How glamorous do you think nursing is?

Question

Another Snapshot

By C.S. Scotkin

Never know

when you go to a home

what devil lies in wait

to take your knowledge,

skills, assessment, toss them

out open windowed mind

when you need them most.

Poverty, ignorance,

four day old garbage greet me.

A devil, Pity, almost undid me,

as it already had a

once proud warrior, no armor

remaining, save threadbare sheet.

Imprisoned, with unseen screen

selling condos on the beach,

his screaming, silent eyes

beg for swift release…a call,

that necessary thing is done, this

cannot be his castle, he nods ascent.

Ambulance.

Hospital.

Long term placement.

Reward for a war he couldn’t understand.

Compassion leaves no room for pity.

Answer 1

What ever

Answer 2

The job it self is not that glamorous at all, however the women that perform the tasks are generally very pretty.  

Answer 3

Everyone knows that nursing is not a glamorous job. However, the horror described in your poem graphically illustrates how this country treats its wounded Veterans.

This is a sin and a shame in a country that has so much money for war and little to help those who have served in those wars.

Answer 4

WoW! I like that!

with all the years of experience as a Nurses Aide, Resident Care Attendant and what ever else one might care to call it.. I have seen the hearts and souls of people that others will never see.

Nursing is a hard but rewarding job and there is not room for pity you are correct compassion and smiles is about the most we can do.

If you think the sight of ....oh never mind... is glamorous then .. yup, never mind....

Answer 5

Well put, and excellent piece. I was married to two different nurses and I've been involved with two others, so I know what I'm saying when I say that too many times they came home and had nothing left to give... which I'm sure you know. I don't know of a job that takes more of a toll on you.

I would like to add I am a disabled veteran ( a wound that took a toll late in my life) who gets excellent care from the VA and I have never been involved with any of their nurses; which is probably why I get excellent care.

Bless you for what you do.

Answer 6

CS what I love about your collection of poems is the variety. You can write about almost anything. That shows true talent in my opinion. You do a good job of making the reader feel your emotions. Your poems hit hard. They hit where they need to; the emotions and the heart.

You may have a tough job but you seem to have the personality a successful Nurse needs; diversity, intelligence, skills, compassion, humbleness, patience, and I am sure probably so much more.

I swear I mean what I say 100%. I'm no behind kisser.

This poem is very touching, and I enjoyed it very much.

Answer 7

is this a question

oh well thanks for 2 points

Answer 8

A wonderful poem that raises the thorny issue of what lies at the intersection of professional duty and the practitioner's humanity.  What is the toll, for all parties, of staying at that intersection too long??  Can we pretend we are not at an intersection at all? No, for then we are neither humane nor professional.  Intriguingly, the compassion that every great nurse, and poet, must possess, also makes the exercise of professional duties unbearable, I would imagine.  Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your world, your crossroads, but now I must nod and move on, move past... "screaming, silent eyes" would, in different circumstances, be an oxymoron, but here it may be the only way to understand what the patient and nurse both experience.

Answer 9

Quite a take on Pity.  Well said.