You might have heard about Kelley Johnson, otherwise known as Miss. Colorado. She gave a monologue speech as her talent for the preliminary of Miss. America last week. It is truly heart wrenching. If you haven’t seen it, you can here. The video put my sister in tears and I can’t remember the last time I had so many goose bumps… First off, I have been hearing a lot of people saying that they enjoyed her speech, but it wasn’t really a ‘talent’. The talent is her nursing skills. The talent is that she was able to impact someone else’s life without even realizing that she was.
You might have also heard about the TV show The View? Two hosts on this show totally made the wrong decision in bashing nurses…I feel bad (not really) for the decline in the viewers that this show just got. Michelle Collins and Joy Behar made comments that many, many people took offensive. Behar mentioned Johnson having a ‘doctor’s stethoscope’ and Collins made comments about Alzheimer’s and she was giggling the whole time. You know that situation where people say “oh no offense!” … But you know they totally mean some sort of offense? This is that situation.
Honestly, I couldn’t believe that these hosts actually made these comments. My sister will impact more lives of people than these hosts ever will. And yes, this post is a tad biased, I am just warning you now.
9 Reasons why nurses are the REAL superheroes:
They are modest
As shown in the video above… “I’m just a nurse” is a common phrase that is used among nurses.
They are selfless
Nurses give anything and everything to make their patients comfortable. For the time that they are one shift, and even off shift at times, they still put their patients first. My sister, Shelby, had a patient that was just beyond in love with her nursing skills. After about 2 nights of having this patient, they got moved to a different floor. Knowing that she would only get many 4-5 hours of sleep, my sister still work up early the next afternoon before her shift so she could go visit this patient on the other floor before her shift. My sister struggles with sleep, she hardly ever gets any, but that doesn’t mean a thing to her as long as she is impacting the lives of others.
They are knocked down daily and go to work with a smile on their face the next day
If you have had a loved one in the hospital, you understand this when I say that it is hard. It took everything I had in me to keep my chill at times when Grandma was in the hospital. I wanted so badly for a miracle to happen that it didn’t really matter who got my backlash… someone was going to get it. Do you know who usually gets it? The nurses. Sometimes family members of patients are harder to deal with than the patient themselves. I have had my sister call me in tears multiple times after a shift because the doctor’s were being rude or she had a rude patient… but she picks herself up and she is ready to go to work the next day.
They are pro’s at “kill ‘em with kindness”
My sister told me once that she almost enjoys the challenge of getting a rude patient. When someone is difficult to help and just nothing is making him or her happy, my sister puts in extra effort to change their attitude. You better believe that when she is done with her shift, they person is smiling, laughing, and begging my sister to stay. She says that it is one of the most wonderful feelings.
They never get credit, but that never stops them
Who gets all the credit? The doctors. But who has to do all the dirty work? The nurses. Don’t get me wrong, nurses make and incredible amount of money, but with all the work that they do on a daily basis, they should definitely make more. There are not very many professions out there that I believe should make more money then they do, but nurses are definitely one of them. They do not get holidays, nights, weekends, or seasons off. Some nurses work 12-hour shifts and sometimes those are nightshifts. The clean up other people’s bowel movements, stay on their feet almost their entire shift, they get yelled at, deal with blood, and vomit. If you get to go to work on a daily basis and sit behind a desk, get holidays off, and you couldn’t stomach the thought of having to deal with the tasks listed above… please do not complain about your salary or how tired you are. I understand that every job is different and are draining in certain ways, but it always seems to me that nurses always get the short end of this stick.
They can handle curveballs
Sometimes when you come into work you are expecting 3 patients and then all of a sudden something happens and you are stuck with 6. Nurses are quick to adapt. They understand that, excuse my language, but shit happens.
They can work 12-hour shifts without eating, drinking, or using the restroom
If that isn’t enough in itself to make someone a superhero then I am not sure what is. Let’s also add that they do not let themselves get ‘hangry’ (anger due to hunger)… they keep a smile on their face the entire shift.
No topic is ever off limits and the word ‘embarrassing’ is not in their vocabulary.
So many times I will be eating with Shelby and she will blurt out something absolutely foul that happened at work. She says it with a smile on her face and ends each story with “it was so cool”. Absolutely nothing in this world could possibly embarrass a nurse. Going to the restroom in public? No. Popping someone else’s pimple? No. Staring at people secretly diagnosing them in your head? Nope… nothing is off limits.
