NURSES ARE HEROES

 

I was honored to know and work with many courageous and dedicated individuals in my long professional healthcare career. Nurses were always my favorite of all the staff who worked for me. Nurses address the patient's medical needs but do more than dispense medication and take blood pressure. The patient's welfare rests firmly on their shoulders for the more significant part of every day. Nurses are the ones who form the most vital relationship with patients. The nurse is there in the wee hours of the morning, listening to the patient and giving them what they need, whether it be a shoulder to cry on or a quick call to the physician to find a medication that might ease their pain. Other healthcare professionals might see the patient briefly or for a couple of hours daily for therapy, while specific patients are assigned to one nurse for 12 hours. Often, a nurse is the last person seen by a patient before they die.
Nurses aren't paid enough for their job and the risks they take to perform their duties, much like teachers who also risk their lives every day when they enter the classroom during a pandemic. Nurses and teachers deserve so much more.
Even though I've been retired for five years, healthcare professionals have been heavy on my heart since the pandemic. Their dedication, compassion, and commitment to walk into the fire every time they enter a hospital and risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones astound and humble me. Today, like many of us, I find hope in the promising news that we will soon receive a vaccination for COVID-19. It's the light at the end of a long, disturbing, frustrating tunnel. Most of us will quickly and enthusiastically return to our lives before the pandemic. One day, 2020 will be a distant yet unpleasant memory.
Nurses and other healthcare workers will continue doing what they did before, during, and after the virus hit our shores. We should recognize nurses for their sacrifices, much like we honor our veterans for serving our country.
Let us not ever forget those on the front lines of this pandemic. Let us host parades and build statues for our modern-day warriors. Let us pray for them today and long after this dark historical period is over.
Nurses are indeed our heroes.


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