E9
SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune Registered nurse Lizzy Murphy, left, asks questions as she checks in her mother, fellow nurse Lynn Griesmaier, before giving her the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Jan. 8.
MOM from Page E7
then the realization of it all finally hit us. So that emo- tional side of canceling your wedding, my mom was there for all of it.” And then, as the year like no other drew to a close, a vaccine arrived. And Griesmaier was scheduled to receive it on the day her daughter was sched- uled to administer it. “I knew my mom was com- ing that day, but there were 18 stations,” Murphy said. “The chances of all of it hap- pening just right ...” Murphy had received her first dose Dec. 17, the day before her mom was sched- uled to receive hers. Murphy knew the drill, and she also knew the emotions.
Griesmaier felt them all, the moment she walked into the hospital to receive her shot. “It felt so reverent,” Griesmaier said. “I’m just so grateful we’re getting to do this. I was in awe of the mo- ment.” Then Murphy’s table had an opening. And it was Griesmaier’s turn. “I thought, ‘I gave birth to her. And she’s going to keep me alive,’” Griesmaier said. Murphy administered the shot, which Griesmaier says she barely felt. On Friday, three weeks after that first shot, Murphy administered her mom’s second dose. “It feels sort of full circle,” Murphy said. “I wouldn’t be
a nurse without my mom. I owe my work ethic and everything and the opportu- nity to go to nursing school and have a great education to my parents. “I always feel like I can never repay her for every- thing she’s done for me,” Murphy continued. “This I feel like is the greatest gift I could give her.” “I’m just so proud of her,” Griesmaier said. “She’s done such beautiful work. Her heart is just — she’s a nurse, true and true. And it’s just amazing. Here’s your child. Here’s your daughter. How this all came together, it’s just amazing.” Griesmaier helps patients who’ve been diagnosed
with breast cancer. She sees fear and hope every workday, pre- and midpan- demic. “I’m just amazed at the resilience,” she said. “The strength and courage that my patients have and their families have, I’m always just amazed.” The arrival of this vac- cine, she said, gives her hope for their futures, for their ability to ward off a dan- gerous virus while their immune systems are already severely taxed. “It’s a good powerful mo- ment between us,” Murphy said. “And it’s also a sense of hope that we’re all moving in the right direction.”
‘How does she know all of this? How is she doing all of this?’” Working at the same hospi- tal was a tremendous relief, Griesmaier said. “Not only because I had such confidence in her,” she said. “But because I still felt like I could make sure she’s OK.” Murphy was supposed to get married on May 30. She and her mom had been plan- ning the big wedding for more than a year. “At the beginning it was like, ‘It’s going to be fine by May,’” Murphy said. “And
FUELS from Page E8
give her more insight into her career. “I just realized how resilient I was,” Madison said. “I have a really good perspec- tive on life. No matter what happens, I just try to keep a positive atti- tude.”
don’t think empathy can be taught or com- passion can be taught; you either have it or you don’t. ... I just think that her empathy and compassion is going to have a lot to do with the helping of her pa- tients.”
Madison just tried to focus on getting through whatev- er she faced at that moment, knowing it would soon pass. And believes everything happens for a reason. Trials can make her a stronger person or
tients and know what situation they’re in.” “She’s going to be the nurse that everyone wants,” Nicole Jarocha said. “I think first and foremost, as a nurse, the empathy and com- passion is like 90% of the medicine. I just
like to be a patient in the hospital,” Madison said. “I’ve had some good nurses and bad nurses. And I kind of know how I want to be treated in a hos- pital. ... I’ll be able to sympathize and also empathize with my pa-
much she has taken away from these ex- periences, especially when it comes to nurs- ing. “I know what it’s
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