The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune nurses week may 6 to 1 1 thursday may 9 2002 nurses at centre of circle of life by lisa queen staff writer newborn nicholas prencipe is in for lifes first rude awakening the dayold baby sleeps peacefully lying swaddled in blankets and nestled in his proud fathers arms suddenly the comforting layers are peeled back and nicholas expe riences his first bath at the hands of york central hospital postnatal nurse linda hansen the infants mewling cries quiet as ms hansen expertly washes him a class of new and seemingly over whelmed parents looking on to learn how to clean their precious new sons and daughters ms hansen explains how moms and dads should start at the babys eyes wiping outward to ensure they dont inadyertentiy push something into the infants eyes as she washes nicholas from top to bottom she makes sure parents learn the fundamentals such as checking water temperature refraining from using soap on babys face or cotton swabs in ears avoiding scissors or clippers on rice paperthin fingernails and toenails supporting babys neck and avoid ing talcum powder after a bath as it could prompt asthma in the infant ms hansen also advises parents to massage their babies shrugging off theories too much touching and cuddling spoils infants we dont do enough touching with them babies are like us we like to be touched why shouldnt babies she said you can never spoil a baby babies are very small for a very short period of time theyve been inside you for nine months they got comfort from your heart and body warmth picking them up just makes them feel good soon ms hansen has nicholas dried diapered and wrapped in new blankets placing him in the arms of his mother vanessa prencipe his father vince prencipe looks down at his son ms hansen also teaches new moms how to breastfeed a task that doesnt come as naturally as many believe nurses across canada mark this week as nurses week may 6 to 1 1 ms hansen has been in the pro fession for more than 30 years training in her native england before coming to canada she has also worked as a nurse in denmark ms hansen has done medical psychiatric and emergency room nursing for a time she was a nurse at torontos princess margaret hospital which treats cancer patients before coming to york central in 1991 staff photosjoerd witteveen markham stouffville hospital palliative and complex care patient kathleen cane receives care from paulette knaus msh rpn left sue taylor evergreen hospice nurse and sherri butterworth msh rn she is pleased with the role she plays now teaching parents how to care for their babies before the new families head home for the first time its nice because i can impart a lot of my knowledge not just what i learned from my own kiddies but what ive learned over the years as a nurse here said ms hansen what moms need is encour agement and support i enjoy work ing with moms and dads and babies the discharge dates are so quick after the birth you have to impart knowledge so quickly some days are more difficult than others on southlake regional health centres in patient surgery floor where patients await or recover from major operations on this day nurse sharon constable is greeted as she arrives for her shift with upsetting news about a patient a young woman has been admitted to the floor after suffering a particularly heartbreaking mis carriage normally ms constable would care for four patients during her shift but another nurse has agreed to take one off her hands so she can devote more time to the devastated woman and her husband the husband is crying shes crying im getting misty talking about it im trying to keep it togeth er for them she said you want to be there for that patient and say i want to be there for you and support you youre part of these intimate health dealings with someone youre just meeting for the first time its a challenge for nurses to be up and ready for that all the time but its the better part of our jobs to be able to help people through that this is my hospital my community this is where i come this is where people i know come ms constable has been a nurse for the past 10 years taking the pro fession up as a second career after working previously as an early child educator i just gravitated to the helping professions the more i got into nursing the more i loved it she said ive been doing it 10 years now and it feels like the first year its like you are where you should be for the past three years she has worked at southlake following seven years at humber river regional hospital ms constable who sits on the hospitals nursing council as in patient surgery rep said there are differences between southlake and humber few of her patients in the city spoke english and communication was often done through games of charades southlakes patients are general ly well educated and have often researched their illnesses before admission but working close to home has its challenges ms constable has often seen friends and neighbours come in for treatment at the community hospi tal in fact on her first day at southlake a friend came in for a lumpectomy because a cancerous lump had been found in her breast a lot of days you can ask your self what have you done but you can always pick some bright light out even having tea with someone who has no visitors this is my hos pital my community this is where i come this is where people i know come the emotional task of caring for the dying is a team effort on markham stouffville hospitals palliative care ward every day the staff who care for these people gathers in a small office to discuss the status of patients and plan activities that help provide them with the best possible quality of life at this often difficult time we focus on all kinds of care not just nursing care explains lin rousseaux clinical manager for complex and palliative care recreation therapist curtis geissberger for example rhymes off the names of patients who are looking to attend the hospitals focus on faith interdenomination al service that day on other days day passes home from the hospital will be organized sometimes mr geissberger takes his guitar to the bedsides of patients too weak to get up and sings to them marj lennox a social worker helps patients and their families deal with the shock fear frustration and anger they are feeling as they come to grips with their diagnoses often patients will talk about their impending deaths one day only to rebound the next and plan their futures nurse linda campbell tells the group how a patient with lou gehrigs disease is coping for the first time the patient began experi encing confusion that morning also her breathing is becoming laboured but the patient still fights attempts to help her its frustrating trying to help people who dont want to be helped ms campbell said although her concern for the woman is evident ms lennox believes the patients wandering mind may be a blessing in disguise i cant help thinking that the confusion may be a bit of a blessing for her she said sitting quietly in the morning meeting which includes other nurses and an occupational thera pist is nurse sherri butterworth after the group disperses ms butterworth cares for the four patients she is looking after this day ms butterworth said many fam ily members and friends have ques tioned why she would want to work with patients with such complex care needs or those who are dying suggesting her job must be depress ing but she doesnt see it that way i dont find it sad at all if you can go in and make that lady smile thats all i need said ms butterworth who has been work ing in the field eight years while ms butterworth doesnt find her job depressing she is emo tional when she loses a patient its sad as you get attached i cry at every death its sad because you grow close to your patients and close to their families she said adding the staff support each other and attend the funerals or memori al services of their patients your hear stories the family tells you what the person was like when they were young everybody has different needs what you do for one family you wouldnt do for another i could never work at anything else it kind of feels like home open ths saturday with w tree angels rgurines top irmersmssiing day open mothers day from 125 106 main st n markham village