Patricia, RN writes:

In nursing practice, I have found that a sense of humor is one of the most valuable instruments of healing. In a caring event, it provides relief and hope as an alternative to the pain and fear of the illness. For me, the nurse, humor provides a self-healing outlet from the intensity of focused energy needed to be fully present with the patient regardless of the outcome. The same healing instrument is used, although differently, to meet the needs in both the nursed and the nurse during the caring event. Drawing on the healing instruments of laughter and play within the midst of tears and high technology has provided me with some of the most memorable moments in my nursing career.

When I went home to care for my mother during an acute and potentially life-threatening phase of her illness, I took Ruggles, a large, soft, and very huggable therapy bear on the plane with me. Although we boarded the plane together, it was the last I saw of him until after landing. I seemed as though everyone, even businessmen, in formal three-piece suits, wanted a chance to enjoy a moment with Ruggles.

He was treated to his own ‘Pilot Wings’, given special treatment by the flight attendants, and asked to assist in the cockpit during the landing procedures. Due to his celebrity status, we were given BIP treatment through the airport to catch our connecting flight. The news of Ruggles and our mission had gone before us. After our final landing we were transported directly to the hospital in a special airline limousine.

The story of our most ridiculously fun flight experiences and the formality of our arrival, via limousine, brought back my mother’’s smile and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. Fortunately, this was the perfect tonic to initiate the courage and strength needed to cope with the immediate health crisis. There was nothing within my training that could have provided a more positive healing environment than bringing her Ruggles.

Ruggles continued to enjoy his celebrity and healing status throughout her hospital stay. There were photographs, articles in the hospital review, and special visits to the pediatric, adolescent, and oncology inpatient units. One bear and a nurse, with a fun sense of the ridiculous, brought healing, love, and laughter to people from New York to Illinois. My mother recovered to the point that she could return home and continue at a more comfortable level of wellness for several more months.

My mother flourished in ways that would not have otherwise been possible and kept this piece of fantasy and fun as a charm to help her though the bad days. Her medical care interventions were completely met during that time at home by a wonderfully caring and competent Hospice treatment team. Although proud of my technical skills and knowledge, she didn’t need that part of my nursing practice. It was my ability to live nursing as an art form of care and caring that allowed her to share life, laughter, joy and healing during those last few weeks. My development into a highly skilled artisan within the caring practice of nursing intuitively allowed for the need to share tears of sorrow and loss as well as the hope there would be joy.

I am a nurse: I don’’t just provide nursing care, it is who I am. I became aware of the uniqueness that belonged only to nursing. I didn’t settle for nursing, I actively chose nursing as my vocation and profession. Florence Nightingale’s vision of nursing excellence enabled me to understand that no one can be what nurses are except a nurse. It was so easy, so clear. Nurses nurse. My nursing practice is an art form of caring within a highly scientific and technologically based health care environment. It is through nursing that I facilitate, enable, and empower the nursed.

In the final analysis, I believe a successful treatment outcome within our high technological care environment is ultimately patient defined and reflects how well the nurse’’s technical care was balanced by the interpersonal art of caring. This, from my perspective, defines nursing excellence in practice.