Just See Me

By Carmen Buck I grew up curious. At a time when many of us were groomed to be seen and not heard, I tuned into my surroundings. During 45 years of nursing I yearned to know my patients. As fulfilling as my career was, a constant whisper said: ’There is something else.’ One ordinary day in the clinic, a family came in for help managing dementia, my nurse practitioner specialty. My patient, aged 62 in an early stage of Alzheimer’s Disease, wanted to set up hospice care so her husband wouldn’t have to do it alone when she could not help.