As the Owner of a Healthcare Staffing Agency life can be very hectic. Myself and my staff are always working. We work for our nurses and allied staff, we work for the clients, and we work for each other in helping out where we can. We enjoy what we do, and we love making a difference in our own small way. But what really drives us are the times when one of our nursing staff shares with us a snapshot of their day, or their own observations regarding their experiences. So many times I know that I find the stories and experiences inspiring, and never before have we had a venue to share with everyone to show just how incredibly special we know that nurses are. Well, we have a way to share this now and it is one such story from one of our inspirational nursing staff that I feel honored to share with all of you. Our nurse’s name is April and here is what she told us in her own words.
“I have administered the last two milligrams of morphine that has stop someone from breathing, I have taken away and unplugged the machines that were giving life-sustaining oxygen, I have held the hand of an abandoned patient as she took her last breath on New Year's Eve to comfort her while knowing her family only called to ask, “is it over yet?”. Through all of this I was strong, but today was different and maybe it was because it's my first day back to work from being very sick which may have weakened me a bit, but today I stepped into the office to cry a little for my Spanish-speaking patient who had an end-of-life care conference. Patients and their families don't always understand for the brief 12 hours a nurse is with them he/she isn't just caring for them, but they are carrying them, all of them, through that moment. I hope I never become so calloused that I lose my compassion and dare I say even empathy for patients and their families. Most importantly I hope I never lose the ability to take those moments and allow them to encourage me in the life I've been blessed with...just saying.”
We often don’t really stop and think about these things as we go through our lives working, playing, and paying bills, and everyday little things. A nurse can deal with these things and when he/she goes to work takes on the responsibility of caring for a patient and their families, and as in the case of a person without a family, become that family, if even for a brief while. It takes a special person, a compassionate person, an inspirational person to be a nurse. So if you don’t hear it enough, thank you from us, and that means all of us who are grateful that a person like you chose to become a nurse and from Staff-Smart Medical Staffing, we are inspired by you, our employees every day.