The Reason Why...

...I'm a nurse. The reason why I am who I am.

The other day I was taking care of an older gentleman who was recovering from major surgery and his dear wife was sitting on the couch in his room. Since I believe the care we give should not only be directed at the patient, but to the family as well, I always try to engage the family and friends in what I do. After assessing the husband, I walked over to talk with the wife and noticed she was cross-stitching some sort of floral thing. On closer inspection, I saw that it read, "Christ Is Risen!" I immediately responded with, "He is risen indeed!" The wife looked up at me with shock on her face and her eyes started to water. "I haven't heard a young person say that in years. Thank you!"

Throughout the rest of my shift we talked about our faith, our priorities, our lives. The connection was immediate, all because of a simple response. When I left at the end of the day, she gave me a big hug and said, "I will probably forget your name, but I will never forget you. Thank you so much for all you've done and for who you are." I'm no extraordinary nurse, I'm just me... but this is why I love what I do. I'm new yet, and there will be hard days...but remembering stories like this one will help keep me going.

In other news, my first night shift is tomorrow night. I'm a little nervous, but I'm looking forward to guiltlessly sleeping in tomorrow! (After church tonight, of course!)