It is this form of loving that underpins the belief that patient care and well-being are the sacred responsibility of both the individual caregiver and the system in which care is provided. Love gives us vision. Love is the expression of compassion and the protection of human dignity. Love conquers hate. It promotes health and treats disease.
Love provides shelter and food.
Love frees those imprisoned in bias and ignorance. Love cherishes all the experiences of life. Love gives us the courage to change. Our work as caregivers is serious, but we can lighten its emotional impact by finding joy and spirit in our lives and in relationship with one another. This means ridding ourselves of pretension, practicing humility, and recognizing our privilege of being essential participants in the human experience of living and dying.