Reflections

I know for a lot of us the changing of one year into another is a time of change and of reflection, and it has always been that way for me, too. But this year is more so than ever before. I'm writing this as I sit at my desk at work. This will be my last night working here. A little over two weeks ago our unit closed suddenly. It was a surprise and wasn't at the same time. All of us expected to stay open until the New Year, and so the powers that be let us, although we're only a shell of what we once were. You can't really call yourself a nurse when you have no patients to take care of, and we haven't, not for over two weeks. I was the one to wheel that last patient out and  now I will be the one to close the doors for good. I have been a nurse for seventeen years and now I face the very real possibility that my nursing career may only have hours left. Events like that really make you take stock of your life, what's important and not. I love being a nurse. I'm a good nurse. But now it's time for something new. What that is, only God knows.

So here's to you, all my patients past. I've heard your collective cry and now I weep with you.