The Language of Kindness

by Christie Watson

It was she who taught me the language of kindness, though I didn’t appreciate it back then. The next day I stole a rat from school, to save it from dissection by the biology department. I called it Furter, and hoped it would live safely with my existing pet rat, Frank, which used to sit on my shoulder, its long tail swinging around me like a statement necklace. Of course, Frank ate Furter.

What I thought nursing involved when I started: chemistry, biology, physics, pharmacology and anatomy. And what I now know to be the truth of nursing: philosophy, psychology, art, ethics and politics.

Nursing requires fluidity, being able to adapt and push energy in the direction where patients and colleagues need you, even if it is unfamiliar.

Nursing is a career that demands a chunk of your soul on a daily basis. The emotional energy needed to care for people at their most vulnerable is not limitless and there have been many days when, like most nurses, I have felt spent, devoid of any further capacity to give. I feel lucky that my family and friends are forgiving.

I am not sure why doctors and nurses end up working in A&E, but they are usually adrenaline-junkies. They are fit and unafraid, and they think on their feet, with a no-nonsense kind of intelligence. All the A&E nurses I know are incredibly sarcastic, though I’m not sure if this is a prerequisite for working there.

She looks at the X-ray the doctor holds up, showing the size of her heart taking up too much space. She will not live. ‘I have too much heart?’ she asks.

Both joy and tragedy build a nurse. And we cannot predict what will happen.

It is a multitude of experiences that make an expert nurse, but the ability to think deeply about them, and to search for meaning, is what a good nurse is often born with.

The team of nurses and doctors that I work with have both the expertise and the self-reflection. It is a privilege to learn from them, work alongside them and know them. They are the safest of hands.

Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Marie Curie

Suffering, and even the sensation of pain, can be reduced by kindness.

said, to which Anna had replied that the day when nurses are not compassionate towards each other will herald the end of things.

intrathecal drugs (which are injected straight into the spinal fluid, thereby negating the need for the drug