My very first day as a student nurse on the ward, I was assigned a patient that had been in a horrible auto accident .
She had been thrown from her car and landed in a bayou and was covered in mud. She had been accessed for injuries and treated but needed a bath.
The mud had turned into a dried crust with blood dried into it.
I remember getting a basin with warm water and soap. I started with her hair and did the best I could.
Working down to her toes I scrubbed every inch until she looked human again.
The whole time I was scrubbing I realized how many times I had thought about being a nurse and wondered why I had wanted o do this for a career.
When I finished, my patient took my hand in hers and said “Thank you so much. You are a wonderful nurse”.
I knew from that moment on , my life’s work was nursing
I will never forget the sisters making us feel that such a simple thing as a bed bath can make a patient feel so much better!
After 45 years of nursing, mostly in the field of oncology , I had to give many bed baths. But never one more meaniful to me
I thank Charity for giving me a wonderful career and always the pride of sayibg I graduated from Charity
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