On panic and door cracking.

August 28, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / Leave a comment

Someone had closed his door. He woke up all alone in there – old and confused. Continue reading →

On getting your heart unbroken on a Monday.

June 24, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / Leave a comment

I have to admit, no matter how much I love being a nurse, there are just times when Continue reading →

When we just get all tangled up.

May 30, 2019May 30, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / 2 Comments

The first thing I do when I get to the hospital each morning is look over my patient assignment for the day. Continue reading →

On nursing and the unrelenting peck of addiction.

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / Leave a comment

I’m a walking contradiction. I’m an extroverted introvert who has an internal compulsion to Continue reading →

When they just want you to know they’re still here.

April 9, 2019April 9, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / 2 Comments

She told me she doesn’t remember the day we met. Honestly, I don’t see how she could, she had been so sick when I had admitted her the week before. I had been floated to the PCU that day, Continue reading →

When your sleep is actually weirder than you are.

March 26, 2019December 14, 2020 / Growing Nurse Debi / 5 Comments

You’re lying there and a slow awareness slips in. That pit has enveloped you again. It’s not comfortable here. Nor is it restful. Or healing. At all. This is not that delicious place where you want to stretch and linger as the new morning dawns. Continue reading →

Blue eyes and a little black suitcase.

March 18, 2019March 18, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / Leave a comment

It was around 3PM on a Tuesday when I got the call saying that I had another patient coming from the ED. Ouch. By this point in the day, I had already been juggling a team of five patients for 8 hours. Two of these patients were quite sick Continue reading →

On circling helicopters, broken hearts, and peace-breathing.

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019 / Growing Nurse Debi / 2 Comments

I’m listening right now to police and news choppers hovering overhead. The sound is relentless. Ominous. Heavy with heartbreak. Distinct with the rumble of grief. Apparently there was a suicide this morning at the high school near my home. A student. At 7:48 AM.