When it comes to saving lives, doctors may play the most important role.
Very few people talks about nurses, assistants, paramedics, or anesthetists afterward. Most people overlook their significance.
One evening, when Caitlin was coming home after a particularly taxing day at work caring for sick babies, she decided to stop to pick up milk. There, she ran into an acquaintance who had never seen her in scrubs before. According to Caitlin, the acquaintance reacted with this unthinking response: She didn’t realize Caitlin was “just a nurse.”
It seemed to be a “slip of the tongue,” but it hit Caitlin at her core. She’d heard this comment many times before, but on that particular day, after a long shift that left her emotionally and physically drained, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
So she wrote a letter on Facebook in the name of nurses everywhere to show the world how easily the word “just” can strip away one’s significance.
Here’s what she wrote:
“I was heading home after a tough shift, but even though I was in uniform, I decided to go into the supermarket to do some shopping. I ran into a former high school classmate who said to me”:
In 18 years of my career, I’ve heard this phrase many times, but today it seemed to irritate me more than usual… Was that all I was? JUST a nurse?
I’ve helped bring many children into the world, but I’m just a nurse; I’ve held the hands of the dying as they took their last breaths, but I’m just a nurse;
I’ve revived patients who were clinically d_ead for seconds and helped them come back to life, but I’m just a nurse; I’ve held parents in my arms after they’ve seen their children pass away, but I’m just a nurse; I can draw blood, tend to wounds, but I’m just a nurse;
I’ll miss Christmas days, my children’s birthdays, their school events to come to work and care for your loved ones, but I’m just a nurse; I can resuscitate a newborn, a child, or an adult, but I’m just a nurse.
I have the experience and knowledge to save lives, and even though I’m just a nurse, I take pride in that!”
