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The Cost– and Value– of Caring
Letters
to the Editor
The Cost— and Value— of Caring I
was very touched by the recently published essay “To See Inside” (Bingham, 2012). During my practice as an OB/GYN nurse practitioner, I cared for a woman expecting her first baby. The pregnancy was progressing normally, but at 39 weeks she presented at the hospital because of “no fetal movement.” The baby was stillborn. It haunted me that just a few days before I had heard that beautiful heartbeat. I was devastated and thought I must have missed something. I remember taking the chart and sitting with the obstetrician for an extended period of time while we reviewed every possible piece of the patient’s history—every fundal height, blood pressure, weight, lab value, sonogram, etc., all of which, even in retrospect, still appeared
“normal.” Even the autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause of death. Mr. Bingham’s essay reminded me that the feelings I felt are shared by other nurses. I teach my students that sometimes loss and sadness are associated with nursing and caring, and that we need to support each other through it and remember that if no one was willing to care, this would be the worst possible world. The cost of caring can be hard to bear, but the value of caring cannot be measured. Thank you for sharing this story.
Linda Snell, DNS, RN Clarence, NY References Bingham, R. (2012). To see inside. Nursing for Women’s Health, 16(5), 439–440. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-486x.2012.01769.x
DOI: 10.1111/1751-486X.12001 http://nwh.awhonn.org
© 2013, AWHONN
11
to the Editor
The Cost— and Value— of Caring I
was very touched by the recently published essay “To See Inside” (Bingham, 2012). During my practice as an OB/GYN nurse practitioner, I cared for a woman expecting her first baby. The pregnancy was progressing normally, but at 39 weeks she presented at the hospital because of “no fetal movement.” The baby was stillborn. It haunted me that just a few days before I had heard that beautiful heartbeat. I was devastated and thought I must have missed something. I remember taking the chart and sitting with the obstetrician for an extended period of time while we reviewed every possible piece of the patient’s history—every fundal height, blood pressure, weight, lab value, sonogram, etc., all of which, even in retrospect, still appeared
“normal.” Even the autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause of death. Mr. Bingham’s essay reminded me that the feelings I felt are shared by other nurses. I teach my students that sometimes loss and sadness are associated with nursing and caring, and that we need to support each other through it and remember that if no one was willing to care, this would be the worst possible world. The cost of caring can be hard to bear, but the value of caring cannot be measured. Thank you for sharing this story.
Linda Snell, DNS, RN Clarence, NY References Bingham, R. (2012). To see inside. Nursing for Women’s Health, 16(5), 439–440. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-486x.2012.01769.x
DOI: 10.1111/1751-486X.12001 http://nwh.awhonn.org
© 2013, AWHONN
11