Now she was in jail for transporting cocaine. She was apprehended carrying a suitcase full while doing a “favor for a friend.” This was a most unfortunate incident because Renee was not capable of understanding her actions. Her medical condition prevented her from making sound judgments. She would have gladly carried a lit stick of dynamite had it been offered to her.
She’d been assessed by our mental health team and placed on multiple antipsychotic medications, but her condition never improved. Because our facility was overcrowded and our staff overburdened, we were unable to provide the intensive follow-up she desperately needed. After many weeks of treatment failure, she was transferred to an inpatient psychiatric hospital that was better equipped to assess and treat her. I felt so sad letting her go, and regretted that we were limited in doing more for her.
Several months later the time rolled around for me to rotate through the mental health ward again. One morning as I entered the unit, I was approached by a neatly dressed young woman with a coiffed brown bob, sparkling white teeth, and a pretty smile.
“Do you remember me?” she asked.
“No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“It’s me, Renee!”
Excitedly she told me about her stay at the psychiatric hospital where she had been thoroughly assessed and treated. With medication adjustments, her thought process and speech became coherent. Then the staff could focus on her physical well-being. She cut her hair, bathed, was fitted for dentures, and given new clothing. Now she functioned like an average person and was preparing for her trial with the competence she needed.
“Thank you,” she said, with confidence and poise.
“Thank you?” I asked, somewhat stunned. “I always regretted that we couldn’t do more for you—that we let you down.”
She smiled easily. “No. Your team admitted your boundaries and transferred me to a team of specialists who worked a miracle. Thank you.”
Frank Serigano
Thanking Ruby
I knew I wanted to be a nurse at a very young age, and at the ripe old age of eighteen I graduated from LPN school. I thought I knew everything about everything!
My first job was as charge nurse of two floors of a large nursing home. My day consisted of giving medications and changing dressings. I was completely overwhelmed. Imagine how intimidated I was to be in charge of a middle-aged woman who had been giving patient care since before I was born. Ruby was probably forty-five or fifty, which at the time seemed very old to me. There were many times I would have to ask her how I should do something. She always said, “Girl, you are so green.”
Ruby took me under her wing; I learned more nursing skills from that woman than I learned in school. Ruby always touched patients when she talked to them and asked them how they were feeling. I think what struck me the most about Ruby was the way she cared for the unresponsive patients. She took such care in cleaning them when they had soiled themselves. She talked to them gently the whole time. And God help the person who was less than kind to one of Ruby’s patients—and they were all Ruby’s patients. There were many times I heard her say her famous line, “This is someone’s mother or father.”
I stayed at that job for about a year and I left without thanking Ruby because at the time I didn’t comprehend how much she had taught me. Remember, I knew it all. I went on to work in several other areas before landing in dialysis twenty-one years ago. I had worked there about ten or twelve years when we got a new patient who had, besides renal failure, end-stage cancer. Bertha R. Johnson weighed about ninety pounds.
One afternoon, she was incontinent while on the dialysis machine. One of the new nurses and I took her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up, and it was obvious my coworker was disgusted with the situation. I sent her away and told her I would clean Bertha.
As I was washing her, I said, “Mrs. Johnson, I am so sorry if she made you feel embarrassed. She’s new.”
She replied, “Oh, girl, she’s still green. She will learn. And why don’t you call me Ruby?”
I could not believe my ears! I said, “Oh my gosh, Ruby Johnson! You used to work at the Clover Hill nursing home in 1977, didn’t you?”
She smiled with pride. “Girl, I worked in that place until I got too sick with this cancer. Why?”
“It’s me. Jacqueline!” I said. Then as we reminisced, I finally got a chance to thank Ruby for her kindness and all that she had taught me.
Ruby laughed. “You were so green, but it looks like I taught you well,” she said, patting my hand.
I gently dried her face. “Indeed you did.”
Jacqueline Gray Carrico
Thank You for Your Care
It must be very hard at times
To do all that you do;
To serve others so unselfishly
While “thank-yous” are so few.
You work long hours and yet you smile
While giving needed care.
I’ve seen concern within your eyes,
And kindness, deep and rare.
You choose to go that extra mile
When you know you are needed;
The virtuous call of nursing
You have truly heeded.
Thanks for all you did for me
While I was in your care;
You’ll be remembered in my heart,
And each and every prayer.
Denise A. Dewald
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 many 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 twelve hundred 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 one of our websites.
