Colossians 3:23 -"Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
Colossians 3:17 -"And whatever you do or say, let it be a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
Hebrews 6:10 –“God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.”
2 Timothy 2:21 –“If a man cleanses himself, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
“Rosel, do you mind seeing this inmate who was complaining of difficulty breathing?”, asked the PM shift “fill-in” charge nurse.
I just walked in prior to me starting my 23:30 hrs. shift. People at work knows that I work with my heart. I don’t sit around and I try to help out in whatever way I can.
“Well, have you asked if the unit deputy could escort the inmate down here since it would be difficult to evaluate him in his cell?”
Laughing she answered, “No! Do you mind asking them?”
Something stabbed my heart – a little bit of frustration. Right there, I knew she purposely waited for me to come, instead of evaluating the inmate when the unit called for help. She didn’t know what was going on with the inmate when I asked for more questions. It was frustrating because she was the same person who has a habit now of passing on work, specially if their shift was about to end.
Nothing wrong with “passing the buck” since we work for 24 hours. What was wrong was the “laziness” going on. She was just sitting around when I came on. And I know how to be a charge nurse, because I fill-in sometimes, too to sit on that chair. It’s not hard but people make it look hard to make themselves look they are busy.
There are times that it is hard when it comes to making decisions and discerning which problem needs to be taken cared of first. If your staff is busy, and as a charge nurse you’ re not, it doesn’t hurt to help out.
If I didn’t know God, I would have gotten ticked off so bad that I would have probably erupted with not nice kind of words, just like how other of my co-workers are.
They sit around, talking, gossiping. They take long breaks. They hold on to their charts, pretending to do doctor’s orders in the computer when they have those charts for the longest time. They take their time doing things.
It’s frustrating because coming from a busy hospital floor [Orthopedics], our kind of work in prisons is challenging but still easy compared to what we do at the hospitals. And I know most of us came from hospitals. There was just no excuse to be lazy and whine about work. It’s not a pretty sight, but I don’t need to be like them.
I always thank the Lord that when we accept Him, He truly renews our minds and our hearts if we allow Him to. His wisdom changed me. He changed my worldly ways into ways that are pleasing to Him, none other. He made me realize that we must not go with the flow with the things that do not glorify Him.
Because of my God, I go to work with a cheerful heart, doing things for Him because He is my Boss. I don’t want the rewards that earthly employers give. I would rather get the rewards from my Lord. He is the Giver of gifts. I would rather put a smile on His face and not please my co-workers.
It took me only 5 minutes to see that inmate who thought he was having an asthma attack but actually he has a history of having panic attacks. Nothing to do except for him to try to calm down as what I previously suggested with him the last time I treated him. He was embarrassed about the whole thing. But I reassured him that it would always be okay to ask for help because next time, it could be a real asthma attack.
“So, what was wrong with him? That was quick!” asked that charge nurse.
I said, “Nothing! He just needed to relax. But even if it wasn’t an asthma attack, it doesn’t hurt for us to see him immediately because he could be having a real one next time around. He has a history of it.”
She got silent and did not know what to say. I hoped that by me saying that, she got what I tried to implied: even if the complaint was not a true emergency, if they still had the time, they should not ignore it.
She said good night and thank you to me. But I was saying “thank You” to my “Charge Nurse” [up there] Who would want me to do the right thing all the time. And by His grace, I can…
Read what the Lord says about “laziness”:
Proverbs 13:11 -"Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows."
Proverbs 19:15 – "Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.”
Ecclesiastes 10:18 –“Laziness lets the roof leak, and soon the rafters begin to rot.”
Proverbs 12:27 –“Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.”
Proverbs 20:13 -"If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open and there will be plenty to eat."
Proverbs 26:15 -"Some people are so lazy that they won't even lift a finger to feed themselves."
Proverbs 26:16 -"Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors."
2 Thessalonians 3:6 – “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ: stay away from any Christian who lives in idleness and doesn’t follow the tradition of hard work we gave you.”
Need I say more? Just get up and do it! Do things for the Lord!
