When I was a child, I remember watching the movie Pinocchio. For those not familiar with the story or movie, there was a character in it, a talking cricket named “Jiminy Cricket.”
In the movie, he sings the song “When You Wish Upon a Star.” It goes like this:
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
OK, so the singing cricket tells us if we just wish, our dreams will come true. Hmmm.
Then comes the movie that still has me adverse to any type of monkey but mostly a flying one, the “Wizard of Oz.” In it our main character, a disgruntled teenager, takes a concussion-fueled trip and winds up in the land of Oz. Now, her biggest and most famous number in this movie is a song titled, “Over the Rainbow.”
The first three verses go like this:
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There’s a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.
Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That’s where you’ll find me.
Again, someone else wishing upon a star and telling us it will come true.
Well guess what, talking cricket and angry teenager. That doesn’t work. You know what works? Flipping hard work! Because as I look around and see the nurses in long-term care who make everyone’s wishes and dreams a reality every day.
It’s their hard work, endless dedication and spirit of selflessness that give people hope. It’s these nurses that, despite not always seeing the result of their kindness, make the world a better place to live in.
So, if you’re wishing on a star for your dreams to come true, it’s probably a nurse who’s going to make that happen. Just saying!
Happy Nurses Week!
Just keeping it real,
Nurse Jackie
The Real Nurse Jackie is written by Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC, Senior Director of Clinical Innovation and Education for Mission Health Communities, LLC and an APEX Award of Excellence winner for Blog Writing. Vance is a real-life long-term care nurse. A nationally respected nurse educator and past national LTC Nurse Administrator of the Year, she also is an accomplished stand-up comedienne. The opinions supplied here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or her professional affiliates.
The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.
