Nurses, Needles, and Pain

I, like most people, have had the opportunity to visit a medical facility and be ushered about, poked, and prodded by a nurse. Many of them are actually nice and try not to make the experience worse than it already is. Then there's those who like to "torture" the unlucky souls who have entered their door. Case in point, way back when, in other words, when I was in high school, I needed a tetanus shot. I hate shots. I can't watch them pierce my or anyone else's skin. I waited nervously for the nurse to jab me with the needle, depress the plunger, yank the needle out of my arm and release me to the safety of the great outdoors. But, no. Not this nurse. She grabs my tricep, squeezes it, and says to me, "For some reason, tetanus shots hurt the worst." I turned toward her horrified and tensed. At that moment, she jabbed the needle home. So, yes, in this case, that was one of the most painful injections I have ever had; my arm throbbed for a week.

Well, time has passed, my arm recovered, and I avoid medical facilities with all my might. Recently, a high school friend graduated from nursing school. I can assure everyone that she is a kind soul and would never "torture" anyone on purpose. Her new career field inspired me...along with the evil nurse from so many years before, to design a bumper sticker for nurses...everywhere....