Journal of Nursing
No, Ms. Ray, I'm Not Thankful to Have a Job
Pat Miller, RN [email protected]
No, Ms Ray, I am Not Lucky to Have a Job!
No, Ms. Ray, I am not lucky to have a job. I have dedicated my career to the care of others in need. I have been a nurse for almost 30 years, a critical care nurse for greater than 28 years, 12 of which were spent serving as a flight nurse. I have held the tiniest of hearts and the most aged of hands both with the utmost of care. No Ms. Ray I am not lucky to have a job.
I have cared for the sickest patients imaginable and my heart overflows with the care and comfort that I have given them and their families. I flew the one of the youngest heart recipients ever into Tucson to receive his heart and one year later I flew him back when he was dying. I have cared for trauma children with their brain matter on the outside of their heads and adults with missing limbs. I have cared for patients that will “never survive” and yet somehow they did. I have an endless barrage of stories of patients and families, some sad, some funny, and some too horrible to repeat. No, Ms. Ray, I am not lucky to have a job.
I have spent more nights without dinner or even a bathroom break than I can even remember. I have left my own child to care for the children of others. I have spent more holidays with fellow nurses than my own family. No Ms. Ray I am not lucky to have a job.
Oh and just for the record, should we both find ourselves unemployed tomorrow, I have an endless supply of jobs waiting; however you on the other hand would be lucky to find a job.
« Back to the Journal of Nursing
- Master vs. Apprentice
- Six Sigma and Healthcare Finances
- Post-Fall Care Nursing Algorithm
- Promoting the Sexual Health of Older People
- FNP Student Assessment of Acute Abdominal Pain
- Withdrawal in the Pediatric Cardiac Population
- Cardiac Amyloid
- Do nurses really understand Advanced Health Care Directives?
- Russian Nurses after the Crimean War
- Patient’s Wishes and Dying with Dignity
- Remember When We Were Nursing Students
- My Professional Path as a Nurse
- Prescriptive Authority for Nurse Practitioners
- Expanding the BSN Workforce
- Ethical considerations for the mentally unwell in a global pandemic
- Phlebotomy Basics For Nurses
- Pathogen Transmission from Blood Pressure Cuffs
- Successful Aging For Canada's LGBT Older Adults
- The Power of Preceptorship
- Doing More with Less: Are We Compromising Patient Care?
