“Let us never consider ourselves to be finished nurses, we must be learning all our lives.”  –Florence Nightingale

May is the month we celebrate nursing.  We honor the birth of Florence Nightingale, the most noted nurse-healer, on May 12^th.  This blog site and my book both hold her name as a tribute to the nursing profession, the work of heart I hold dear.  As the month draws to a close, I write from a reflective space.  I am preparing a presentation for the upcoming SCAPHON (Southern California Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurses) conference.  As I sat down to gather my thoughts, the realization dawned on me that I have been a nurse for 40 years.  Graduating in 1983, this is a milestone anniversary year for me. My graduation picture, complete with nurses’ cap, that enduring symbol of our profession, is posted here.  I smile at that young nurse, full of hopes and dreams, determined to make a difference in the lives of the sick.  I wish I could tell her that the difficult times, the moments of self-doubt, the dark nights of the soul, are in retrospect, often the steppingstones to grit and grace.

“Good work that leaves the world softer and fuller and better than ever before is the stuff of which human satisfaction and spiritual value are made.”     -Sister Joan Chittister

Nursing is, as Sister Joan writes, good work.  Nurses make the world a softer, fuller, better space.  I describe the work I do as a pediatric palliative care nurse, as gentling the journey through serious illness.   I believe there is soul work woven into the fabric of nursing, rooted in the wisdom traditions and healing energies of the ages.  The nursing mind works with rigorous science and evidenced-based practice, the nursing heart beats with compassion and respect for human dignity. We reach beyond clinical data and science because humanity itself is difficult to measure and quantify. I believe that nursing presence is the most healing of our gifts.

Nursing practice enfolds this broad space of knowledge, service, and humanity.  In this space, I would like to thank you for knowing what you know, doing what you do, and being who you are- thank you for choosing the work of heart that is nursing!  xo…jo ♥