WHEN HURT HAPPENS

As a nurse do you sometimes feel as if your emotions are somewhat of a target for those around you?
Horror of all horrors, you have found that the anticipated promotion went to a colleague you feel is not as worthy as you?
Or, your once bestie nurse friend has been found to betray a very intimate secret you had asked not to be disclosed?
Perhaps you have come off of lunch only to realize one of your patient’s family members have launched an attack in the way of a malicious complaint to your supervisor?
Maybe yours is the hurt felt by the consequences of decisions made by administration on the behalf of the hospital system or agency where you work?

In the time span of just one shift, your nursing work includes collaborating with so many different people. People such as the unit secretaries, nursing colleagues, supervisors, physicians and those belonging to other departments such as housekeeping, and transport. You follow protocols set by governing bodies such as the federal government and locally those of our hospital or medical agencies. Have you suffered a hurtful experience which may have included someone from any of these groups of people? And even if the situation occurred years ago, while your intention was to provide compassionate excellent nursing care, something bad happened, and now the sting of pain is still fresh in your heart and on your mind.

Or, perhaps one of your colleagues have told you their horror stories, and you find yourself afraid of the potential for you, yourself to be in a similar situation. Are you fearful of being hurt by any of these people? So, while you have not been immediately involved in a hurtful situation, you are guarded to step into truly empathetic care of your patient due to your paranoia that you, too, might experience a set back from a similarly deep felt hurt.

I tell you, Nurse Friend, God knows exactly what has happened! If you have been the victim of emotional hurt while providing patient care, God sees every detail and intention of the heart of every person involved in causing you hurt. He knows exactly the details of the words which may have been misspoken. And, if you are that nurse who will not allow their heart to enter your nursing work, God knows exactly your reasons. As you stand guard over your heart, due to being afraid that you, too, will be the victim of a careless dart thrown by one of the aforementioned parties, God knows exactly the emotions which drive you from being willing to give deep heartfelt commitment to your patients as you interact with them.

In your pain and suffering, I hope you will be able to follow the rest of what I want to share.

You see, I do believe God is omniscient. Omniscience means to know all things. Omni means all and science means knowledge. Considering how the two parts of this word encompass God having all knowledge I am convinced he saw exactly what happened in the moments leading up to your pain. Even more reassuring is he sees the intention of the heart of the person who hurt you.

In Psalm 139 David reminds us that God knows all the details of all of his creation. Imagine that you have made something. Much like a wound change with all its measurements, treatment chosen specifically for the type of wound, to the covering on the outside – this is your creation, from the design in your head to the final product, you have conceived every detail of your creation. This is much how it is with God being the creator of all living things. Down to each and every detail of your life, He is acquainted with your sorrow, as his son – who is one part of The Trinity – came to the earth and lived, and died, as a human being. God can honestly say he is absolutely acquainted with your grief. He knows when the emotional hurt hits you so deeply you want to throw in the towel and walk away from your calling as a nurse. He knows exactly what you are feeling.

God is sovereign. Sovereignty means supreme rule or authority. As a king or queen allows anything to happen according to their will, your all supreme Almighty God allows you to be in a certain situation at a specific time and included in the experience are those people who he allows to intersect with your life, even when hurtful situations happen!

In Daniel 7 we are reminded of the sovereignty of God. All nations and people – everything is under GOD’S CONTROL! In terms of your nursing job, your nurse recruiter sends your resume to the selected manager. Then, your nurse manager hires you for a certain department. Then the department manager schedules you for a specific shift. Then, in walks the patients into that shift in your department where your manager hired you to work. But, guess who was at the helm of all of this activity? You guessed it! The Lord God Almighty, Himself! He is the one Daniel describes as having all glory, authority and power.

It is a wise administrator, manager, charge nurse and bedside nurse who realizes these patients do not come from the power or persuasion of human strength or vice; but from the Lord God Almighty who, he alone has the power to make all the details of life fall perfectly into place that a particular patient would be present on a particular day in a particular unit where you happen to be the bedside nurse.

Another thing about God is that he is omnipresent. God is present everywhere all the time. Not only did God know what was going to happen, but in the midst of your pain and receiving the injury from others, he was there! He was right there! In the damaging words, accusing words, the hostile judgment you received, God was there!
When Job suffered all the setbacks of his earthly family and possessions, God was right there in his midst! Never having left Job, he knew exactly the angst and grief and sorrow Job must have felt when his entire family and all possessions were under siege by our mortal enemy, himself! Job must have known God was there with him, allowing him to overcome that which would have hurt even the strongest of Believers!

In the 21st verse of the 1st chapter of Job even while he has sustained such devastating loss, Job does not fault God; rather Job states the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Job acknowledges God’s involvement in the removal of family and possessions he once enjoyed. Job’s perspective is that God will be in his life to support him in prosperity and in poverty, in joy and sorrow.

Not that any of us want to relive the pain and suffering we have endured in any given catastrophic loss during our nursing career; but, what if you could use Job as your example and find enough humility and strength to say “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

Personally, I have been in a situation of asking God “what in the world just happened?” And did my flesh ever just want to whine and have a pity party and forget all the promises I’ve been taught all my life. Yes! It’s tempting to allow the flesh to sulk and whine and get your attention from the Lord and onto your pathetic flesh’s desire for a different outcome, or have a pity party so that others would cry with me.

Perhaps grief is ok for a short time. Grief is one necessary part of loss. Perhaps there is a time to have a counseling session with a professional, or journal about how mad and hurt you are, or even ask your friend to allow you to vent. But, consider the grand scheme of life and consider the blessings of life which God has allowed you to enjoy. Are you able to come out of your hurt stronger and perhaps more appreciative of all God brought you through?

If the objective for the Believer is to be a light and a source of testimony to the world of God’s goodness, then, we must learn, like Job, to say “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

Let healing come; let the praise return; and keep on being the awesome nurse God called you to be!

-PEGGI HUDSPITH

AUTHOR OF IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES