Thursday, June 18, 2009

Nurses & YOU


Half past eight, Sunday after church, together with my little brothers in the Lord, we were sitting outside the church building when suddenly something crashed. The youngest son of my church pastor took a look where it happened and he said 'twas vehicular accident and there was a man lying on the road followed up with the statement…JOKE! I told him to stop teasing or else I’ll pull his ear. (Of course, I was just teasing). Unhappy with his sort of investigation, he walked closer to the place where we heard the loud crash, and he told us that it is for real". There was an accident. Together with the other boys we walked closer to the scene and found out it was real.

"Lub dub lub dub" says my heart. The instinct of a nurse to help run through my veins, I pulled the youngest son of my assistant pastor and we ran to the scene just across the street of our church. There I saw a guy lying on the road, crashed windshield of the van, the smashed up motorcycle, the bystanders (which actually just watching and DID NOT DO ANYTHING, and of course BLOOD! I identified myself as a nurse and I was caught off guard. Isn’t it I am an oncology nurse?! I took a deep breath and whispered a prayer. I begin assessing the patient with my heart racing like a galloping horse. The guy was still on the motorcycle with his left extremity underneath the motorcycle. I asked him if he’s ok and if he can hear me. He nodded. I asked help to the bystanders if they can move the motorcycle so that I can assess the patient more and if he has leg fracture or what. The funny thing was, of all the people who were there no one dared to call the police or an ambulance! I left the patient and called the police to report the collision and asked for an ambulance too. We went to the hospital and after few hours he was lying okay intoxicated with his wound cleaned and dressed. Their family friend dropped me home past midnight. Adrenaline rushed I can’t sleep I begun writing this article.

When I was in the emergency room waiting for the doctor to finish suturing the patient’s nose, I begun to think of Jesus Christ who helped the wounded Samaritan.

Luke 10:25-37 (Words of Jesus in red.)

25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26He said to him,
"What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 27He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." 29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

It is God's command to help others who are in need, eventhough you are not in the medical field. Prayer, donation and simple words of encouragement has a huge impact to the patients. Help others just like Jesus did. Let us be Christ-like in words and in deeds.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Fear Factor Challenge

Phobia, fear of something or anything, some are rational like heights or close spaces but some are irrational like fear of breathing or ugly people. We all have fears within ourselves. Even the most influential, strong and the most respective personality you are looking up to have fears either rational or not. My fears? Oh, I have lots of those but I am not going to tell of what I fear.

As a nurse I have learned that the most feared thing of all the patients especially for those who will be going in an operation (surgery) is the fear of the unknown – what will happen if I fell asleep in the operation? Shall I be able to gain consciousness again or shall I die? What do nurses fear? We have our own fears too. Fear of being infected with our patients diseases, fear of giving wrong medications – negligence and malpractice at all, and fear of percutaneous injuries (pricking, sorry for being technical) from patients with untreatable diseases such as AIDS or Hepatitis B. Our own health is at stake, even our lives.

Nowadays, we are in a world of uncertainty. The world that is full of chaos, disasters and calamities, wars and conflicts, global warming and financial crisis. You do not really know if the place where you live is safe for you and for your family or the food you are eating is still good for your body. Horrible, isn’t it?

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. “ Isaiah 41:13

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

“Be not afraid” occurs more than 365 times all throughout the Bible. There are 365 days in a year. This means we should not be afraid every single day of our lives. Ninety-two percent of what we worry about never happens and the 8% is usually manageable. Our God is great for us, His’ people, to fear. Lay down your worries and fears to Him. For our God is in control! Be bold and say MY GOD IS BIGGER THAN MY PROBLEMS. I SHALL NOT FEAR! I just want to leave you with two of my favorite verses in the Bible that I usually cling on when I am afraid.

“So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convince that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39