When did I not want to be a nurse? Can’t remember. As the middle child with an older sister and a younger brother, I pretty much did as I wanted as long as it was “within” bounds. They called me to get rid of bugs and to patch up hurts. When high school graduation rolled around I contemplated going to Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. My father, in all his wisdom, did not want his little girl going to an environment with much older men. (ahem). I enrolled at Florida State University and never regretted that decision. It opened opportunities that I would not have had without a degree. Through my education I was able to put my husband through law school (we celebrate our 46th anniversary in 2009), raise three beautiful daughters, was called constantly from friends wanting advice from “Nurse Noel.” On several occasions I was thrown into life threatening situations as was able to respond. Although I no longer practice nursing, it was a wonderful jump start on life.

On my way to work this particular day, I was thinking about a two-week vacation that would start after two more shifts. Excited and feeling on top of the world, vacation time was almost here. I sauntered into the hospital relaxed and anxious to get started, thinking, one more day and I am off on a European vacation.

It looked like another busy day at St. Luke’s Hospital. After receiving my assignment, I walked down the corridor to take a peek at my patients before listening to report. When I turned around I noticed a woman walking towards the elevator crying. I thought to myself, she is a nurse I had worked with a few years ago. I hurriedly tried to catch up to her. The elevator doors shut. My day continued with thoughts of vacation and that nurse.

Standing at the nurse’s station after lunch, I heard uncontrollable crying. Looking down the corridor I saw a lone visitor standing outside a patient’s room crying. Again, it was the co-worker I had seen earlier. Immediately I walked down the corridor. As I approached, she turned and our eyes met. She extended her arms and we hugged. Crying and trembling, I held her in my arms; she told me her mom was dying. I could see the despair and apprehension in her eyes. I quickly took a deep breath and tried to gain my composure because at that very moment I was ready for a melt down. I lost my mom several years before; it all came back in a flash. We hugged for, what seemed to be several minutes. Taking a few deep breaths and centering (being present) myself, I asked her what could I do to help. I offered to call a family member, clergy, social service or a friend, but she declined. She asked me, “can we speak privately after I introduce you to my mother?” It was clear to me she had a story to tell. We walked into the room holding hands. She was still trembling as she introduced me to her mom who was unresponsive. We stood quietly at the bedside for several minutes. She was staring down at her while I was gently rubbing her mom’s head. After several minutes, we walked to the conference room. She shared with me that they had unresolved issues. She needed to tell a story, not to me, but to her mom. She became consumed in her emotions again. My heart was aching for her. I needed to try and direct healing energy for her to use, as she needed. We sat for several minutes without any dialogue. The sobbing stopped. Still trembling, she feared they would never be able to resolve their issues. Again, I asked her if I could call a family member, clergy or a social worker. “No,” was her response. She asked me, “Can we talk?” She talked while I listened. Clearly she was heart broken and overwhelmed. As we walked back to her mom’s room, I told her that I was a Therapeutic Touch Practitioner and I could teach her a wonderful technique called, The Hand Heart Connections (HHC). Her eyes widened and she looked in amazement and said, “You can do that.”

She was receptive to learn the technique. I knew she and her mom would benefit greatly. It would be a win win situation. I taught her the Hand Heart Connection. Leaving her sitting at her mom’s bedside holding her hand, I knew she would have the strength to share her story of anguish, love, and re-conciliation.

When my shift ended, the thoughts of vacation ran through my head. I swiftly left the nurses station and walked down the short corridor to see Mrs. P and her daughter. I entered the room with a feeling of satisfaction being able to have assisted another family through a difficult time. They both looked so peaceful and in touch. She spoke softly with loving thoughts of her mom.

The next day at 6 a.m. my home phone rang and I was offered voluntary time off. YES! Excited that I could start my vacation 8 hours early, my thoughts then reverted to the previous day. How are Mrs. P and her daughter? I was confident the information she received and support from the nursing staff, and her family would help them through their journey. I was now in vacation mode.

