When a child scrapes her knee or bumps his head, mom is often the first line of defense. She applies the bandage, washes the wound, and applies a kiss to make it better. But these days, medical technology allows parents to do much more than simple first aid. Sick kids can require feeding tubes, ventilators, and other complicated medical equipment. At-home nursing might be part of the equation, but parents still have to become experts in attaching, cleaning, removing, and operating medical equipment that comes home with their chronically ill children.
In addition, parents who find themselves in these situations often spend innumerable hours in hospitals, where they become experts in everything from patient flow on a hospital floor to which providers have the best bedside manner.
When Kim Arnold’s son Nate, a triplet, was born premature and with lung problems, she learned more about the healthcare field and Children’s Medical Center than she ever thought she would. When Nate died, the former theater major decided she would put to use all of knowledge and experience and go back to school to become a nurse, with the hope of serving at the hospital that had done so much for her family.
Read this March feature about how she redeemed tragedy and changed careers, which is online today.
