Louisiana writes of some of her nursing escapades and some of the patients that have made an impression on her.
I am a nurse by trade.
I have been a nurse going on for ten years now; and most of the time, my job is hard, very demanding, and emotionally draining. I deal with sick or hurting people each and every day, and at times, it can really take a toll on me. Not just emotionally, but physically and spirtually, too.
I have seen many patients come and go, and some of the patients I have taken care of during my nursing career have been quite memorable, such as in the cases of M'buti Moore-Sormiento (she had been burned and spent nearly a year in our hospital, recovering from her burns; she was also raped, and also suffered a severely broken leg during her attempts to get out of the fire), Fahid Al Mahood (her husband, Amir, had thrown acid into her face, and she is now facially disfigured on one side, and she also suffered burns on her chest, neck, and throat, requiring a trache for the rest of her life), Gretchen Peters (she had been struck by lightning), and more recently, Brooklyn Marie Harrington (a Nashville firefighter who had been injured by a falling beam in an attempt to save a child from a burning house; the child has since died, unfortunately) and Michiko Osaka (she was injured in the Tornado Outbreak that hit the southern United States in the spring of this year; she has lost most of her vision and just recently got the external fixator device taken out of her leg; and she is now undergoing physical therapy to relearn how to walk again).
I also have had to take care of several of my own children, and there is nothing more upsetting to a nurse than to see her very own children in dire straits and in need of emergency medical help. I can't tell you how many times I have felt the feeling of helplessness or sheer panic as I watched doctors and other nurses valiantly trying to get my little son, Johnny, stabilized after he had a sudden and violent seizure or when his brain started to swell after a particularly bad episode of meningitis, or the time when my daughter, Ronee', had her stroke, and I saw it happen, right in front of my own eyes; or when she suddenly developed severe problems with her breathing. As scared as I was, I still tried my best to help them through these (and other) crises involving their health, and I knew I had to be strong for their sake; so I put on my "game face", and I tried my best to help my fellow co-workers stabilize my two children through these times. But on the inside, I was crying and screaming to God, praying for a Miracle to help my two babies.
The same feeling also applies to when I have had to take care of my parents, or when I have had co-workers come in suffering from a variety of illnesses or injuries from accidents that they were involved in. Some of these instances were very bad, and some of my dearest friends or co-workers ended up dying.
Another incident that I remember well was when this deranged father put his infant son in the freezer to stop him from crying, and the poor little fellow froze to death. The father was charged with his murder, and he is now in prison for his crime against his own infant son. We tried hard to warm his frozen little body up, and when we did, we couldn't bring him back, no matter how hard we tried. He was just too far gone when he was brought in, and if he WAS to have had a chance to survive, he probably would have been hopelessly brain damaged. Such cases make me physically sick inside, and I can't imagine why a father (or even a mother) would do such a grisly or disgusting thing to their very own children. All too often, I hear of cases involving children who have been raped, abused, or worse, and I am apalled at how callous and uncaring our world has become; because it seems that such crimes against our children are happening with more and more regularity.
It is because of incidents like the above, and the patients themselves, that I continue to stay in the nursing field because there is nothing more gratifying to me than to save the life of someone in need, and when they are ill or injured, they need a caring presence to help them. They are scared, and they need someone for support, care, or guidance through their illness or injuries. Being sick or injured is NOT fun, and I know how it feels to be a patient because I have been there, more than once. I know the fear or uncertainty my patients feel, and if I can just offer them SOME hope or SOME comfort to help them feel better, then my job is worth it, and I wouldn't change it for any other job in the world!
Of course, there are those patients who are anything BUT pleasant. I have been physically attacked, hit, bitten, vomited, pooped, or peed upon by patients, or cursed at, and while such events are scary or unexpected, that is part of the nursing field, and being a nurse in today's world is quite risky. Besides belligerent or psychopathic patients, we also have to deal with people who don't speak English, homeless or elderly people who have nobody to turn to, and so they come to the hospital in the hopes of a meal or a friend, even though they are not injured or sick, and worried family members who manage to get in the way when you are trying to do your job.
Yes, being a nurse ISN'T a glamorous job, and at times the pay is lousy; but it is the job I have chosen, and for the most part, I have enjoyed my profession very much. I have made many wonderful friends, and there is nothing more gratifying to me than to have a patient I have taken care of in the past come up to me and thank me in person for taking care of them, or seeing a child who was supposed to be brain damaged or mentally disabled walking and talking, and acting like a normal child. Or I see a stroke patient who was totally paralyzed walking with nothing but a quad cane, and a big smile on her face, or the person who had cancer still living over incredible odds, when all the odds were calling for this person to die.
These are probably the things that make my nursing career so worthwhile, and every day, I get down on my knees and thank God for my ability to help others in need. It takes a special person to be a nurse; and I am glad that I am able to help people when they most need it in their lives.
A poignant story about letting go of a narcissist in your life. Have you ever been attacked FULL force by a narcissist? It's the closest thing to being stabbed over and over in the back.
