Holding Out Hope
Volume 19, Number 2 Spring 2002
Article Summaries
Editorial-
Hail and Farewell by Judith Allen Shelly
It's
goodbye to long-time JCN managing editor, Melodee Yohe,
as she retires, and hello to new managing editor, Cathy
Walker. Each one shares a bit about themselves and her
relationship with nurses, nursing and JCN. Shelly asks
readers for prayer for a smooth transition.
Trauma
Revisited: One Nurse's Response to Terrorism by Joy Ruth
Cohen
After the terrorist attacks, the author wants to do something
to help. She hears on the news that military nurses are
being called to work at Ground Zero, leaving the veterans'
hospitals drastically understaffed. She calls several
in her area about volunteering. One responds. So Cohen,
an RN associate professor of nursing, spends a number
of evenings with the men, primarily VietNam vets, on the
wards. To her question, "How may I serve you?"
she gets a variety of answers from talking with, crying
with, rubbing a back, writing a letter, making a phone
call-offering support to men suffering from excruciatingly
painful flashbacks of their war experiences because of
what they're being bombarded with on TV. She can't fix
them, but she can listen and empathize. Some call out
to her, calling her "wonderful lady" or "sweetheart"
as she moves from bed to bed, being Jesus to the men in
the only ways she knows how.
Calm
in the Midst by Sandra D. Reece
This sidebar, written by an RN who lives and works in
New York City, describes a little of what it was like
for area nurses to be in NYC on September 11th. She talks
about the need for everyone to share their stories and
comfort one another. She sees NYC as a city that is grieving
and that will never again be the same. She compares the
coming together of the Christian community in NYC to the
Pentecost experience of Jesus' disciples in the book of
Acts. She talks about how the NYC Nurses Christian Fellowship
has met for prayer and support, as individually they have
been involved in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Sleepover
at Sloan-Kettering by Joan Fox-Rose
In the process of spending the first post-op night with
her friend, Peg, after Peg's modified breast surgery,
Fox-Rose sees Peg's faith in God in action. Yes, she is
struggling with the cancer diagnosis and anxious about
learning the results of the lab reports; and yes, she
has some fears for the future. But, in the midst of her
stress, she shows her abiding trust in God by the way
she reminisces about shared nursing experiences with her
friend and speaks encouragingly to all those with whom
she comes in contact in the hospital. Peg's optimism is
contagious.
Supportive
Communication in the Face of Breast Cancer by Heidi Apsey
It's one thing to dispense helpful information to cancer
patients in the line of duty, but it's quite another thing
to give what is needed when that patient is your beloved
sister. Apsey learned much in the process of her sister's
cancer experience that is now proving invaluable in the
way she communicates with patients. At first her sister
wanted the cold, hard facts-information, statistics, probabilities-about
her cancer diagnosis and treatment. She wanted advice
as to where to turn for medical help. But a year later,
when cancer cells showed up in Linda's axillary lymph
tissue, and later still when cancer had metastacized to
the bone, she no longer needed facts. Because the physicians
offered no hope for a cure, she began exploring other
avenues, searching for renewed hope. She found it in herself,
her faith in God and in the positive support of family
and friends. Nurses aren't well taught to offer this kind
of support. Apsey gives nurses some ideas on how to be
sensitive to the patients' needs when information isn't
what they're seeking.
A
Circle of Prayer: Bringing Hope to the Oncology Unit by
Marcia Krugh Leaser
Leaser interviews three nurses who work on an oncology
outpatient chemotherapy unit, who have made it a habit
of praying together every Monday morning for their patients,
and the physicians and nurses who treat these seriously-ill
patients. They share some things they've learned along
the way about maintaining hope in their patients and for
themselves.
Spiritual
Care: Lingering Questions by Julia D. Emblen & Perrie
Peverall
An RN and a chaplain co-author this article that discusses
concerns and questions that Christian student nurses have
raised in Emblen's classes about how to communicate their
faith appropriately to patients. Student concerns include:
When is it appropriate to share your faith? How do you
respond to people of other faiths? How do you answer when
people ask why this crisis is happening to them? How can
you communicate or sympathize with patients who are experiencing
something (like losing a loved one) that you can't relate
to or haven't experienced yet? Readers are encouraged
to give feedback on this article on the JCN website.
See
Share the Faith Discussion.
