She began her career as a hospice volunteer and then worked as a critical care provider in the Emergency Department for many years.
She told me she always wanted her patients to feel empowered while in her care.
“This feeling has to do with quality of life,” she said. “Human connection is just as important as medicine. It looks like holding someone’s hand, or even just pulling up a chair to talk with them. Hearing someone say, ‘Thanks for listening’ is extremely rewarding.”
Listener Poet Ravenna Raven
January 2020
The Art of Caring
I want to celebrate
the strength and resilience
that is always within us.
I’m a hardcore bedside clinician
and I believe that
medicine is a combination
of science and the art
of caring because you can’t
just treat an elbow,
you have to get to know
the whole person.
And if someone says
“Room 232 needs you”
don’t confuse me! Who is it?
It’s a privilege to be
part of people’s lives like this.
You can’t just fly in
and fly out again--
you have to take your time.
