1. the kansas city nursingnews July 7, 2014 7
opinionin brief
By Joshua M. Felts
Special to Kansas City Nursing News
I
t was late Sunday night, about
03:30.
I was in bed, warm, comfortable.
It was December 5. The weather
was cold, snow blanketing the ground,
just like my covers blanketing me.
“Bing.” “Bing.” “Bing.” “Bing.”
“What the hell? This better be good,”
I thought.
“Hello?”
“Josh, it’s your mom. She’s
down here in ICU at North Kan-
sas City Hospital,” my uncle
said. “OK, I’m on my way.”
As I got ready, it kept pawing
at me.
“The ICU? I just spoke to
her. I’m sure she’s OK. This
stuff happens — no big deal.
I’m sure it’s nothing,” I naively
told myself.
I ran to my car, trying not to slip,
dodging frozen puddles. It was excep-
tionally cold. I could see my breath.
Tiny ice crystals formed on the hair
in my nose. As I looked over the frozen
landscape, the eerie colors of Christ-
mas lights bounced off the snow, the
comforting smell of burning wood
bellowed from chimneys, diffusing
through the cold winter air.
Once I arrived at the hospital, I
didn’t know what to expect. I as-
sumed my mom would be awake, and
we’d talk. Yet, that didn’t happen.
Destiny chose my path. I wasn’t in
control. I walked towards her room,
the nurses directing me. Upon enter-
ing her room, my grandmother met
me at the door.
“She’s going to die.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She’ll be fine.”
It certainly didn’t look good. She was
on a vent, the telemetry monitor above
her moving slowly, showing the same
squiggly line over and over again. Her
room was cold, sterile.
I stayed in the ICU for three days,
sleeping on the floor in the waiting
room, periodically taking my turn on
watch — only my father, grandparents,
and my stepfather keeping me compa-
ny, keeping my mother company.
At the time, I was a graduate student
in religious studies, not a nurse, and
experiencing the helplessness that the
families of our patients feel every day.
I requested the chaplain, cried in his
arms, and requested he baptize her,
something I knew she wanted. At this
time, I knew she was going to die. It
was only a matter of time.
My mother was in remission from
cancer, but apparently had lost her
health insurance. Just like thousands of
our fellow Americans, she had a mort-
gage, cancer and little cash. She had
depleted her savings, never letting me
know her circumstances, shielding me
from social Darwinism and from life.
It was about 10:45. I was sitting in
the waiting room, sitting with
my stepfather. I hadn’t spoken
with him in years. I stopped
speaking to him after I found
out he was an addicted gam-
bler, an alcoholic and some-
times abusive.
“I forgive you,” I told him.
And in less than a minute
after echoing those words of
forgiveness, my mother’s heart
stopped.
I couldn’t help it. I was an atheist, a
non-believer, but I couldn’t explain it.
I don’t know if God exists, but some-
thing seemed to be giving me a signal,
giving me a sign that there was some-
thing with us beyond human.
Now, as a nurse, I know the im-
portance of caring for the spiritual
needs of our patients. At the time,
God comforted me, even when I didn’t
believe in him. Hospital chaplains are,
in my opinion, the cornerstone of the
healthcare team. They are natural
advocates, comforting the sick and
dying, as well as helping friends and
family rationalize mortality and the
fragility of life.
And we must always remember that,
in our field, business as usual for us
isn’t “usual” at all.
I’ll never forget leaving the hospital
that day, knowing my mother was
dead, yet watching the world move on
without her. I can’t explain it. It was
surreal, watching people go about
their lives, their day, all while my
world collapsed around me.
It made me realize that we’re here
today, gone tomorrow. And either way,
whether I’m here or not, the world
won’t skip a beat.
Joshua M. Felts, BS, BSN, RN, practices nursing
in the Kansas City area. This story originally appeared in
www.mightynurse.com. Joshua can be reached
at j.m.felts@gmail.com.
Lossbecomesreal
Joshua M. Felts,
BS, BSN , RN
Peggy Dunn, chair of the Truman
Medical Centers (TMC) Board of Di-
rectors, unveiled a rendering of the
soon-to-be-named John W. Bluford
Medical Pavilion at Truman Med-
ical Centers. Dunn and the TMC
Board of Directors announced the
naming of the pavilion building at a
retirement celebration for Bluford.
“The board voted unanimously to
name the pavilion building on the
Hospital Hill campus after John W.
Bluford to honor his 15 years of suc-
cessful leadership and consistent
improvement of TMC’s financial
health, reputation and quality of
patient care,” Dunn said.
The pavilion building, at 2301
Charlotte St. has been part of the
TMC Hospital Hill campus since
it opened in 1998. One of Bluford’s
first initiatives upon arriving at
TMC in early 1999 was to build and
open an outpatient adult and wom-
en’s health primary care facility,
in the medical pavilion. The clinic
opened in early 2000 and has served
thousands of Kansas City residents.
“This is a high honor, and I am
humbled to see my name on a build-
ing at TMC,” said Bluford, TMC
president/CEO. “I came here 15
years ago because I saw the poten-
tial in TMC, I saw the challenge in
TMC, but I also saw the desire to be
great in our supporters, our staff
and in our city. I believe we have ac-
complished a great deal in moving
TMC and healthcare in our commu-
nity forward, and I have been hon-
ored to be part of TMC.”
The accomplishments Bluford is
most proud of in his career include
helping to change the culture of the
organization to become more com-
petitive, customer service orient-
ed and more innovative. The TMC
system has invested approximately
$500 million in capital facility and
equipment improvements during
Bluford’s tenure. Other major ac-
complishments include TMC’s
recognition by the University
Health System Consortium as one
of the Top Five Academic Medical
Centers in the country (2005) and
achieving HIMSS Analytics Stage
7 in 2012, representing the top 2
percent of hospitals for informa-
tion technology implementation.
Additionally, Bluford is proud to
have developed the TMC Corporate
Academy, the Center for the Heal-
ing Arts Gallery and launching
a mobile market to bring healthy
foods to those living in under-
served communities.
By Source: Truman Medical Center
Truman Medical Centers unveils John W. Bluford
medical pavilion
In response to increased calls re-
lated to bedbugs, the City of Kansas
City, Mo., Health Department now
offers a free “Integrated Pest Man-
agement” class for those suffering
from bedbug, cockroach or mouse
infestations. The public class will
be at 10 a.m. July 12 at 2400 Troost
Ave. at the Health Department, .
“We used to get a call with ques-
tions about bedbugs every few
months, but now we are getting
multiple calls each week,” said
Michael Swoyer, supervisor of
the department’s Rat Control pro-
gram. “Since there is no funding
currently available for a bedbug
elimination program, we are work-
ing with several pest management
companies to offer this educational
opportunity.”
The class is geared toward indi-
viduals interested in learning how
to manage and potentially decrease
the pest infestation in their home.
To register for the class, call (816)
513-6010.
Four local pest management com-
panies — Schendel Pest Services,
Serengeti Pest Control, Smithereen
Pest Management and SOS Pest
Control — have agreed to provide
discounted services to homeowners
who have successfully completed
the class. Unfortunately, the dis-
counts are not available to apart-
ment residents.
At this time, the health depart-
ment does not provide pest elimina-
tion services for bedbugs, roaches
or mice. Additional Integrated Pest
Management classes will be an-
nounced as they are scheduled.
Source: City of Kansas City, Mo.
HealthDepartmentoffersfreepest-managementclass