When I returned from vacation I was told that Mrs. P had expired.

As I was standing in the atrium during intermission at a local benefit concert, I heard someone shouting my name. Looking around, my husband Dale said, “Ida that lady is calling you.” Our eyes met, she was crying, smiling, and waving; all eyes are on us. She almost knocked me down with the biggest bear hug. Saying “THANK YOU” and introducing me to her husband. “She’s the nurse who taught me that technique!” She grabbed my hand and started demonstrating The Hand-Heart Connection. We hugged and cried together; emotions were high. We shared an experience so deep and personal, no words needed to be spoken. She walked away with her husband. Dale placed his hand on my shoulder. Then hand and hand we walked back to our seats. Words can never express the feelings that were flowing through my mind and body.

When public interest was first generated by the notion of living while dying, I was intrigued. The idea of death as a continuum of life as proposed by leaders of the Hospice Movement, had a philosophical interest which sparked a yearning in me to be of service in a meaningful way.
As a bank teller, I began an acquaintance which would influence me profoundly for the rest of my life. As this Hospice Registered Nurse would conduct business, she helped me begin to understand the concept of Hospice. She also conveyed what it meant to have such a privilege; to help both patient and families to have a meaningful dying experience. She exemplified and role modeled my beginning belief system of what a nurse should be, inspiring me to become a Registered Nurse. What is more important and meaningful to me is that she encouraged me to become a Hospice Nurse.
All this 19 years ago. Today as a Hospice nurse, am continually humbled at the privilege of assisting at such a profound time that we as human beings will all one day experience. Karen, RN,BSN/ Jacksonville, Florida, USA

I’m Nancy in Jacksonville, FL. I was a divorced mom of 2 and worked in the Health Dept. part time and as a medical transcriber the rest of the time. All the nurses I worked with were so enthusiastic about the profession; and I wanted to be an insider in the mysterious hospital. When the first ASN program in Colorado was launched in 1964, I interviewed and was accepted. Later I went on the get a BSN and a masters in Psychiatric Nursing. I have worked in the field of psych and wellness all of my career and some jobs I would have paid the hospital to let me do!

My grandmother was a nurse, my great aunt was a nurse in a Base Hospital in France in WW I and one of my daughters is a nurse–it runs in the family. I want to pay tribute to Alice Berry who encouraged me and inspired me by her love of being a nurse.

I was the oldest of 9 children, so the role of “little mother” came naturally to me and in “mothering” nursing soon followed. I loved caring for my small brothers and sisters. I also had 2 uncles, Tom and Jim, who were physicians and an Aunt Patty,who was a nurse. I adored all three of them and decided early on to become a nurse. Uncle Jim allowed me to help out in his surgeon’s office on occasion and greatly encouraged me in my career planning.

Following nursing school, I traveled to the big city of Pittsburgh to begin my career, working in a large city hospital and later in the children’s hospital. There, I read the works of Dr Tom Dooley who was working in Viet Nam. His words inspired me to combine my desire to travel with helping in a third world country. In Viet Nam, I taught Vietnames nurses, through the United States Agency for Development, (an arm of the State department). It was the best work of my life. I was given an empty room and charged with turning it into a recovery/ICU, which I did! I will never forget the lovely people I worked with and nursed.

After I married, my husband and I had the privilege of working in an Indian Reservation in Arizona, where I taught Apache high school students to aspire to medical careers. We have also lived and worked in Bogota, Colombia. Most recently, I have worked in public health in Miami, and case management and rehab nursing in Jacksonville. My daughter-in-law is an inspiring nurse and I feel so privileged to be able to proclaim that I am a nurse. Whe visiting London, the higlight of my trip was visiting the grave of Florence Nightingale…the mother of nursing.

