When you were a little kid, did you ever receive any booster shots or vaccinations for chicken pox or measles? Or even just an annual flu shot? And after that dreadful process, did you receive a piece of lollipop?
The fear and dread beforehand last a short while, but the nurse's kindness and that lollipop stay with much us longer and help us forget the scary needles. Now, while you were in the waiting room beforehand, did you experience any nervousness or anxiety as the anticipation of those inoculations built up?
Let's shift to a new direction. Have you ever visited a loved one in the hospital due to an unfortunate situation or a medical diagnosis? Sometimes we don't give enough credit to the men and women in the medical field who help to ease those fears and concerns. However; people often fail to acknowledge that nurses are not just occupations; it is a form of identity.
There are times in life we cannot always prepare for accidents, infarctions, dangerous exposures to allergens. While we live our lives, these unforeseen events can be jarring, frightening, and stressful. Running to the hospital to visit a loved one in a serious condition can be difficult.
I know one man who sat in a car in a hospital parking lot for half an hour, fighting with his thoughts, while his father was heading into surgery after a heart attack. He finally convinced himself to go inside and saw his father in the hospital bed.
His family gathered around tearfully but he was not able to keep himself together. A nurse came in and thought that he recognized her from high school and felt a little awkward. In spite of this, he was glad that she was there to help take care of his dad.
These individuals who expose themselves to the germs and hazards others bring into the hospital every day, as well as share in some of the most joyous and most painful moments in the lives of everyone, are heroes of the real world variety.
They never needed radiation or secret serums to turn them into giant green monsters or super soldiers. No one will make movies or tell stories about the average nurse, but each and every person who makes it through a nursing program and holds the values of human life and ethical medical care does better in one human lifetime than many of the heroes of our fiction will do in their entire existence.
Editor's Note: This article has been edited for clarity and quality of content.
