Nurses have always been heroes,
Every one of us leaders,
Recognizing emergencies,
Thinking critically,
Acting quickly
to save lives.

But nurses are also heroes 
in the quiet spaces,
Spaces of grief,
Spaces of fear, 
Spaces of loneliness.

Sometimes being a hero is bringing a patient a warm blanket,
Or sitting by a bedside,
Holding a hand.
Sometimes being a hero is crying in your car after a particularly hard shift,
Unable to share your grief,
Your pain,
Your own fear that you aren't enough,
To save everyone.

Sometimes being a hero is holding space for each other,
The unknowable burden,
Of lives fragile and fleeting and gone.
Sometimes being a hero is helping our fellow nurses to rise.

We don't sign up to be heroes,
Each one of us drawn to serve in different ways,
For different reasons.

Our roots are intwined below the surface,
Deeply connected,
But standing,
Alone,
So that our patients never have to be.

- Julie Samms MN, RN