Being a nurse and a Sister of Providence in today’s world : caring and giving support

• As far as I can remember, I have always wanted to travel the world caring for the wounded, the poor and those in need. As I became older, I felt in me this desire growing stronger. After reflecting upon it, I chose to be nurse because I wanted to stand by the sick, stand by their bed and at their feet. I think that in our profession sometimes we can overlook the importance of listening: we might feel overworked, or not feeling well, and that affects our availability to listen. When I started as a nurse, I made a vow to the Lord that my work would become my prayer, and that I would recognize God and Jesus in everyone I’d cared for. Being a nurse is a privilege: I am at the foot of people, at the bedside of the ill Christ. My profession gives me the opportunity to experience charity on a daily basis, by healing the wounds of our Lord. This represents my spirituality, my way of being a nurse in an ill world.
• As a Sister of Providence, I live the grace of my calling twice. I enjoy the gift of abandoning myself, as our Mother of Sorrows did. Every sick person is someone that suffers, a beggar. Sometimes it is not even treatment what these people are looking for but someone who listens, someone who understands without judging them, who encourages them to keep going. Yet, our Charism is compassion, charity in action. I count myself among those privileged and fortunate enough to be around people who are physically ill and at the same time deeply suffering from their souls, seeking for treatment but also for support. Mother Gamelin did the same with the elderly ladies that she cared for. To me, being a Sister of Providence and a nurse is a grace plenty of meaning today because every suffering person is an ill Christ whom I must care for, support, understand, guide, while being able to stay by them. To witness their healing is an incredible gift. There is no better place for a Sister of Providence than to be there, listening to someone in need. Establishing a bond of trust where the others feel welcomed and with no apprehension to express themselves in depth can lead to both inner and outer healing. These are the small miracles of our profession that we recognize in a context of Faith.
• I have stood by all kinds of people: women wanting to have children, broken couples, young people in search of identity, the elderly, and transgender people. I have understood the urgent need of people to be loved. I haven’t always been able to meet all their demands, but in most cases, I was in the right place at the right time. The phrase I have heard the most as a nurse is “Providence has sent you”.  It confirms to me that I am at the right place. I have also stood by people at the end of their lives, which has been a very hard but very enriching experience on the meaning of life and death. I can tell by experience that for many dying people it is extraordinary to see the complete openness with which they embrace death as a transition. To be a nurse is to be a servant, and the Sisters of Providence are servants. Was not our Lord who said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve”?  The Sisters of Providence choose to put themselves at the service of the most in need. And in Haiti there are many in that situation. The hardest part is not being able to do enough even with all your will. The lack of resources makes life so difficult that, at times, I wonder if I am fulfilling the mission to which I have been called for: to serve the poor.
• Today, more than ever, people from Haiti need the Sisters of Providence, because life has become more difficult, and only those with some economic means can afford the luxury of education and hospitalization. I dream of the day when I will be able to work at a hospital owned by the Sistersof Providence in Haiti, where I could meet the needs of people, supporting and caring integrally for people.

Sister Juedie Elismat, SP