0:00:00.640,0:00:01.855
As patients,

0:00:01.880,0:00:05.496
we usually remember[br]the names of our doctors,

0:00:05.520,0:00:08.840
but often we forget[br]the names of our nurses.

0:00:09.600,0:00:10.800
I remember one.

0:00:11.400,0:00:13.616
I had breast cancer a few years ago,

0:00:13.640,0:00:17.096
and somehow I managed[br]to get through the surgeries

0:00:17.120,0:00:19.400
and the beginning[br]of the treatment just fine.

0:00:19.840,0:00:22.096
I could hide what was going on.

0:00:22.120,0:00:24.336
Everybody didn't really have to know.

0:00:24.360,0:00:26.576
I could walk my daughter to school,

0:00:26.600,0:00:28.576
I could go out to dinner with my husband;

0:00:28.600,0:00:29.800
I could fool people.

0:00:30.720,0:00:33.056
But then my chemo was scheduled to begin

0:00:33.080,0:00:34.816
and that terrified me

0:00:34.840,0:00:39.376
because I knew that I was going to lose[br]every single hair on my body

0:00:39.400,0:00:41.960
because of the kind of chemo[br]that I was going to have.

0:00:42.480,0:00:44.776
I wasn't going to be able[br]to pretend anymore

0:00:44.800,0:00:46.600
as though everything was normal.

0:00:47.440,0:00:48.736
I was scared.

0:00:48.760,0:00:52.336
I knew what it felt like to have[br]everybody treating me with kid gloves,

0:00:52.360,0:00:54.736
and I just wanted to feel normal.

0:00:54.760,0:00:56.936
I had a port installed in my chest.

0:00:56.960,0:00:59.736
I went to my first day of chemotherapy,

0:00:59.760,0:01:02.096
and I was an emotional wreck.

0:01:02.120,0:01:05.135
My nurse, Joanne, walked in the door,

0:01:05.160,0:01:09.136
and every bone in my body was telling[br]me to get up out of that chair

0:01:09.160,0:01:10.656
and take for the hills.

0:01:10.680,0:01:14.440
But Joanne looked at me and talked[br]to me like we were old friends.

0:01:15.240,0:01:16.656
And then she asked me,

0:01:16.680,0:01:18.776
"Where'd you get your highlights done?"

0:01:18.800,0:01:19.896
(Laughter)

0:01:19.920,0:01:21.856
And I was like, are you kidding me?

0:01:21.880,0:01:26.736
You're going to talk to me about my hair[br]when I'm on the verge of losing it?

0:01:26.760,0:01:28.496
I was kind of angry,

0:01:28.520,0:01:31.080
and I said, "Really? Hair?"

0:01:31.640,0:01:33.976
And with a shrug[br]of her shoulders she said,

0:01:34.000,0:01:35.360
"It's gonna grow back."

0:01:36.280,0:01:39.536
And in that moment she said[br]the one thing I had overlooked,

0:01:39.560,0:01:43.376
and that was that at some point,[br]my life would get back to normal.

0:01:43.400,0:01:45.096
She really believed that.

0:01:45.120,0:01:46.800
And so I believed it, too.

0:01:47.520,0:01:52.296
Now, worrying about losing your hair[br]when you're fighting cancer

0:01:52.320,0:01:53.936
may seem silly at first,

0:01:53.960,0:01:58.096
but it's not just that you're worried[br]about how you're going to look.

0:01:58.120,0:02:02.040
It's that you're worried that everybody's[br]going to treat you so carefully.

0:02:02.760,0:02:06.296
Joanne made me feel normal[br]for the first time in six months.

0:02:06.320,0:02:08.175
We talked about her boyfriends,

0:02:08.199,0:02:10.936
we talked about looking[br]for apartments in New York City,

0:02:10.960,0:02:13.816
and we talked about my reaction[br]to the chemotherapy --

0:02:13.840,0:02:15.800
all kind of mixed in together.

0:02:16.360,0:02:18.336
And I always wondered,

0:02:18.360,0:02:23.000
how did she so instinctively[br]know just how to talk to me?

