They can be my best friends, my allies, my set of eyes when I am not around. But at the same time they can be my arch enemies. They are to be respected and feared equally. And don’t make the mistake of questioning whether they are knowledgeable. They can be your worse enemy in your time of need, so do not underestimate them!
Every day it seems they are stretched in terms of their patience, mental fatigue, work load and other’s expectations. However, like clockwork, they come back for more.
They are often recognized, but frequently overlooked.
So, who are these apparently selfless souls?
The junior doctors? Are you kidding me!!??
I am talking about the Nursing Staff (also known as “Sister!!!!!!!!” to some of you buffoons ).
Very early in my training, I was cautiously advised by one of my seasoned attending physicians (you may know them as “consultants”) in the emergency department, to treat the nurses with respect: “They can make you have a good day, or a terrible one. Be nice”. This is valuable and sound advice that I have come to understand very clearly and pass onto all my junior scrubs.
They come in all shapes and sizes, colours, both men and women. Most have traveled very far to be here, many of them leaving loved ones and families behind. I suspect that they are grossly underpaid, given the amount of responsibility that they are burdened with every shift. Yet, despite these seemingly adverse conditions they will console you during times of hardship, attempt to answer all your banal and seemingly unimportant questions about whether you can have a private room or not, or if you can go outside and smoke, etc with an air apparent of someone who is there to help and listen. Could you do all that? Day in, day out?
Please be kind and respectful towards them. They are human beings and they have human emotions (most do anyways); so “don’t bite the hand that feeds,” and also realize that crocodiles have tears too.
I wouldn’t call this a warning, but rather, a gentle reminder.
