Embracing Diversity with Compassionate Care is Key to Nursing

By Shelley Reynolds

Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and come along with me on a journey.  Remember what it was like to be a young girl or boy, just starting high school.  Remember the fun you had with friends, the football games on Friday nights, and the high school dances.  Hear the cheerleaders and the band as they play your school’s fight song. Remember the smell of your school books, and how great it was on your first day back after summer vacation.  Imagine for a minute that you live in the Midwest, where they don’t have much exposure to people from other races or religions.  You’ve known the people in your school most of your life; after all, you were born here. 

And then the unthinkable happens.  It’s September 11, 2001, and our country has just been attacked.  Everyone knows it must be Arabs that did it.  And all of a sudden, the teachers who thought you were one of their best students an hour ago, are now standing in front of your classroom shouting that we should just “kill ‘em all”.  Your last name is Elabdallah, and your father is a Palestinian.  What do you do?  I was proud of my daughters when they stood up in class and told their teachers and their classmates that they and their relatives had nothing to do with it, and that prejudices hurt.  What would you have done if a Brianna or a Fatimah Elabdallah had come to the ER at your hospital on September 12th?  Would you have treated them with the same compassion and respect that you’d want shown to your own child?  I hope so.  One day, my daughter’s lives may depend on it.

Now imagine the horror of finding yourself in a world that made sense this morning, but no longer makes sense this afternoon.  Imagine a world where your neighbors are spying on you, and even those who are supposed to be helpful… doctors, nurses, police officers, can’t be trusted.  Imagine if those fears were as real to you as the walls in your room, or the shoes on your feet.  Where would you turn?  How would you find someone to help you? 

This is the world that some other members of my family live in.  I’ve watched as they’ve fought hard to recover.  One thing that always stands out is fear.  The fear they have as their perceptions of even familiar people and places become skewed.  The fear they have when their own senses can no longer be trusted to give them accurate information about their surroundings.  The fear that medications may not work this time, or that medications that are working now may stop and throw them back into the depths of depression or a bi-polar mania.  And I’ve also been afraid.  Afraid that one day I’ll get the phone call from the police saying my relative has died because of some risky behavior. 

If I could bring one thing to nursing, it would be compassion for those who are different from myself.  I’ve been with a family member in the emergency room.  I could almost feel the nurses and staff arguing about who had to take care of the “crazy in 2”.  If I could, I would shout to anyone who would listen, that the “crazy in 2” is someone’s father, mother, daughter, son or spouse.  I would tell the world that with patience, compassion and proper treatment, mentally ill people can often be very classy and dignified, and lead very productive lives.  Nobody wakes up one day and says “today, I’d like to be the ‘crazy in 2’”. 

We decided to be nurses, and that means having compassion, even for those who are different from ourselves.  Whether it’s mental illness, racial difference, religious or moral differences, or sexual orientation, there will be people who cross our paths who are different, and sometimes they will be very difficult to care for.  We didn’t choose to be nurses because it was easy.  I want to be the nurse that makes a difference in someone’s life.  I want to be someone who digs deep, and finds the compassion for someone I would not normally call my friend.  I hope you do too.  Someday I or my family may need you.

Shelley Reynolds is currently a practical nursing student in St. Joseph, Missouri, raising three children with her husband Craig.