0:02:23.480,0:02:26.896
Joanne Staha and my admiration for her

0:02:26.920,0:02:30.720
marked the beginning of my journey[br]into the world of nurses.

0:02:31.360,0:02:33.776
A few years later,[br]I was asked to do a project

0:02:33.800,0:02:36.480
that would celebrate[br]the work that nurses do.

0:02:37.120,0:02:38.616
I started with Joanne,

0:02:38.640,0:02:41.640
and I met over 100 nurses[br]across the country.

0:02:42.320,0:02:47.376
I spent five years interviewing,[br]photographing and filming nurses

0:02:47.400,0:02:49.560
for a book and a documentary film.

0:02:50.560,0:02:51.776
With my team,

0:02:51.800,0:02:55.136
we mapped a trip across America[br]that would take us to places

0:02:55.160,0:03:00.096
dealing with some of the biggest[br]public health issues facing our nation --

0:03:00.120,0:03:04.200
aging, war, poverty, prisons.

0:03:04.840,0:03:06.096
And then we went places

0:03:06.120,0:03:09.976
where we would find[br]the largest concentration of patients

0:03:10.000,0:03:11.520
dealing with those issues.

0:03:12.280,0:03:16.336
Then we asked hospitals and facilities[br]to nominate nurses

0:03:16.360,0:03:17.880
who would best represent them.

0:03:18.800,0:03:21.640
One of the first nurses I met[br]was Bridget Kumbella.

0:03:22.200,0:03:23.816
Bridget was born in Cameroon,

0:03:23.840,0:03:25.680
the oldest of four children.

0:03:26.400,0:03:30.256
Her father was at work[br]when he had fallen from the fourth floor

0:03:30.280,0:03:32.256
and really hurt his back.

0:03:32.280,0:03:36.416
And he talked a lot about what it was like[br]to be flat on your back

0:03:36.440,0:03:38.880
and not get the kind[br]of care that you need.

0:03:39.400,0:03:43.160
And that propelled Bridget[br]to go into the profession of nursing.

0:03:44.000,0:03:45.616
Now, as a nurse in the Bronx,

0:03:45.640,0:03:49.056
she has a really diverse group[br]of patients that she cares for,

0:03:49.080,0:03:50.976
from all walks of life,

0:03:51.000,0:03:52.960
and from all different religions.

0:03:53.400,0:03:57.576
And she's devoted her career[br]to understanding the impact

0:03:57.600,0:04:01.200
of our cultural differences[br]when it comes to our health.

0:04:02.280,0:04:03.616
She spoke of a patient --

0:04:03.640,0:04:06.336
a Native American patient that she had --

0:04:06.360,0:04:10.080
that wanted to bring[br]a bunch of feathers into the ICU.

0:04:11.080,0:04:14.096
That's how he found spiritual comfort.

0:04:14.120,0:04:16.336
And she spoke of advocating for him

0:04:16.360,0:04:19.136
and said that patients come[br]from all different religions

0:04:19.160,0:04:23.056
and use all different kinds[br]of objects for comfort;

0:04:23.080,0:04:26.336
whether it's a holy rosary[br]or a symbolic feather,

0:04:26.360,0:04:28.120
it all needs to be supported.

0:04:29.200,0:04:31.016
This is Jason Short.

0:04:31.040,0:04:34.096
Jason is a home health nurse[br]in the Appalachian mountains,

0:04:34.120,0:04:38.496
and his dad had a gas station[br]and a repair shop when he was growing up.

0:04:38.520,0:04:42.840
So he worked on cars in the community[br]that he now serves as a nurse.

0:04:43.600,0:04:44.856
When he was in college,

0:04:44.880,0:04:48.536
it was just not macho at all[br]to become a nurse,

0:04:48.560,0:04:50.736
so he avoided it for years.

0:04:50.760,0:04:52.696
He drove trucks for a little while,

0:04:52.720,0:04:56.200
but his life path was always[br]pulling him back to nursing.

0:04:58.240,0:05:00.216
As a nurse in the Appalachian mountains,

0:05:00.240,0:05:04.056
Jason goes places[br]that an ambulance can't even get to.

