It’s a frazzled time of year and juggling work and real life can feel like running on a hamster wheel.
So, I want to give you a gift. (I love giving gifts.)
It’s kind of a DIY gift- I’m going to show you how to do it and you can then create something beautiful for yourself. (I also love DIY.)
So here goes.
I want to give you appreciation.
I want to thank you for all the ways you have helped people this week, this month, this year.
I want to thank you for being there for all the people whose lives you have impacted, maybe in big ways and maybe in small ways.
I want to thank you for continuing to show up, when you’re tired, when you’re understaffed, when you’re not sure you can keep doing it.
I especially want to thank you for showing up when you think you can’t keep doing it.
What you are doing is important, not just when you have time to connect with a patient and decrease their suffering, but also when you are running around getting all the tasks associated with their care completed. This part is just as important even if it doesn’t feel rewarding.
I thank you for making the phone calls, for explaining things again, for doing the math twice to make sure there isn’t an error, for seeing the extra person who got jammed into your schedule.
I thank you for keeping your calm when a frustrated family is taking their fear out on you.
I thank you for trying to lend a hand to a coworker when you can and I thank you for keeping your head above water when it’s the best you can do.
I thank you for being the care that the patient cannot be for themselves.
I thank you for being a nurse.
I give you this gift not just because you deserve it, but because taking a minute to appreciate the importance of your work and the impact it is making can lessen the burden and the busyness of the season.
The patients that we see now are more vulnerable, more in need. They feel the same stress of the season with the added burden of illness. We don’t have to take on their stress, we can be part of the solution.
You are important. You are impacting lives every day.
Try not to forget it… and if you do, I will be here to remind you.