Dear Senator,
I’ve done a lot of things as a nurse, I’ve worked in 3 different specialties and been very lucky to learn as much as I have.
I’ve held hands of the dying and their families, I’ve been involved with countless codes (2 more memorable ones were done on the floor), I’ve assisted doctors in procedures and answered questions to the best of my ability for both the patients and their family members, I’ve spent hours at a time on the phone with family members making sure they understand what’s going on and passing on messages of hope and love to patients from those families. I’ve wiped sweat, blood and tears off of faces I’ve just met. I’ve cried with you and felt pain and loss.
I’ve also been hit, kicked and called every name in the book. I’ve been told I’m a bully, a horrible person and that people hope I die and suffer, all while just trying to do my job.
I can’t say I’ve ever played cards on the job.
It’s a hard rewarding job. There is no feeling like watching someone defeat death. To watch them get better and see the joy on their families faces. It must be to worth it to be as belittled and abused as our profession is, somehow we keep at it. Keeping people alive.