Being a nurse can be an exhausting, stressful, and often thankless job. But without the dedicated individuals assisting doctors and administering care for those in need, the world would be much worse off.
Of course, men and women don't become nurses for the glory and appreciation. Even other medical professionals sometimes undermine the incredible responsibilities nurses juggle on a daily basis. It's an attitude too many nurses simply let slide as they tirelessly go about their jobs.
One nurse from Australia, however, had enough of being demeaned as "just a nurse." In October 2016, Caitlin Brassington happened to be wearing her scrubs when she bumped into an old friend she hadn't seen in a while. What the friend said to her was mind-boggling.
So, Caitlin posted a selfie in her scrubs, listing all the amazing ways she and others in her profession are so much more than "just a nurse."
Take a look below to see her powerful words, and be sure to SHARE the heartfelt message with all your friends on Facebook!
Caitlin posted a moving Facebook response to the demeaning comment she hears all too often:
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 realize I was “just a nurse.”
Wow! Over my 18-year career, I have heard this phrase many, many times, 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 counseled 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!
Do you know any nurses who deserve to be celebrated as much more than “just a nurse?”
Be sure to SHARE Caitlin's amazing message with your friends on Facebook!
