a special place in heaven

Bless physicians, nurses, and all others who minister to the suffering, granting them wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience;
Hear us, O Lord of life.

I think we'll all agree that my CPE experience has been unique. Part of that uniqueness has been seeing nurses in an entirely new light. As some of you know my mom just graduated from nursing school in May. Today she's working at one of Pennsylvania's top hospitals as an RN and loving it. Her schooling and job has had a large impact on how I see nurses, but this is mostly in a hospital setting. My past experience seeing private physicians (which has been ruined by Kaiser) gave me an idea of what nursing was like in private practice. This summer however has really opened my eyes to a special kind of nurse, the assisted living and health care unit nurse, especially the nurses in the dementia units. In this particular facility they are all women, so I can say without a doubt that these women deserve a special place in heaven. As Jesus told James and John, (Mark 10:43-44) "whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all." These nurses are servants, they suffer with Christ each day as they enter into the world of pain, confusion, and fear that the residents in their charge live in every moment. The care with which they treat these people (who admittedly would have had nothing to do with them earlier in life) is awe inspiring. If only I could treat the other with such care and compassion.