Nursing is a profession that has been stereotyped or degraded all throughout history. It is known as a job that does the "dirty work"; or the profession one picks because they were not smart enough to be a doctor. All these beliefs are false because there is so much more to nursing than what meets the eye.

One big thing nurses are known for is being at the bedside 24/7. This part of a nurse's job gives them the opportunity to create relationships with their patients. It is always beneficial to make connections with people because you can learn so much about others, the world and even yourself.

One nurse-patient relationship that stood out to me was the one my cousin had with a 13-year-old leukemia patient. The patient was too sick to go to school, play a sport or even hang out with her friends. She missed out on parts of her childhood because of her illness. As the days went by, the patient frequently talked to my cousin about how she wanted to travel to different places because she was tired of always being stuck in the hospital. The little girl felt as if she was wasting her life instead of living it. After hearing this almost daily, my cousin decided to surprise her with a "vacation" in the patient's room. My cousin brought in ethnic food from different parts of the world, she had flags from different countries taped to the wall, she even had little figures shaped like airplanes, passports and suitcases. My cousin knew her patient could not travel the world; so, she brought the world to her.

My cousin felt as if she was taking her healthy life for granted. All she did was sleep, eat, work and repeat. There was no "fun" in her life. After meeting her patient though, she realized that she should use her healthy life to experience stuff that she usually did not. Since then, my cousin spontaneously goes on a vacation every year to a new country. She went to the United Kingdom two years ago, Costa Rica last year and South Africa is next year.

Nursing is more than cleaning up vomit and urine. Nurses change patients' lives and patients' change nurses' lives. It is a relationship that is unexpected but cherished. People will continue to talk down nursing; but there is a reason why it is the #1 trusted profession.