0:05:04.080,0:05:07.520
In this photograph,[br]he's standing in what used to be a road.

0:05:08.080,0:05:10.896
Top of the mountain mining[br]flooded that road,

0:05:10.920,0:05:14.216
and now the only way[br]for Jason to get to the patient

0:05:14.240,0:05:17.136
living in that house[br]with black lung disease

0:05:17.160,0:05:21.480
is to drive his SUV[br]against the current up that creek.

0:05:22.360,0:05:25.440
The day I was with him,[br]we ripped the front fender off the car.

0:05:26.160,0:05:29.376
The next morning he got up,[br]put the car on the lift,

0:05:29.400,0:05:30.656
fixed the fender,

0:05:30.680,0:05:32.776
and then headed out[br]to meet his next patient.

0:05:33.680,0:05:36.936
I witnessed Jason[br]caring for this gentleman

0:05:36.960,0:05:39.776
with such enormous compassion,

0:05:39.800,0:05:44.800
and I was struck again by how intimate[br]the work of nursing really is.

0:05:46.040,0:05:49.136
When I met Brian McMillion, he was raw.

0:05:49.160,0:05:51.776
He had just come back from a deployment

0:05:51.800,0:05:56.376
and he hadn't really settled back in[br]to life in San Diego yet.

0:05:56.400,0:05:59.936
He talked about his experience[br]of being a nurse in Germany

0:05:59.960,0:06:03.936
and taking care of the soldiers[br]coming right off the battlefield.

0:06:03.960,0:06:07.736
Very often, he would be[br]the first person they would see

0:06:07.760,0:06:09.840
when they opened[br]their eyes in the hospital.

0:06:10.480,0:06:13.056
And they would look at him[br]as they were lying there,

0:06:13.080,0:06:14.736
missing limbs,

0:06:14.760,0:06:17.376
and the first thing they would say is,

0:06:17.400,0:06:21.120
"When can I go back?[br]I left my brothers out there."

0:06:22.080,0:06:23.616
And Brian would have to say,

0:06:23.640,0:06:25.216
"You're not going anywhere.

0:06:25.240,0:06:27.080
You've already given enough, brother."

0:06:28.000,0:06:32.760
Brian is both a nurse and a soldier[br]who's seen combat.

0:06:33.280,0:06:35.336
So that puts him in a unique position

0:06:35.360,0:06:39.720
to be able to relate to and help heal[br]the veterans in his care.

0:06:41.560,0:06:43.056
This is Sister Stephen,

0:06:43.080,0:06:47.296
and she runs a nursing home[br]in Wisconsin called Villa Loretto.

0:06:47.320,0:06:51.776
And the entire circle of life[br]can be found under her roof.

0:06:51.800,0:06:54.256
She grew up wishing they lived on a farm,

0:06:54.280,0:06:58.976
so given the opportunity[br]to adopt local farm animals,

0:06:59.000,0:07:02.056
she enthusiastically brings them in.

0:07:02.080,0:07:05.616
And in the springtime,[br]those animals have babies.

0:07:05.640,0:07:10.816
And Sister Stephen uses[br]those baby ducks, goats and lambs

0:07:10.840,0:07:15.096
as animal therapy[br]for the residents at Villa Loretto

0:07:15.120,0:07:18.456
who sometimes can't[br]remember their own name,

0:07:18.480,0:07:22.040
but they do rejoice[br]in the holding of a baby lamb.

0:07:23.400,0:07:25.216
The day I was with Sister Stephen,

0:07:25.240,0:07:27.336
I needed to take her away[br]from Villa Loretto

0:07:27.360,0:07:29.456
to film part of her story.

0:07:29.480,0:07:30.736
And before we left,

0:07:30.760,0:07:33.240
she went into the room of a dying patient.

0:07:34.000,0:07:36.776
And she leaned over and she said,

0:07:36.800,0:07:38.720
"I have to go away for the day,

0:07:39.520,0:07:41.216
but if Jesus calls you,

0:07:41.240,0:07:42.456
you go.

