My Name is Patti. I Just Happen to Be a Nurse!

But aren’t we a little bit more than that?

Several years ago, I met a man who I thought was my soulmate (but that’s a story for another day) who I dated for about 3 months when he asked me to meet his parents. I agreed.

Sunday dinner was met with fresh sweet tea and a dinner that could only be described as better than the Olive Garden. I got dressed up so as to make a good impression and we headed over to his parent’s house driving my older model corvette which really wasn’t meeting up with the stigma that defined it.

I’d worked overtime to buy it. A few months later, I found that my used purchase cost me more than I paid for it and was a piece of junk.

We sat down after the usual introductions and his mom said this: “Kevin told us he met a nurse.” It kind of took me by surprise but I was used to being defined by it. And then to my utmost surprise, she stated that I must make great money to own a corvette.

Yup, that’s what she said.

A couple of months down the road as we began to integrate our circle of friends, I was introduced as ‘this is Patti; she’s a nurse.’ That was usually followed by, ‘I’ve had bad headaches over the last month that are really bothering me’, or ‘I’ve got these weird things going on and a pain in my side’ — and all the other ailments you can think of.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of being a nurse. It is my dream! As I’m sure it is for the rest of us! And I’m sure it’s been that way since we first got that little plastic doctor kit we got for Christmas. But in the same token, we are also being defined with some other pretty horrendous titles that follow us. Lately, there have been some horrific headlines in the news.

Let’s take a look at those.

In June of 2021, Andrea Yates drowned her 5 children in her bathtub at home. Now if that wasn’t horrific enough, there were headlines that read, Nurse Drowns Her 5 Children. We didn’t need to know her occupation; the fact was, she committed First Degree Murder and that’s the only information we needed to know. I had plenty of friends that said, “Did you hear about that nurse who drowned her kids?”

December 2021, Rajeev Shareef Black killed his ex-girlfriend and then went on to kill his ex-wife all in the same day. Again, headlines read RN Kills Ex-Girlfriend and Ex-Wife all in the same day! We didn’t need to know he was a nurse; he too committed First Degree Murder. Of course, the news was followed by my friends who asked, “did you hear…” Well yeah, I did!

Maybe I need new friends?

Again, in September 2004, Junko Yoshida was sentenced to death after ‘controlling’ and conspiring with 3 other nurses to kill 2 of their husbands for insurance money. And yup! I was asked again, “ did you hear?’ Yes, I did!

Now, stay with me here. In the same token, we are known to be shining in the spotlight. Headlines have read, Nurse Saves Choking Baby While Having Dinner in Restaurant and Nurse Saves Man Having Heart Attack on a Highway and Nurse Delivers Baby Outside of ER in Parking Lot. Those are the stories that define us in a true sense of the word, Nurse. I like those conversations!

So yes, we are nurses, but we’re also daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. (Forgive me please if I left someone out!) We all have a given name at birth, not a title.

My name is Patti. I am an avid horse lover and have 4 rescues. I am married to my best friend who is a police officer and together we are saving the world one day at a time. We love to travel and have been to Las Vegas more times than I can remember. We have 7 grandkids who are our world.

I’m not only a nurse; I’m a freelance writer!

Thanks for reading!

Credits: Wikipedia -CNN -The Sun -Japan Innocent and Death Penalty Information