Nurse (ners) n 1: A compassionate caregiver educated and skilled in the art of science and nurturing the mind,body and spirit of the sick and injured 2: one who advocates for patients 3: collaborator,teacher, guardian, confidante, leader 4: individual who dares to go the extra mile and is resilient enough to do it again tomorrow 5: an angel in comfortable shoes
What is a nurse? What do nurses do?
I have been asked on multiple occasions the above questions. I always try to come up with a great answer that makes people realize how rewarding it is to be a nurse, but each time I answer I am not fully happy with my answer. After each shift, I learn more and more about what exactly a nurse does each day. A few examples of what we do each shift includes advocating for our patients, teaching families and comforting them during hard times, collaborating with physicians, and most importantly we communicate with the ultimate healer, Jesus.
Spiritual calling
Being a new nurse, means that each shift is full of learning opportunities and sometimes it can be somewhat stressful. At times I still struggle to understand why exactly Jesus led me to the nursing profession, but I always have that one patient who reminds me of exactly why nursing is my spiritual calling. The spiritual calling of carrying out a specific set of tasks here on this world. I may have a patient who simply needs some words of encouragement, a family who asks for me to pray with them, or caring for individuals while they take their last breath here on Earth. I am excited to see what specific tasks I will be required to carry out in the years to come. I know that Jesus will be guiding me and leading me to be the greatest nurse I can be and what greater feeling is there than knowing that Jesus has his hand in each task that I will be required to fulfill.
Miracle in the ICU
Nursing exposes me to the various acts of Jesus. One particular story sticks out when I think of miracles in the intensive care unit. I was still on orientation and working under a fellow nurse when we were assigned to care for a patient who was involved in a motor vehicle accident. When I first walked into this patient’s room, I was quite intimidated. The patient was on the ventilator and there were numerous IV lines running into the patient’s central line catheter. I was humbled as I looked at this individual lying there, someone’s loved one and/or friend in the most critical state they had ever been in. This patient’s family was constantly praying and asking for Jesus to heal their loved ones body and to give them the strength that they needed to continue on. I found myself praying each time I stepped foot into this patient’s room–saying Jesus please let your will be done here. A few weeks passed and this patient was no longer in a medically induced coma and barely had any IV lines going to their central line catheter! Before I knew it we were cheering this individual on as they took their first steps down the hallway in the cardiac intensive care unit. At that moment, I realized that Jesus is still in the miracle business and I had to fight back tears knowing that I assisted in Jesus’s miracle in the ICU.
ANNA.COURTNEY 