Hell hath no fury like a nurse scorned

Good evening ladies, 

I am a 2 year nurse ER nurse and I, along with 3 million other nurses in the US, were quite offended by your 36 second bit criticizing Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson's monologue.

You started off by saying, in a condescending tone, that she "Came out in a nursing uniform." Our jobs are not made to be sexy. We do not come to work every day wearing expensive clothes that show off our tasty bits. We wear something practical, because in one shift we might need to perform CPR, wipe urine off the floor, and place an IV while security is making sure our patient doesn't bite us. Our uniform is practical not fashionable.

You then said that Kelley, "got up there and basically read her emails out loud." What Miss Colarado did was get up on stage, in front of millions, and shared a very personal story. A story where she was personally affected by a patient. If you ask any nurse what our job is like or what's "the coolest thing you've ever seen??" we will immediately spout off 10 stories to entertain and gross you out. However, we all have that one story that we won't tell. Something that affected us on a deeper level. The patient that we cried over, the one that got to us. The patient that we will remember for the rest of our lives. For most of us, we keep this story deep inside, we don't talk about it, we certainly don't email about it. Kelley Johnson had the guts to stand up and share with the entire country, and is ridiculed for such. 

Next, let's talk about "Why does she have a doctor's stethoscope on?" First let me say that I love my doctors. I work with the most brilliant people I have ever met, and if me, or my family, was sick I would trust my life in their hands. But here's the thing. The first people you interact with when you get inside the hospital are the nursing staff. The people that are in your room, literally HOURLY, are the nurses. The people that are atune to minor changes in your lung sounds, heart sounds, and bowel sounds, are these nurses. Things we hear with our stethoscope that can literally mean life or death.

The last thing stated was "She deals with Alzheimer's patients, which I swear, is not funny, but google it if you can." Miss Colorado 2015 is an Intensive Care Unit nurse. She doesn't just 'deal with' Alzheimer's patients. She deals with patients that are literally, teetering on the brink of death. It is her job to work with the critical care team to keep your family member alive. Her patients are getting discharged home because of her efforts. And whether you believe it or not, she is affected every time a patient gets discharged to Jesus. 

I wish I could say "just wait until one of these gals gets sick and see what happens" but those of us in this profession know how it would go. No matter how much these ladies have offended us, we would still give them extra heated blankets, we would advocate for them when they were in pain, we would give them an extra packet of graham crackers, and we would greet them each time we see them with a smile. 

As nurses, we treat everyone equally. The hospital CEO to the convict, to the celebrity that says that she doesn't view you as a professional, everyone gets a compassionate nurse to tuck them in and make sure they stay alive overnight.

-K