Pride, because she had learned to unselfishly give comfort where there is pain, courage where there is fear, hope where there is despair, and acceptance when the end is near.
Sadness, because her beloved Grandma and loving father were not physically here to share this happy moment.
As I looked at my daughter’s college diploma, with the R.N., B.S.N. behind her name, I knew that college had given her technical knowledge and life had given her that special something to lead her in her chosen path.
Now she will give the world all the comfort, wisdom and strength she has given me.
Carolyn Gavalas
To the Nurses of the World
Work is love made visible.
Kahlil Gibran
You evangelists of encouragement, you are so much more than you know.
You have never let what you couldn’t do stop you from doing all you could do.
You are salespeople; your briefcases are filled with a product called hope.
You are explorers, knowing that once you have gone as far as you can see, you will still see farther.
You are singers spreading the melody of consideration.
You are lawyers making a case for life.
You are authors helping others add more pages to their book of memories.
You are comedians dispensing the medicine of laughter.
You are magicians creating real miracles that inspire patients and families.
Like King Arthur and Joan of Arc, you are warriors battling against the villains of negativity.
Dorothy would have reached Oz much faster in the company of one nurse.
For no one can practice your profession unless they already possess a brain brimming with wisdom, boundless courage and a heart filled with love.
You are living proof that humanity is created in the image and likeness of God, and the name of that God is Love.
John Wayne Schlatter
Previously appeared in Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul
More Chicken Soup?
Many of the stories and poems you have read in this book were submitted by readers like you who had read earlier Chicken Soup for the Soul books. We publish at least five or six Chicken Soup for the Soul books every year. We invite you to contribute a story to one of these future volumes.
Stories may be up to 1,200 words and must uplift or inspire. You may submit an original piece, something you have read or your favorite quotation on your refrigerator door.
To obtain a copy of our submission guidelines and a listing of upcoming Chicken Soup books, please write, fax or check our Web sites.
Please send your submissions to:
Chicken Soup for the Soul
P.O. Box 30880, Santa Barbara, CA 93130
fax: 805-563-2945
Web sites: www.chickensoup.com
www.clubchickensoup.com
Just send a copy of your stories and other pieces to the above address.
We will be sure that both you and the author are credited for your submission.
For information about speaking engagements, other books, audiotapes, workshops and training programs, please contact any of our authors directly.
Supporting Nurses Everywhere
In the spirit of supporting nurses and promoting health care, the publisher and coauthors of Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul will donate a portion of the proceeds from this book to the following organizations:
A nursing endowment scholarship program is being created for the American Nurses Association, a full-service professional organization representing the nation’s approximately 2.7 million registered nurses through its constituent state nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health-care issues affecting nurses and the public. As a related entity of the ANA, the American Nurses Foundation promotes the health of the public and advances the nursing profession through the development and support of programs of excellence. To join Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul and the ANF in supporting the nursing endowment scholarship, call the Development Office of the American Nurses Foundation at 202-651-7066 or contact:
American Nurses Association
600 Maryland Ave., S.W., Suite 100 West
Washington, DC 20024-2571
Web site: www.ANA.org
The Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for children’s hospitals. The hospitals associated with CMN care for all children with any affliction and ensure that care will be provided, regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Each year, Children’s Miracle Network hospitals treat 14 million children. To join our efforts contact:
Children’s Miracle Network
4525 South 2300 East, Suite 202
Salt Lake City, UT 84117
Web site: www.cmn.org
or
837 Princess St., Suite 302
Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L lGS
phone: 613-542-7240
Who Is Jack Canfield?
Jack Canfield is a bestselling author and one of America’s leading experts in the development of human potential. He is both a dynamic and entertaining speaker and a highly sought-after trainer with a wonderful ability to inform and inspire audiences to open their hearts, love more openly and boldly pursue their dreams.
Jack spent his teenage years growing up in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and Wheeling, West Virginia, with his sister Kimberly (Kirberger) and his two brothers, Rick and Taylor. The whole family has spent most of their professional careers dedicated to educating, counseling and empowering teens. Jack admits to being shy and lacking self-confidence in high school, but through a lot of hard work he earned letters in three sports and graduated third in his class.
After graduating college, Jack taught high school in the inner city of Chicago and in Iowa. In recent years, Jack has expanded this to include adults in both educational and corporate settings.
He is the author and narrator of several bestselling audio- and videocassette programs. He is a regularly consulted expert for radio and television broadcasts and has published twenty-five books—all bestsellers within their categories—including more than twenty Chicken Soup for the Soul books, The Aladdin Factor, Heart at Work, 100 Ways to Build Self-Concept in the Classroom and Dare to Win.
Jack addresses over one hundred groups each year. His clients include professional associations, school districts, government agencies, churches and corporations in all fifty states.
