Nurse-teacher helps students find strength in storytelling

This story was part of Healthbeat’s live storytelling event, “Aha Moments in Public Health,” held Nov. 18 at Powerhouse Arena bookstore in Brooklyn. Watch the full show here. Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York newsletter here. I’m a bachelor-prepared registered nurse, but my work in the New York public school system focuses on guiding students to find, tell, and write their own first-person stories. When anyone refers to me as “ex-nurse,” it’s so confusing. First, do they really think I don’t pick up a shift or two on weekends? Nurses (especially New York City nurses) are the original jugglers of multiple job types. I remember when we first heard people talk about “side hustles.” That seemed almost like a dare: “Hold my lanyard, here I go.” Second, is it possible to stop being a nurse in everyday interactions? I can’t imagine not assessing my brother-in-law’s rapid pulse when we hold hands around the family dinner table on holidays. I’d have to be a different person. But