Spiritual
Openness by Don Posterski
This brief article, written by the director of church
relations for World Vision, International, includes a
helpful chart summarizing the traits, results and responses
of our culture to spirituality. The author concludes that
even people not interested in the essentials of Christianity,
orthodoxy or organizational religion, feel that matters
of the soul really matter. The chart gives suggestions
for those who want to influence people for Christ in today's
spiritual environment. Our challenge is to engage them
to express spiritual interest-regardless of how unorthodox
it may seem. Only by listening and accepting where people
are in their spiritual journey will we be able to share
the God of creation and the Christ of redemption with
them.
Walking
with Fan Through Bone Marrow Transplant by Shu-Ya Chen
Over the course of Fan's lengthy treatment, in and
out of the hospital and outpatient clinic, Chen got to
know the nineteen-year-old girl well. They became friends
and shared many social activities, as well as life crises.
Chen was able to minister to Fan with the four A's of
spiritual care that she had learned: assessment, approach,
action and award. Chen was rewarded by seeing Fan grow
in her new Christian life, as well as enjoy remission
from her cancer. During this process, Chen and her colleagues
were encouraged as they learned what patients and families
need when they go through a long course of treatment for
a life-threatening disease.
Rose
Hawthorne Lathrop: Servant of the Dying Poor by Linda
E. Sabin
Though coming from a loving, wealthy, educated, well-connected
family, Lathrop endured much sadness as a young adult:
the untimely deaths of her parents, the death of her only
child and a troubled, often loveless, marriage. At the
age of forty-five, Lathrop developed an interest in the
plight of terminally ill cancer patients, particularly
those without resources. After taking a short nursing
course on the care of the dying, she rented three rooms
in a lower East side New York City neighborhood to care
for several dying patients. Within a few years, she and
an associate became affiliated with the Dominican Third
Order, and the ministry grew to several caring communities.
To the end Lathrop (now Mother Alphonsa) cared for patients,
seeing that as what she had been called to do as her service
to the Lord. Her legacy is a ministry that thrives today.
Diane's
Legacy by Mary E. Snyder
Snyder was a nurse in her twenties when she met a
special patient, Diane, who had advanced leukemia. Diane
was in her mid-thirties, the mother of four young children.
Despite her dreadful disease, Diane never complained.
She was always cheerful and kind. Her Bible and her strong
Christian faith were evident. It was the mid-seventies,
and Diane had been placed in reverse isolation. Snyder
was assigned to Diane during her frequent hospitalizations,
and they became good friends. Despite a missed opportunity
to say goodbye when Diane was admitted for the last time,
Snyder never forgot her. Now she has been diagnosed with
breast cancer, and, in her memory, Diane has become her
role model. Diane's strength and faith through her difficult
journey with cancer twenty-five years ago is Snyder's
inspiration to maintain a positive attitude and a close
relationship with God through this experience.
Evelyn
and Charles: An Oasis of Love in the ER by Peggy Doyle
It was another chaotic Friday evening in the emergency
department for Doyle, but one room kept drawing her back
because of the love and peace in it, despite Evelyn's
terminal illness. This couple knew Evelyn's time to depart
this life was coming soon, and they wanted to share every
precious moment of the time they had left. The couple
was an example of all that is positive in a negative situation-love,
respect, dignity and peace. Doyle wishes she could give
to all her patients the peace Jesus described in John
14:27: "My peace I give to you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled."
Research:
Does Prayer Really Help? by Leslie Furlow and Josie Lu
O'Quinn
Building on previous studies on the influence of intercessory
prayer on the recovery of patients hospitalized with a
cardiac diagnosis, Furlow and O'Quinn based their research
on the question: "Does intercessory prayer to the
Judeo-Christian God have an effect on the patient's medical
condition and recovery while in the hospital?" Thirty-nine
patients were in the study; twenty-two were in the experimental
group and seventeen in the control group. Findings were
compared with previous studies; the conclusions were significant,
although further research with a larger group and rigorous
controls needs to be done.
Heart
Surgery: Body and Soul by Patti Ozzello
Ozzello is a student nurse in her cardiac rotation
and goes to the OR with her patient as he undergoes cardiac
bypass surgery. Seeing the procedure, she makes many comparisons
between what the physicians and nurses are accomplishing
in her patient's body with the radical surgery God is
in the process of doing in her heart and life. She finds
this her most profound experience of nursing school.
Someone
to Love Me by Sylvia B. Aftonomos
This nurse is floated from OB to a medical floor and
told in report that one of her patients is demented and
muttering to herself all the time. Aftonomos inwardly
groans and wonders if she'll have to spend the whole evening
in this elderly woman's room, to the neglect of her other
patients. Lamenting to God, she questions his wisdom in
giving her this assignment. But as she makes rounds and
takes the time to listen to Mabel's mumblings, she finds
that God had a plan all along.
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