A Cup of Comfort Stories for Nurses

Celebrating compassion, kindness, and caring

Colleen Sell

• Publisher: Adams Media
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781440537448
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nursing

The kindness and skill of a good nurse is critical to the healing process. Every day, nurses help us when we are at our most vulnerable - and every day they make enormous differences in our lives. These three stories in A Cup of Comfort Stories for Nurses remind you that there's nothing more healing than a soft touch, a warm voice, and a capable hand. These stories are a small way to say thank you to dedicated nurses everywhere.

The Stand-In

By Elizabeth Atwater

Some people would say I had spoiled her, but my youngest child, Jenna, would not go to sleep until I read her a story and rocked her until she got too drowsy to fight sleep any longer. The rocking was for me as much as it was for her, because after she was born, I was told I could have no more babies. My dream of having a large family was gone, and she would be the last baby I would have the joy of rocking.

When Jenna was about two and a half, she awoke one night screaming in pain. My husband, Joe, and I were too scared to wait until babysitting arrangements could be made, so we woke up our two boys and rushed to the hospital. A battery of tests revealed a large tumor pressing painfully inside one of Jenna’s tiny kidneys. The doctors were amazed that it had not bothered her before. Joe and I took turns holding her, trying not to let our terror show, while emergency surgery was arranged.

For the first week that Jenna was in the hospital, I stayed with her day and night. The nurses put a rocker in her room so we could continue our nighttime routine. After she fell asleep, I got what rest I could in the stiff recliner that I scooted next to Jenna’s bed.

Jenna was doing well, and Joe urged me to go home to get some decent rest and to spend some time with the boys, who, he reminded, needed me too. Also, the burden of his having to work full time and take care of the house and all the needs of the boys was beginning to wear him down. Reluctantly, I agreed that I should go home in the evening, have dinner with the boys, then return to the hospital until Jenna was asleep. Once she was down for the night, I would come home for the remainder of the night. The first time I saw the joy on my boys’ faces when I tucked them into bed, I knew I had made the right decision. Still, I worried that Jenna would wake up in the middle of the night and cry for me.

Sleet began to fall one evening as I hurried home to make dinner. By the time our meal was done, the roads were treacherous. ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• The Stand-In
• Triumph in Trauma Room One
• A Beacon in the Storm
• Also Available
• Copyright Page