Thursday \u00a0May 15 \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0Nurse as Miracle Worker<\/p>\n
The patient wounded in their narrow beds
\nWelcome me and smile as I go by
\nDown the long wooden buildings where they lie
\nWan weary rows of helpless haggard heads \u2014
\nMysterious burning eyes that seem to gaze
\nFrom a great distance, gaze but do not know
\nWhy they are glad to see me come and go.
\nSometimes with feeble hands as in a daze
\nThey beckon me, poor things that vaguely grope
\nOut of great darkness toward a distant light;
\nAnd from the unknown woman dressed in white
\nSeem in some strange way to gather hope \u2014
\nThey do not know that in this shadowed place
\nIt is your light they see upon my face.<\/p>\n
Mary Bordon \u00a0(Sometime during World War I?)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s Writer\u2019s Almanac<\/span>, Garrison Keillor introduced me to Mary Bordan, a flamboyant millionaire heiress who, dissatisfied with the\u00a0standard of care for wounded soldiers, used her money to create a mobile field hospital that moved along the hell-hole death traps called battle lines during World War One. \u00a0A messy, high profile life as an elegant Parisian Salon hostess, Keillor tells us that \u00a0“She is best remembered for\u00a0The Forbidden Zone\u00a0(1929), a memoir of her work as a nurse on the front lines.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0Flamboyant or not, Bordan recognized a nurse’s central grace: \u00a0to follow wounded and desparate people into the heart of their fears and pain, knowing that damaged people\u00a0\u201cseem in some strange way to gather hope\u201d\u00a0\u00a0from fearless, competent companionship. \u00a0This bold conviction continues to live at the heart of nursing\u00a0education in the 21st century — “no good science, no competence \u00a0 ;;; \u00a0 no fearless tenderness, no miracle of healing.”<\/p>\n Perhaps Bordan\u2019s poem caught my attention because, during a wonderful half-day retreat yesterday, as we talked about many UDM commitments, nursing caught our attention during one discussion. \u00a0 \u00a0A memorable quote from a CHP faculty member: \u00a0\u201cI interviewed a young woman and asked her to tell me what nurses do. \u00a0She could not describe what nurses do. \u00a0I suggested, that if she wants to become a nurse she should first get a nurse\u2019s aide job in a hospital for a while and then come back and tell me what she\u2019s learned.\u201d (well, almost a quote, not\u00a0verbatim). \u00a0When we teach students to find the heart of the profession they study, any discipline, we open the world to them. \u00a0I am proud to work in a university with a great nursing school named after the Founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley.<\/p>\n For UDM\u2019s McAuley Health Center over on the East Side, see: \u00a0http:\/\/healthprofessions.udmercy.edu\/mcauley-health-center\/<\/a><\/p>\n Have a blest day<\/p>\n <\/p>\n john sj<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thursday \u00a0May 15 \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0Nurse as Miracle Worker The patient wounded in their narrow beds Welcome me and smile as I go by Down the long wooden buildings where they lie Wan weary rows of helpless haggard heads \u2014 Mysterious … Continue reading