Feel Good Friday: Supporting our local nurses

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – They’re sometimes called Super Scrubs. Other times, they’re called the Swaddle Specialists. Many times, they’re called the Angels Without Wings. But to them, it’s a job that they would not give up for anything.

This week is Nurses’ Appreciation Week. And across the region, people are showing their appreciation for our nurses. However, while you may always see nurses when visiting a hospital or the doctor’s office, little is known on what goes on behind the scenes in this profession.

“Usually it’s a 12-hour shift and a lot can happen in 12 hours, both physically, emotionally, mentally. And so, really the most important thing is leaving work at work and home at home. It’s a it’s a struggle in the beginning. And I feel like it’s a struggle every single day. But that’s one of the most difficult things, in my opinion. And once you can kind of get that past year, I feel like that’s probably the hardest part. But that’s something a lot of people don’t don’t really see,” said Eli Alvey, a registered nurse with Med Center Health.

It takes a special person to practice the nursing profession many times triumphing with patients after they recover while also comforting those who may be in the last stages of life.

“That’s always a great feeling to see them get better and to leave the critical care units and and get better and go home. But sometimes that can be, you know, the outcome is not always going home for some patients. For some patients, it’s it’s their final moments. And I find that a great honor to care for them and to be able to give them their final wishes and keep them comfortable during that time,” said Stephanie Gregory, a critical care clinical educator with Med Center Health.

And for our nurses and hospitals here in south-central Kentucky, support not only comes from those who show it, but from the institutions getting the next generation of nurses ready to serve our community.

“We’re always going to need nurses to come into this field to help take care of our our community. Our community is continuing to grow. And as we grow, we’re going to need people to help take care of them. So we’re very fortunate to have not just one but two schools of nursing here to help feed into our our health care system and continue to provide that care,” Gregory said.

So if you see a nurse this week, be sure to thank them and offer an outlet of support for those nurses closest to you in your life.