Nurses' Lives Are On His Hands

I watched intently, listening for soft words. But all it took with whatever strength she had while being recorded was “I love you guys” to her colleagues, teasingly inviting them to visit her in Maryland where she was about to be transferred.

I could feel for her. 

Nina Pham…

The first nurse who worked in Dallas, Texas who contracted the Ebola virus from the first patient they had who recently died from it. 

I wasn’t sure if it was a nurse donned in the spacesuit-like gear who took a piece of tissue and handed it to her as her tears flowed. The guy filming thanked her and uttered, “No crying allowed.”

We don’t know much about Ebola. Its etiology. No known cure as of this time. Deadly. Easily transmitted by contact. Many people have already perished in Africa. Still counting.

I’ve been praying for her. Knowing we share a common goal. Of caring for others with all our hearts. In fact, I was sure we recited the same oaths during our pinning ceremonies. Most nurses do… Pledging:

“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.” –Florence Nightingale Pledge, (modified in 1893 by Mrs. Lystra E. Gretter)

The table has turned. Now, she is the patient. Deep in my heart, she deserves to be treated well. For the sacrifice she did to care not only for Thomas Eric Duncan, the patient who died from Ebola, but for the other patients’ lives that were placed on her caring hands.

Nina Pham…You’re always in my prayers that God will heal you with this sickening disease. The lives that are placed on our hands daily surely are not easy to deal with as we think of best interventions to help them get well and be in their optimal state of health. We may differ in places where we work but our goals remain the same. To serve with compassion,love, and understanding even in the most difficult situations, as our hands work with dedication and try to apply the skills we learned adeptly.

The government might not know what it’s doing to combat this disease. But one thing is for sure, we also share the same faith that our lives are not on anyone else’s hands but on the Pierced Hands Whose hold never lets go.  May God bless you and Amber Vinson, the second nurse who was diagnosed to have the Ebola symptoms. May God heal both of you and protect all the nurses who are there, risking their lives, mostly the first ones to be exposed to harmful diseases before they are diagnosed. 

We are all in this battle…But we are never afraid…Knowing that our lives are on His Hands…