Nurses.

I studied to be a nurse’s aide for 6 months. I work as a nurse’s aide for a whopping 4 months. It was quite possibly the toughest job I have ever had and gave me bad dreams for months after I quit. It’s not that it was horrible (because some people enjoy it), but it just takes a special person. For a few years I thought I wanted to be a nurse. I’ve since realized my desire was for the wrong reasons, but I had gone through the motions of working in the field and getting into a nursing program. When I say it takes a special person to work in the nursing field, I mean it. Patients are in pain and naturally their pain can easily turn to anger and who else do they have to take their anger out on? The nursing staff.

The issue is not the patients, but rather that nursing is a relatively thankless job. When a patient is healed, most of the recognition goes to the doctor. But what about all those days he or she spent in the hospital? Who gave him medicine, a comfortable pillow or even just a person to talk to? I doubt it was the doctor. Now in no way am I trying to diminish what a doctor does, but I simply want these hard working men and women to be recognized for the effort they have exerted.

If I had stuck with nursing, I think I would have been pretty lousy at it. There is a point where a nurse has to be pretty selfless and I just don’t think I was ready to do that. So I’d like to pay my respects and awe to all of the unrecognized people who have made so many sick people just a little bit more comfortable.