I would just like to thank the nurses who attended to my son, myself and the rest of my extended family in 2009, and by extension to every nurse around the world who similarly attended to suspected broken feet and legs (myself and my son), gall stones (mother-in-law) and to the bizarre occasion when my son managed to get his foot jammed into the side of an escalator at the local amusement park.
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I would like to use this article as the voice of the people in thanking you all for the professionalism that you show us in our times of need. Usually we are so relieved that our loved ones are O.K. that we simply forget to voice our appreciation at the job you just performed for us, so on behalf of everyone who didn't I will say it again. Thank you. Countless times you have made physically and emotionally stressful situations for us tolerable through your professionalism, your smiles and kind words, and in my own experience with my son, some apple juice, an x-ray and a band-aid.
Although I am not a nurse, part of my new job is to understand how nurses think and feel about their jobs within the whole nursing spectrum, and eventually how to communicate with them. This year within my job I will be out on the road talking to a few of you (oncology nurses beware!!) and truthfully, I am thinking what a privilege this will be. Although this task is work related, for me the benefits will personal. My life takes on greater meaning by reading your stories, both positive and negative. I smile at the funny stories, feel sad at the horrible ones but overall I feel empathy and get understanding, which ultimately makes me a better person, husband and father. I can't wait for these road trips to begin.
This year, being the father of two special needs boys- 'The Hurricanes'- I will for sure be coming to meet some of you in an emergency situation. In the heat of whatever situation this takes, and because I have read your stories, the following is what I will be thinking when you see us. Hopefully when you have finished reading this, when the patient/s you have just treated leave your care without thanking you for your service you gave them, you can think back to when you read this article because maybe this can serve as a thank you to all nurses in all situations.
By the time we get to see you, you are probably going to be at the end of a long shift. You might have been sworn at by an irate and in pain patient earlier in the night. You may have had your sound judgement undermined by a patient's relative (or worse still, by a slack colleague you are forced to cover for). Someone you have been caring for might have not made it through your shift. You have probably already been bled on, spat on and had to have cleaned up vomit and vomit from the other end. And due to the universal hospital budget cuts, you and the three other nurses on your shift (not counting the one you are covering for) have probably been doing the work of ten.
So, by the time we get to see you, the first thing I am going to say is , 'thank you for being able to see us so quickly.' Even though we may have been waiting for a few hours, rest assured that at least one person out there in the general community understands that patients are seen to on a priority bases, and our time spent waiting is an indication of the workload you have been working under during your shift. Hopefully you see in my body language that I mean this, and this causes you to smile.
Sometimes a smile is better tonic than the actual medicine you will prescribe, and I know this from the experiences I had when Hurricane One got his foot jammed in the escalator. He thought that it was the magic box of apple juice, but I think that it was the empathetic smile coming from the fatigued nurse that was enough to get him to calm down for his foot x-ray.
When we leave, I am going to shake your hand, look you in the eye and simple say, 'thank you for the service you just gave me and my family.' I hope you understand that these are not just words coming out of my mouth but is a message coming from my heart. Truly. I also hope that when you look into my eyes as I say this you see that it is an extension of everybody you have attended to on your shift; that it is in some small way an acknowledgement from all of us who you have seen, whether they thanked you or not. You are doing an invaluable job often under great stress and pressure, and I as a member of the general public would just like to say thank you on behalf of us all.
