The Power of Being ‘Just a Nurse’

Not long ago, a nursing student confided that she would never settle for being “just a nurse.” She was determined to push forward, to one day earn her nurse practitioner degree. That conversation struck a chord with Emily, a young nurse who once felt the same way.

She remembered her own early days—the photo of a wide-eyed graduate, excited and eager to conquer the world of healthcare. Back then, Emily was quick to say she wasn’t going to stop at bedside nursing. She had plans. She had pride.

But two years later, reality had reshaped her perspective. Life as a nurse was nothing like the glossy image she once carried. Sleep was scarce, nights away from home were constant, and her newlywed years were spent juggling exhaustion and long shifts. Makeup, manicures, and tidy hair became luxuries of another lifetime. Real life, and real nursing, had hit hard.

And yet, beneath the fatigue and sacrifices, Emily discovered something deeper. Being “just a nurse” wasn’t a limitation—it was a calling.

She learned that no patient was beneath her care, regardless of their choices or circumstances. She chose not to judge but to extend compassion, caring as she believed Jesus would. She cleaned blood from hospital floors without hesitation, sat up talking with anxious patients at midnight, and wept with families when babies were transferred to the NICU.

She picked up the phone at 3:30 a.m. to call doctors on behalf of patients, even when her hands shook from nerves. She became, in turns, a hairstylist, a waitress, a babysitter, a janitor, an advocate, and—when needed—a friend.

Emily still considered herself a “baby nurse,” learning something new every day. Perhaps she would go on to become a nurse practitioner one day. But what she knew for certain was this: there was nothing small, nothing “just,” about being a nurse.

It was, in her words, “pretty dang cool.”