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Scholarly Commons > HCA Healthcare Journal > Vol. 5 > Iss. 5 (2024)

 

Keywords

medicine in the arts; quilt; nursing; nurses

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

I love the statement, "Nursing is an art and a science." I practiced at the bedside for 30 years, caring for my patients physically and mentally through all of life’s stages. Quilting became my go-to activity when the work became too stressful and I needed to decompress. When I became a nurse educator, I made this quilted wall hanging for my office to remind me of those years and the reasons I became a nurse. The nurse applique was made from one of my scrub tops and replicates my work uniform, down to the ponytail I wore when I was younger, and my maroon stethoscope. It also includes nursing fabric that I have collected over the years, a bandana from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ National Teaching Institute and a t-shirt I received as a gift when I was getting my Master’s degree in nursing education. When I look at the quilt, I remember all the hard work of nursing school, the uncertainty during my first year as a nurse, and the changes in myself as I grew from novice to expert. I think of the patients we lost, the ones we saved, the family members that I laughed with, and those that I cried with. Nursing really chose me, not the other way around, and I am proud to say that I answered that call.

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