Many nurses are passionate about their jobs and derive intrinsic satisfaction
from being a nurse. This was highlighted in a recent article from the Washington
Post, which interviewed nurses who helped save President Ronald Reagan?s life
after an assassination attempt in 1981.
Reagan was quoted in a letter to one of his nurses, Denise Sullivan, saying,
?Your hand clasp was one of the most comforting things done for me during my
stay. Sullivan stayed with Reagan in the hours after surgeons removed a bullet
that had penetrated to within an inch of his heart, holding his hand.
It?s a potent reminder of the incredible, diverse role that nurses play in
healthcare and patient recovery, as the humanized face of medicine. Nurses are
the link between an injured or ill, confused patient and the medical team
helping him. A nurse?s combination of providing medical care and emotional care
is invaluable on the path to recovery. This kind of work can be extremely
rewarding and is one of the reasons many nurses were drawn to their profession.
Nurses have the opportunity to leave lasting, positive impressions on their
patients.
After being shot at close range, with a bullet perilously close to his heart,
Reagan insisted on walking into the ER, but Kathy Paul Stevens, one of the first
nurses to see the president, remembers him looking ashen and very sick, as if he
might die. When the Reagan collapsed, it was nurses along with his agents who
caught the president.
Nurse Wendy Koenig recounted how she then tried to ascertain Reagan?s blood
pressure, and after trying, at length, to get a systolic pressure, Koenig
finally got a reading of about 60, well below his normal blood pressure of 140.
After a tube was inserted into Reagan?s chest to drain some blood and relieve
pressure, he began to feel better, but was still frightened when he was told
that he needed immediate surgery.
Surrounded by people, the one Reagan turned to for assurance was a technician,
Cyndi Hines, who worked alongside the ER nurse. He asked her, ?What do you
think?? It?s a common question that nurses are asked, meaning, ?Am I going to be
alright or will I die?? Hines steadied herself, smiled, and gently assured him,
?I think you are doing all right. They are taking you to the OR. If you were
really bad, they would be opening you up right here. I really think you are
doing fine.?
The surgery to retrieve the bullet from Reagan?s lung took thee hours and over
half of his blood. Afterward, he had a breathing tube snaked down his throat.
His nurses across various shifts, corrected him when he would try to touch it,
holding his hand instead. When nurse Marisa Mize noticed that he was clutching
at his breathing tube, she convinced the president to relax and let the machine
breathe for him.
Reagan was given pen and paper at some point, and he began joking with the
nurses, and intermittently confiding his worries and asking the nurses about his
potential recovery. He scribbled to Mize, ?What does the future hold? ... Will I
be able to do ranch work, ride, etc.?? Mize assured him, ?Give yourself three
months and you?ll be able to do those things again.?
A few months after the shooting, Reagan called Mize from the White House and
told her, ?You were the one who told me it was okay to be scared and that you
wouldn?t leave me. Nancy thanks you. God bless you.?
Mize eventually met Nancy Reagan years later when the first lady was touring a
different hospital where Mize happened to be working. Mize approached Nancy
Reagan to introduce herself, but found that no introduction was needed. The
first lady wrapped Mize in a tight hug and said, ?I know who you are, Marisa
Mize.?