SNCH nurses proud of their profession

Miss Colorado, Kelley Johnson stepped on the Miss American stage on Sept. 13, in nurses “scrubs,” with a stethoscope around her neck, and told the story of her patient, “Joe,” a man with Alzheimer’s. In her story Joe asks her to change his medicine, and his treatment, and she replies that she can’t because she is “just a nurse”. In the end Joe tells her “Although you say it all the time, you are not just a nurse. You are my nurse and you have changed my life because you have cared about me.” It was an extreme departure from the typical talent presentation but the audience applauded enthusiastically.

The next day on the television program, “The View” two of the panelists appeared to make fun of Johnson’s presentation. “She came out in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win,” Michelle Collins joked. “I was like, that’s not a real talent,” and Joy Behar added: “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope around her neck?”

Lynn Bert, an Oceanside resident and the Nurse Manager of pediatrics at South Nassau Communities Hospital [SNCH], wrote an impassioned letter to the women of “The View: “Nurses use stethoscopes every day to assess their patients. They are professionals and should not be mocked by your group. Miss Colorado was proud to share her experience and yes, her talent. Nurses make a difference every day. You should not sit on your panel and judge the care someone else offers. As a RN I have been blessed with the privilege of witnessing some take their first breathes and others their last. I have cried with my patients, relieved their pain, caught significant changes in their conditions, and supported their families. You have obviously never needed a nurse’s care but one day you will, and you will receive it. Please remember the pride of Miss Colorado when you do.”