Free Book Recommendation Dear Readers, I want to recommend a free book on Kindle of one of my heroines of faith, Mary Slessor, a Scottish missionary to the jungles of Africa. She had such passion to give the wonderful good news of Jesus Christ to cannibal jungle tribes in Nigeria from 1876-1915 and endured many physical and emotional hardships as she trusted God to transform the people by His power. Challenged by the life of David Livingstone, Mary Slessor offered her services as a missionary in Calabar, Nigeria. Arriving there when she was 28 years old, she overcame her fears and inexperien ..read more

Nurse Case Manager I called Mr. G. to introduce myself as his case manager from the veteran’s clinic. He had returned to assisted living after his recent stay in the nursing home, so I asked him how he felt. “I wish I was still in the nursing home. They were so nice to me there. I won’t take any pills until Jane, my VA nurse, comes here and puts them in my pill box.” “Mr. G, the Medicare nurse has to see you for a few weeks until you are stable and then Jane will return.” “But I don’t like the Medicare nurse! I love Jane. She’s wonderful. I fought in World War 2 for this country during the bes ..read more

From my journal Hospice Visiting Nurse – February, New England, USA This morning, the thermometer on my deck read a bone-chilling -5 degrees F (-21 C). I wished I could stay home, but my patients needed me.  I pressed the remote car starter on my key ring to melt the thick ice off my windshield and warm the car. After a quick breakfast, I donned my goose down teal green parka and hood, stepped into my fur-lined black boots, and wrapped my warmest scarf around my neck. I grabbed my heavy blue nursing bag and gingerly walked down my slippery sidewalk to my car. After sprinkling rock salt on ..read more

Saturday Evening The Sheriff stopped his car at the hospital entrance and two cowgirls stepped out with Pocahontas in tow. They entered the lobby, and Pocahontas raised her palm straight up to some lady visitors and said “How”.  The visitors laughed and said, “Our hearts are heavy because our father just died. Thank you for making us laugh. Can we take a picture of you?” “Sure”, said Pocahontas. “Our Sunday School class just had a themed dinner where we all dressed in costumes from the Old West. We came over to cheer up Ann’s husband who is a patient here. We’ll pray for you to be comfort ..read more

From my journal Home Care Nurse Practitioner – November 1, 2011 Over the weekend twenty inches of heavy wet snow fell in a matter of hours taking down many leaf-covered trees. Nearly a million people lost power including my home and the Veteran’s clinic where I worked. Monday morning I put on my down coat, winter boots, and warmest mittens. As I drove to work, I listened to the radio for road closures. I was glad for a full tank of gas since none of the pumps worked without a generator. I entered the dark hallway with my flashlight and unlocked my cold windowless office. I pulled out my paper ..read more

From my journal Home Care Nurse Practitioner, New England, February 2010 This winter has had record snowstorms one after another. I have not seen the bare ground since the snow started in November. But today is a crisp clear day with brilliant blue skies. With no storms predicted and the roads cleared from the last storm, this is the perfect day to drive 30 minutes north and see Fred, one of my favorite World War 2 veterans who lives alone on a country road. His sons check on him frequently, but he still desperately misses his wife who died a few years ago. I love to talk with Fred who vacilla ..read more

The Sandwich Christ said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever,” (John 14:16 KJV). The emergency room stretcher made my backache. I tried to find a more comfortable position. The gentle beep of my heartbeat from the cardiac monitor made me drowsy in the darkened room as I waited for my test results. I shivered from my fever and thanked God for the warmed blanket the nurse gave me. A brash voice outside my open door jolted me awake. “Remember that I am your boss and you must do as I say or there will be cons ..read more

Geriatric Nurse Practitioner – October 2009 The Veteran’s Affairs (V.A.) offered me a job as a Nurse Practitioner in Home Care a month ago. They have begun the grueling credentialing process, more prolonged than any other NP job I’ve ever had. I passed my pre-employment physical last week. My depth perception was not good on the eye test, but it’s adequate to drive safely. For the first time in my life, they tried to take my fingerprints and discovered they have disappeared. All the years of washing my hands and playing the violin have erased them. The fingerprinter wrote on my application “no ..read more

Geriatric Nurse Practitioner – July 2009 I was glad to have a day off to relax and catch up on my chores. The phone rang and the caller said, “Pam, this is Dr. S. (my boss). I’m sorry to call you at home, but I wanted to make sure that you knew about the announcement I made to the rest of the medical staff today. The nursing home here is struggling financially so we contracted with a physician and nurse practitioner from the community to manage one of our 60-bed long-term care units. It will become part of their private practice so they can bill Medicare directly. We are redistributing the res ..read more

From my journal Geriatric Nurse Practitioner – December 2008 “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:47 So much has happened since last April. After my concussion and the flu, I finally resumed parttime work at the nursing home at the end of April and increased to fulltime in May. By God’s grace, I only called in sick one day since then. My monthly billable visits increased from 60% to 105%, so my boss gave me a 2.5% raise even though the economy is horrible. This is purely God’s grace and provision considering I thought they might terminate me last spring because of the three-month ..read more