Who Nurtures the Nurse?

Through a collection of stories told by nurses in their own words, the book addresses why nurses are nurses, and why patients love them. Nurses are the glue that hold the medical process together. Patients, some with family support and others without, are in a strange and scary environment. Nurses help to combat those fears and anxieties that all patients and families have. These stories are from nurses young and old, and about the special patients in their lives. Patients are the reason most of us go into nursing. It certainly isn't about the money or fame. It is about caring, walking that patient and their family, through the process of illness and the unknown, to the next stage. Sometimes that stage has a positive outcome and sometimes not. As nurses we celebrate with the patients and their families and sometimes we grieve with them. All of us who have been care givers have memories of some of our patients and their families. Maybe we even stay in touch with them. I am still in touch with Ruby, the 97 year old widow of George, one of my first patients. Ruby and George are why I went into nursing. Ruby's love and support of me was a nurturing force in my walk through those sterile white halls everyday. It's what kept me going. Who is your Ruby? Who nurtures the nurse in you???