The Spirit of Nursing

In May of 1964 Jean gave a speech at the Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Pawtucket R.I. It was her "Class Night" event, and I was there. She graduated in June. Jean had been selected to give the talk which was a significant honor for her. I remember sitting in the audience listening to her and being so proud of her. I remember telling some people around me that she was my girlfriend. We were not yet engaged.

We have posted her speech here on the family website so that any of you who might be interested can read it. It reflects Jean's strong sense of Faith at that time in her life and her pride in becoming a Registered Nurse. I have included her graduation picture and an article in the newspaper about her class graduation.

The Spirit of Nursing

As each of us gradually walked from the blissful world of childhood into a more realistic, more difficult life as an adult, we questioned what role we would fulfill in service to God and man?and each of us chose nursing. Nursing, in an era which knows longer life expectancies; new, improved drugs and life saving treatments; better methods of rehabilitation, fascinating cures, greater powers of prevention, and more to come. Nursing, in an era which also knows such frightful terms as atomic war, national disasters, fallout shelters, and radiation. Yes, nursing today appears to be very different from nursing in years gone by. But is it? Granted, physical aspects of nursing may have become somewhat altered - we are caring for more elderly persons for one thing, and we see more of these people leaving the hospital with perhaps much productive living still ahead of them. Hospitals used to be a place to go to die.

However, the spirit of nursing, the meaning behind the work we do, the incentive for doing things this particular way-this has not changed.

To nurse is - by definition - to nourish, to foster, to protect. And this spirit of nursing has existed since God created man and woman.

We are all children of God and brothers in the human race. We are alike in many ways, and yet we are still all individuals. As nurses we realize this brotherhood by demonstrating love with service, by giving of ourselves.

Sacrifices are made easy with love, and this is what enables the nurse to look above and beyond the common toil, and see - not the chore of the daily bath - but the opportunity to serve mankind? and in such a simple way. The spirit of nursing is alive in every nursing action. The nurse must play a part in every patient's life-time story, even though it is but to listen with an understanding heart.

Kindness is learned - through the pain and suffering of the persons we care for, as well as that which we experience ourselves. It was once said, " A real nurse must have a sense of humor and an incision." Truly the nurse should be able to smile readily when appropriate, and also to know some of the discomforts of the patient?if not through personal experience, then through an empathetic understanding. Thereby she will do the tasks that are not asked for, but which will bring comfort.

The nurse must be all things to all men: a mother, a sister, a friend. Her role does not consist only of physical care. She learns to listen - not only with her ears, but with her mind and her heart. And then to act on what she has interpreted; again, to do things that are not asked for, but which will bring comfort.

A nurse wonders at all the changes through which life will lead a soul. It is often difficult for a person to be sick in bed, and dependent on others for even his simplest needs. Here the spirit of nursing is encouragement and reassurance to help the person to help himself, and thus, to give him a reason to go on living.

As student nurses we are learning to develop the spirit of our chosen profession. There will be times of discouragement - almost despair; sometimes the thought to give up and leave. We will wonder if we have done our best, if we have given of ourselves in service. But because it is a spirit of unselfish devotion to a cause primarily concerned with helping those in need, we use the discouragement as a stimulant - to try a little harder the next time.

Often one hears little girls talk of being a nurse - and perhaps if some of us think back we may remember, too - of thinking that nursing was a glamorous profession with white, crispy uniforms that rustled when we walked, pretty little caps that clung steadfastly to the back of your head, medication trays, and the letters R. N. after your name. But it isn't your name or your looks, or the uniform you wear. It's the big and little things that you learn, it's the satisfaction of a job well done, it's the feeling of being needed and useful, and it's the many times you ask yourself "Why?"

Because nursing is a profession of dedicated service, of helping people to get well and helping to ease suffering, the nurse often chooses to forget that sometimes death will claim her patient. We must learn to see life as belonging to God; and, therefore, His right to recall. And with this knowledge, we find the answer to the "many times we ask ourselves Why?" The nurse finds her way of accepting death, knowing that, because she is the nurse, the family often turns first to her for comfort and understanding. And she must be there - once more - to do the things that are not asked for, but which will bring comfort. She must stand tall and strong, confident and reassuring in the Spirit of Nursing. Later, when alone, she may sob her heart out in her pillow, or take a long walk; but this shows simply that she, too, is a human being - one who has given of herself in love, and therefore feels the loss. But then the nurse continues to smile and be herself when back with those who need her.

So often people ask, "What made you choose nursing?" "What do you see in it, anyway?" What do we see in it? To answer this in a few words would be practically impossible. Most of the time all that is needed is a smile. And that smile answers the question perfectly, because all that nursing means to you, all the love you have put into it, and all the satisfaction you have received, is reflected there in it.

For the Registered Nurse the materialistic symbol of her profession is her cap. It points her out as a professional nurse and distinguishes her as an alumnae of the school from which she graduated. Our cap will always be most precious and meaningful. As we have worked toward each new stripe, the exaltation and sense of accomplishment we have felt is but a small taste of what we will know as we come even closer to the priceless black band. In the cap we find every memory, every nursing experience, every reward of our work - and if we have had the true spirit of nursing, we will always wear it proudly, professionally, and honorably.

And so it goes on: Nurses all over the world, serving God and man, in a brotherhood of love; and all the time, hoping wistfully that someone's happier-because of us!