0:07:42.480,0:07:44.640
You go straight home to Jesus."

0:07:45.280,0:07:47.856
I was standing there and thinking

0:07:47.880,0:07:49.896
it was the first time in my life

0:07:49.920,0:07:54.216
I witnessed that you could show[br]someone you love them completely

0:07:54.240,0:07:55.440
by letting go.

0:07:56.040,0:07:58.360
We don't have to hold on so tightly.

0:07:59.400,0:08:02.976
I saw more life rolled up at Villa Loretto

0:08:03.000,0:08:08.040
than I have ever seen at any other time[br]at any other place in my life.

0:08:09.320,0:08:13.376
We live in a complicated time[br]when it comes to our health care.

0:08:13.400,0:08:17.576
It's easy to lose sight[br]of the need for quality of life,

0:08:17.600,0:08:19.320
not just quantity of life.

0:08:20.120,0:08:23.536
As new life-saving[br]technologies are created,

0:08:23.560,0:08:26.560
we're going to have really[br]complicated decisions to make.

0:08:27.280,0:08:30.136
These technologies often save lives,

0:08:30.160,0:08:34.080
but they can also prolong pain[br]and the dying process.

0:08:35.919,0:08:38.816
How in the world are we supposed[br]to navigate these waters?

0:08:38.840,0:08:40.888
We're going to need[br]all the help we can get.

0:08:41.760,0:08:45.336
Nurses have a really unique[br]relationship with us

0:08:45.360,0:08:47.840
because of the time spent at bedside.

0:08:48.760,0:08:49.976
During that time,

0:08:50.000,0:08:52.520
a kind of emotional intimacy develops.

0:08:54.640,0:08:57.216
This past summer, on August 9,

0:08:57.240,0:08:59.160
my father died of a heart attack.

0:09:00.600,0:09:02.256
My mother was devastated,

0:09:02.280,0:09:06.240
and she couldn't imagine[br]her world without him in it.

0:09:07.360,0:09:09.296
Four days later she fell,

0:09:09.320,0:09:11.176
she broke her hip,

0:09:11.200,0:09:12.696
she needed surgery

0:09:12.720,0:09:15.640
and she found herself[br]fighting for her own life.

0:09:16.880,0:09:18.616
Once again I found myself

0:09:18.640,0:09:21.616
on the receiving end[br]of the care of nurses --

0:09:21.640,0:09:23.080
this time for my mom.

0:09:24.200,0:09:26.736
My brother and my sister and I[br]stayed by her side

0:09:26.760,0:09:29.200
for the next three days in the ICU.

0:09:29.960,0:09:33.096
And as we tried[br]to make the right decisions

0:09:33.120,0:09:35.496
and follow my mother's wishes,

0:09:35.520,0:09:39.440
we found that we were depending[br]upon the guidance of nurses.

0:09:40.200,0:09:41.656
And once again,

0:09:41.680,0:09:43.200
they didn't let us down.

0:09:44.600,0:09:49.376
They had an amazing insight[br]in terms of how to care for my mom

0:09:49.400,0:09:51.656
in the last four days of her life.

0:09:51.680,0:09:54.840
They brought her comfort[br]and relief from pain.

0:09:56.320,0:10:01.576
They knew to encourage my sister and I[br]to put a pretty nightgown on my mom,

0:10:01.600,0:10:03.496
long after it mattered to her,

0:10:03.520,0:10:05.320
but it sure meant a lot to us.

0:10:07.000,0:10:12.760
And they knew to come and wake me up[br]just in time for my mom's last breath.

0:10:13.600,0:10:16.016
And then they knew[br]how long to leave me in the room

0:10:16.040,0:10:17.720
with my mother after she died.

0:10:18.960,0:10:22.696
I have no idea how they know these things,

0:10:22.720,0:10:25.856
but I do know that I am eternally grateful

0:10:25.880,0:10:27.680
that they've guided me once again.

0:10:28.920,0:10:30.416
Thank you so very much.

0:10:30.440,0:10:35.437
(Applause)