Pause while I collect my wits and marvel that anyone would choose that work. Also thank God that someone will do it, because anyone who can bring compassion and care to sick, scared people in the ER deserves much more respect and money than he's probably getting.
I asked her if he was apprehensive about Ebola, and she said he'd reported that the staff was about to "get some training on that." This sounds astoundingly matter-of-fact to the layperson. Get some training? Not "how do I transfer out of here?" I can't believe what nurses sign on for.
And what about the two young nurses in Dallas who've been diagnosed with Ebola? First, they pitched in and worked with a desperately ill patient, and then very responsibly checked their own temperatures daily, and, in the case of Amber Vinson, even called the CDC several times about whether it was okay to fly. Conscientious and brave.
I've had nurses hold my hand during procedures when I was scared, and that care always stayed with me more than the skill of the doctors who did whatever it was. Their care made it bearable. And being in isolation with a possibly terminal disease--the worst--what would people in that situation do without the patience, care, and company of nurses?
That's what's been going through my mind as this Ebola outbreak unfolds, and with all the scary news.
Whatever the CDC says, or NIH, or hospital officials says--so confusing--I'm thinking that nurses are the one reliable source of comfort for anyone with Ebola or any other serious disease. What would we do without them?
I read this series when I was a kid, but even thenI knew I wasn't brave enough to be a nurse. (Loved the cap, though.)
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