Please send your submissions to:
website: www.chickensoup.com
Chicken Soup for the Soul
P.O. Box 30880
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
fax: 805-563-2945
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 Others
The Nursing2007 Foundation, formed in January 2005, offers new and exciting opportunities for nurses. Their mission is to support and promote the nursing profession by distributing scholarships, supporting mentoring programs, recognizing nurses’ accomplishments, and promoting educational activities. Additionally, the Nursing2007 Foundation donates to programs that advance the profession. The foundation puts particular emphasis on supporting nursing students from minority cultures because the number of nurses from minorities is disproportionately low, and because the benefits of developing minority nurses are clear.
The Nursing2007 Foundation operates independently from Nursing2007 journal and its publisher, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a Wolters Kluwer company. The journal has donated resources and funding to the foundation. The Nursing2007 Foundation is an operating project under the Trust Counselors Network, a subsidiary of the Trust Counselors Network, Inc. (TCN), which was formed as a Pennsylvania not-for–profit corporation.
For more information or to contribute to the foundation, contact:
The Nursing2007 Foundation
323 Norristown Rd., Suite 200
Ambler, PA 19002-2758
1-800-346-7702
www.nursing2007foundation.org
Who Is Jack Canfield?
Jack Canfield is the cocreator and editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which Time magazine has called “the publishing phenomenon of the decade.” The series includes more than 140 titles with over 100 milli
on copies in print in forty-seven languages. Jack is also the coauthor of eight other bestselling books, including The Success Principles ™ : How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Dare to Win, The Aladdin Factor, You’ve Got to Read This Book, and The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your Business, Personal and Financial Targets with Absolute Certainty.
Jack has recently developed a telephone coaching program and an online coaching program based on his most recent book, The Success Principles. He also offers a seven-day Breakthrough to Success seminar every summer, which attracts 400 people from about fifteen countries around the world.
Jack is the CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises and the Canfield Training Group in Santa Barbara, California, and is founder of the Foundation for Self-Esteem in Culver City, California. He has conducted intensive personal and professional development seminars on the principles of success for more than a million people in twenty-nine countries around the world. Jack is a dynamic keynote speaker, and he has spoken to hundreds of thousands at more than 1,000 corporations, universities, professional conferences, and conventions and has been seen by millions more on national television shows such as Oprah, Montel, The Today Show, Larry King Live, Fox and Friends, Inside Edition, Hard Copy, CNN’s Talk Back Live, 20/20, Eye to Eye, and the NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News. Jack was also a featured teacher in the hit movie The Secret.
Jack is the recipient of many awards and honors, including three honorary doctorates and a Guinness World Records Certificate for having seven books from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series appearing on the New York Times bestseller list on May 24, 1998.
To write to Jack or for inquiries about Jack as a speaker, his coaching programs, trainings, or seminars, use the following contact information:
Jack Canfield
The Canfield Companies
P.O. Box 30880 • Santa Barbara, CA 93130
phone: 805-563-2935 • fax: 805-563-2945
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.jackcanfield.com
Who Is Mark Victor Hansen?
In the area of human potential, no one is more respected than Mark Victor Hansen. For more than thirty years, Mark has focused solely on helping people from all walks of life reshape their personal vision of what’s possible. His powerful messages of possibility, opportunity, and action have created powerful change in thousands of organizations and millions of individuals worldwide.
He is a sought-after keynote speaker, bestselling author, and marketing maven. Mark’s credentials include a lifetime of entrepreneurial success and an extensive academic background. He is a prolific writer with many bestselling books, such as The One Minute Millionaire, The Power of Focus, The Aladdin Factor, and Dare to Win, in addition to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Mark has had a profound influence through his library of audios, videos, and articles in the areas of big thinking, sales achievement, wealth building, publishing success, and personal and professional development.
Mark is the founder of the MEGA Seminar Series. MEGA Book Marketing University and Building Your MEGA Speaking Empire are annual conferences where Mark coaches and teaches new and aspiring authors, speakers, and experts on building lucrative publishing and speaking careers. Other MEGA events include MEGA Marketing Magic and My MEGA Life.
