Traveling Nurse

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She told me that she had lived in Florida for 50 years but now that she had an empty nest, she’d become a traveling nurse so she could live in different places.

“I was only supposed to be in D.C. for three months,” she said, “but now I’ve been here for nine because I just love it so much.” She said that her work had been rewarding from the first day.

After I wrote her poem, she gathered all the other nurses around to share what I had given her. She was one of my biggest supporters during my time in that unit and encouraged so many others to talk with me. I could see that she was the kind of person who would bring joy wherever she was going.

Listener Poet Ravenna Raven

Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital

February 2020

We nurture by nature —

any nurse will tell you this.

I love connecting with people,

seeing things from

their point of view,

sharing their celebrations,

and supporting them when

they return for treatment.

I’ve wanted to do this

since I was very young

and I love that no one here

complains about helping someone.

From the first day at Sibley

that staff has felt like a team,

which will make it

incredibly bittersweet

to leave when I have to

travel to the next city.

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