"Where were you the day that Kennedy died?" my dinner guest asked me recently. I wondered why she wanted to know, but, as most of us who were alive then, I could remember exactly. "Sitting at my sister's kitchen table, " I said. "I know you weren't at work that night. And I missed you." …
Tag: nursing
International Christian Retail Show – 2011
Getting ready for Atlanta next week. Meeting up with the publisher of Caring Lessons, Deep River Books, at the International Christian Retail Show (check out the impressive list of exhibitors). Looking forward to media interviews and book signings. And to hanging out with my friend Marianna who will join me (and who plays a starring …
Nursing Power in “First Sentences”
In my quest, as a nurse, to become a writer of memoir, I learned the importance of first sentences: to draw the reader into the story immediately. Think of the classics: “Call me Ishmael” (Melville's Moby Dick) and "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” (Dickens's A Tale of Two …
Nurse Heal Thyself
In 2000, the summer after I retired from teaching nursing, I took my first writing course. It was with Carol LaChapelle at the Newberry Library in Chicago. She assigned us to write a character sketch. I had no idea what that was. As she went on to explain, I thought, Oh, that's just a head …
Surviving as a Working Mom
As a retired nurse promoting a career memoir, people have asked how I did it all—raise kids, get a PhD, and work in nursing. It’s now an old story, but one that got resurrected recently when my husband asked me to read an article in the newspaper. In the article, “Poll: Many moms resent carrying …
Fire Safety — A Nurse Grandma’s Scare
The next time you’re moaning about having to attend a mandatory fire safety program, interrupting your day, at your workplace, think about this story. The other night I was babysitting for my daughter’s two children under two on the 13th floor of a high rise her family was renting for vacation. I was burping the …
Nursing Faculty Shortage
I was thrilled yesterday (5/30/11) to find an article titled “Jobs in Health Care on the Rise” in the Business section of the Chicago Tribune. In a discussion of the need for more doctors, Christopher J. Gearon notes that more of their jobs are being held by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who also are …
Mental Health America: May is Mental Health Month 2011
Did you know that 60 million Americans are diagnosed with a mental health condition in any given year, that’s 1in4. Learn more at http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/may. Read the simple "handout" above to see what you can learn and how you can help friends or family members living with mental illness. With a simple gesture of increasing our …
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Write Along with Me 