Dear Doctor Love,
I am a male who has worked hard to obtain my Bachelors Degree in Nursing. As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to care for people and try in some way to make their lives better. My educations allows me to care for their health but I also listen to their stories, hold their hand when they are afraid and comfort them when they are alone and missing their children. It has never been my goal to stand above them and diagnose or cure them, but to be by their side and give emotional as well as physical comfort and support.
The woman I intend to marry is embarrassed to call me a nurse. She pushes for me to become a physician, saying I am wasted as an RN. It is a touchy subject in our relationship, but we manage to smooth it over.
A huge fight erupted when I told her I was going to back to university to take Midwifery certification. She became hysterical wanting to know why, if I was willing to go back to school, would I not take classes that move me towards being a doctor. She said a real man is not a nurse or midwife. She was screaming and crying saying I don’t care how she feels and I am doing this just to spite her.
When I try to talk to her she refuses to listen so I hope she will read this and see that nursing is not a job, it is a calling, a devotion to hands-on caring for people in pain.
I want her to understand that nursing is not a second-choice career meant for those who are not smart enough to be a doctor.
/s/Proud RN
Dear Proud,
Give this girl her walking papers and stop wasting your time with a woman who doesn’t love, respect or understand you. She should have been supportive and proud the moment you walked through the doors of the University. Instead her insinuation that nurses are just failed doctors can only be described as selfish, dismissive and ignorant.
Nurses rock! They are the foundation of the smoothly operating medical staff, the unsung heroes who are usually overworked, underpaid and given no recognition. You shouldn’t have to explain that to anyone—especially your wife-to-be.
Create a future with someone who knows the sacrifices, the grueling hours and seldom received appreciation nurses accept as part of their profession. The woman in your life will give you confidence, bring you joy and never let you forget how important your contribution is to the medical community.
