- Email: [email protected]
“Lights! Camera! Expert!”
“Lights! Camera! Expert!”
t
The room was dark except for a small circle in the center containing two chairs. Bright lights were placed strategically around, and on the arm of each chair rested a small black microphone attached to its long black wire. I stood to the side, waiting to be told what to do. A burly man in a plaid shirt pointed to one of the chairs, I sat down, and he expertly moved my arm so that he could attach the microphone to the lapel of my blazer. Across from me sat a man I had seen countless times before, on Friday nights and sometimes on the morning news show. He cleared his throat, a woman’s voice came from the darkness and we were ready to let the tape roll. For a moment my breath caught in my
throat and a fleeting thought went through my brain: What if you open your mouth and all that comes out is a bleating sound?” Thankfully the first question was simple to answer, and with a firm voice I said, “My name is Anne Katz, I am an Assistant Professor in Nursing, and the Editor of AWHONN Lifelines!” My incredible journey was about to reach its zenith. It all started in February. The phone rang at my desk one cold morning and a woman identified herself as Stacy Stover, one of AWHONN’s public relations staff. She had received a call from a producer of “20/20”, the ABC news magazine, and they wanted to talk to me
Anne Katz, RN, PhD, is editor of AWHONN Lifelines and an assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Write to her at [email protected]
December 2003 | January 2004
AWHONN Lifelines
489
I agreed to fly to New York and five months later there I was, being interviewed by Dr. Timothy Johnson, the medical correspondent for ABC News
490
AWHONN Lifelines
about an article I had published in the Journal of Obstetrics Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN) sometime last year. Of course I was interested (and flattered and intrigued) to talk to her, and we set up a date and time. The producer, Susan Wagner, called me at the appointed time, and we had a lively discussion on the topic of my article, “Sexuality After Hysterectomy” (May/June 2002). At the end of the conversation she asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed on camera. I am glad she could not see my face, for it was not that of a professional nurse and educator! I agreed to fly to New York, and five months later there I was, being interviewed by Dr. Timothy Johnson, the medical correspondent for ABC News. I tried to keep the interview quiet, as I did not want to have to explain to everyone if the whole thing fell through at the last minute. My family, friends and colleagues felt no such need for circumspection, and I was soon inundated with questions from acquaintances and assorted others—would I meet Barbara Walters? “No.” What was I going to wear? “Basic black.” And did I realize what a big deal this was? “You bet!” Soon I was on the plane, in the cab and at my hotel. I appeared at the ABC building a few minutes early and was met by the producer, Susan. She was professional, engaging, warm and most of all, thoroughly versed in the issues with a deep understanding of the literature. I knew I was in good hands. The interview went well I was told. It was all a blur to me but passed with a certain intensity that means that I was concentrating very hard. I returned later to do some “cut away” shots— pretending to type and read against a backdrop of a library. And then it was over and I was left with some thoughts that I would like to share with you. First, I was so proud that they had chosen a nurse to talk about this topic. I was also proud to be a member of AWHONN, the premier organization for women’s health, obstetric and neonatal nurses. But how did I, a nurse from another country now living in a small city in Canada, manage to find my way onto an international television news magazine of great prominence? It was not a matter of being in the right place at the right time—I had made that happen, one small step at a time. It started in my practice when I was a clinical nurse specialist and I noticed that many
women who were having a hysterectomy had questions about their postoperative sexual functioning. I had always felt at ease talking about sexuality with patients, and so I developed a small specialty practice in this area. To answer these women’s questions with accuracy, I needed to read broadly and deeply in the literature. Once I had embarked on all that reading, it seemed logical to write a review article and submit it to a nursing journal. As a member of AWHONN, I thought this might be interesting for other nurses in the field of women’s health, and as it was a lengthy article, I sent it to JOGNN and wrote a companion piece for Lifelines on sexuality and culture. I assume that my advanced degrees and a teaching position at a university lent some credibility, as did my new appointment as editor of this journal. So many small life decisions—going back to university, making a niche for myself in a unique clinical practice, reading and writing for professional journals, presenting at AWHONN conventions and other professional meetings, applying for the position of editor—that is how I came to be interviewed by “20/20”! My moment in the spotlight will be just that—brief and hopefully not embarrassing. I have to have faith that I was working with professionals whose intent is to inform and educate the public. By the time this is published, my 15 minutes or seconds of fame may be long forgotten by everyone but me. I am not all that out of the ordinary; many of you are doing exciting things in your professional lives. You are changing practice, developing new protocols that improve patient outcomes, asking questions that guide research and making a difference in the lives of those who place their care in your hands. Bright lights shine on all of you every day as you tend to a woman in labor, a tiny newborn in the NICU, an adolescent in the hallway of a clinic. I hope that each day you are as proud of what you do as I was for those fleeting moments in New York.
