My friend is a nurse.
Well, she will be. She attends a relatively prestigious nursing school in Syracuse, NY, and I get to hear about all of the different interesting things they teach her about the care of the human body. For instance, did you know that there are classes (or at least class periods) in which the medical staff of America (and probably other countries [probably]) is taught how to cope with the deaths of its patients?
The body is a fragile paradox. We live to care for others, but caretakers die. We strive to selflessly better the world for future generations (most of us do, anyway), yet we're one of the only species that can work selfishly toward goals that help us. In the short amount of time that we get to breathe air, we spend an enormous percentage of it battling one another for such petty, insignificant reasons (I've already negated what I said about future generations... hello, paradox).
When we aren't attacking one another, we're malfunctioning. One cell will multiply too quickly, or the soft tissues in our brains will deteriorate, or our blood will stop clotting correctly, or the substances that should be helping us -- like peanuts, for example -- will trigger a deadly allergic reaction.
So which aspect of humanity defines us?
Are we creatures that struggle endlessly with one another for the betterment of mankind? Or are we really just broken computers, blinking and beeping until our own programs betray us?
Either way, I believe sickness is the real enemy and our doctors, nurses and various other medical attendants are the more precious to our world than we give them credit for. When the world stops screaming and the bombs are done falling, the real heroes are the people who, after having learned how to cope with the inevitable deaths of their charges, are sitting by someone's bedside, guiding them through the final shutdown procedure.
How come more of us don't know how to do what they do? Paradox.
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I'm not a nurse, or any other kind of medical professional or volunteer even. But years ago I learned how to help guide those whose bodies are failing by experiencing my mothers terminal illness. I read a book called Final Gifts, case studies of experiences by 2 hospice nurses. Mom had hospice... what an incredible organization of incredible people. The book taught me how to communicate with the "life limited" and it helped me to understand what my mom was going through. The experience was, obviously not a happy one, but it was a very spiritual one. Your post poses important questions... that I think everyone will answer differently within themselves. Thanks for sharing.
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