ILLUMINATION

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Completely Bare: Uncensored PoetryDay #9: The Nurse

Naomi Knight
ILLUMINATION
Published in
3 min readApr 26, 2024

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A male nurse checks a patient’s blood pressure.
Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Discordant alarms

Incessantly sound
Efficient squeaky soles
Fitbits overrun by miles
Caring steps, aching backs, broken hearts
Sense workers, compassionate souls
21 st -century frontline warriors.

Colour-coded manuals now on wheels
Consistency triumphs
At what cost?

Once upon a time ….

Featherlight fingertips gauged
the pulse.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

Conscious counting and assessing
Silent questions considered, and then posed

“Are you feeling alright”

“You are very pale”

Patient pain clocked
Subjective scales weigh
Conscious attention.

Expert care, in parallel, treats symptoms and the root

Targeted intervention
As thankful eyes relax
and breathing steadies and slows

Clenched fists release.

Conscious attention with intention
Care with compassion.

Versus

Squeaky wheels herald
The arrival of efficiency
Slow-loading data
Screen frozen

YET AGAIN.

Frustrated signs punctuate
Violent keystrokes

Esc, Esc, Esc, Esc, Esc, Esc …

Nothing.

Frustrated exasperation
Flurried glances at the ticking hands,

“What’s your name again”

Peeling alarms, drown out the voice

Her eyes dart,

Here, there,
Everywhere all at once.

Trapped in an IT maze, she hurriedly states

“My travelling brain is …

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ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION

Published in ILLUMINATION

We curate and disseminate outstanding articles from diverse domains and disciplines to create fusion and synergy. Subscribe to our content marketing strategy newsletter: https://drmehmetyildiz.substack.com/

Naomi Knight
Naomi Knight

Written by Naomi Knight

Constantly striving for mastery in the art of kintsugi, Naomi is an expert alchemist skilled in transforming life lessons and professional challenges into gold.

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