Remember devotion of emergency nurses

Every day in this country we read about our heroes and their amazing feats of courage and strength.

Today's culture raises up entertainers, and athletes even with the daily reports of their indiscretions. The sports pages are filled with "clutch catches" and "walkoff home runs" this time of year. Some make political statements by sitting during the national anthem. My heroes are different.

My heroes are usually overlooked by the media, but they can be found in hospitals all across America. They are emergency nurses and they have no agents or entourages.

ER nurses are called to quickly assess and intervene in life-threatening situations day in and day out. They are faced with some of the most intimate situations that people will ever experience; they must deal with these with immediate rapport, comfort and human dignity without having a prior personal relationship.

Within moments, they will go from comforting a suffering child to saving a heart attack victim's life, often repeating the cycle several times during a busy shift. They'll go home carrying many of these encounters with them, only to return to work in 24 hours to "repeat the drill" with the same professionalism and grace.

It takes men and women of exceptional character to work in the environment of a chaotic emergency department. To sit with and console the family of a teenager who just died in an automobile accident takes far more strength than any NFL linebacker.

As a pediatric emergency physician for 25 years, I can assure you that there are no finer people on this earth than the nurses who staff our emergency departments.

With National Emergency Nurses Week just passed, please remember how truly special these people are by acknowledging their work and commitment. Remember, in their world, it's "911" every day.

Charles Nozicka

Libertyville