I spent most of my summer in the Emergency Room. If you have never been to an emergency room – good for you – let me describe one to you. You walk in and are immediately enveloped by unmistakable smell of bleach and disinfectant; there are people scattered throughout the room in their own world of misery with an ignored television making white noise in the background. A midst this scene of perpetual misery are the nurses.

"Scrubs" may have had its X-Ray backwards for 5 seasons, but they were right about the nurses. The Carlas and Lavernes are at the heart of any hospital. They register the patients, take their vitals, take them to their rooms, and do a seemingly endless list of other tasks. While volunteering in the ER this summer, I worked very closely with the nurses. Not only did I come to realize that most of the nurses were working 12 hour shifts every single day of the week, but also that because of the unfair salary they receive most of them had another job as well. 12 hour shifts plus another part-time job meant that most of them only got a few hours of rest, yet they were the liveliest people in the building and not only because most of the other people there were sick. Despite working with sick people all day and being tired, they kept a fresh and helpful attitude for every patient and did everything in their power to make sure that the patients received help as quickly as possible. Along with dealing with the general madness of disease, pain, and tiredness, there are so many things that nurses have to deal with outside of their job descriptions.

One Saturday while I was volunteering, a patient came in via Ambulance only to decide that they no longer wanted medical help and then proceeded to hide in the triage area for the nurses. This may not seem like a big deal, but without the triage area, the emergency room can very quickly come to a halt and lead to a back-logging of patients that just leads to upset patients and the cycle continues. Since we didn't know why that patient was there, we have to be extremely careful because they were unpredictable. I, being the inexperienced teenager that I am, sat wide-eyed and terrified in the corner, while the nurse talked to the patient and calmed them down even though they kept yelling and screaming at her. After an hour of coaxing, the patient agreed to the medical help that they blatantly needed and life went back to normal.

That's what surprised me the most. The banality of doing something that seemed like nothing short of sorcery to me. They don’t expect gratitude—hell they don’t even bat an eye. Despite all the nurses do, both for the physical and the emotional health of the patient, there is a board in the break room filled with the complaints that patients have filed. It’s heartbreaking that even though the nurses work so hard, there is plenty that people find to complain about.

So next time you interact with a nurse, remember that they are also humans and they are doing practically everything and anything in their power to make sure that you or your loved ones leave the place happy and healthy. Remember that they are also humans. Remember that even after you leave and your problems have been resolved, the nurses will still be there day after day, doing what they do without even looking for a hint of recognition or appreciation from anyone. In fact, they’ll be one the ones to say “have a good day” and “thank you” as you or your loved one leaves after receiving treatment.