Jack conducts an annual eight-day Training of Trainers program in the areas of building self-esteem and achieving peak performance. It attracts educators, counselors, parenting trainers, corporate trainers, professional speakers, ministers and others interested in developing their speaking and seminar-leading skills in these areas.
For further information about Jack’s books, tapes and trainings, or to schedule him for a presentation, please contact:
The Canfield Training Group
P.O. Box 30880 • Santa Barbara, CA 93130
phone: 800-237-8336 • fax: 805-563-2945
e-mail:
[email protected] Web site: www.chickensoup.com
Who Is Mark Victor Hansen?
Mark Victor Hansen is a professional speaker who, in the last twenty years, has made over four thousand presentations to more than two million people in thirty-three countries. His presentations cover sales excellence and strategies; personal empowerment and development; and how to triple your income and double your time off.
Mark has spent a lifetime dedicated to his mission of making a profound and positive difference in people’s lives. Throughout his career, he has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to create a more powerful and purposeful future for themselves while stimulating the sale of billions of dollars worth of goods and services.
Mark is a prolific writer and has authored Future Diary, How to Achieve Total Prosperity and The Miracle of Tithing. He is the coauthor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Jack Canfield) and The Master Motivator (with Joe Batten).
Mark has also produced a complete library of personal empowerment audio- and videocassette programs that have enabled his listeners to recognize and better use their innate abilities in their business and personal lives. His message has made him a popular television and radio personality with appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, PBS, QVC and CNN.
He has also appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, including Success, Entrepreneur and Changes.
Mark is a big man with a heart and a spirit to match—an inspiration to all who seek to better themselves.
For further information about Mark, please contact:
Mark Victor Hansen & Associates
P.O. Box 7665
Newport Beach, CA 92658
phone: 949-759-9304 or 800-433-2314
fax: 949-722-6912
Web site: www.chickensoup.com
Who Is Nancy Mitchell-Autio?
Nancy Mitchell-Autio is the Director of Story Acquisitions for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She graduated from Arizona State University in May 1994 with a B.S. in nursing. After graduation, Nancy worked at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. In September 1994, Nancy moved back to her native town of Los Angeles and became involved with the Chicken Soup series. Nancy’s intentions were to help finish A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul and then return to nursing. However, in December of that year, she was asked to continue on full-time as part of the Chicken Soup team.
Nancy put nursing on hold and became Director of Story Acquisitions, working closely with Jack and Mark on all Chicken Soup for the Soul projects.
Nancy says that what she is most thankful for is her move back to L.A. to be there for her mother, Linda Mitchell, during her bout with breast cancer. Out of that struggle, Nancy coauthored, along with her sister, Patty Aubery, Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul: 101 Stories of Courage and Inspiration from Those Who Have Survived Cancer. Little did she know that the book would become her own inspiration when her dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999.
Nancy also coauthored Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul and Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother’s Soul. She will also be coauthoring the upcoming Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul and Chicken Soup for the Sister’s Soul. Nancy resides in Santa Barbara with her husband, Kirk Autio, dogs Kona and Cora and three cats. She is expecting her first child on October 1, 2001.
You may contact Nancy at:
P.O. Box 30880
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
phone: 805-682-6311
fax: 805-682-0872
e-mail:
[email protected] Who Is LeAnn Thieman?
LeAnn Thieman is a nationally acclaimed professional speaker, author and nurse who was “accidentally” caught up in the Vietnam Orphan Airlift in 1975. Her book, This Must Be My Brother, details her daring adventure of helping to rescue three hundred babies as Saigon was falling to the Communists. An ordinary person, she struggled through extraordinary circumstances and found the courage to succeed. Newsweek magazine featured LeAnn and her incredible story in its Voices of the Century issue.
Today, as a renowned motivational speaker, she shares life-changing lessons learned from her airlift experience. Believing we all have individual “war zones,” LeAnn inspires audiences to balance their lives, truly live their priorities and make a difference in the world.
After her story was featured in Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, LeAnn became one of Chicken Soup’s most prolific writers, with stories in seven more Chicken Soup books. That, and her devotion to thirty years of nursing, made her the ideal coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul.
While health organizations were an obvious “niche” for her keynote addresses and seminars, her audiences have grown to include all walks of life. Now cattlemen, contractors and corporate America appreciate her message! One CEO summed it up best when he said, “I’m going to live my life differently after hearing you today.”
LeAnn and Mark, her husband of thirty-one years, reside in Colorado where they enjoy their “empty nest.” Their two daughters, Angela and Christie, and son Mitch have “flown the coop” but are still drawn under their mother’s wing when she needs them!
