May 2023
Kimberly
Sisk
,
Registered Nurse
Intensive Care Unit
Ochsner St. Mary Hospital
Morgan City
,
LA
United States
She performs her job duties as if it's not a job at all, but rather her caring for someone's loved one as if it were her own loved one in the bed in front of her.
You often hear nursing is a work of heart, and it's true it is a calling. I've not known her for long, but she is one of the most compassionate nurses I've come across in my almost 10 years of being in healthcare. If you spend enough time with her, you learn quickly she was called to this profession. She was called to be a nurse, to serve the community. There is a calmness and a softness about her that I almost envy, and it's very much appreciated in high-stress situations where nothing about the situation is calm. I was telling a coworker her softness reminds me of the softness that I had prior to working through a global pandemic. It is a softness I miss in myself before the world left me worn. I have literally never heard her complain and she is continually looking for ways to help those around her, offering a helping hand wherever and whenever needed. I have seen her hug family members as they tearfully grieve their reality. I have seen her go out of her way to get something specific a patient is requesting. I have seen her very gracefully and calmly explain to patients exactly what she is doing as she is doing it, whether they are sedated on the ventilator or not. She is gentle and caring. Some might even say quiet, but one thing that I have learned about her is that's where her strength lies; her humility and pure capacity to just listen. She doesn't have to voice her opinion to be heard. It is heard in her compassion for the people around her. She performs her job duties as if it's not a job at all, but rather her caring for someone's loved one as if it were her own loved one in the bed in front of her. It's easy to become hardened because of the situations we encounter as healthcare workers, and I think we tend to forget our own softness. We forget that our patients aren't just numbers or part of a census, they are human, and they are loved by someone, somewhere. They deserve to be treated with the utmost dignity, and I think Kim's character and heart are excellent reminders of that!