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Melissa Henson and Kathy McNatt
Melissa: I graduated nursing school in 2009. I have a degree in theater. I didn't do a whole lot with that and I was a waitress for a long time and then I went back to school. I really think that my background made a huge difference for the type of nurse I was able to be later in life. Theater has a lot to do with empathy and understanding people. And then dealing in customer service in the restaurant industry really taught me how to talk to people and to listen.
Kathy: The key word that you brought up is empathy, because it's a life-altering diagnosis these patients have and you have to have a heart.
Melissa: Absolutely. I like to tell the patients that we’re the captain of the ship. We're gonna help you get through this. And I think that reassures the patients that they have someone to call. It's a lot. We're telling them where to go, we're telling them what they need to have, and I think we need to make sure that they are part of the discussion and part of the decision making.
Kathy: We have to give the patients and their family members confidence. If you don't know the answer, you'll find the answer.
Melissa: Right.
Kathy: You return phone calls. You're there for them.
Melissa: Well, it's all listening, right?
Kathy: Yes.
Melissa: A lot of times patients just want to be heard. We're doing this every single day, but this is the first time for them. We can be so focused on the task of like we need to get this person moving forward and with treatment that we can stop listening sometimes to what they're trying to tell us. So we have to really get out of our heads sometimes. Otherwise, nothing's going to change for that person and we're gonna keep hitting a roadblock. So we have to stop, take a different turn, and figure out what will work for you. And hopefully in all of this, we're gonna be finding new cures, new options for patients—even if it's not a cure, if it's something for sustaining good quality of life, because that's the most important piece.
Kathy: I think the first transplant I did was in 1988. A lot of those patients, if you didn’t have a family match, that was it. So the mortality rate was really high. Patients may not even need a transplant now because we have such better drugs and supportive care than when I first started. So I look at it as a chronic illness, but you need to be followed very closely for a number of years.
Melissa: Right. One of the best parts is getting updates from patients that it's been years and they're still doing well. That reminds you, this is why we do it.
