God Made a Nurse

In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.

He did this in seven days.

Sometime after the eighth day, God saw that humans needed a special kind of person to take care of them.

He needed someone to respond to a calling,

And hold the hand of other humans through the toughest of times;

So God made – a nurse.

He knew we needed someone with the grit to not get out of sorts at the sight of blood;

to help people survive heart attacks and strokes and catastrophes;

to keep a person alive with hoses, tubes and wires;

to hold it together when everyone else is falling apart, no matter the situation;

and give hope – when there is none.

So God made a nurse.

He needed someone who could explain complex situations

and procedures but in a way grandpa could understand it;

monitor vital signs and tell the doctor what the patient needs and when; 

calculate and know the difference between milligrams and milliliters

hear a heartbeat as both an algorithm – and an emotion;

explain to a family that grandma is ready to go to heaven – when they want her to stay.

So God made a nurse.

He needed someone to feed and bathe helpless people

when no one else would,

on weekends and holidays,

while others were sleeping.

So God made a nurse.

He wanted someone who could and would run an IV pump,

stick needles into veins with compassion, draw and flush fluids like a precision machinist;

wrestle a patient out of their mind into bed, have a tolerant nose, – and a stomach made of steel;

to make the broken whole, – and give a soothing word for weary souls.

So God made a nurse.

He wanted to build someone that could find the time – when there is none – to wipe away tears, to give a tender touch and gently close the eyes of a dying man;

to be an angel; to witness the beautiful parts of humanity, in good times, – and bad;

to be the first and last to witness the beginning and the end of life,

the first breath, and the last breath…

to step into people’s lives and make a difference;

to improve health, and save lives.

So God made a nurse.

– a poem by Lee Bond (rendition of “God Made A Farmer” or “Farmer” by Paul Harvey)

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