Volume 7
Issue 6
t
The room was dark except for a small circle in the center containing two chairs. Bright lights were placed strategically around, and on the arm of each chair rested a small black microphone attached to its long black wire. I stood to the side, waiting to be told what to do. A burly man in a plaid shirt pointed to one of the chairs, I sat down, and he expertly moved my arm so that he could attach the microphone to the lapel of my blazer. Across from me sat a man I had seen countless times before, on Friday nights and sometimes on the morning news show. He cleared his throat, a woman’s voice came from the darkness and we were ready to let the tape roll. For a moment my breath caught in my
throat and a fleeting thought went through my brain: What if you open your mouth and all that comes out is a bleating sound?” Thankfully the first question was simple to answer, and with a firm voice I said, “My name is Anne Katz, I am an Assistant Professor in Nursing, and the Editor of AWHONN Lifelines!” My incredible journey was about to reach its zenith. It all started in February. The phone rang at my desk one cold morning and a woman identified herself as Stacy Stover, one of AWHONN’s public relations staff. She had received a call from a producer of “20/20”, the ABC news magazine, and they wanted to talk to me
Anne Katz, RN, PhD, is editor of AWHONN Lifelines and an assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Write to her at [email protected]
December 2003 | January 2004
AWHONN Lifelines
489
I agreed to fly to New York and five months later there I was, being interviewed by Dr. Timothy Johnson, the medical correspondent for ABC News
490
AWHONN Lifelines
about an article I had published in the Journal of Obstetrics Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN) sometime last year. Of course I was interested (and flattered and intrigued) to talk to her, and we set up a date and time. The producer, Susan Wagner, called me at the appointed time, and we had a lively discussion on the topic of my article, “Sexuality After Hysterectomy” (May/June 2002). At the end of the conversation she asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed on camera. I am glad she could not see my face, for it was not that of a professional nurse and educator! I agreed to fly to New York, and five months later there I was, being interviewed by Dr. Timothy Johnson, the medical correspondent for ABC News. I tried to keep the interview quiet, as I did not want to have to explain to everyone if the whole thing fell through at the last minute. My family, friends and colleagues felt no such need for circumspection, and I was soon inundated with questions from acquaintances and assorted others—would I meet Barbara Walters? “No.” What was I going to wear? “Basic black.” And did I realize what a big deal this was? “You bet!” Soon I was on the plane, in the cab and at my hotel. I appeared at the ABC building a few minutes early and was met by the producer, Susan. She was professional, engaging, warm and most of all, thoroughly versed in the issues with a deep understanding of the literature. I knew I was in good hands. The interview went well I was told. It was all a blur to me but passed with a certain intensity that means that I was concentrating very hard. I returned later to do some “cut away” shots— pretending to type and read against a backdrop of a library. And then it was over and I was left with some thoughts that I would like to share with you. First, I was so proud that they had chosen a nurse to talk about this topic. I was also proud to be a member of AWHONN, the premier organization for women’s health, obstetric and neonatal nurses. But how did I, a nurse from another country now living in a small city in Canada, manage to find my way onto an international television news magazine of great prominence? It was not a matter of being in the right place at the right time—I had made that happen, one small step at a time. It started in my practice when I was a clinical nurse specialist and I noticed that many
women who were having a hysterectomy had questions about their postoperative sexual functioning. I had always felt at ease talking about sexuality with patients, and so I developed a small specialty practice in this area. To answer these women’s questions with accuracy, I needed to read broadly and deeply in the literature. Once I had embarked on all that reading, it seemed logical to write a review article and submit it to a nursing journal. As a member of AWHONN, I thought this might be interesting for other nurses in the field of women’s health, and as it was a lengthy article, I sent it to JOGNN and wrote a companion piece for Lifelines on sexuality and culture. I assume that my advanced degrees and a teaching position at a university lent some credibility, as did my new appointment as editor of this journal. So many small life decisions—going back to university, making a niche for myself in a unique clinical practice, reading and writing for professional journals, presenting at AWHONN conventions and other professional meetings, applying for the position of editor—that is how I came to be interviewed by “20/20”! My moment in the spotlight will be just that—brief and hopefully not embarrassing. I have to have faith that I was working with professionals whose intent is to inform and educate the public. By the time this is published, my 15 minutes or seconds of fame may be long forgotten by everyone but me. I am not all that out of the ordinary; many of you are doing exciting things in your professional lives. You are changing practice, developing new protocols that improve patient outcomes, asking questions that guide research and making a difference in the lives of those who place their care in your hands. Bright lights shine on all of you every day as you tend to a woman in labor, a tiny newborn in the NICU, an adolescent in the hallway of a clinic. I hope that each day you are as proud of what you do as I was for those fleeting moments in New York.
Volume 7
Issue 6