(Author’s note: Permission has been granted by all parties involved, including the patient's family, to share medical details that may make this patient identifiable.) One of the things that feels most unfair about pediatric ICU nursing is that with critically ill children, you don’t get the comfort of being able to look back and say … Continue reading How a Patient’s Family Heals a Nurse in this Era of Medicine
death and dying
The Many Faces of Courage
I wrote this article for my unit's newsletter about seven years ago, just a few months out of orientation as a new graduate nurse. I have found myself thinking again about courage because a few days ago, my colleague held a little one in her arms after life support was withdrawn, until his heart finally … Continue reading The Many Faces of Courage
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
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)
The Messy Untangling: On Sorting Through the Hard Feelings after a Rough Shift
Today, I’m feeling it. The untangling after a particularly intense shift on all levels. I walked into a shift with a family whose child had taken a big turn for the worse and they had no guarantees that moving forward with certain procedures and therapies would turn things around for the better. We could only … Continue reading The Messy Untangling: On Sorting Through the Hard Feelings after a Rough Shift
How is Work: The Question I Struggle to Answer as a Nurse
It must seem odd, why I hesitate. It’s a pretty standard question in standard conversation. “How is work?” But I hesitate every time, and I think at times I stare at the person questioning me. I’m trying to gauge how much they want to know. Do you want an easy answer? “Work is busy. Our … Continue reading How is Work: The Question I Struggle to Answer as a Nurse
A Strange Gift: The Bittersweet Calling to Nursing
(Post originally written Aug 16, 2012) Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever done postmortem care on a little patient, minus the partial experience I had as a nursing student a few years ago. Surreal hardly begins to describe the experience, from cleaning up a messy room that bears witness to the intense activity involved … Continue reading A Strange Gift: The Bittersweet Calling to Nursing
The Heart of Nursing 