He has appeared on television (Oprah, CNN, and The Today Show), in print (Time, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, New York Times, and Entrepreneur), and on countless radio interviews, assuring our planet’s people that “You can easily create the life you deserve.” As a philanthropist and humanitarian, Mark works tirelessly for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, March of Dimes, Child help USA, and many others. He is the recipient of numerous awards that honor his entrepreneurial spirit, philanthropic heart, and business acumen. He is a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, an organization that honored Mark with the prestigious Horatio Alger Award for his extraordinary life achievements.
Mark Victor Hansen is an enthusiastic crusader of what’s possible and is driven to make the world a better place.
Mark Victor Hansen & Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 7665
Newport Beach, CA 92658
phone: 949-764-2640 • fax: 949-722-6912
website: www.markvictorhansen.com
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 300 babies as Saigon was falling to the Communists. An ordinary person, she struggled through extraordinary circumstances and found the courage to succeed. LeAnn has been featured in Newsweek Magazine’s Voices of the Century issue, FOX-TV, BBC, NPR, PBS, PAX-TV’s It’s a Miracle, and countless radio and TV programs.
After her story was featured in Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, LeAnn became one of Chicken Soup’s most prolific writers. Her devotion to thirty years of nursing made her the ideal coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul. She went on to coauthor Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Caregiver’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Father and Daughter Soul, Chicken Soup for the Grandma’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Mother and Son Soul, Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul 2, and now Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul, Second Dose.
As a renowned motivational speaker, she shares life-changing lessons learned from her Airlift and nursing experiences. 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. She is an expert in nurse recruitment and retention, and helps to hire and inspire nurses from coast to coast.
LeAnn is one of about 10 percent of speakers worldwide to have earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation.
She and Mark, her husband of thirty-seven 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, CDs, and DVDs, or to schedule her for a presentation, contact her at:
LeAnn Thieman, C.S.P.
6600 Thompson Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80526
phone: 970-223-1574
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.NurseRecruitmentandRetention.com
Contributors
Sandra P. Aldrich, president and CEO of Bold Words, Inc., in Colorado Springs, is a popular speaker who wraps humor and encouragement around life’s serious issues. She is also the author or coauthor of eighteen books and contributor to two dozen more. She may be reached at Bold [email protected].
Award-winning author Diana Amadeo is a busy wife, mother, former registered nurse, volunteer, and freelance writer. Her 400-plus publications include books, anthologies, magazine features, and newspaper articles. She loves the frequent travels and memories with her family.
Annisha Asaph is a graduate of the activation coordinator gerontology program. She has worked in long-term care for three years as a recreation therapist. Her dream is to work for the Alzheimer’s Society as a volunteer coordinator. Annisha lives in the small town of Milton, Ontario, Canada, with her husband, Max.
David Avrin is a successful marketing, public relations and branding strategist, professional speaker, and executive coach. Aside from his “real job,” he is also the author of the very popular book The Gift in Every Day—Little Lessons on Living a Big Life (Sourcebooks, 2006). Reach him at [email protected].
Aaron Bacall has graduate degrees in organic chemistry as well as in educational administration and supervision from New York University. Three of his cartoons are featured in the permanent collection at the Harvard Business School’s Baker Library. He continues to create and sell his cartoons. He can be reached at abacall
@msn.com.
Judy Bailey, R.N., graduated from the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1967. She has experience in pediatric, surgical, and obstetrical nursing in Barbados, Haliburton, and Lindsay, and is a prenatal educator. As a mother and grandmother she enjoys writing for children and human interest stories.
Nancy Barnes dreamed of being a nurse since she was a child. Most of her nursing career was as an ER nurse. She was adopted at age five and is inspired to write of her experiences as a nurse and mother of adopted twin boys. She resides in Dallas, Texas.
Barbara Bartlein, R.N., C.S.P., is the PeoplePro. She is a professional speaker and offers keynotes, seminars, and consulting to help you build your business and balance your life. She has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, and CBS. Her column, “The People Pro,” appears in numerous publications. Reach her at [email protected] or www.ThePeoplePro.com.
L. Sue Booth graduated from St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1966, and married Michael, a Nebraska farmboy, a month later. Forty years later, after raising ten children (biological and foster), she is still married, and still an active R.N. serving catastrophically injured individuals.
Ruth Bredbenner graduated form Middlesex County College, New Jersey, in 1978. She is a registered nurse and became certified in oncology nursing. Ruth, now retired, is an active member of Hunterdon County, New Jersey Medical Reserve Core. Ruth enjoys traveling, research, music, and reading and continues to write as inspired. She can be reached at [email protected].
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