1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:01,855
As patients,

2
00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:05,496
we usually remember
the names of our doctors,

3
00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:08,840
but often we forget
the names of our nurses.

4
00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:10,800
I remember one.

5
00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:13,616
I had breast cancer a few years ago,

6
00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,096
and somehow I managed
to get through the surgeries

7
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,400
and the beginning
of the treatment just fine.

8
00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,096
I could hide what was going on.

9
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,336
Everybody didn't really have to know.

10
00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:26,576
I could walk my daughter to school,

11
00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,576
I could go out to dinner with my husband;

12
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:29,800
I could fool people.

13
00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,056
But then my chemo was scheduled to begin

14
00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:34,816
and that terrified me

15
00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,376
because I knew that I was going to lose
every single hair on my body

16
00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,960
because of the kind of chemo
that I was going to have.

17
00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,776
I wasn't going to be able
to pretend anymore

18
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:46,600
as though everything was normal.

19
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:48,736
I was scared.

20
00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,336
I knew what it felt like to have
everybody treating me with kid gloves,

21
00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:54,736
and I just wanted to feel normal.

22
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,936
I had a port installed in my chest.

23
00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,736
I went to my first day of chemotherapy,

24
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,096
and I was an emotional wreck.

25
00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,135
My nurse, Joanne, walked in the door,

26
00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,136
and every bone in my body was telling
me to get up out of that chair

27
00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:10,656
and take for the hills.

28
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,440
But Joanne looked at me and talked
to me like we were old friends.

29
00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:16,656
And then she asked me,

30
00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,776
"Where'd you get your highlights done?"

31
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:19,896
(Laughter)

32
00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:21,856
And I was like, are you kidding me?

33
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,736
You're going to talk to me about my hair
when I'm on the verge of losing it?

34
00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:28,496
I was kind of angry,

35
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,080
and I said, "Really? Hair?"

36
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:33,976
And with a shrug
of her shoulders she said,

37
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,360
"It's gonna grow back."

38
00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,536
And in that moment she said
the one thing I had overlooked,

39
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,376
and that was that at some point,
my life would get back to normal.

40
00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,096
She really believed that.

41
00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:46,800
And so I believed it, too.

42
00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,296
Now, worrying about losing your hair
when you're fighting cancer

43
00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,936
may seem silly at first,

44
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,096
but it's not just that you're worried
about how you're going to look.

45
00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,040
It's that you're worried that everybody's
going to treat you so carefully.

46
00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,296
Joanne made me feel normal
for the first time in six months.

47
00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,175
We talked about her boyfriends,

48
00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:10,936
we talked about looking
for apartments in New York City,

49
00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,816
and we talked about my reaction
to the chemotherapy --

50
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,800
all kind of mixed in together.

51
00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,336
And I always wondered,

52
00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:23,000
how did she so instinctively
know just how to talk to me?

53
00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,896
Joanne Staha and my admiration for her

54
00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:30,720
marked the beginning of my journey
into the world of nurses.

55
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,776
A few years later,
I was asked to do a project

56
00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,480
that would celebrate
the work that nurses do.

57
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:38,616
I started with Joanne,

58
00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,640
and I met over 100 nurses
across the country.

59
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:47,376
I spent five years interviewing,
photographing and filming nurses

60
00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,560
for a book and a documentary film.

61
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:51,776
With my team,

62
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,136
we mapped a trip across America
that would take us to places

63
00:02:55,160 --> 00:03:00,096
dealing with some of the biggest
public health issues facing our nation --

64
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,200
aging, war, poverty, prisons.

65
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:06,096
And then we went places

66
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,976
where we would find
the largest concentration of patients

67
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:11,520
dealing with those issues.

68
00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,336
Then we asked hospitals and facilities
to nominate nurses

69
00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:17,880
who would best represent them.

70
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,640
One of the first nurses I met
was Bridget Kumbella.

71
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:23,816
Bridget was born in Cameroon,

72
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,680
the oldest of four children.

73
00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,256
Her father was at work
when he had fallen from the fourth floor

74
00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,256
and really hurt his back.

75
00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,416
And he talked a lot about what it was like
to be flat on your back

76
00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,880
and not get the kind
of care that you need.

77
00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,160
And that propelled Bridget
to go into the profession of nursing.

78
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:45,616
Now, as a nurse in the Bronx,

79
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,056
she has a really diverse group
of patients that she cares for,

80
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:50,976
from all walks of life,

81
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,960
and from all different religions.

82
00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,576
And she's devoted her career
to understanding the impact

83
00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,200
of our cultural differences
when it comes to our health.

84
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:03,616
She spoke of a patient --

85
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,336
a Native American patient that she had --

86
00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,080
that wanted to bring
a bunch of feathers into the ICU.

87
00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,096
That's how he found spiritual comfort.

88
00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,336
And she spoke of advocating for him

89
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,136
and said that patients come
from all different religions

90
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:23,056
and use all different kinds
of objects for comfort;

91
00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,336
whether it's a holy rosary
or a symbolic feather,

92
00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,120
it all needs to be supported.

93
00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,016
This is Jason Short.

94
00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,096
Jason is a home health nurse
in the Appalachian mountains,

95
00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,496
and his dad had a gas station
and a repair shop when he was growing up.

96
00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,840
So he worked on cars in the community
that he now serves as a nurse.

97
00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:44,856
When he was in college,

98
00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,536
it was just not macho at all
to become a nurse,

99
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,736
so he avoided it for years.

100
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:52,696
He drove trucks for a little while,

101
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,200
but his life path was always
pulling him back to nursing.

