Not Until Cairo: A Flight Nursing Tale

Worsening signs.

The author’s flight path circled the globe

The cabin of the Learjet is dark, the heart monitor a metronome over the drone of the engines and pulse of the mechanical ventilator. I’ve been watching my patient’s cardiac rhythm, with ominous hackles rising on the back of my neck while my partner naps. Over the course of the journey the man’s inherent tachycardia has slowly shifted into a sinus rhythm that might seem like normalization on a paper medical report, but feels wrong. After all, this patient is dying. He is returning to Egypt to die amongst family after last-ditch cancer treatments in America have failed.

“Not on this flight,” I think to myself. “Not until Cairo.”

The plane banks as it descends into the Newfoundland night. The cabin vibrates with turbulence; St. John’s may be the most easterly North American fuel stop, but its position on the Atlantic all but guarantees unpredictable weather. The lights of the town sparkle below as my partner rouses, pops his ears, and stretches.

“Look at his heart rate,” I say, quietly. “Pressure’s okay, though.”

“Yeah,” he says. There’s an unspoken accordance between us. We’ve flown together enough—been trapped in small planes for countless hours, evaluating […]

What Would You Do If You Weren’t a Nurse?

“The further away I get from direct patient contact, the less I enjoy being a nurse.”

Last week was Nurses Week, and on its Facebook page, the American Journal of Nursing posted the question, “What would you do if you weren’t a nurse?”

It was not surprising to me that many nurses commented something to the effect of, “I don’t know. I like being a nurse.” Others, though, posted a variety of career choices, often unrelated to nursing, many of them in creative fields.

I did not grow up wanting to be a nurse.

The List Inkjet, collage, and water media on paper, by Julianna Paradisi 2018

When I was three years old, I wanted to be a horse. Once I realized it was impossible, I settled on becoming a ballerina. However, the small community where I grew up did not have a dance studio or classes, so this aspiration also fell to the wayside.

In junior high school, I decided I would become a writer. I already knew I was an artist; I’d known that before I wanted to be a horse. I’ve always drawn, and still do, nearly daily. I began writing and keeping journals in elementary school.

A librarian’s intuition.

When I was […]

Counting on Colleagues (and Former Students) When a Family Member is Hospitalized

Rarely do we consider what it might be like to see [a former student’s] face across the bed of a desperately ill loved one.   

Illustration by Janet Hamlin. All rights reserved.

That’s from AJN‘s May Reflections essay by nursing professor Amy Kenefick Moore, who shares her family’s experience over the hectic days that follow a terrible accident in which her stepson sustains critical injuries.

When her stepson is admitted to a hospital affiliated with her school of nursing, Moore reaches out on her university LISTSERV to ask the nurses working at that hospital to watch out for her family member. “Responses flew back,” with alumni working on the trauma service promising to take good care of Moore’s stepson.

Nurses as family members.

Whatever our nursing experience, when we’re on the scene as family members, we usually understand the basics of the clinical situation and its possibilities. Our knowledge of nursing and medicine and of our family member’s medical history, functional baseline, and beliefs about health and illness can be a great asset to those caring for our loved one. […]

2018-05-09T13:10:44-04:00May 7th, 2018|Nursing, nursing stories|0 Comments

Seeking Good Nurses With a Story to Tell

karindalziel/ via Flickr Creative Commons karindalziel/ Flickr Creative Commons

Whenever I meet someone new who happens to be a nurse—in both clinical and social settings—I wait for the right moment to mention my work on AJN‘s Reflections column.

It’s not only that I’m proud of the column. It’s also that I’m forever on the lookout for that next submission—for a fresh, compelling story I just know is destined to shine (accompanied by a fabulous professional illustration) on the inside back page of AJN.

‘But I’m not exactly a writer…’

“I imagine you have a story or two to tell,” I’ll say to a nurse I’ve just met—which is the same thing I say, whenever I have the chance, to nurses I’ve known for years. I mean it sincerely; given the vantage point on humanity that our profession affords, I actually do believe that every nurse is carrying around material for a terrific story.

The response I usually get (along with a wry smile, the raising of eyebrows, or a short laugh) is, “Oh yes. I have stories.”

But then—even as I’m mentioning the Reflections author guidelines, even as I say warmly that we’re eager to read—I can sense the backing away.

“Sure,” the nurse will say. “I’ll check it out . . . but the thing is, […]

2021-11-29T17:32:55-05:00April 18th, 2018|Nursing, nursing stories|1 Comment

‘A Story Bigger Than Himself’: Easter on the Oncology Unit

“Kevin refused to make cancer the meaning of his days. . . . He showed me that the smallest gesture has the possibility to create expansive love. His kindness reminded many of the patients that they hadn’t lost value and worth, no matter how humbled they had been by cancer.”

That’s from the lovely Reflections essay in the new (April) issue of AJN and is written by nurse Barbara Adams. The article recounts a memorable Easter episode on the oncology unit in which a 26-year-old firefighter demonstrates a different kind of bravery and selflessness. […]

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