By Kristin Rothwell, associate editor
There’s no doubt that the job of a nurse can be stressful, exhausting and emotional.
But a new television program on the Discovery Health Channel is also showing the rewarding aspects of nursing through the words and actions of new and experienced nurses on “Lifeline: Nursing Diaries.”
The three-part series, which premiered on Nov. 7 with parts two and three scheduled Nov. 14 and 21 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), takes viewers on a journey from the point when a nurse receives a new patient and makes life-and-death decisions to the point where the nurse provides the best possible care for the patient.
Filmed at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, the one-hour program captures the essence of nursing as nurses provide skilled and compassionate care, which are key to a patient’s recovery.
In the first episode, viewers follow Massachusetts General Hospital nurses Meagan Plummer, RN, BSN, and Diana Grobman, RN, and others, as they tend to the immediate needs of their patients.
Plummer, a recent grad who is completing a six-month surgical intensive care unit orientation, helps comfort a 26-year-old man who has been intubated following a car accident that has left him with a fractured right clavicle, fractured right wrist and other injuries.
Though Plummer seems nervous, she successfully follows her preceptor’s instructions to insure that the patient is settled and safe and that monitors and drips are set-up correctly.
“It’s a fascinating job,” Plummer said in the Nursing Diaries program. “I never really know what’s going to roll around the corner. Anything can happen.”
In the neonatal intensive care unit, Grobman carefully oversees the care of a baby that was born weighing one pound and 10 ounces with fluid in the lungs and chronic lung disease. On top of this, doctors discover the baby has a brain hemorrhage.
Nevertheless, Grobman draws from her almost 30 years of experience to provide emotional support to the parents by making sure the parents are coping and bonding well to their sick baby. She also helps educate the young parents about the baby’s health through simple explanations.
“It’s an honor, it’s a privilege to care for somebody…when they’re most vulnerable,” she said during the Nursing Diaries program. “I think what we [nurses] do is pretty amazing. It’s hard, it’s draining, it’s exhausting, but it’s also pretty amazing.”
For show times of “Lifelines: Nursing Diaries,” check your local listings or visit the Discovery Health Channel
Web site. Check your local listings for the channel and program time.
© 2004. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.