When It’s the Nurse Who Needs Looking After [View all]

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http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/when-its-the-nurse-who-needs-looking-after/?ref=health

Tall, in her 50s and sporting a perfectly coiffed salt-and-pepper pixie cut, the woman was one of the most respected nurses in the hospital. She had nearly three decades of clinical experience, so older nurses and doctors valued her insight, younger ones sought her approval, and those of us in between tried to stand a little straighter in her presence.

One morning, however, she arrived at work to find that the hospital was full and her unit understaffed. It wasn’t the first time she had to cover for more patients because of staffing issues, but by the end of this 12-hour shift, she noticed a slight twinge in her lower back — a minor muscle sprain, she thought, from helping one of the other nurses lift a patient.

A week later, the slight twinge turned into debilitating back pain.

But she continued to work through the pain. “What else could I do?” she said one afternoon, pointing out all the patients who would suffer without the additional nurse. “I thought I was going to be lucky and make it to retirement without getting hurt, but now I just want to be able to put in a few more years so I can retire.”

When she rubbed the heel of her palm against her back, I saw her lower lip begin to quiver slightly.

“How terrible is it that we do everything to care for the health of others,” she whispered, “but we cannot care for ourselves.”