“Am I just a nurse?”
“Am I just a nurse?” – Australian nurse’s powerful Facebook post goes viral
Caitlin Brassington, 38, a registered nurse from Toowoomba has made headlines around the world after posting a moving open letter on Facebook.
Stopping at a shop in her scrubs after work, she had run into an old acquaintance who had never seen her in uniform and said she didn’t realise she was “just a nurse”.
“I have held patients hands and ensured their dignity while they take their last breath, and yet I am just a nurse. I have performed CPR on patients and brought them back to life, and yet I am just a nurse.I am the medical officer's eyes, ears and hands with the ability to assess, treat and manage your illness, and yet I am just a nurse.”
When a nurse is not ‘just a nurse’
It’s an eloquent reminder of the importance of nurses and one that has captured global attention, receiving over 22,000 likes and sparking hundreds of comments from people sharing their own experiences of nurses and midwives who had gone the extra mile for them.
“Medical care wouldn’t be possible without your work, ‘just a nurse’ is what makes just the difference,” read one comment.
“Perhaps it was ‘just a slip of the tongue’ – but really, as a community, should we not be embracing everyone's careers, and not be making assumptions of their worth or value based on their job title?” she told the ABC. “Would this lady have said ‘just a …’ to me had I been wearing a suit and heels, instead of scrubs and my very unflattering but necessary nurses' shoes?”
It’s a sad truth that despite nurses consistently being named the most trusted profession by the community, they are not always recognised that way.
“We are not a profession that very often stands up and says: ‘Look at me – tell me what a good job I am doing,’” Caitlin said.
There are 360,000 nurses across our hospitals and nursing homes, but over forty per cent are now aged over 50 according to the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare – if we want more people to fill their shoes when they retire, we need to show them the same acknowledgement and gratitude in these comments.
