Ode to the Nurses

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi

While I have amazing doctors and researchers at MGH and Dana Farber who have weighed in on my case and helped carve out a plan I trust will see me back to pristine health, it’s the nurses I need to talk about! To a person, each nurse that has taken care of me is a stellar human being: intelligent, capable, and kind.

During out-patient visits I am scooped back to a room on Yawkey 9, where one nurse draws my blood and changes my PICC line cover. Another is my go-to person for questions or concerns who can also take care of annoying paperwork I need addressed. When I am living at MGH each nurse has a 7–7 shift, where I am their main focus with one or two other guests on the floor. Let’s face it: nurses run the show. They are the living heartbeat of the hospital, they bring the consistent love and healing while they deliver the care plan, put all the pieces together, problem solve, all the while keeping calm and carrying on.

I am, by nature, a curious and social person and as a rule, people like talking about themselves. So, from newly minted nurses to those with forty years walking the halls, over time, I’ve ask each nurse these questions: How long have you been at this? What drew you to oncology? What else are you into besides nursing?

I commit to remembering everyone’s name, and I file bits of their stories in my mind so I can pick up the thread of a conversation: ask how the race went, or how their mother-in-law…