Jesus Panties.

I work in a really busy trauma center as a nurse. Like every person on this planet, my job is tough. At any given moment in time I am saving a life, comforting someone hurting, providing tender love and care for the sick, and playing counselor to someone on the brink of despair. Okay, I laughed really hard when I typed that sentence, but it’s a slightly embellished truth. Somedays you feel like a rock star, and some days like a legalized drug dealer and babysitter. The silver lining to my crazy job is the people I’m blessed to work along side. Like I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I make amazing friends at work. Some of them have become my closest friends — people I call when I have my own emergencies or when I need a babysitter just for an hour so I can go work out real fast (that’s as close as family in my book). These people do not get the recognition they deserve for the level of extreme awesomeness they put into this world. I’d like to share with you one person in particular who has made my work life a whole lot brighter and happier. We’ll call her, Lola. 

When you enter the ED, you’re greeted by a clerk who will tell you where your family member is being treated and the easiest way to get there. They answer your call lights. They relay information. They organize your chart. They send you to the right place in the hospital. They keep the nurses’ heads on straight. Lola is a super clerk. She knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING. Phone numbers, special charting packets, how to order tests/procedures, and where the best coffee is. Even better, she knows you. Even if you’ve only been working in our department for a few weeks, she knows your name. And she’ll use it. When I was miserably pregnant during the last few months and continued to work my encounters with Lola were like this:

me: *grumbling to self about how my job is the 7th layer of hell when you’re pregnant and hate humanity.*
Lola: “HI HONEY BUNNY. HOW’S MY BABY? YOU LOOK SO AMAZING. LET ME RUB YOUR BELLY. YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BABY! YOU’RE DOING A GREAT JOB CARRYING THAT BABY!”
me: (*beaming. thinking to myself, “i AM awesome, aren’t i?! i can do anything! i can conquer the whole world. i can even clean my house tonight and do laundry! i’m superwoman! i’m going to be the best mom ever! and my hair looks great too!”) “Thanks, Lola. I needed that.”
Lola: “No problem, sugar. See you tomorrow.”

So, I’m not making this stuff up. If I could describe her in three words they would be: gracious, feisty, and genuine. Lola genuinely cares about YOU. She wants to know how your life is. She loves your baby more than you do. She is so mad that fat patient in C32 told you you needed to wear a girdle because you still look pregnant even though you just had a baby 16 weeks ago so you should be allowed some flex room to get back to normal. She will tell that crazy patient who keeps screaming at you to bring them a snack tray or turn on their TV that they need to use their inside voices and be nice to their nurses because we have hard jobs and want to be the best nurses for all our patients. But who cares about Lola?

we do, damnit! we love this hardworking, selfless woman. we love that she makes fun of the fact that we’ve treated everyone in the city of Dallas for STD’s twice. She says, “I’ll never be smelling funky like these girls because I’m wearing my Jesus panties. No one gets in the Jesus Panties. These are my purity panties!” we love that she works two jobs (one during the day and one at night) AND is finishing up her degree in social work because she really loves people and wants to help them. we love that she knows everything but won’t admit it. we love that she’s in our business. we love that she’s willing to get up IN our business if she needs to. we love that she cracks the whip on whatever team she’s on and runs a tight ship.

She’s an unsung hero. She saves lives every day — the nurses’ lives, by keeping our heads on straight and making us laugh, and yours, by keeping us sane when you piss us off.

I told her I was going to write a blog about her, but didn’t tell her why. It’s because she deserves recognition for being so real and so amazing. I wanted to take a picture of the two of us together because I wanted you to see how beautiful she is on the inside and outside. But Lola doesn’t see how amazing other people see her, so she wouldn’t let me even though I chased her with my iPhone for about 30 minutes at work tonight. Even when I threatened her with withholding photos of Jack from her because I know she loves them so much. She just laughed at me because she knows that it’s impossible for me NOT to show people my photos of Jack and she loves them the most. She hates Facebook and avoids it like the plague. But she is aware that I was going to tell everyone how incredible she is and how she makes the ER and better place to be.

Here is my interpretation of who Lola reminds me of:

Lola is the ER's Oprah.

So, Lola, go on with your bad self. You make the ER a much better place. We are lucky to know you.

-hannah.