R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find Out What It Means To Me

There are many things I try to be nonjudgmental about. I try not to think you're a big whiney baby when you come to the ER to have a sliver removed from your foot. I try not to think you need to be committed when you come to the ER to have a q-tip (or some other foreign object) removed from your nether regions. I try really hard not to think you need to step off the edge of a cliff if you come in screaming that you're dying when in reality all you need to do is fart.

I try. I usually fail.

I guarantee that I will treat everyone with respect, no matter what. I will treat you the same, but I will think you are a lunatic in my head.

If you tell me that your child has kept you up for 5 nights in a row, you haven't had an ounce of sleep, and you need some medicine to put your child to sleep so you can get a moment's peace - I won't believe you. And I'll probably think you're a bad parent. I will still treat you with respect.

If you tell me that the Vicodin you've been taking for 3 months isn't working and now you want to try something else, and "why no ma'am, I haven't been to any other doctors for this" - I won't believe you. I will find the 5 pharmacies and 13 doctors you've been getting drugs from. I will still treat you with respect.

If you tell me the president is an alien who comes into your head everynight and tells you to place foreign objects in your orifices - I won't believe you, and I will call for a mental health evaluation. I will still treat you with respect.

If you are a doctor who is yelling and screaming at me, spittle flying out of your mouth, face turning red, telling me I'm a bad nurse - I won't believe you, and I probably won't like you. I will still treat you with respect.

I will treat you with respect, and I will expect the same. I am a nurse, yes. I work in the ER, yes. But I am still a human and deserve to receive the same respect that I give. You don't have to like me. You don't have to think I'm a sane, rational, compassionate person. I probably don't think any of those things about you. Yet, I will treat you with respect.

Can we not all expect the same from each other?