Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve posted here. Over a year! But it’s never been far from my mind. In the over-a-year since I’ve written, here’s what’s happened: 1) Job Change: I started a new position as an Ambulatory Care Manager with a large, local hospital system hospital system in my area. Why the …
As a college student, I remember a conversation with an acquaintance of mine who was known to be a very intelligent, A+ kind of student. We talked about school, and I joked with him, saying he must really like to study, seeing as he was so academically accomplished. He looked at me, surprised, and shook …
As a fledgling nursing student, one of the purchases I made that I was really excited about was a manual blood pressure cuff (aka Sphygmomanometer, in case you want to sound smart and incredibly pretentious in conversation!). To my shame… I may have swaggered a bit when I brought it to church with me to …
A few months ago, my oldest son (I’ll call him L), who’s a little over 3 years old, said something to me that has been needling its way into my consciousness: “Dad is strong to hug and stand with me and E (my youngest son)” In case that’s hard to understand, it means that my …
Several months ago, I joined a local chapter of a nursing organization called the Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF). NCF supports Christian nurses from young to old, offering mentoring, prayer, and fellowship for student nurses, as well as education and community for nurses at all places in their careers. In my enthusiasm to network and connect …
As I continue to explore doing health ministry, and even doing it online, it’s been hard not to be stymied by the slowness of it all. Although I am working toward the creation of a health ministry program/faith community nursing program in our congregation, part of what makes it difficult is the amount of time …
Here’s a pretty common scenario that came up while I worked in the hospital. An elderly patient in her late 70’s, let’s say her name is Shelby, comes into the hospital with a fever, lower abdominal pain, and confusion. One of her kids, Denise, found her on the floor of her living room at home …
(If blood makes you squeamish, there will be descriptions of and an image of blood donation later on in this blog. You have been warned!) Recently, I read an article on the current shortage of blood donations we’re experiencing here in the U.S. (Here it is!). I haven’t donated blood since nursing school (for a …
My goal in reviewing some of the works I’ve read related to health ministry is to have a record somewhere of what helped and what stirred my heart and imagination, and to gather some ideas. They might not necessarily be about how readable, well-written, or “good” a book is, although those will probably come up. …
Coming to the end of the year usually means reflection time for a lot of people.I don’t usually do this, but for some reason, I feel compelled. And part of my mission here is for this blog to be a public log as I journey into health ministry/faith community nursing. It’s been difficult and rambling, …