many others who hold careers in healthcare. I will warn you my words are strong.
Nursing is in no way a glamourous job, but I probably don't need to tell you that. Nurses seem to get labels that aren't always the best. Whether it's that we are lazy, careless, rude, or treated like we have the intelligence of a dog, some people do not appreciate the nursing profession. I will not ask you to like me, because you have already made that decision whether you do or don't. However, I will have your respect, as you have mine. No one is 100 percent 100 percent of the time. To ask that or expect that of someone is an unrealistic. I understand we all hold different jobs each with unique challenges, but we can all agree in some ways they are the same. We all work hard, sometimes it seems like no one knows how hard, some days are better than others, and sometimes at the end of the day it can feel thankless. There can be difficult times in our lives that can be crippling and we are not at our best. Worst of all, is when someone has the audacity to be down right disrespectful. This is where I have a problem. This is where I draw the line. It's awfully easy to judge someone's job. It's easy to say how you could do a better job. I want to share what myself and my fellow nurses do. First, you need to know who these girls are to me. These are my coworkers, my friends and we are a family. We have spent hours, on days together. Through holidays and late nights. We have laughed and cried together. Sometimes we laugh and cry at the same time. We have team work that has saved lives. We witness miracles and death. We have been there for each other, literally in the room, when our children are born and they take their very first breath. At times, we are brave and proud people. At times we are truly scared with the responsibility in trusted to us. I want you to see that unless you walk in my shoes and I in yours, we will never know if either of us would do any better. I do believe we all are doing our best or at least striving to. There is one more thing I need to say to clear the air. You will never understand the amount of love I have for my patients. As a mother and a nurse, don't you dare challenge that. These people are my morning and night until I go home long after my family has lived their day without me. I am a nurse, therefore I advocate. I get frustrated for them and I get frustrated with them. My goodness who wouldn't after spending a nonstop 12 hour day for several days, where everyone is tired, sore and really would rather be at home with our own families. However, we have our patients and they have us. Don't confuse my frustrations with apathy or hatred for my job. We love our patients like our children and want to see them get back up again. We give them everything and to my frustration it gets spread thin when the ER is busy, one of them is confused or we are short staffed. I don't like to hear when patients are unhappy with me or my fellow nurses but I know we can't be 100 percent 100 percent of the time, even though we try our hardest. I'll keep doing my best and try to do better. If you'd like to help me, then let's be a team, I can respect that. What I do is not a glamorous job, it can be hard to understand and easy to judge. I know you can feel the same at times. Best regards to a team who works as a team, Stay bright and cheery, and hold your head high, because you are changing the world you live in for the better. Kristin
0 Comments
I guess I can't believe it's been a year? How the time flies, yet it feels like its going so slow. That's what babies do! They grow! Fast! I feel like day to day is just another day, then bam! You've got a one year old, fearless, strong, and in my case, a giant that no longer fits into the baby sizes! Claire is a baby that is very special to me, I feel like I've been there through some pretty big times for both her and her mother. I feel so blessed to have this relationship with Claire. Thank you for letting me photograph her from beginning to end of the first year, I loved every bit of it!
|
Kristin and DebbyWelcome to our new website! We are teaming up to bring more options and better coverage of your memories. Archives
December 2018
Categories |