The boyfriend of an Irish nurse has gone viral after he shared a personal letter on social media highlighting what his girlfriend goes through whilst working as a nurse.
The man behind the touching letter Carl Mullan, who is a presenter with RTÉ 2FM, has become a viral hit after he revealed why he is supporting his girlfriend and the scheduled nursing strike action later this month.
Carl’s letter which was posted on Twitter reads as follows: “I am not a nurse.”
“But my girlfriend is and through her, I now have lots of friends who are nurses. So for what it’s worth, from the outside looking in, this is what I gather it is like to be a nurse.”
“Being a nurse means missing your kids opening their presents from Santa. It means being absent from the table while your family sit together for Christmas dinner. As a nurse you spend your day making Christmas special for those who can’t be at home.”
“It means looking forward to meeting your mates after work, only to have your plans tossed aside when a patient crashes just as you’re about to handover and finish your shift.”
“It means coming home with scratches and bruises on your arms from a patient who is so frightened they don’t know how else to react. It means having all sorts of tests done if you get a needle stick injury.”
“It means being ready, any time, anywhere to act when you hear someone cry for help. It doesn’t matter if you’re on holidays or on a night out and off the clock. When nobody else knows what to do, everyone turns to you and hopes you can fix it.”
“It means coming home from work, exhausted, & having to keep to yourself what happened on the ward today because it’s too upsetting to talk about. (When you live with a nurse, you know when something is wrong, but you learn to stop asking what happened. They will talk when ready).”
“It means calling your loved ones as you leave work after a particularly tough day because you need a voice on the other end to talk to. It doesn’t matter what you talk about, just something to distract you from bursting into tears as you walk to your car.”
“It means getting up for work the following morning, brushing it all off and going at it again because you are a nurse, this is what you do and you love it.”
He added: “I am not a nurse. I am not cut out to be a nurse but I am so glad that there are people selfless and brave enough to do the work that nurses do. I support our nurses in seeking for what is fair. They are heroes. I am proud to know a nurse.”
Carl’s comments have received overwhelming support online with many praising both him and his girlfriend, whilst many others said that they clearly highlighted what nursing staff have to go through on a regular basis.
I am not a nurse. But my girlfriend is and through her, I now have lots of friends who are nurses. So for what it’s worth, from the outside looking in, this is what I gather it is like to be a nurse. #NursesStrike #nurselife
— Carl Mullan (@CarlMullan) January 9, 2019