Cancer? Nurse?
Cancer? Nurse?
Santiago Romero
Think of the people that treat you in a hospital. Did your mind wander to nurses and how they can provide care during non-treatable sicknesses like cancer? Yes, the doctors diagnose your sicknesses, help you treat the sickness, etc. but nurses are overall care providers when it gets too stressful. Juanita Romero, a cancer nurse, works in the cancer clinic at the Flagstaff Hospital. She greets patients with a helping hand by laughing about silly shirts or sharing treats with the patients. Cancer can be treated but it cannot be cured.
There are tales of knights where the men save the women princesses. Nurses are not just men, but women as well that can become your shining armor when you are steps from seeing the end. Nurses are the knights who can get you back on your feet running away from that scary end a while longer or even long enough to beat it. Every day, Juanita fights to give her patients some hope. Sometimes, it works and they have hope. Other times, she experiences patients giving up and wanting to say goodbye. It is truly saddening to go home after each day knowing you couldn’t convince them to try hard enough to live. Sadly, this is the life people go through. Some people feel as though they have no more time, that the world we live in is a crumpled piece of paper. That there is no way to make it entirely perfect with everything in place. People like nurses try to make living less painful. They are the kinds of people who feed the poor and provide for the minority.
Now, you’ve read why we need nurses, do you know why we need you now? Juanita Romero is a hero for one reason. Empathy. You can’t save a life by not caring. “No matter who they are or what they look like, it is better to love than make fun of someone; it is better to try to make their lives easier; it is better to guide others to success and see them win. To love someone truly is to love someone the way you’d love yourself.” It is time for more people to be present and be there for others. To study the art of medical science and use it to save others. It is time for people to recognize the importance of both the doctor and the nurse.