A trust that is worthy

One of my patients told me today, "Wow, you really can do anything, can't you?" as I whisked in to silence his beeping IV. Some days I feel like super-nurse, the one who can make any hospital bed ten times more comfortable, get the physician to switch the diet order just in time for lunch, or convince the ultrasound tech to come to the room instead of having to bundle my patient up on a stretcher for a bumpy ride. Other days I'm not that fortunate. Those are the days when the fact that I can't let my patient go outside to have a cigarette because she's on a heart monitor ends in an emotional breakdown. Or no matter how many times I page, I just can't seem to get the doctor to order the pain medication my patient really needs. Or worst of all, I come in to bring the news that they can not go home today after all...maybe tomorrow.

Another patient looked up at me today and simply said, "Why should I trust you? I don't even know you." I had just brought in a new medication, one that I slowly explained to her would help her failing heart to beat more effectively with each contraction. But for all she knew, I could be bringing her anything. I could tell her that pill would do whatever I wanted it to. She had to trust me.

It is thought provoking to be in a position where someone is trusting you so completely. I wake up each morning realizing that, like yesterday, like tomorrow, I need to live today with 100% integrity. I am being trusted. I had better be trustworthy.