An Unexpected Remedy for My Moral Distress

When Katherine first started bringing her very medically-complicated daughter into our pediatric ICU, we all marveled that her child had even survived the early months of infancy. All the odds were against them, but they were tough, this mom and daughter pair. I didn’t know what her pregnancy and birth journeys were like. Did she … Continue reading An Unexpected Remedy for My Moral Distress

A Letter from a Christian PICU Nurse to the Western Christian Church

To my Western Christian brothers and sisters, I come to you as a fellow Christian and as a pediatric ICU nurse with a burden and a plea. I come to you as someone who knew in theory and through some personal experience before I became a nurse, that this world can be cruel and unfair. … Continue reading A Letter from a Christian PICU Nurse to the Western Christian Church

Guest Blog Post for Crossroads: The Worthwhile Art of Careful Listening

In an incredibly noisy world - particularly for us introverts - the art of careful listening proves to make all the difference for my family friend hospitalized in the ICU who had only one silent but extraordinary way left to make his voice heard. My short Crossroads blog post for The Intima: A Journal of … Continue reading Guest Blog Post for Crossroads: The Worthwhile Art of Careful Listening

Essay for Spring 2020 Issue of Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine

My essay, Best Brother, published in the Spring 2020 issue of Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, tells the story of a long-time family friend who suffered a severe spinal cord injury last summer and, like so many of our patients and families, was faced with sudden life-altering decisions in the ICU. But with a … Continue reading Essay for Spring 2020 Issue of Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine

New Blog Post for AJN: The Nurse’s Temptation to Fill in the Patient Handoff Narrative

In my latest blog post for American Journal of Nursing, I share a reflection on how easy it is for me as a nurse to presume I know a patient and family's full story when I don't know it at all. What happens to the nuances of our care when we are or are not … Continue reading New Blog Post for AJN: The Nurse’s Temptation to Fill in the Patient Handoff Narrative

Guest Post for American Journal of Nursing: Learning New Skills of Supporting One Another as Nurses

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