Blogroll addition

I was surfing comments (didn't take long) and stumbled upon a new addition to my blogroll. I don't link to many blogs, and the FAVORITES list on my computer is much, much longer than the blogroll on my sidebar. The blogs I list on my blogroll have special significance to me personally, either as a handy reference, or as a blog that needs to be explored.

Go over to Xavier Thoughts and browse his links. Like me, he is a Louisiana boy. Unlike me, he is a nurse. Milady is a nurse, my fourth sister is a nurse, and my daughter is a nursing student (Go Tigers!). Like law enforcement, nurses share a bond of brotherhood (sisterhood?) that transcends employment. Nurses are professionals that keep the medical community bound to a set of standards. They are the NCOs of the medical world. Doctors give orders that may or may not be in keeping with sound medical practice, or in the best interest of the patient. Nurses put those orders into practice while keeping the best interests of the patient foremost in their minds.

Good nurses have been known to tell a doctor off, to stand between bullshit and the patient, to jeopardize employment and the nursing license to properly care for a person who can't care for themselves. A good nurse will do what is right when the world is turning to shit around her.

During the twin tragedies of Wilma, and Rita, I personally saw acts of self-sacrifice and heroism from the nursing community that would get medals and accolades from any other professional community. Not for the nurses. They quietly go about committing acts of professionalism and mercy, without hope of any reward except the paycheck at the end of the week. When they pull a patient through floodwaters, literally, staying at the post while the building blows down around them, caring for the patient while not certain if they still have a home, that defines dedication to patient care. The fact that the patient survives is testament to the professionalism of the nurses.

Next time you are in the hospital, damn the doctors. Damn them thoroughly. Just make sure you have a good nurse. You'll be fine.