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Why Nurses Are the Unsung Heroes of the Medical Field

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In honor of Nurse’s Week 2018, these are my reasons why nurses are the unsung heroes of the medical field.

Through all of my son’s medical procedures, hospitalizations and surgery, nurses have been the ones to help me hold it together when I’ve felt like falling apart.

When we’ve had to deal with pushy doctors while inpatient, nurses were the ones who helped switch to a new one.

When a doctor wanted to place my 3-month-old on a third blood pressure medication without more testing and blood pressure checking first, a nurse is the one who stepped in, got more testing ordered and straightened things out, thus avoiding the medication and helping with a better treatment.

When my baby came out of his eight-hour surgery into the PICU with several complications, on a ventilator and looked almost unrecognizable, his nurse was the one who was there to reassure me he was going to be OK and that it was normal to be a sobbing mess like I was.

Nurses are heroes. They work 12+ hour days/nights and miss holidays with their families to care for ours. They comfort us when our children are hospitalized and we are feeling defeated.

Nurses deserve so much more recognition than what they get. Our nurses treated and cared for my son as if he was their own child.

Having your child in the hospital is scary enough, but with kind, caring nurses, it makes it easier to deal with.

nurse holding baby

To our PICU nurse who still keeps in contact with us to this day, I can’t thank you enough for being who you are. Your positive attitude got me through the toughest days. It’s nurses like you that give parents the encouragement it takes to make it through the biggest battles we face as parents of kids with chronic medical conditions. Thank you so much.

Happy nurse’s week!

Originally published: May 10, 2018
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