Life post-TEDx Talk is slowly returning to a more reasonable pace, which means I finally have more time to start writing again. This latest guest blog post for the American Journal of Nursing is about an issue I have been wrestling with for awhile: Why do we nurses still seem to have a hard time … Continue reading Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing: Learning New Skills of Supporting One Another as Nurses
Livestream link for my TEDx Talk: How Grief Enables Me to Endure as a Nurse
**UPDATE**: The livestream link is no longer active. To view the TEDx Talk, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SasMjDCSyR4&t=1s *************************** It's been way too quiet on this blog, but that's because I've been working on my biggest project to date - preparing my TEDx Talk entitled "How Grief Enables Me to Endure as a Nurse." The Talk … Continue reading Livestream link for my TEDx Talk: How Grief Enables Me to Endure as a Nurse
When Brokenness Transforms Nursing: Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing
The tendency for nurses, I feel, is to depend primarily on our sense of internal strength, resilience and coping to be effective in this profession. But is it possible for the nurse to find the inner recognition of his/her own brokenness as a transformative gift to strengthen his/her nursing practice? My latest guest post for … Continue reading When Brokenness Transforms Nursing: Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing
Intimate Strangers: Article for AJN’s Aug 2017 Reflections column
Meeting a family for the first time, on the day they will say good-bye to their child for the last time. Taking care of the child's physical needs until it's time to be the one who turns off all that has been sustaining those needs. It is one of the most profound interactions a nurse … Continue reading Intimate Strangers: Article for AJN’s Aug 2017 Reflections column
The Inner Stretch of Nursing: Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing
Nursing has a way of challenging - and sometimes flat out messing with - your perspective on life. So many Sundays, I've gone to church and started singing about truths I know to be foundational - God is good, mercy and hope are real, comfort is near. I have seen and experienced all of these … Continue reading The Inner Stretch of Nursing: Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing
Upcoming TEDx Talk on Nursing
As my passion for finding greater heart-level support for myself and fellow nurses has grown, I have struggled to understand the lack of resources and voices available in both book and video format. Please don't misunderstand me; I am incredibly grateful for the currently existing journals, books and websites that start to tell the story … Continue reading Upcoming TEDx Talk on Nursing
How to Support the Nurse in Your Life: Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing
I've been thinking a lot about why it can be so challenging for very well-intentioned friends and families of nurses to support us when our work takes its toll. My guest post for the American Journal of Nursing blog, Off the Charts, provides some suggestions for support that nurses may not always know how to directly … Continue reading How to Support the Nurse in Your Life: Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing
The Elusive Work-Life Balance: On Self-Compassion
On my morning drive to work, I shake off the cloud of drowsiness, and I debate whether to get caught up on the news – sadly nowadays, a too easy way to already burden myself before my 6:50AM arrival at the hospital – or enjoy the 40 minutes of silence before whatever will unfold, unfolds. I … Continue reading The Elusive Work-Life Balance: On Self-Compassion
How to Prevent a Code as a Nurse (and it’s not the way you think)
Hers was a story that would make you shake your head in disbelief just to hear the background, never mind what all actually went down on my shift with her. An unstable family, a turbulent social life, clear signs of personal distress. As the nurse, I listened to the story, and like a good nurse, … Continue reading How to Prevent a Code as a Nurse (and it’s not the way you think)
Papi, Read the Story: The Nurse’s Privilege to Witness Beauty
The curious and perhaps inevitable effect of a major health crisis on any family is its power to elicit affection, emotion, and perhaps long-resisted efforts at connection from those most directly involved. Reserved personalities crack open, reach out. Estranged relationships build bridges, sometimes temporarily for survival, sometimes repentantly for healing. Close relationships sometimes buckle, sometimes grow … Continue reading Papi, Read the Story: The Nurse’s Privilege to Witness Beauty
The Heart of Nursing 