Nurses: The most likely heroes

Dr. Darlene Showalter

 

Nurses have become overnight celebrities; heroes of sorts. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has brought the work we do into the limelight. We are showcased on the nightly news as frontline warriors. Traditional superhero images are now commonly merged with graphics of masked nurses with capes on t-shirts and coffee mugs. As a profession, we could not have asked for a better teachable moment for those who wondered about Nursing. But the truth is that Nurses have always moved faster than an airplane toward that coding patient. We are more powerful than locomotives in passing legislation for patient safety. We leap into action at the sound of a child in pain. We are equipped with a superhuman drive to continue on to become nurse practitioners, researchers, and educators. Nurses have a supernatural strength that allows us to firmly advocate for our patients, lovingly hold a newborn baby, and sit with a family who mourns all in a 12-hour shift.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it as not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down.” There is no one better than a Nurse to gracefully accomplish the work being done in these strangest of times. Our innate superpowers shine at times of crises and chaos. Nurses are the most likely heroes of today, and though a good heart and sound character are essential, the superheroes mask and cape are just for fun.