Luminous Pluck: Salt and Light in a Hurting World

 

“I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death…. 

Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence

on this Earth, and not a title to glory.”

 ~ Irena Sendler

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Saint Wannabes: Catholic Higher Education and the Pursuit of Holiness

Saints don’t have to found activist movements, start religious orders, or run colleges. They can also become saints by getting the kids to soccer practice, making dinner, and reading bedtime stories.  

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Nursing School, Prayer, and Avoiding Burnout

I'm teaching a new Nursing 101 course at Saint Mary's College. It's designed to help sophomores in their transition from classroom to clinical next year. Recently I solicited anonymous feedback from my students, which resulted in this (edited) online announcement.

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A few of you turned in notes with comments and questions the other day, and I intend to follow up accordingly. However, two of the notes are worth addressing sooner rather than later, for they overlap and concern our theme for next week. 

The first concerns prayer. "I'm trying to be patient and respectful," one of you wrote, "but I don't understand why we are praying at the beginning of every class." That's a fair question, especially if you haven't yet encountered prayer in the classroom at Saint Mary's. 

But, as you know, SMC is a Catholic institution, and so one can expect that the culture on campus, both in and out of the classroom, will reflect Catholic values and practices to one degree or another. Obviously, there are many at SMC (students, faculty, staff) who aren't Catholic (or even Christian, or religious in any way), and it goes without saying that they are all valued members of the community. Be assured that there will never be pressure or incentive for anyone to become Catholic or adopt Catholic perspectives on anything, in my class or any SMC class.

Nonetheless, a majority of SMC students are Catholic, and they've come to SMC, in part, because it's Catholic. They (and their parents) anticipated that an SMC education would include an integrated Catholic vision of various subjects of study among other, often competing visions, and that there would be room and even encouragement to experience growth in the Faith. The faculty who aren't Catholic might provide less of those things, but it's reasonable that your Catholic faculty would provide more. 

That's what Pope St. John Paul II meant when he wrote that while all professors at Catholic colleges are to be inspired "by the principles of an authentically human life," Catholic professors are called to a higher standard: "Christians among the teachers are called to be witnesses and educators of authentic Christian life, which evidences attained integration between faith and life, and between professional competence and Christian wisdom" (Ex Corde Ecclesia, #22).

I know I don't do it perfectly, but that's what I'm striving to do, and prayer is at the heart of it.

Which brings me to the second note: "What are some ways to prevent nurse burnout," somebody asked. "I am worried since this is always a topic of conversation in healthcare." True enough, which is why we'll be talking about "self-care" next week, strategizing for how to build up your emotional and mental reserves as you head into clinicals next year and your nursing career after that. Prayer can play a key role in that regard. In fact, for those who follow a faith tradition, I'd say it's absolutely vital.

Indeed, I know our guest speaker next week will be talking about prayer along with meditation and other self-care practices, but it's also good to keep in mind that many of your patients may actually seek your prayerful support, which can be an important part of spiritual care. "Regardless of the faith tradition or practices of the patient, family, or nurse," suggest the authors of an article in RN Journal, "the moments taken to pray may provide comfort and renewal for all present."

So, by all means, pray along with me when we pray in class if you wish, or else use it as an opportunity to learn about SMC's Catholic heritage and the ways in which Catholics express their faith. For further conversation about this matter (or anything else), please don't hesitate to make an appointment or come by during my office hours. I'd love to hear from you!

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Note to Amber: The Stuff of Nursing

When I started teaching nursing 15 years ago, I was still a pretty new nurse myself. What's more, in the middle of my first year as a nursing instructor, my infant son required emergency surgery, and I had to scramble to keep everything together. 

Somehow, despite my inexperience and stressful life circumstances, the first cohort of students I taught that year made it through, and they went on to become successful nurses. Some of them—wonder of wonders!—are still friendly with me and keep in touch. 

One of them is Amber. Recently I stumbled across a note I wrote Amber soon after she graduated and started her nursing career. With Amber's permission, I'm posting it here unedited. Maybe it'll be an encouragement to nursing students and new nursing faculty alike.

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I threw you and your colleagues to the wolves, Amber, but still you all survived.

Fundamentals of nursing was a whole new world for both of us that year—for you as a student, for me as an instructor. When we got to clinicals at Elkhart General, we all learned some significant things the hard way!

Still, with God’s help, you persevered, only to be shell-shocked by med-surg the following spring, as taught by a very green instructor. The course content was challenging enough, but you had the additional challenge of trying to follow someone teaching it for the very first time. Space helmets, whoopee cushions, and rubber chickens helped some, but they couldn’t make up completely for all the chaos.

And, still, you survived.

Clearly, if God brought you through the wildness of that first year of nursing school, He really wants you to do this!

I’ll never forget, Amber, how you and your colleagues cared for my family that fall semester—how you gave up your time (and money!) to spend an evening with the kids so that Nancy and I could go out; how you tidied up the house and did the laundry that same night; how you worried and prayed and were patient with me when Nicholas required emergency heart surgery.

And that’s the real nursing stuff, the true nursing stuff. Sure, you’ve learned all that other stuff you need to be an RN—all the chemistry and pathophysiology and skills—no question! To me, however, what really makes you a nurse is what you demonstrated from the very beginning: A love for Jesus that spills over and splashes everybody around you.

