This was first published on January 29, 2012. When you have been a nurse as long as I have there are patients who take residence in your memories and resurface frequently. They could almost be family except they have a short history in your life. What they were like before or after you knew…… Continue reading There Are Some Patients We Never Forget
Category: Nursing Stories
Nightingale Tales
My new project involves interviewing my classmates from nursing school. We “older nurses” are dying off. Who will be around to tell our stories? As I gear up to start this project, I’m educating myself in the art of interviewing. In the meantime, a serendipitous thing happened. Lynn Dow, RN, wrote about her long career…… Continue reading Nightingale Tales
Twenty Years After the Cancer Diagnosis.
Next Sunday, November 5th, will be the 20th anniversary of my mastectomy. Afterward, my surgeon draped her arm over my shoulders and said I was “cured” as she escorted me out of her office on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. Each November 5th , I would make a big deal of the anniversary date of…… Continue reading Twenty Years After the Cancer Diagnosis.
Nurse at the Switchboard
Ten of us from a class of 44 traveled to Cape May, New Jersey to attend our 55th nursing reunion. We first met as young Catholic teens in the late ’50s enrolled in the diploma program at Saint Peter’s School of Nursing in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Hard to believe we are now in our…… Continue reading Nurse at the Switchboard
Spotlight: Marianna Crane
This appeared in the September 2017 Erie Family Health Center Donor Newsletter Anniversary Spotlight: Marianna Crane Over thirty years ago Dr. Sally Lundeen, a nurse and Erie Family Health Center’s first Executive Director, spearheaded a project that would provide care for the underserved elderly right where they lived. The Senior Clinic* opened on…… Continue reading Spotlight: Marianna Crane
Laughter: the measure of a friendship
I believe the better the friendship the more raucous the laugher—the real belly laughs that make you think you are going to die of asphyxiation. I have a number of friends that are enjoyable to be with but I have just two or three that make me really laugh. Donna and I worked in home…… Continue reading Laughter: the measure of a friendship
Out of the Blue (aka Mr. Foley)
My story was published in Pulse: Stories from the Heart of Medicine on August 18, 2017 Out of the Blue Friday, 18 August 2017 Marianna Crane ~ As I sit in the exam room waiting for my first patient of the afternoon, the phone rings. It rings four more times before I realize that Amanda…… Continue reading Out of the Blue (aka Mr. Foley)
No Edit Too Mundane
This is the week we spend our annual family vacation at the beach. While I have enjoyed the ocean and sand, I took some time to complete an assignment. One of my stories had been accepted by Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, a digital journal. It could be published as soon as this…… Continue reading No Edit Too Mundane
Leaving Our Legacy
I have been thinking for a long time about the fact that we older nurses are dying off. We will take with us our memories of nursing history. I have always loved to hear from other seasoned nurses about how they size up their nursing careers as they look back. What was important at the…… Continue reading Leaving Our Legacy
I HAD A DREAM
Originally posted on Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted:
? In preparation for moving I discover the darndest things as I unpack dusty boxes stored in the attic untouched for years. This time it’s a mercury sphygmomanometer, packed in its original carton along with a “limited warranty” card that should have been filled out within ten…
Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted 