But yesterday I caught up on the #showmeyourstethescope movement and I was awed. Stunned. Moved to tears and laughter. And not by the stupid women on "The View" who seem to be living under a rock of entitlement and idiocy but by the OUTPOURING of support for those that provide nursing care. I spent hours, literally hours, reading the posts on the facebook page Show Me Your Stethoscope and learned a lot. About people who care and give and devote their lives to making other people's lives better.
You should visit the page. Read some of the stories, especially those by family members who have been touched by the kindness of a nurse. Or those from doctors who make it very clear how much they depend on nurses. I especially loved the one where the doctor stated he was a physician because he wasn't brave enough to be a nurse.
My mother is a nurse. She is now a provider (a nurse practitioner with lots of letters after her name) but the fundamental part of her training is still that on which she relies every day - caring about each and every patient. When my son was born and I was struggling to learn to feed him, he couldn't swallow all the milk in his mouth. I was 25 and terrified and pushed the call button. And I still get teary-eyed remembering the stampede of people who ran to my room, so many nurses they couldn't all get into the room. But I needed help and they came. Immediately. The nurses in the Emergency Room who knew my grandmother was dying but treated her like a queen anyway because dignity is a given for patients, not something reserved for only a few. And we, her family, were included in that treatment. I have a multitude of stories about the nurses who have touched my life and who I admire. And I couldn't do it, not for an hour much less a lifetime. It isn't that I don't care but I just don't have what it takes to do what they do - it is a calling.
So hug a nurse today, or say thank you to one. Support the companies that are supporting our nurses by not advertising on "The View" (Johnson & Johnson, McCormick, Party City, Snuggle, Eggland's Best to name a few). And read the stories on "Show Me Your Stethoscope" and be awed.
