What being a nurse means to me

First of all, I guess I would like to explain why I am a nurse. There were a few life events in my adolescence in which I basically realized that I had a high tolerance to gross bodily functions and found all of it to be super cool, but I have also fine tuned my reasoning in my young adult life. A lot of people ask if I am a nurse because I want to "save lives" or "help people," which is a fair enough line of reasoning, but I always sarcastically swat this down. I don't want to intentionally sound pessimistic or jaded or whatever, but it really isn't about that to me. The fact of the matter is that in very few instances can you really say that you "saved" someone or even truly "helped" them. Most of the times, you simply get people through (or sometimes not) a time in someone's life when they are not well. Although this doesn't sounds as cool as saving someone, I actually believe that it's a pretty cool thing. I would describe myself as a humanist. I could go into Humanism and it's many different meanings according to different philosophers over the years, and perhaps I will on a different post, but for now I will stick with the two sentence Wikipedia definition. "Humanism is a worldview and a moral philosophy that considers humans to be of primary importance. It is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality." (and yes, I will probably quote wikipedia quite often). For me, it means that I find people to be infinitely entertaining and amazing; a being that never ceases to surprise. In a hospital, as a nurse, you are in direct contact with people in a way you would never be ordinarily. We, quite literally, strip you naked, put you in a one-size-fits-none sheet, and then ask you about your entire life story including your last bowel movement. I can honestly say, I know more about your grandmother than you do, or ever wanted to. But in all seriousness, I get to live very important life moments with people I hardly know, and it's amazing the things you see in humanity when you get to experience that. I've seen a father see his first baby girl being born. I've seen a son crying and telling of the great things his father has done after his father died. I've also seen abuse, manipulation, addiction, all sorts of mental illness, and one time, I saw a child die. I know that this kind of exposure to people isn't for everyone, but that's why I'm a nurse, and you're not. I enjoy finding out about people, trying to understand why someone does what they do, and always being blindsided at how different everyone really is when they are under a stressful situation. I know I should probably not wax poetic about this much longer, but one more point: through all of this observation of humanity, a nurse is required to take care of every patient, whether or not they like that person. That's what being a nurse is to me, why I am one, and why I love it.