The most important people in the lives of my family

Hello all and Happy Nurses Day to some of the most important people I know and thousands more that I don't! Nurses have been an important element in my life on so many levels. I met my one time best friend, who later introduced me to Rob (my late husband ~ who was the recipient of amazing Nursing care himself), as she was my nurse during a surgical stay at a hospital when I was 21. I later worked extremely hard to become a nurse myself and met some amazing students, teachers, mentors and coworkers along the way. Than my daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia and Nursing became our life line. We have been blessed with strong nursing, unbelievable friendships and professionalism I can only hope to aspire to. Though my daughter was the one who was being medically treated, my family refers to them as "our nurses". They have been special to each and every one of my family members and have played a huge part in not only saving Julia's life but in getting us through this struggle too. I am not naming names because I want to thank every single nurse that has come in contact with my family. If you have cared for my daughter, I thank you from the bottom of my soul. There are some in particular that are beyond special to us, but for those that we will never get to thank personally, please know you are appreciated and will always have a place in our hearts. To my co-workers, present and past, I am so proud of the people I have worked with and learned from. I love you and wish you a Happy Nurses Day!!!
Now onto my Rant du Jour .... Next year, can we not have a day ~ just ONE DAY ~ to honor ONLY our nurses. There are no other accolades or other days of the year to pat a nurse on the back. Trust me, it rarely happens AT ALL. When things go wrong we are the first blamed and when things go right it is usually the Dr. that gets the appreciation. So we get a day in May and what happens? It is grouped with Teacher's Day and in the same week as Mother's Day!!! Come on. As a Mother, Nurse and Teacher (which all Moms and Nurses are by default) I fully appreciate my children's teachers daily and especially on the last day of school when they are usually toasted with Capri Suns and showered with Bath Gels and potted plants. Nurses don't get any of that even on Nurses Day.
So I ask you, as you send in gifts and cards and love letters to your teachers (which you should!) please remember the Nurse who is not looking forward to a 3 month vacation and gets little to no respect while working in the trenches. I love our nurses and thank them each day in my prayers! Remember for some of you, your child would not have a good teacher if they hadn't had a great nurse first!
Peace,
K