A High-Key Tribute to Nurses

Mostly my nurses. But also all nurses. Because they all have a hard job.

I can't even count the number of nurses I know. Seriously. This career is wildly high in demand.

Which is probably why it's important to just take a minute - or a week. Nurses are important. They hold a very special place in my heart (which is a notable thing because honestly I really struggle with making room in my heart for people).

Four of my very best friends are nurses. I've watched them through classes, through NCLEX tests (don't ask me what that stands for), through careers. They are superwomen. I'm not kidding. Can I tell you some stories?

This is Hailey. She's a labor and delivery nurse, and in July she's going to have her own little human to take care of. [[She's told me stories that make me think maybe I wont ever be having kids.]] I've listened to her talk about how she's going to manage being a mom and a nurse at the same time, and I'm not kidding when I say she already deserves a medal. Sometimes she works all night long, takes a nap for a few hours, and then comes to meet me for coffee because her job is important, but so are her people. Of course she's an excellent nurse; she loves others so well. Also, I've never had a kid, but I imagine that anyone who puts up with women who are in the throes of labor is just an exceptional human being to begin with. So. Hailey is great.

I've known Kelsey for seven years, and she has fought so hard to become a nurse. From choosing her college, to studying for classes, to applying for jobs - I have never met someone so determined to do right and do well. I've watched her sit through a whole lot of uncertainty, and come out stronger on the other side of it. I've sat through coffee dates with her while she's talked about how hard her job is and how stressed it makes her sometimes. She's a pro at running on about four hours of sleep, if she's lucky. She has looked me in the eye and humbly said that all she wants to do is love people the way Jesus loved people. It inspires me. 

I kid you not, one of my first memories of Amy is from like three years ago when she was still a CNA [[or something similar; not sure if that's the exact acronym]], and it goes something like this, "Yeah, one of my patients just started crying as we were getting her all ready the other day, so I was like, 'Well, okay, I guess we're both just going to sit here and cry together.'" Amy's super logical, but this story sums up her character - she'll feel all the things alongside her people. Nurses stare death and defeat in the eye every single day, and somehow they have to walk away and be the hopeful. Amy is that. She is, without exception, an excellent nurse. I can imagine why: she keeps it real, and she loves well. What remarkable qualities.

This is my heart. Known by other humans as Rachel. She has an orange stethoscope that is arguably my favorite part of her career. How fun. Seriously. But really, this girl is the ultimate underestimator of abilities and achiever of dreams. In her two years as a nurse, she's proven to be incredible at her job, and I have had all the fun watching it happen. I remember listening to her talk about her clinicals, and today I listen to her talk about her actual real-life job. And she'll admit to how incredibly exhausting it is, but she can't deny the high points. She's not really a talker, but she could talk all day long about her job. In a lot of ways, it's hard to extricate her life from her job - because she lives what she does. Which is, in itself, a bit of a sacrifice. But it's one she carries proudly and selflessly. That floors me.

Just a few days ago, I sat in a Starbucks with one of my very favorite nurses, and she talked about how she'd recently had a rough week and a high-maintenance patient. But instead of complaining, she just shrugged and murmured, "He's sick."

I don't know what it was about that statement. Maybe it was the way she said it, or the way my brain turns almost everything into something sad, but I just sat there stupidly and fought a whole lot of tears. Because at the end of the day, that's it. That's all. He's sick. We're all sick. And isn't it humbling to know that there are people who choose to care?

Superwomen. [[And men. I see you, murses.]]

So these are the nurses of whom I am exceptionally fond and immeasurably proud. And I know there are so many others who have given their blood, sweat, and tears to making other people feel safe and comfortable and loved. That's important. We can't forget it.

Happy Nurses Week.
Tell a nurse you love how much you love him/her.