My nursing career and my life have taken me to places I could only imagine. From high school to nursing school, suburbs to city I have been blessed to meet many heros.
Heros come in all shapes and sizes. My patient Max was a hero as he showed me what the power of touch and quiet can do. Max awoke with attention and gentle care. He died peacefully many weeks later.
One night a patient came out to the desk. He was not only a cancer patient, but a resident physician. He wrote on a piece of paper that he coughed up some tumor. He couldn’t talk, but his eyes were scared and weary. As I tried to comfort him, he became frustrated and angry. I could only walk him back to the room. The next day I went to his room to see how he was. I knocked and entered. The light coming in the window showed shadows across the room and bits of dust that you sometimes see in certain lights. In the hospital bed was this man, lying beside his wife. She was curled against him. And beside the bed was a priest administering the sacrament of the sick. It was surreal. The world stopped for a minute as I witnessed the beauty of surrender and faith. Nolite Timere…be not afraid. Heros all three.
I was a fairly new nurse when we first learned of AIDs. It took so long to determine how it was caused, how it was transmitted, and how staff should take precautions. Camden NJ was part of the area my hospice served. As AIDs raged on, many babies were born of mothers with AIDs. Many of these moms had drug problems so the babies were often crying and cranky. The babies were HIV+. My hero nurse, Silvana, volunteered to care for the AIDs babies. She’d hold them and kiss them. She cuddled them and taught moms how to care for them. And the babies did what babies do. They spit up and they pooped. She was fearless. And special. An example of selflessness and compassion. A hero.
Walking each other home introduces us to many heroes. More as weeks go on.
Walking Each Other Home 