Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Missionary (10/19/06)
-
TITLE: Retirement | Previous Challenge Entry
By Constance Gilbert
10/26/06 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
“I still have my nursing license. I could go back, if I had to...” I told my doctor; and she frowned at me in reply. Then she said, “You need to quit being a nurse- completely.”
It’s been said that nurses never stop being nurses, but now I wonder. As I think about it, I look back over 41 years of nursing. I laugh and I cry a little; mostly, I just remember the many lives that I have touched.
* * *
I think I always knew I was going to be a nurse. I read every Cherrie Ames book written, trying to figure out what kind of nurse I would become. I learned how to treat injuries as my brother was accident prone. (We always told our mother after we got him bandaged or stitched up.) Then Dr. Hope came to our church.
A tiny, soft spoken woman wearing a silk sari that rustled like a faint breeze approached the pupit to tell us about her work in India. The needs were great; babies were dying...
Now I “knew” I was to be a missionary nurse in India. I was going to save the lives of mothers and their babies. But in nursing school I found that obstetrics and pediatrics were not where I wanted to work for a lifetime. Later, I would understand that God was not calling me to India.
I still dreamed of being a missionary. Until on day when my mother, in anger, called me many horrible names then shook her fist at me saying, “Miss Goodie-two-shoes I’ll see to it that you’ll never be a missionary.” My dream bubble burst forever that day; but I determined to be the best nurse possible where ever I worked.
One night many years ago, the ER nurse phoned to tell me she was sending me a patient. After giving me the necessary data, she quietly added, “I’m sorry” as she hung up. I looked at the phone in my hand trying to figure out why she had said that. I would understand shortly.
Picture the worst looking African child- naked with flies all over; a scene to touch your heart and your checkbook. Well, this old man was worse. He was malnourished, and filthy as he moaned though barely conscious. There was no part of him that was not bent and misshapened. I won’t go on... it was horrible and I cried for this man. Someone’s son, brother, father, grandfather, uncle, friend? Whatever he had been in life, he did not deserve this lack of care.
I did not ask my staff to care for him. I put layers of gowns over my white uniform and prepared to wash him. I medicated him for pain; and kept the IV Penicillin running, knowing it would do no good. I changed the sheets and removed my gowns.
I sat with him and held his hand praying for a quick, pain free death- he had suffered enough.
A few hours later, he stopped breathing. I called the ER doctor, “He died clean, pain free, and I was with him. Don't ever tell me where he came from; I’ll burn it to the ground!”
I prayed to God to remove my anger- He did not. Over time my anger slowly turned into passion. My mission field was with the forgotten elderly- not in India or some far off land , but right where I was. Since that night 40 years ago I have cared for thousands of frail, often forgotten elderly folks and I have trained hundreds of nursing assistants, nurses, and doctors to care for them as if they were their own grandparents.
I have many stories to tell, but for now I know that my nursing days are over. But my career of being God’s servant will not be over until I can no longer function- it is a lifetime commitment.
I am still at the bedside to pray before and after surgeries. I visit shut-ins. I teach my grandson that old folks love little boys and girls to visit them. I pray when my church’s Prayer Chain calls. I send cards of encouragement. I write my stories down for future generations.
My mission field remains right where I am... and God, the Great Physician is still making rounds with me.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.