For more information about LeAnn’s books and tapes or to schedule her for a presentation, please contact her at:
6600 Thompson Drive
Fort Collins, CO 80526
phone: 970-223-1574
e-mail:
[email protected] Web site: www.LeAnnThieman.com
Contributors
Most of the stories in this book were written by nurses and other health-care workers. Several stories were taken from previously published sources, such as books and magazines. Some were penned by professional writers or speakers. To learn more about our contributors or to reach them, you can refer to the contact information provided below.
Linda Apple lives in Springdale, Arkansas, with her husband, Neal. They have five children and one grandson. Linda is an inspirational speaker and writer. She is Women’s Touch Ministry director at Christian Life Cathedral, in Fayetteville. Her mother, Freddie Diehl, is a retired nurse. You can contact Linda at 501-521-5683 or by fax at 501-521-8198.
Barbara Bartlein, R.N., M.S.W., is a professional speaker, author and consultant. A motivational humorist, she presents across the country and has appeared at the Comedy Club. Her column, Success Matters, appears in numerous publications. Her latest book Why Did I Marry You Anyway? is scheduled for release in 2002. She can be reached at
[email protected] Or visit her Web site at www.successmatters.org.
Raymond Bingham, R.N.C., is a certified neonatal intensive care nurse. He also works as a technical writer at the National Institute of Nursing Research. Ray is married and has three children and two cats. He enjoys writing essays and short fiction. He can be reached at
[email protected] Linda C. Bird, F.N.P., received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Michigan State University and M.S.N. from South Dakota State University. She is working as a family nurse practitioner and also has an interest in alternative medicine. She can be reached at P.O. Box 5703, Salem, OR 97304.
Cindy Bollinger, R.N., is a full-time wife and mother. She and husband, Bruce, have four children, Marc, Zachary, Tyson and Emily. “Finding Your Easter Sunrise” is her first attempt to write professionally, and she is very happy to see it in print. Her interests include her family, quilting, reading, traveling and studio art classes. She can be reached at
[email protected] or 118 Twelve Oaks Drive, Temple, TX 76504.
Barbara A. Brady, R.N., is a retired recovery room and geriatric nurse living in Kansas. She graduated from St. Luke’s Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. She volunteers as a reading tutor and enjoys writing. Her recent novel, A Variety of Gifts, is about a retired nurse. You may reach her at 785-271-9090 or
[email protected] Kathleen Brewer-Smyth, R.N., Ph.D., C.R.R.N., is an educator, consultant and freelance writer. She holds master’s and Ph.D. degrees specifically in the study of neuroscience nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. At the time of this publication, her most recent funded research is evaluating neurologic and neuroendocrine correlates of violent criminal behavior of female prison inmates. She has published and presented extensively on topics related to neuroscience nursing and violent behavior. She has held positions as clinical specialist, staff development educator and as a university faculty member, and has practiced in critical care, outpatient and rehabilitation settings. Kathleen can be reached at P.O. Box 9194, Wilmington, DE 19809.
Shelly Burke, R.N., B.S.N., and her husband have two children. Shelly keeps her hand in nursing by teaching Lamaze and C
PR classes. She also writes and is currently working on her book Home Is Where the Mom Is which will be published in the fall of 2001. You can reach Shelly at
[email protected] Karyn Buxman, R.N., M.S.N., C.S.P., is a highly sought humorist and nationally recognized expert in therapeutic humor. She is available to liven up your next meeting or event. To find out how, or for more information on her latest book This Won’t Hurt a Bit! Call 1-800-8Humorx, e-mail her at
[email protected] or visit www.Humorx.com.
Tricia Caliguire and her husband, Greg, are producers of information products, showing people how to make the best use of who they are, where they are, with what they have, to make a better life for themselves and the people around them. Contact Tricia at
[email protected] Candace L. Calvert is an ER nurse, mother of two, and writer of inspirational essays, humor articles and fiction. She swapped her riding boots for chilipepper red dancing boots, and “Two Steps” and twirls across country-dance floors with husband, Andy. She is currently at work on a novel. You may email her at
[email protected] Denise Casaubon is a registered nurse and paralegal. She is the president of a teeny tiny corporation, d.b.a. DNR Medical-Legal Consultants. DNR provides expert witness and research services to attorneys and compliance consulting services to health care facilities. Please visit DNR’s Web site at www.dnrconsultants.org or e-mail her at
[email protected] Mitzi Chandler, L.P.N., writes poetry, inspirational pieces, children’s stories and humor. She has worked as a nurse in St. Louis and Chicago, and has presented programs on the effects of family alcoholism on children. At present, she is busy and happy being a grandmother and traveling with her newly retired husband.
Sylvia C. Chism was a nurse administrator for many years in southern and central California, Reno and Baltimore, Maryland. She taught nursing at a university and worked with deaf college students. Sylvia also led workshops in leadership, self-esteem, therapeutic touch and spirituality. She is a member of health ministry, healing ministry, a commission on aging and is a published writer.