102
00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,216
As a nurse in the Appalachian mountains,

103
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,056
Jason goes places
that an ambulance can't even get to.

104
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,520
In this photograph,
he's standing in what used to be a road.

105
00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,896
Top of the mountain mining
flooded that road,

106
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,216
and now the only way
for Jason to get to the patient

107
00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,136
living in that house
with black lung disease

108
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,480
is to drive his SUV
against the current up that creek.

109
00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,440
The day I was with him,
we ripped the front fender off the car.

110
00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,376
The next morning he got up,
put the car on the lift,

111
00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:30,656
fixed the fender,

112
00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:32,776
and then headed out
to meet his next patient.

113
00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,936
I witnessed Jason
caring for this gentleman

114
00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,776
with such enormous compassion,

115
00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,800
and I was struck again by how intimate
the work of nursing really is.

116
00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,136
When I met Brian McMillion, he was raw.

117
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,776
He had just come back from a deployment

118
00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:56,376
and he hadn't really settled back in
to life in San Diego yet.

119
00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,936
He talked about his experience
of being a nurse in Germany

120
00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:03,936
and taking care of the soldiers
coming right off the battlefield.

121
00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,736
Very often, he would be
the first person they would see

122
00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,840
when they opened
their eyes in the hospital.

123
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,056
And they would look at him
as they were lying there,

124
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:14,736
missing limbs,

125
00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,376
and the first thing they would say is,

126
00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,120
"When can I go back?
I left my brothers out there."

127
00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:23,616
And Brian would have to say,

128
00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,216
"You're not going anywhere.

129
00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,080
You've already given enough, brother."

130
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,760
Brian is both a nurse and a soldier
who's seen combat.

131
00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:35,336
So that puts him in a unique position

132
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,720
to be able to relate to and help heal
the veterans in his care.

133
00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,056
This is Sister Stephen,

134
00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,296
and she runs a nursing home
in Wisconsin called Villa Loretto.

135
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,776
And the entire circle of life
can be found under her roof.

136
00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,256
She grew up wishing they lived on a farm,

137
00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:58,976
so given the opportunity
to adopt local farm animals,

138
00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,056
she enthusiastically brings them in.

139
00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,616
And in the springtime,
those animals have babies.

140
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:10,816
And Sister Stephen uses
those baby ducks, goats and lambs

141
00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,096
as animal therapy
for the residents at Villa Loretto

142
00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,456
who sometimes can't
remember their own name,

143
00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,040
but they do rejoice
in the holding of a baby lamb.

144
00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,216
The day I was with Sister Stephen,

145
00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,336
I needed to take her away
from Villa Loretto

146
00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,456
to film part of her story.

147
00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:30,736
And before we left,

148
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,240
she went into the room of a dying patient.

149
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,776
And she leaned over and she said,

150
00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,720
"I have to go away for the day,

151
00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:41,216
but if Jesus calls you,

152
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:42,456
you go.

153
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,640
You go straight home to Jesus."

154
00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,856
I was standing there and thinking

155
00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:49,896
it was the first time in my life

156
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,216
I witnessed that you could show
someone you love them completely

157
00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:55,440
by letting go.

158
00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,360
We don't have to hold on so tightly.

159
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,976
I saw more life rolled up at Villa Loretto

160
00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,040
than I have ever seen at any other time
at any other place in my life.

161
00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,376
We live in a complicated time
when it comes to our health care.

162
00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,576
It's easy to lose sight
of the need for quality of life,

163
00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,320
not just quantity of life.

164
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,536
As new life-saving
technologies are created,

165
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,560
we're going to have really
complicated decisions to make.

166
00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,136
These technologies often save lives,

167
00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,080
but they can also prolong pain
and the dying process.

168
00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:38,816
How in the world are we supposed
to navigate these waters?

169
00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:40,888
We're going to need
all the help we can get.

170
00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,336
Nurses have a really unique
relationship with us

171
00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,840
because of the time spent at bedside.

172
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:49,976
During that time,

173
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,520
a kind of emotional intimacy develops.

174
00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,216
This past summer, on August 9,

175
00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,160
my father died of a heart attack.

176
00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,256
My mother was devastated,

177
00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,240
and she couldn't imagine
her world without him in it.

178
00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,296
Four days later she fell,

179
00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:11,176
she broke her hip,

180
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:12,696
she needed surgery

181
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,640
and she found herself
fighting for her own life.

182
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:18,616
Once again I found myself

183
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,616
on the receiving end
of the care of nurses --

184
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,080
this time for my mom.

185
00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,736
My brother and my sister and I
stayed by her side

186
00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,200
for the next three days in the ICU.

187
00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,096
And as we tried
to make the right decisions

188
00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,496
and follow my mother's wishes,

189
00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,440
we found that we were depending
upon the guidance of nurses.

190
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:41,656
And once again,

191
00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:43,200
they didn't let us down.

192
00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,376
They had an amazing insight
in terms of how to care for my mom

193
00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:51,656
in the last four days of her life.

194
00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:54,840
They brought her comfort
and relief from pain.

195
00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:01,576
They knew to encourage my sister and I
to put a pretty nightgown on my mom,

196
00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:03,496
long after it mattered to her,

197
00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,320
but it sure meant a lot to us.

198
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:12,760
And they knew to come and wake me up
just in time for my mom's last breath.

199
00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,016
And then they knew
how long to leave me in the room

200
00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:17,720
with my mother after she died.

201
00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,696
I have no idea how they know these things,

202
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,856
but I do know that I am eternally grateful

203
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:27,680
that they've guided me once again.

204
00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:30,416
Thank you so very much.

205
00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:35,437
(Applause)