This I Believe

Shame on you

Nurses in Minnesota are striking, and I take issue with it. Throwing our hands up in the air and walking away is not how you solve problems in the work place. Walking away from the patients we have dedicated ourselves to is not the way to solve the problem, it only increases it.

The addicted nurse

Catherine and I were nurses together in the intensive care unit. During our long, 12-hour night shifts, we often worked side by side. I liked Catherine, and we’d talk all night. What I didn’t know was that she was stealing and injecting powerful narcotics.

Customer service in health care

Last week I spent four days at Disney World with my family. One of the biggest things I was amazed by was how friendly everybody was.

My duty to provide care

This nursing student wonders, “If each of us has the right to decide whether or not to provide care, what would happen if we all denied it?”

Image: Jon Feingersh | Blend Images | Getty Images

The Power of Hope

In my early twenties, as a pediatric nurse, dealing with too many children diagnosed with cancer and other dreadful afflictions, I was surrounded by hope. I see it now.

I believe in grandparents

This hospice nurse was inspired by her own grandparents. “Grandpa and Grandma took care of their own parents over the years. At first it was the small things…but as my great-grandparents health deteriorated…it became so much more.”

This I believe: Stepping out of fear

Today this nurse is a successful entrepreneur. But yesterday, she lived in fear. Now she’s just proud to have ventured out into the unknown, win or lose.

This I believe: I believe in dance

This psychiatric nurse believes in dance. Dance as magic, dance as cure and dance as a metaphor for life.

This I believe: Finding joy amidst tragedy

It was our amazing nurse Carrie who gave me special insight into how to manage our tragedy. And now I believe that the purest joy can be found within great tragedy.

This I believe: When children are wanted

As a nurse, she knew something about the health and disease of bodies, but was baffled at the tremendous personal problems of life, of marriage, of living, and of just being.

This I believe: The power of gratitude

This Oncology Nurse believes in the power of gratitude, recognizing blessings in one’s life. No matter how bleak, there is light in the recognition of blessings that surround you.

This I believe: A punk-rocking nurse

I wore make-up, and even as I bleached my hair, pierced my nose and suffered beatings for being “different,” I sensed that despite what many said and thought, this was not “just a phase.” I knew, too, that within the walls of my flamboyance was a boy who wanted to be good and do good.

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