RNs Aren't Built To Break

[Hawaiian]

[from the nursing blog PEE AND SYMPATHY]

Once, I witnessed an RN's final, solemn march.

Many years ago, while working in an ICU in the hills of San Francisco, I sat at the monitors and observed Jerry pushing a very heavy hospital bed across the unit by himself (as you know, nurses often work alone).

His struggle, personified in an extremely thin frame pillaged by AIDS, refused to quit working. He was an ICU Nurse devoted to his career and wanted to pay off his debts before his death.

This nobility couldn't overcome his attacker, however, and he died a week later. His ashes were thrown into the Bay by a handful of nurses who had become his de facto family.

I remember his cool-headed approach to his illness and his mortality.

"RN's aren't built to break," he would say.

He was committed to his work ethic in an environment that encouraged an honest, open approach to illness, even when it was one's own.

I'm writing this story not to embellish sad thoughts or gloomy moralizing, but to simply acknowledge the strenuous endeavors of an epic career filled with good fellowship and camaraderie.

There's a big difference between the West and East Coast and I'm sounding the alarm....ringing the bell and clanging the trolley.

I had been on vacation and upon my return I asked my colleagues, "Where's Grace? I haven't seen her in a while," and was met with a disquieting "SHHHH!"

"Be quiet," I was told.

"What are you talking about?" I persisted. "What's the matter with Grace?"

I put on my mining cap and continued inquiring until I discovered the heartbreaking truth.

"Grace has cancer," Miss Kimodo said. "She's terminal." (Stage 4 breast cancer)

"Grace has too good a heart," I replied stunned and tormented.

She is only 34, a wife and mother, and gifted with perennial cheer. She's a nurse who "has your back."

Have you ever watched a Chinese family working together in a restaurant? It's very much like the excitement of a busy nurse's station. The pots and pans create a busy melody reflecting the hospital-ity of family. And there's always a child in the corner doing her homework.

In my experience, it was Grace finishing her master's degree on any computer she could get her hands on.

Ladies and gentleman of the nursing profession: Cancer is not a horrible secret or something "bad" that happened because of karma. It...just...is.

In the tradition of honor and affection, and in the old-fashioned warmhearted style of nursing, I am reaching out to all those Amazing Graces. The RNs, LPNs and aides that you work with are your second family. Embrace the big picture.

Breast Cancer should not be silenced. If it is, it will shut out all the good intentions of caring comrades. It will also inhibit the funding needed to search for a cure.

Yesterday, I noticed for the first time in years the beautiful sunrise over NYC (I saw it from the Gold Coast of NJ, believe or or not).

It carried with it all the residual colors of Autumn. And in its golden hue, I reflected on the words of an exquisite nurse:

"RNs aren't built to break."

...patients and doctors should be thankful for that.

[MedSurgeMess]

Beautiful.........

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

Very thought provoking.....

[emsboss]

Brought tears to my eyes... Thank You for sharing

[tewdles, RN]

Beautifully written.

Wonderful sentiment...nurses aren't built to break...but we do break sometimes. We are not always brave and noble and self sacrificing. Sometimes we are just people...heart broken, ill, and hurting. We do have the advantage that even when we are "broken" our colleagues are not stock brokers or bean counters...they are nurses who look in our eyes, see our pain, and devise ways to help us.

[Crux1024]

Thank you. That was beautiful.

[Hawaiian]

This post was particularly pertinent given the whole mammogram debate.