Originally posted on February 19, 2012 When I visited a patient in my caseload that lived in an “unsafe” part of the city, I went in the morning. Right after the pimps and drug dealers had called it a night and before the shop keepers pulled up the bars over the store windows and the…… Continue reading The Murder Building
Tag: home visits
There Are Some Patients We Never Forget
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
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
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…
THE TIME IS RIGHT
Originally posted on Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted:
A friend deliberated whether she should visit her father for his 95th birthday. She was swamped with commitments. Since he was unaware of his birthday as well of his surroundings and didn’t even recognize his three daughters, there was no urgency to travel to another state. However,…
WHAT I LEARNED
I am writing my memoir because of what I learned when I ran a clinic on the tenth floor of a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) high-rise twenty years ago. All my patients were over sixty years of age. I was an inexperienced nurse practitioner and new to working with older people. I learned that…… Continue reading WHAT I LEARNED
THERE ARE SOME PATIENTS WE NEVER FORGET
01/29/2012 BY MARIANNA CRANE 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 them usually remains a mystery.…… Continue reading THERE ARE SOME PATIENTS WE NEVER FORGET
THE TIME IS RIGHT
A friend deliberated whether she should visit her father for his 95th birthday. She was swamped with commitments. Since he was unaware of his birthday as well of his surroundings and didn’t even recognize his three daughters, there was no urgency to travel to another state. However, she cleared her schedule and made the trip,…… Continue reading THE TIME IS RIGHT
TRICK OR TREAT AT THE FRONT DOOR; HEARSE AT THE BACK
I have been pestering my classmates from nursing school (we are about to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary next month) to write their stories so I can post them on my blog. Maybe pestering is too mild a word. Regardless, I have succeeded. Two women have sent me stories. The first comes from Joan Moore. This…… Continue reading TRICK OR TREAT AT THE FRONT DOOR; HEARSE AT THE BACK
AN ODE TO THE BEST HOUSE ON THE BLOCK
Nurses who make home visits will be able to relate to this. I scan houses I would like to visit—to see not only who lives in them but how they live. What health problems or social issues would I have to address? I took a picture of this house on the west side of Chicago…… Continue reading AN ODE TO THE BEST HOUSE ON THE BLOCK
Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted 