Nightingale Notes

A bit about me… I am a pediatric palliative care nurse, a gentler of the journey through serious illness. I care for the sickest and most vulnerable, and those who love them. It is my great privilege. Sometimes I am called upon to be a last responder, companioning brave beautiful souls to the edges of lifetimes.

These words are for the clinicians caring their way through the shadows of serious illness, for those who come to intimately know the beauty and brevity of lifetimes. This space is for the givers of care who step in and step up as last responders. While first responders race in to save lives, last responders stand steadfast at bedsides to gentle life’s end. We hold the wholeness of life for those who cannot. Powerful witnesses to the ebb and flow of life, we know the finality of the body, and we are comforted by the infinity of the spirit.

“Soul work is not a high road.  It’s a deep fall into an unforgiving darkness that won’t go away until you find the song that sings you home.” –McCall Erickson

As you can probably read between these lines, I believe there is soul work woven into the fabric of healthcare, rooted in the wisdom traditions and healing energies of the ages.  Nursing requires a quick mind and a generous heart.  The nursing mind works with rigorous science and evidenced-based practice; the nursing heart beats with compassion and respect for human dignity.  The American Nurses’ Association describes nursing as “the glue that holds a patient’s health care journey together.”   We reach beyond clinical data and science because humanity is difficult to measure and quantify.  Nurses tap into an intuitive awareness of the intricate connection between the body, mind, and spirit.  Sometimes our very presence is the most healing intervention we have to offer our patients, one soul showing up for another in need.  This generosity of spirit is echoed in my physician colleagues and our multidisciplinary team.  I work alongside the most gifted and compassionate healers. Best practice healthcare should encompass state-of-the-art science and state-of-the-heart care… my vision board.  

Nursing practice enfolds this broad space of knowledge, service, and humanity. Caring for children living in the shadow of serious illness has been my soul work, the song that sings me home. As you nurse those in your care through the difficult times, I hope we can share our lived/worked experience in this space to help each other advocate for, tend to, and honor those in our care. When we work to heal ourselves, we help heal those around us, and perhaps collectively, we help heal our world.