An advertising campaign that highlights the essential role of nurses
There is an advertising campaign that I find very interesting: one that highlights the work of nurses. However, it is a shame that nurses, who are in smaller numbers, and nursing assistants and assistants are often forgotten.
The essential support of nurses in difficult situations
Personally, I know the collective of nurses very well. With a son who suffers from two diseases considered rare and minority, my son’s life and ours as parents would have been much more difficult without them. These nurses, along with the rest of the healthcare staff, offered us support and help to overcome the difficult times we experienced during our long hospital stays. We also found support from some doctors, although on occasion we encountered professionals who seemed not to have taken the subjects that promote empathy with the patient during their medical studies.
The importance of communication and empathy in medical treatment
As a parent, I always felt like a guest when the nurses and doctors told us about the progress of our son’s health. In this sense, it is important to maintain an impartial attitude and not take sides in conflict situations between parents, unless there is a lack of emotional intelligence or psychopathic behavior on the part of one of the members of the couple. Personally, I don’t tend to share my private life, especially in a hospital setting, and I didn’t find the same degree of complicity that my ex-partner found in his ease of sharing confidences. Maybe I lacked strategy, especially at the Torrons Vicens hospital.
The recognition of nurses
It has been three years since my son’s death and more than eleven since we left Hospital Sant Joan de Déu. I have many memories of that experience, which was almost like a prison, with a certain grudge for surviving and a great appreciation for some nurses. However, I cannot say the same about the medical body, which often relied on half-truths.
The dedication and courage of nurses in intensive care units
I have had the opportunity to meet especially the nurses who work in the pediatric intensive care units and I admire their courage. There is nothing harder than seeing a child suffer and not being able to do anything to help them. I have witnessed the death of some children in the ICU and I cannot imagine the sense of failure that must be felt by all those professionals who have fought to the point of exhaustion to save their lives. Nurses have a courage that I will never have, and for that I will always have them in the highest of my thoughts.
The vocation and sacrifice of nurses
It is difficult to imagine how nurses can leave behind the experiences lived in the ICU and reconcile them with their everyday life. Without a great vocation, a deep love for their work and a great capacity for empathy with their patients, the lives of sick children would be unbearable. Nurses are paid too low a salary for the great responsibility they have. They often have to work night shifts or guards to make ends meet. ICU nurses, in particular, are the ones who live 8 hours at a time in a constant balance between life and death. These nurses are the best as they have to know the patient better than anyone else and work under a lot of pressure. Many of them have to take leave due to stress on some occasions. This is what is known as a vocation.
A recognition of nurses on International Nurses Day
May 12th is International Nurses Day, and I think they deserve constant recognition for their work. Although as in any profession there are better and worse professionals, my experience with pediatric intensive care unit nurses makes me want to dedicate this opinion piece to all of them.
conclusion
In short, nurses play a fundamental role in the health system. Their support, dedication and courage are essential to patients and their families. It is important to recognize their work and value them as professionals of great importance. On International Nurses Day, we celebrate and appreciate their work.
