I am overjoyed to finally be able to share this podcast episode with the world. Claire and Chris Sandys reached out to me all the way from England earlier this year to invite me to record a conversation with them, where we go in deep about my work as a pediatric ICU nurse. They are such insightful, thoughtful, empathetic interviewers, and what I love so much about the conversation is that it is about so much more than painfully hard to hear stories. It’s about hope, the beautiful courage I see in all my colleagues, and perspective on suffering we all encounter in various seasons of life.

Here’s the podcast episode description below. And here is the direct link to their website and the episode. You can also look up “The Silent Why” wherever you listen to your podcasts (Apple, Spotify).

My hope is that this episode not only encourages those of you who are doing this work, but that it also serves as a resource you can share with friends and family who you may have struggled to talk about your work experiences with. I think there is enough balance of both vulnerability and also genuine hope and insight to not feel overwhelming to listeners who are not in healthcare.

(I should also state that all views expressed in this podcast are my own and not reflective of my employer.)

https://www.thesilentwhy.com/podcast/episode/79bcbfcd/loss-of-health-and-life-in-paediatric-patients

Episode Description:

#052. Imagine working with sick and dying children, where feelings of loss are all too familiar. How would you prepare for going to work everyday?

In this episode we chat to Hui-wen Sato, a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit nurse at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

This is The Silent Why, a podcast on a mission to open up conversations around loss and grief and to see if hope can be found in 101 different types of loss.

Loss #34 of 101 – Loss of health and life in paediatric patients

Hui-wen has worked as a Paediatric Nurse since 2010, after changing careers from working with the elderly. Since starting this work she has truly seen the best and the worst of humanity, and through this journey she has developed to talk about the ‘inner heart experiences of nurses’.

We wanted to chat to her to find out what it’s like to work in a job that involves facing constant loss of health and life in children and their families. What drives her to do it? What can you find to enjoy in work like this? How does she protect herself from compassion fatigue? And what has she learnt about grief through her role?

Hui-wen has a beautiful way of expressing how grief has taught and shaped her, and her view of life, faith and family. She shares wisdom to help us all when facing loss and grief, but especially those who face it in their workplaces on a daily/weekly basis.

She also shares a fantastic text response her friend sent, that we should all remember when dealing with friends and family who are grieving.