Jackie - The Ministry of Healing

Jackie -







I started my career in the Army Nurse Corps and went to Vietnam after a year stateside. There I was – so young, bright-eyed and fairly naïve – being sent into a war zone. I’m sure my naiveté kept me in some ways safe, because there were things I just didn’t know. Some of the inherent dangers of the situation just didn’t occur to me at the time.

My military occupational specialty, or MOS, was pediatrics. The children we cared for were Vietnamese. We treated everything – war wounds, burns, amputations. That was primarily what I did over there. Of course, I also had to help with the triage of soldiers. It was twelve-hour days, and very demanding work. But I enjoyed it.

It would not be the last time I would work overseas as a nurse. After completing my tour in Vietnam, I returned to the States and worked for over a decade in nursing jobs. At a certain point, I began to desire change again.
“…nurses really have to be aware of their bodies, hearts and minds, and take care of those things when they need a break.”> There was this sense of, what am I going to do with my life? Graduate school was one option, but at that time an American organization was heavily recruiting for nurses to go to Saudi Arabia. A year earlier, if you had asked me to find Saudi Arabia on the map, I would have had to really look hard. But I thought, Wow. This sounds like something I might be interested in doing. I applied for the program and was accepted. And the newborn nursery manager position opened up shortly after I got over there, so I ended up doing that for two years.

It was another incredible experience. So many times we as Americans go to a foreign country and expect their people to adapt to us. I don’t have that philosophy. I went over as a guest in their country, played by their rules, and did just fine. Women are treated very differently in that society but it wasn’t a problem for me. I didn’t feel like I had to prove that the American Way is the best way. I just enjoyed seeing what I could see of the country despite the restrictions placed on me. And I met the man who would eventually become my husband while I was over there, so it was a very significant time in my life.

One thing that really brings joy to my heart these days is my involvement with parish nursing, which is an approach to health care that involves the whole person – body, mind and spirit. The focus is on wellness and disease prevention. Parish nurses do a lot of educating, such as holding blood pressure clinics or classes on various health issues. But there is not a clear-cut path for what you have to do. I’ll sit and pray with people, or I’ll visit them in the hospital if I’m asked to do that. I’ve done home communion. These are all lay ministry activities that you don’t have to be a parish nurse to do, but it does roll into it very nicely. It was through my church community that I first heard about parish nursing, and my interest led me to take a class in it. My regular, full-time job doesn’t leave much time for such volunteer work, but I look forward to being able to devote more time to it in retirement.

Spirituality in whatever form can be very healing for nurses, particularly when they experience the death of a patient. As the manager of an inpatient pediatrics unit that included cancer patients, I once planned a memorial service for my staff because we lost seven kids in one year. That was a lot because it is a small unit, and it was hard on everyone. The social worker and I planned an opportunity for the staff to come together, to talk and share stories about these kids. And it was incredible, just a wonderful time of laughing, and crying, and letting go. Not a religious event, but a spiritual one. That ministry of healing is what I feel called to do, and in this case it was ministering to my staff. I would love to be able to do more of it.

There are so many different ways to be a nurse. Most people go into nursing for the same reasons – helping others, compassion, and healing. You have to love it, because otherwise it’s just too hard. And the inpatient setting is really draining – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It takes its toll. So nurses really have to be aware of their bodies, hearts and minds, and take care of those things when they need a break.

My experiences being a nurse in other countries have taught me resilience and flexibility. I know that life can be lot tougher in other places than it is here. My career began in a war zone, helping children to heal. People ask if it was tough for me to see some of the things I did. Of course it was, but at the same time my own youth kept me unaware of how tough it really was.

Nursing is an incredible profession. For people that are going into it, the opportunities are wide open. I’m now a clinical manager for consulting nurses in a large HMO. Nursing is definitely going to change a lot in the next few years, but opportunities will only continue to expand. It’s a great place to be.

Power Strategies: Spirituality, Community, Healing
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