The witness death, sometimes on a weekly basis
I remember the first time that Shelby experienced losing a patient after Grandma passed away. It was so difficult, and it doesn’t help that you grow a bond with these patients. These are more than just patients; nurses see their patients are actual people, or friends if you will. It is never easy to lose someone whom you grow a bond with.
Oh and for the record—A stethoscope is a stethoscope.
You might have also heard about the TV show The View? Two hosts on this show totally made the wrong decision in bashing nurses…I feel bad (not really) for the decline in the viewers that this show just got. Michelle Collins and Joy Behar made comments that many, many people took offensive. Behar mentioned Johnson having a ‘doctor’s stethoscope’ and Collins made comments about Alzheimer’s and she was giggling the whole time. You know that situation where people say “oh no offense!” … But you know they totally mean some sort of offense? This is that situation.
Honestly, I couldn’t believe that these hosts actually made these comments. My sister will impact more lives of people than these hosts ever will. And yes, this post is a tad biased, I am just warning you now.
9 Reasons why nurses are the REAL superheroes:
They are modest
As shown in the video above… “I’m just a nurse” is a common phrase that is used among nurses.
They are selfless
Nurses give anything and everything to make their patients comfortable. For the time that they are one shift, and even off shift at times, they still put their patients first. My sister, Shelby, had a patient that was just beyond in love with her nursing skills. After about 2 nights of having this patient, they got moved to a different floor. Knowing that she would only get many 4-5 hours of sleep, my sister still work up early the next afternoon before her shift so she could go visit this patient on the other floor before her shift. My sister struggles with sleep, she hardly ever gets any, but that doesn’t mean a thing to her as long as she is impacting the lives of others.
They are knocked down daily and go to work with a smile on their face the next day
If you have had a loved one in the hospital, you understand this when I say that it is hard. It took everything I had in me to keep my chill at times when Grandma was in the hospital. I wanted so badly for a miracle to happen that it didn’t really matter who got my backlash… someone was going to get it. Do you know who usually gets it? The nurses. Sometimes family members of patients are harder to deal with than the patient themselves. I have had my sister call me in tears multiple times after a shift because the doctor’s were being rude or she had a rude patient… but she picks herself up and she is ready to go to work the next day.
They are pro’s at “kill ‘em with kindness”
My sister told me once that she almost enjoys the challenge of getting a rude patient. When someone is difficult to help and just nothing is making him or her happy, my sister puts in extra effort to change their attitude. You better believe that when she is done with her shift, they person is smiling, laughing, and begging my sister to stay. She says that it is one of the most wonderful feelings.
They never get credit, but that never stops them
Who gets all the credit? The doctors. But who has to do all the dirty work? The nurses. Don’t get me wrong, nurses make and incredible amount of money, but with all the work that they do on a daily basis, they should definitely make more. There are not very many professions out there that I believe should make more money then they do, but nurses are definitely one of them. They do not get holidays, nights, weekends, or seasons off. Some nurses work 12-hour shifts and sometimes those are nightshifts. The clean up other people’s bowel movements, stay on their feet almost their entire shift, they get yelled at, deal with blood, and vomit. If you get to go to work on a daily basis and sit behind a desk, get holidays off, and you couldn’t stomach the thought of having to deal with the tasks listed above… please do not complain about your salary or how tired you are. I understand that every job is different and are draining in certain ways, but it always seems to me that nurses always get the short end of this stick.
They can handle curveballs
Sometimes when you come into work you are expecting 3 patients and then all of a sudden something happens and you are stuck with 6. Nurses are quick to adapt. They understand that, excuse my language, but shit happens.
They can work 12-hour shifts without eating, drinking, or using the restroom
If that isn’t enough in itself to make someone a superhero then I am not sure what is. Let’s also add that they do not let themselves get ‘hangry’ (anger due to hunger)… they keep a smile on their face the entire shift.
No topic is ever off limits and the word ‘embarrassing’ is not in their vocabulary.
So many times I will be eating with Shelby and she will blurt out something absolutely foul that happened at work. She says it with a smile on her face and ends each story with “it was so cool”. Absolutely nothing in this world could possibly embarrass a nurse. Going to the restroom in public? No. Popping someone else’s pimple? No. Staring at people secretly diagnosing them in your head? Nope… nothing is off limits.
The witness death, sometimes on a weekly basis
I remember the first time that Shelby experienced losing a patient after Grandma passed away. It was so difficult, and it doesn’t help that you grow a bond with these patients. These are more than just patients; nurses see their patients are actual people, or friends if you will. It is never easy to lose someone whom you grow a bond with.
Oh and for the record—A stethoscope is a stethoscope.