It Pays to Know the Nurse

Nurses are really great people. I know a few personally and they really are great people. The nurses I had during my hospital stay were all really amazing people – so kind and easy going – they always made sure I was comfortable even when I was in some of the most uncomfortable of situations.

What upsets me a little bit about my time in the hospital, my condition and my nurses is that I never got to actually see them. If I were to ever run into them I would have no idea who they were. I am sure I didn’t make much of an impression on my nurses – except maybe the one I puked on and even then probably not - but they made an impression on me.

We discovered that the nurse I had on my last day in the hospital went to high school with my younger sister. While she was more than accommodating before we discovered this fun fact, she was even more accommodating after. And this put me – who was nervous about leaving the secure - albeit nerve-racking – hospital environment and go home.

She went over all of my medications and answered all of my questions – even the ones that may have seemed repetitive or even dumb. And best of all, she gave me my last shot of morphine before leaving. This is something she technically wasn’t supposed to do, but it was going to be at least an hour before I would official leave and I was obviously in pain.

If I ran into her at the store later today – I would never know. The same is true for all of my nurse and even my doctors (with the exception of the doctors I would continuing seeing – pun intended - as I recovered ).

It took a while for me to officially leave the hospital, but when I finally did the fresh air felt nice, and it was off to home I went. I was happy and scared at the same time. Thank god for that last shot of morphine – I may have freaked out right then and there – I guess it really does pay to know the nurse.