When I was training to become a pediatrician, I learned one of the best things I could do for my patients was listen to their nurses.
Why? Because nurses are our front line experts. They have a unique perspective. It’s a blend of medical expertise, intuition and compassion.
Reading cues and building trust
Nursing is crucial in every part of health care, but even more so in pediatrics. Our patients are often too young to tell us where it hurts or how they feel. So nurses learn a child’s nuanced cues. In their time at the bedside, they master the difference between a cry of pain and a cry of frustration, the difference between the calm of sleep and the listlessness of progressing infection. The time and attention they devote to our patients is the foundation of trust between families and their care teams. By establishing an essential bond, nurses are positioned to hear the true voice of a family that might otherwise be muted by stress.
Healers and teachers
Especially in pediatrics, our patients need so much more than just medicine. To heal, children require nurturing and comfort, particularly when a parent cannot be at their bedside. In these moments, nurses step in as both advocates and sources of reassurance, ensuring children feel safe and understood. Their presence and compassion are vital to providing holistic care that addresses the emotional and psychological needs of our youngest patients.
And here’s something all medical trainees need to know: nurses are often your best teachers.
We can memorize drug names or the meaning of lab values in a library; a nurse teaches us how to truly read a patient. Start your rounds with “How does he seem to you?” and you are half way there. Their willingness to teach, mentor and guide the rest of us is a gift.
What patients remember
I know the impact of our Children’s Minnesota nurses because I hear story after story from families. More often than not, when a parent or grown child looks back on their time with us, they lead with memories of a special nurse. They remember the nurse who stayed with them to calm their fears, the nurse who made them laugh when it was needed, the nurse who saw them as a person, not just a patient.
The work our nurses do is both difficult and beautiful. It is draining and enriching. It is demanding on every level: physically, emotionally and intellectually.
We are stronger, kinder and better because of our nurses.
To our Children’s Minnesota nurses: Our community needs your skill, your ingenuity and your heart now more than ever. Thank you for sharing all of it with us.
Emily Chapman, MD
President and CEO of Children’s Minnesota
With more than 30 years in pediatric health care, Dr. Chapman is deeply committed to delivering exceptional care and experiences for patients, their families, staff and the community.
Follow Dr. Chapman on LinkedIn.
