A few days ago, walking near the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, I came upon this tent. As a nurse from the U.S., the words "poor hospital" caught my attention. I wondered if free care was being given--perhaps blood pressure screenings or immunizations. While my husband went on to find a currency exchange, I stopped …
Continue reading Nurses in Hungarian Public Hospitals Plan Third Gathering at Parliament Building
"Pardon me," said the well-dressed older man. "But could you tell me when this festival got so big? Last time I was here, there were only a few tents. And today," he paused, his smile wide, "this is huge, and so many people." So began a conversation with a visitor from the East Coast last …
Continue reading Why Caring Lessons Goes to Printers Row Lit Fest
According to the American Nurses Association, the US needs 1.1 million registered nurses over the next eight years. If you are, or know anyone who is, interested in nursing, but don't feel you know enough about it to make a career choice or switch, the interviews of nurses conducted by The American Nurse Project are …
Continue reading Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2015 -The American Nurse Project: Interviews
What came to your mind when you read this title? A physician, or a nurse with a doctoral degree? Chances are your first thought was a physician. With less than one percent of all nurses having doctorates, you may not even know doctoral degrees exist in nursing. You would not be alone. The first program …
Dear Readers, Last Saturday, WordPress informed me that I started this blog five years ago. After resisting for a few years while writing my nursing career memoir, Caring Lessons, and being told by writing teachers that I must start a blog, I stopped Helen Gallagher (teacher and blogger extraordinaire) after she gave a presentation at …
I’m so happy about the newly launched Trinity Alumni Nursing Association (TANA). And here's my (long) story why. Take a seat and sip some tea… It's no secret that I've often said I feel like I had three kids—a son, a daughter, and Trinity's nursing program. Like having kids, helping start Trinity's nursing program was …
Continue reading Trinity Christian College Starts Nursing Alumni Association
Proverbs 18:26 Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. Readers of Caring Lessons know I was desperate to find a friend when I was in my early thirties, someone like me, a nurse and mom who wanted to go back to school. That friend turned out to be …
Before you answer yes or no, did you know that the foundational moral principle of all developed countries (around 40 out of world’s 200 countries) is to provide health care coverage to all of their citizens, irrespective of age and financial status? All developed countries, that is, except us. In the past few years, I’ve …
Continue reading U.S. Health Care: Are you happy with your plan?
“Do you want to do a camel ride,” my daughter asked on a recent visit to her city’s zoo. “No,” I said. “I have no need to ride a camel.” “Oh, come on, isn’t that on your bucket list?” “Nope. Never has been and never will be,” I said, knowing a safari was never an …
Thanks to Jan Weissmiller, poet and co-owner of Prairie Lights, Caring Lessons: A Nursing Professor's Journey of Faith and Self will soon be shelved in this much-loved independent bookstore in Iowa City. When I attend the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, as I did last week, I hang out at Prairie Lights between classes and evenings. You'd …
Continue reading Caring Lessons / Prairie Lights / Iowa City / 2014
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