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Celebrating National Nurses Week: 3 Favorite Things About Nurses

“When I think about all the patients and their loved ones I have worked with over the years, I know most of them don’t remember me, nor I them. But I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them, and they to me, and those threads make up the tapestry that is my career in nursing.” —Donna Wilk Cardillo 

If you subscribe to NANT’s Newsletter or have been keeping up with our blog for a while now, you already know how I feel about neonatal nurses and their unique and invaluable contributions. But most of us began working somewhere other than the NICU and have learned from countless nurses over the course of our careers. Three of my sisters-in-law are also nurses, one of whom changed a dressing on my son’s hand during a family party this past winter because that’s simply how nurses roll.

In my brief pre-NICU career, I worked with hospital-based nurses (adult setting) from every type of ICU – burns, neuro, surgical/trauma, cardiac. No matter the setting, they seem to share common traits. Maybe there’s a secret code they all learn in nursing school, as the core of every nurse I know bears a striking resemblance to the whole.

A few of my favorite things about nurses:

1. Nurses are doers.  

Whether finishing their PhD, admitting a teenager (the same age as theirs) to the SICU with multiple trauma, inserting a PICC line in a <1000g baby, or volunteering at their kids’ elementary school olympic day, they do not sit idly by and let things get disorganized. They do not leave things to chance, not on their watch.

2. Nurses are the bedrock of healthcare. 

They are the one constant that patients and all other professions can count on to be present 24/7 regardless of holidays, weekends, or natural disasters. They remain steadfast in their mission, whether transporting premature babies by boat in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or advocating for the best coordination of care for your beloved grandmother who can no longer drive herself to 5 medical specialists scattered all over town. Without them, the act of delivering healthcare cannot be fully or safely executed.

3. Nurses are tricky. 

Let me explain. Experienced nurses seem to develop a thick skin or shield of armor. Historically, this makes non-nurse professionals like me approach with caution until accepted by this band of warriors. However, the heart of their deep compassion and commitment to patient care beats wildly inside the armor. The dichotomy is nearly visible.

After 25 years in healthcare, I now understand that the armor comes from years of bearing intimate witness to trauma, loss, grief, pain, sickness, frailty, disparity, and overwhelming joy and relief – all of which pierce the innermost core of a person. The tricky part is to allow space for the function and history of their armor while understanding that the very reason they sign up for this challenging work is because of their giant beating heart for humanity. Sometimes, this looks a lot like hugging a post-full-moon-nightshift-porcupine-in-scrubs, which is ironically fulfilling.

Thank you, nurses, for your expert and compassionate care, camaraderie, and humor, and the relentless advocacy you bring to the patients and families you serve. You have taught us well.

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