Give credit where credit is due. When it comes to saving lives, doctors usually get most of the credit. Yes, they are the ones with more schooling and more training, but what about the rest of the staff?
What about other medical professions such as: nurses, EMTs and psychologists… shouldn’t they get their fair share of credit when it comes to saving lives? Well, the sad fact is that many people still regard nursing as an insignificant job.
Nurse Caitlin Brassington came across this backward thinking when she ran into an acquaintance at the grocery store. She was wearing her nurse scrubs, and the woman was surprised to find out about her profession.
It wasn’t the woman’s reactions that shocked Brassington. It was how the acquaintance used the word “just” in her sentence. The word implied that Brassington’s job had little to no importance in society.
After the unpleasant interaction, Brassington decided to go on social media and list all the way nurses around the world help those in need. While reading Caitlin’s post, I can’t help but nod my head in agreement because it couldn’t be any truer.
In a Facebook post, she writes:
“‘Just a Nurse’. I am just home from a busy shift, looking very ordinary in my scrubs. On the way home today I stopped at the shop for milk and saw an acquaintance. She has never seen me in uniform and said that she didn’t realise I was ‘just a nurse’. Wow! Over my 18 year career I have heard this phrase many, many time, but today it got to me. Am I just a nurse?”
“I have helped babies into the world, many of whom needed assistance to take their first breath, and yet I am just a nurse.
I have held patients hands and ensured their dignity while they take their last breath, and yet I am just a nurse.
I have counselled grieving parents after the loss of a child, and yet I am just a nurse.
I have performed CPR on patients and brought them back to life, and yet I am just a nurse.”
“I am the medical officers eyes, ears and hands with the ability to assess, treat and manage your illness, and yet I am just a nurse.
I can ascultate every lung field on a newborn and assess which field may have a decreased air entry, and yet I am just a nurse.
I can educate patients, carers, and junior nurses, and yet I am just a nurse.
I am my patients advocate in a health system that does not always put my patients best interest first, and yet I am just a nurse.”
“I will miss Christmas Days, my children’s birthdays, and school musicals to come to work to care for your loved one, and yet I am just a nurse.
I can take blood, cannulate and suture a wound, and yet I am just a nurse.
I can manage a cardiac arrest in a newborn, a child or an adult, and yet I am just a nurse.”
“I can tell you the dosage of adrenaline or amiodarone based on weight that your child may need to bring them back to life, and yet I am just a nurse.
I have the experience and knowledge that has saved people’s lives.
So, if I am just a nurse, then I am ridiculously proud to be one! #justanurse #love #nurse #mum #happy #taganurse”
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