To Love A Nurse Is To Love an Angel! (In Praise of Nurses Everywhere)

TheDiscipleMD
The past twenty some odd years I have been privileged to be married to a loving registered nurse. Before that I was married to the same women, but one who didn’t carry that same designation. She has always been loving to me and to our children.  But now she is able to bless the lives of so many more through her profession.  I know the people she is assigned to are not only getting good professional care, but so much more. She genuinely cares about her patients and goes the “extra” mile. She embodies the charge of the Savior when he said, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain”. (Matthew 5:41). I can only wish in my dying days, that a nurse like her would be by my side.

I was reminded of how wonderful it is to have compassionate nurses all across our country by a story I recently read.

“She’d been assigned to an elderly patient who had not spoken a single word in three years. Some of the caretakers disliked this patient so much that she was always passed down to the newest member of the staff. But this nurse was a Christian, at least she’d always thought she was, and she decided that her Christian love was only as good as her love for this particular patient. The old woman used to sit in a rocking chair all day long. “So I pulled up another rocking chair,” the nurse said, “and just rocked alongside her and loved her and loved her and loved her.” The third day she opened her eyes and said, “You’re so kind.” Those were the first words she had spoken in three years”. (Jones, E. Stanley, “Somebody Needs You.” (reprint), Guidepost Magazine. December 1962)

All of us would want to have a nurse from the story above to watch over our loved ones. Everyone wants and needs that kind of love shown to them. The story above is not unusual for the way that nurses professionally, and compassionately go about their duties. They are often overworked and are under extreme pressure to perform.   I know from personal experience that it is not unusual for a nurse to not even have the time to visit a restroom over a twelve-hour shift.

Most of us only come into contact with nurses when we are under extreme duress. A friend or loved one is suddenly taken seriously ill. Or worse yet, we find ourselves in a hospital bed with innumerable tubes hooked to our body. It is a frightening time for both us and our loved ones.  In those frightening times most of us are looking for a comforting shoulder for compassion and also words of encouragement.  When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he used a nurse as a way of comparing how he and the other apostles had sacrificed and were constantly keeping their welfare in mind.  He wrote:

“Nor of men sought we glory neither of you, nor yet of others…But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children.” (1 Thessalonians 2:6-7)

Let us remember to be kind to the nurses who so diligently try to, not only deal with our physical needs, but who strive to calm our fears, buoy our spirits and sooth our souls.  I have found through personal experience, that to love a nurse, is to love an angel!

Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Comments are closed.

Designed by ThemePix