I am beyond thrilled to be speaking at the End Well Symposium in Los Angeles this November. I’m so grateful for their focus on pediatrics this year. It is a population that evokes particularly tender emotions when we talk about end of life, because goodness, they're only just getting started. It is a tremendous privilege to be … Continue reading Join Me at the End Well Symposium this November!
pediatric nursing
Podcast Interview on The Apologies Podcast Airs Tomorrow!
I first had the pleasure of meeting Emmy Award-winning producer, Lindsey Whissel Fenton, when she invited me to be a panelist for her Speaking Grief webinar on "Minimizing Burnout in Death Care Professionals." Her deep empathy and curiosity about the deep and honest things that make us human shine through her work, and I am … Continue reading Podcast Interview on The Apologies Podcast Airs Tomorrow!
An ICU Nurse’s Complicated Relationship with the Turn of the New Year
I wrote a post around Thanksgiving about the strange chasm between holiday bliss and hospital grief. After that post, our unit entered into a stormy December when we saw one tiny human go from just so new to the world, to an everything-altering diagnosis, to sick but cute and alert, to crashing onto ECMO and … Continue reading An ICU Nurse’s Complicated Relationship with the Turn of the New Year
PICU Nursing, Dec 2022: A Day in the Life
I was supposed to be charge nurse yesterday. But because staffing remained incredibly tight, and we had some extraordinarily sick patients in our unit right now (four on CVVH, a nurse-driven specialized form of slow dialysis; and one little baby on ECMO, the ultimate heart-lung machine for the sickest of patients), one of our wonderfully … Continue reading PICU Nursing, Dec 2022: A Day in the Life
The Chasm Between Holiday Glory and Hospital Grief
Saturday, November 26 Saturday is my usual work day in the pediatric ICU. This particular Saturday falls on Thanksgiving weekend, so my social media feed is full of everyone’s festive family gatherings around a table overflowing with food and drink. I post my own. This is living! So much to be thankful for! Yes to … Continue reading The Chasm Between Holiday Glory and Hospital Grief
Podcast Episode for Grief is a Sneaky B!tch: Human, Not Superhero
The superhero narrative has been and continues to be prevalent when referring to healthcare workers, and not for terrible reasons per se. Healthcare workers are some of the toughest people I know. I have deep respect for each one of my colleagues, for their fortitude and capacity to bear extraordinary burdens, experiences and responsibilities on … Continue reading Podcast Episode for Grief is a Sneaky B!tch: Human, Not Superhero
Podcast Episode about PICU Nursing with “The Silent Why” is Now Live!
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 … Continue reading Podcast Episode about PICU Nursing with “The Silent Why” is Now Live!
New Blog Post for AJN: Primary Nursing of Medically Complex Children in the ICU Increases Parental Trust
I’ve been wanting to write about the experiences and struggles the healthcare community can face when we take care of medically complex kids who often have severe developmental disabilities. This blog post for American Journal of Nursing is finally that post, with a lot of vulnerable honesty. But the blessing here is that I am … Continue reading New Blog Post for AJN: Primary Nursing of Medically Complex Children in the ICU Increases Parental Trust
The Indescribable Value of Having Our Stories be Heard
I have two big events coming up that feel huge to me because at the core of them is the rare, underestimated, healing opportunity for our stories as nurses to be brought forth from the depths of where we tend to bury them, and be heard. Tomorrow, I’ll have the privilege of being interviewed for … Continue reading The Indescribable Value of Having Our Stories be Heard
Published piece in “Months to Years”: A Story of a Good Mom
Months to Years is a beautiful online literary journal, filled with pieces that courageously and tenderly address the issues of mortality and terminal illness. My piece, "A Story of a Good Mom," is now live in their current Summer 2022 issue. Working in pediatric ICU nursing as a mother myself to school-aged children, the parents' … Continue reading Published piece in “Months to Years”: A Story of a Good Mom
The Heart of Nursing 