To the Nurses Who Are the Warmth and Light We Need

Dear Nurses,

Sometimes I wonder if you know how amazing you are. You work incredibly long hours. Not only do you put up with patients who are rude to you, you still put in the effort to take care of them. You are the heart of the hospital. You are our advocates when necessary. You go above and beyond to keep us at ease. You might barely have time to eat your own lunch, yet make sure we got ours. Your feet might be hurting and you might be tired, but you make sure we’re as comfortable as we can be despite our circumstances. You are not only our caretakers, you are our friends. In a cold, scary hospital room, you are the warmth and the light.

You’re kind to the patients who won’t stay in their bed, even though you keep telling them not to get up. You are kind to the kids who won’t stop crying. You’re kind to the patient who requires help with personal needs. Some patients might yell at you or expect you to know the answers to everything, but I’ve still seen you keep a brave face. You are some of the most fearless people I’ve met.

You work long shifts — sometimes even a double — and I look at you and wonder how you’re still on your feet. You might be working all night and by 6 a.m. you still wake us up with a smile. You likely see heartbreak on a daily basis, yet you stay strong. Some of you have been the reason we have the courage to keep fighting whatever we’re fighting. Without you, some of us might be lost.

Thank you for being there for us during some of our hardest times. They are a little bit easier to get through because of you.

Follow this journey on The Pin Cushion Princess.

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Thinkstock image by aleksey-martynyuk