Dorothy Day wrote, “When you love people, you see all the good in them, all the Christ in them. God sees Christ, His Son, in us and loves us. And so we should see Christ in others, and nothing else, and love them. There can never be enough of it.” You were doing that before you were a nurse, and now you can do it as a nurse. May God richly bless you as you move forward with your profession, Amber, and may He continue to bless others through your vocation of love.
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Getting Ready for Fundamentals of Nursing

Friend,

I was listening to a "Prairie Home Companion" re-broadcast on NPR the other day, and it featured musician John Prine. At one point, he sang his own composition, "Hello in There," and I stopped loading the dishwasher to listen and wipe the tears away. That song is such a beautiful, poignant picture of old age and opportunity – a dual reminder that all of us (our parents, loved ones, me, you) will eventually reach our expiration dates, but also that now, while we're younger, we have so many chances to touch the lives of others already close to their own.

And I thought of you, because you'll be touching lives like that this fall in Fundies. Maybe you already do as a volunteer or nurse's aide. Or maybe you have very little experience with the elderly, maybe even none at all. Either way, this fall you'll be ministering to such folks and sharing your life with them – via the nursing skills you'll be acquiring in class and the lab, but especially through simply listening and being present. As you anticipate such encounters, I hope you'll consider the profound mystery they represent, for in fact they're opportunities to minister to Jesus himself (Mt. 25).

Welcome to nursing and our nursing program. I'm looking forward to accompanying you as you learn to embody Christ as a nurse-apprentice and then put that learning into practice. It will be an honor to serve as your first clinical instructor and a privilege to continue my own learning and practicing right alongside you.

Know that I've been praying for you this summer; please pray for me. See you soon!
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Dr. Ruth E. Davidhizar (1946-2008)

I knew Ruth Davidhizar from afar my first years at Bethel College. She was the dean, a nationally known scholar, and an accomplished author; I was a second-career pre-licensure nursing student with a bunch of kids and very little self-confidence. She was the big cheese; I was a condiment at best.

In time, however, Ruth took me under her wing, and I came to see her as a mentor and even friend. After receiving my ADN and RN in 2000, Ruth had me come back to Bethel and tutor undergraduates in chemistry — not that I was a chemistry wiz, mind you, but only because I seemed to have a knack for helping people at least pass the class.

After two years of working in oncology nursing and hospice home care, I returned to Bethel to work on my BSN. Ruth made appearances in all undergraduate classes back then, presenting her rich insights regarding transcultural nursing and cross-cultural competence. At a school dedicated to missions and missionary training, Ruth’s expertise in this area was especially valuable, and it was particularly valuable to Bethel's nursing students regardless of their destination post-graduation. For, as you know, every family system — every individual — is a culture unto itself, and Ruth prepared us all to view nursing service as a cross-cultural encounter, whether it happened in the jungles of Asia, the steppes of Russia, or a med-surg floor at the local hospital.

And she was kind. Ruth was tireless in seeking out resources — i.e., money — for her nursing school and especially her beloved nursing students. Ruth, who had no children of her own, really did see us all as her family. She loved the art and science of nursing, and she was truly dedicated to instilling in her students — her heirs — a love for it as well.

When I was preparing to graduate a second time from Bethel with my BSN, I had some time to chat with Ruth during my exit interview, and she asked me what my intentions were in the future. I told her then that I hoped to begin a master’s program in nursing education and then someday come back to Bethel to teach. Pretty much at that moment, the exit interview concluded, and I saw Ruth’s eyes go glassy as the wheels in her head start to churn.

Within a day or two, she called me to ask if I’d consider taking a teaching post right away — with the proviso that I’d make steady progress on my master’s and graduate within a reasonable amount of time. I was floored and flattered, and I said I’d certainly think about it. Ruth then told me that she’d already set up an appointment for me with Bethel's President Bridges so that I could get additional information. This appointment turned out to be a pre-employment interview — something I only discovered at its conclusion when the president mentioned the starting salary for new associate faculty.

Ruth shepherded me through the application process and additional interviews, and she hired me to teach that next fall — and I’ve been at Bethel ever since. What a privilege it was to serve under and with Ruth in this tremendous profession — to have her feedback as I learned how to teach, to receive her encouragement and support, to know she had my back as a rookie nursing instructor.

I continued work on my M.A. throughout my first years as an instructor at Bethel, and I managed to complete it the same summer Ruth fell gravely ill. The last time I saw her, she was at home, and a number of us on the faculty were visiting to express our love and affection. Given how important Ruth was to me, both professionally and personally, it was hard to think of an appropriate token to present her, but in the end I decided on a copy of my final master’s research project. Anyone else would’ve (understandably) politely received such a “gift,” and set it aside to be disposed of at a convenient time. Ruth, though, recognized it for what it was: a milestone in an individual’s career in which she was hugely influential. Her expression of gratitude at that moment, I believe, was heartfelt and genuine.

I miss my colleague and friend. Rest in peace, Ruth.
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Ruth Davidhizar served the nursing students at Bethel College for over twenty years until her death on September 11, 2008. A version of this tribute appears on the Transcultural Nursing Society website.

To a Discouraged Nursing Student

Nursing school has you overwhelmed, I know. You're questioning your choice to be here, and you're afraid that you "won't be good enough."

Hold on a minute.

It's clear that you have a compassionate heart, so I wasn't surprised to learn that you've wanted to serve others since you were little. I'm confident God will help you realize that desire – in His name, shun the doubt and discouragement when it comes up.

But the part about not being good enough? The truth is that we never will be good enough – not any one of us, nobody. That's why, for me, nursing is so intimately connected with faith, with Jesus. I can't do this job on my own power – I'm too selfish, too broken. If I nurse well – if I teach well – it's only because of grace and God's power. The only credit I can take is that I manage to stay out of his way from time to time, and let him get on with his working through me.

Hang in there. Take heart. Have courage.
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