I have been a nurse for 26 years. I have worked in clinics, ER, ICU, Cath labs, and medical surgical units. I will always remember my first job in the nursing field. It was the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. My great-grandfather was being taken care of at home after having a debilitating stroke. He had become wheel chair bound and was basically a total care patient. My great aunt stayed with him at night and my grandfather stayed during the day. They were both retired and were able to take care of my great-grandfather rather than send him to the nursing home. My summer job was to sit with him during the day; to relieve my grandfather. My duties consisted of feeding him and administering his medications.
After graduation from high school, my mother, literally took me by the hand and enrolled me in nursing school.
I have had a wonderful rewarding and fulfilling career. I have met many wonderful patients and families that have forever left memories. Nursing is ever changing and always challenging. I plan to continue for at least another 25 years.

Sharon, Lufkin, Texas
26 years

My name is Jill Henderson and I have been an RN for 37 years. I live in Jacksonville, Forida and work as a Nurse Educator at Mayo Clinic Florida in the Mayo Clinic Hospital. I have been a CCU nurse, a floor nurse, a school nurse, a college instructor and finally a clinical educator. My nursing career started in a delivery room when I was sixteen.
A friend’s father was a General Practitioner in the small town where I lived. He invited me and his daughter to watch a delivery at the local hospital after our shift as candystripers was finished. Gowned and masked, we stood in a corner of the delivery room while a woman struggled soundlessly to deliver a footling breach child. My eyes were glued to a nameless nurse who anticipated and assisted the doctor’s every need. That moment of birth was truly miraculous, especially considering the lengthy effort involved.
As the woman and her child were wheeled out, another screaming woman was wheeled in for what turned out to be a noisy but uncomplicated delivery. Again the nameless nurse, hidden behind her mask, was an integral part of a life process. I knew then that I wanted to be that nurse, in some way, shape or form.
Now, in my own way, I am.

Kathy, Neptune Beach, Fl

MY mother was a nurse, and my father said I needed to be able to support myself. I loved it from the first day, and that was 40 years ago. It was never the same from day to day, and when you work in a community you get to know the patient, family and friends. What you do and how you do it, really matters. I can’t possibly tell all the stories I remember, but I can laugh and cry over some of those memories. I still have contacts with those that mentored me, and still use their lessons. It is hard work, and at times you wonder how you made it through. It is always changing, and we must adjust our sails as new technologies emerge.

The one thing I know is that when people are sick they need the caring touch and expertise of a nurse, and they need to know that you care for them body, mind and spirit. I am proud to be a nurse it is a career not just a job!

I have been a nurse for 40 years and 36 years has been that of a surgical nurse.This however, was not my initial desire as a young high school graduate. I had my sights set high on being a creative hair stylist and paid my tuition to “beauty school”. My parents had higher hopes for me and literally led me by the hand to the admissions office of a local college and enrolled me in the nursing program. I can look back now and realize how fullfiling this career has been on life. I have had many mentors throughout the years that have inspired me both professionally and spritually. I have molded my professional career to emulate what I felt would make me a great patient advocate, a leader with compassion,and a role model for the “newbees” just coming into this profession.
My most memorable time in surgery was spent working with Michael DeBakey, in Houston Texas training for open heart surgery. Words can’t describe seeing this amazing surgery for the first time. I knew then that I was hooked and being a surgical nurse was my destiny.

Janice, Jacksonville Florida; USA
40yrs

I was a late bloomer, boomer. I had a BA,Ed (degree), but at age 27, was still not in a career. I worked and lived with nurses in Boston, and one day it just occurred to me—I can be a nurse.
From that day forward, I worked to make it a reality. What a wonderful decision. I have worked in many areas of nursing, but my most meaningful job was working with women with breast cancer in the early 1980’s. It was a time when not much was being discussed on this subject, and women really needed care and understanding. Education was key, and I was able to combine both my nursing and education background. I continue to this day to be a nurse educator.
I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and the knowledge I gained over the years has helped me personally to get through this-all because of a decision I made in one day.
Ellen
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Nurse 30 years