You’ ll find that your hands— the ones now trembling as you practice skills— will someday bring peace. Your voice will calm panic. Your stillness will comfort chaos. You’ ll learn to read between the lines: the glance of a daughter who’ s too afraid to ask if her father is dying, the sigh of a patient who knows they are.
And even when death comes, your care will still matter. In fact, it might matter even more.
I won’ t lie: this career will test you. You’ ll miss meals and holidays. You’ ll see things most people can’ t imagine. You’ ll carry stories home that no one else fully understands. But you’ ll also see life in its most raw, real, and resilient forms.
You’ ll witness the human spirit rising again and again. You’ ll see families forgive. You’ ll see strength where there should be none. And yes, you’ ll see miracles— not just in recovery, but in the way people love each other when everything else falls away.
There is beauty here; not the polished, easy kind, but beauty forged in the fire.
So when the days are long and the grief is heavy, remember: You are not alone. You are stepping into a lineage of caregivers who have held death’ s hand— and still chosen to show up. And every time you sit beside someone in their last moments, you are doing holy work.
You will come to know death. But you will also come to know life more intimately than most people ever will. So hold on and keep going. This work is hard- but it is worth it.
We need your heart. We need your courage. We need you.
With you on the journey, A Fellow Nurse & Paramedic Who’ s Been There
Bio
Kyle Evans, RN, NRP, CCEMT-P, is an ICU nurse and critical care paramedic. From eastern Kentucky, he has 17 years of experience in EMS, spanning EMS, industrial EMS response, and critical care interfacility transfers. He graduated from Morehead State University.
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