Steve Frey
They are the unsung heroes who save lives every day. Let that sink in for a minute—they save lives every day. They work long hours for too little pay, and they make a difference in every person’s life at one time or another. They’re nurses.
National Nurses Week runs from May 6 through May 12. It’s a week set aside to recognize all that nurses do, and that’s a considerable challenge because they do so much.
Nurses have been in the national news lately. No, not because of their dedication and sacrifice, but because of the comments made by Washington State Senator Maureen Walsh concerning a nursing bill that would require uninterrupted meal and rest breaks for nurses and protect them against mandatory overtime. She said that nurses at small hospitals “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.”
Nurses across the country, of course, were offended, and Walsh later apologized and promised to shadow a nurse on a 12-hour shift to see precisely what they do.
Locally, Radford University recently announced a merger with Carilion Clinic Jefferson College. Radford keeps getting things right. With an aging population, there is going to be a severe demand for more nurses, and Radford is working to fill that void.
Radford also signed an agreement with New River Community College to transfer all credits to the university, allowing health services students to move through their courses seamlessly. Add in high school programs, and there will be a real curriculum continuum for students pursuing nursing and health services in the New River Valley. Hopefully, area providers like Carilion New River Valley Medical Center will be able to keep some of those newly minted nurses right here in the NRV!
However, let’s get back to National Nurses Week.
Everyone knows a nurse. Many have a nurse in their extended family. If not, all of us have come in contact with a nurse in a doctor’s office, an emergency room, urgent care, a nursing home or in a hospital.
Doctors often get a lot of credit for a patient’s success, but a nurse is the one on the front lines.
It is a nurse who makes split-second decisions about patient care when the doctor isn’t around. They monitor the patient, change dressings, adjust equipment, administer meds, feed, bathe and, for many patients, provide the needed services that keep them alive.
They care deeply about their patients and their profession. A nurse’s smile and calm demeanor can help soothe an anxious patient, whether he is 18 months or 80. They do so many things in the most challenging situations to make life a little brighter for some of the most despondent among us.
They are there when an infant is ill, and parents look for any sign of hope through worried and fearful eyes. They also let an anxious child with those same worried and fearful eyes know that they will take care of a parent in a nursing home.
Nurses often are the first persons to see a newborn and the last person to comfort someone in hospice care. In between, they take care of us and our needs – whatever they may be.
Nurses work long hours—sometimes three twelve-hour days in a row—and no, they aren’t playing cards. Their dedication is incredible.
During this week, School Nurses Day is also set for Wednesday, May 8. School nurses may have five hundred or more possible patients to take care of, and they also administer meds, place Band-aids on skinned knees, help diagnose and remedy illnesses and work with parents to see that students get the outside services they need. They advise on health plans, develop peanut allergy precautions and review vaccine records. They are nurse, doctor, mom, social worker and counselor to thousands of children in a career. They are loved.
Let’s take a moment this week to thank nurses wherever they may be serving for all they do to help keep us safe and well.
Maya Angelou, whose mother was a nurse, once said, “As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul and body of our patients, their families and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
No, we will never forget.
Thank you, nurses!
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services based in Radford.