Giving Back: The Heart of a Nurse

The Importance of Community Engagement, Volunteering, and Why Nurses Should Get Involved

Many of us became nurses because we wanted to heal and help others, and we believed that there is no greater honor and privilege than aiding another human being.

Nurses can offer so much to communities. People trust us, and we bring a health lens to everything we do. We know that people need safe places to exercise and play, a comfortable place to call home, clean air to breathe and water to drink, grocery stores with healthful food in our neighborhoods, and human connectedness. When we join boards or volunteer with organizations, we make our communities healthier.

During the pandemic, nurses volunteered at vaccine clinics and distributed food to people in need. Nurses served as a voice of reason when community members did not know who to turn to for health advice. Nurses are the backbone of disaster-relief efforts, and we teach our neighbors how to get and stay healthy.

A sense of empowerment and fulfillment.

My experiences serving as a disaster nurse with the Red Cross have been among […]

2022-05-23T16:53:37-04:00May 23rd, 2022|Nursing, nursing roles|0 Comments
Read More

Nurses Retiring from Nursing–or Not

Many of my nursing school classmates are retiring. A few said they were “done” with nursing and health care and with working, and stopped as soon as they were able to afford not working. They keep busy traveling, babysitting grandchildren, or just taking it easy. Some are trying their hand at something totally different—becoming a docent in a museum, for example, or taking courses to be a travel agent.

Keeping a connection to nursing.

Retired nurse Diane McCarthy volunteers in the neonatal ICU at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus. Millennial nurses such as Erin Bergmann (left) say they benefit from having more experienced nurses like McCarthy on the unit. Photo by Kyle Robertson.

Most people I know, however, still want to keep a connection with nursing and have transitioned into part-time or consulting roles. After fulfilling and demanding careers, many older nurses still have a lot to offer and are not ready to completely retire from nursing. As one colleague has aptly termed it, “preferment”—doing what you prefer, when you prefer, and with […]

2018-08-09T11:10:56-04:00August 9th, 2018|Nursing, nursing career|2 Comments
Read More

On Ethical Short-Term Medical Missions: An Argument from Experience

“In the absence of clearly articulated intentions and approaches, how can we be sure that short-term medical missions won’t have unintended long- or short-term consequences?”

Garrett Matlick

That’s the central question posed by Garrett Matlick’s Viewpoint essay, “Short-Term Medical Missions: Toward an Ethical Approach,” in the April issue of AJN. Matlick, currently enrolled in the Family Nurse Practitioner/Master of Public Health Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, had an opportunity to observe short-term medical missions (STMMs) that succeeded as well as some that failed.

What works and what doesn’t?

Having considered the current paucity of quality research on STMMs and their effects, Matlick both calls for more rigorous future research and offers a few basic considerations that he believes should be applied to all STMMs that offer direct care to local communities. His case is immensely strengthened by the use of multiple real world examples he observed or participated in while in Cambodia.

AJN sometimes receives Reflections essay submissions from nursing students and others about their experiences in STMMs in various countries. (Unlike the Viewpoint column discussed in this post, Reflections essays tend to focus more on personal reflections and story than on making an argument.) Some submissions reflect a nuanced awareness of limitations and benefits of […]

2018-04-11T11:53:31-04:00April 11th, 2018|Ethics, nursing students, Public health|0 Comments
Read More

The Call to Service Is Personal: From Vietnam to Red Cross Volunteer

Sue and Bob Hassmiller. Photo courtesy of the American Red Cross. Photo courtesy of American Red Cross

This post was written by Bob Hassmiller the day before a serious bicycle accident, when he was looking forward to beginning the Clara Barton Tour. He did not make it to Geneva, and died two days after we published this post. The post shows the type of man Bob was—creative, thoughtful, caring, and committed to the Red Cross. We are publishing this post to honor Bob and Sue Hassmiller (pictured at right) and give voice to his commitment to the Red Cross.

Henri Dunant’s Awakening

Geneva is perhaps as beautiful and tranquil a spot as any on earth. We’ve looked forward to going there to explore how this unique city became the nexus between overwhelming disaster and the hope (and action) that alleviates that disaster.

Just as in the first part of the Clara Barton Tour, we learned that the ideals and actions of determined, caring, dedicated, and sometimes flawed individual like Clara Barton could result in the founding of a great humanitarian organization, the American Red Cross, so too do we review the efforts of her European contemporary Henri Dunant.

2016-11-21T13:00:54-05:00October 2nd, 2016|Clara Barton 2016, nursing history, Public health|12 Comments
Read More

A 40-Year Red Cross Volunteer’s Ongoing Quest to Learn More

Sue Hassmiller, on left, as American Red Cross volunteer following 2011 Alabama tornado strikes.

By Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) senior advisor for nursing, and director, Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, American Red Cross volunteer national ambassador. (Second post of ongoing Clara Barton Study Tour series.)

The ‘Red Cross lady’ on the phone.

Earthquake hits Mexico City! said the news flash on my television screen 40 years ago as I sat in my childhood home. I was a college student, house-sitting for my parents, who were in Mexico City for a long-deserved vacation.

I had no idea what to do. There were no cell phones in those days, no Internet. I hurried to the yellow rotary phone on the wall at the end of the kitchen cabinets and dialed 0 for the operator. I implored her help. She said she couldn’t help me, but would connect me to an organization that could. It was the American Red Cross. […]

2016-11-21T13:00:57-05:00September 23rd, 2016|Clara Barton 2016, nursing history, Public health|1 Comment
Read More

Comment ground rules

1. Please be respectful.
2. We moderate all comments.

Content disclaimer

Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Go to Top