The American Nurse Project aims to elevate and celebrate nurses in this country by capturing their personal stories through photography and film. Photographer Carolyn Jones and her team traveled to every corner of the U.S. to record the unique experiences of nurses at work. The photographs and narratives shed light on what it means to…… Continue reading THE AMERICAN NURSE PROJECT
Category: Nursing Stories
CARING AND THE MALE NURSE
Back in the ‘80s I ran a clinic for the elderly that was housed in an apartment on the tenth floor of a Chicago high rise. My patients came to see me, a nurse practitioner, in the office but in many instances I would later check up on them in their apartments in the building…… Continue reading CARING AND THE MALE NURSE
THE WEIRDEST HOME VISIT
When I worked in the home care program at a VA hospital in Illinois, medical students sometimes came along with us nurse practitioners while we made our visits. I enjoyed showing them the reality of delivering care in the patient’s home—where we were guests—the subtle line between suggestion and decree, education and instruction, doing for…… Continue reading THE WEIRDEST HOME VISIT
GET THE FACTS RIGHT
My first job as a nurse was at the Jersey City Medical Center. I had just graduated from nursing school and had taken the NJ State Board of Nursing exam. Since I hadn’t heard the results as yet (snail mail in 1962) I signed my name with a GN meaning “graduate nurse” rather than RN.…… Continue reading GET THE FACTS RIGHT
BE GOOD TO YOUR READER
I took Stein with me to Monkey Joe’s and settled into a black leather vibrating chair in an area devoted to parents, grandparents and other responsible adults while the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon played on one TV screen and some guys tossed a basketball on the other. My three grandsons scampered towards the inflated jumpy…… Continue reading BE GOOD TO YOUR READER
MY FAVORITE BOOKS ON WRITING
I go back every once in a while and reread the books that have always rewarded me with inspiration and encouragement. Especially now as I’m completing my book and can almost see a glimmer of light flickering at the end of the tunnel, I find I need that boost, the reassurance my work is not…… Continue reading MY FAVORITE BOOKS ON WRITING
DEMISE OF THE PHYSICAL
Back in the early ‘80s when I ran a not-for-profit clinic on the west side of Chicago for older people before annual physicals were considered “nonspecific” or “inefficient” or “potentially harmful” [“Let’s (Not) Get Physicals” (Elisabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times, June 3, 2012)] I did a complete head to toe exam on each patient who registered, including vaginal…… Continue reading DEMISE OF THE PHYSICAL
WET YOUR LIPS
Linda Jay, Michele Murdock and I are all writers. We are all of a certain age. And we all want to have a professional photo for our future book jackets. Enter Layne Sizemore, an accomplished photographer with patience, humor and appreciation of the older woman. Linda’s post tells the story of the photo shoot session and…… Continue reading WET YOUR LIPS
24-Hour Woman
“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” —Gabriel Garcia Marquez I remember Sadie Rooney handing me a brown paper bag on my visit that autumn day in the early 90s. Her husband, Jim, a self-taught preacher, had died the month before. At first…… Continue reading 24-Hour Woman
MEETING GOALS
I’ve written about getting this book done so a draft will be finished by September first. (Post: Time To Get Serious). I’ve listed goals to be accomplished by the end of each month. I only have to tweak one story to meet my target for April and since there is one more day in April,…… Continue reading MEETING GOALS
Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted 