Justin's HOPE healthcare tumblelog

My Conversation with JoEllen Koerner, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Author of "Mother Heal My Self" and "Healing Presence"

One of the most amazing women that I’ve met on this journey is Dr. JoEllen Koerner. We presented together as one of the keynotes for the 2007 NRC+Picker Symposium. Our program was entitled, “A Quest for HOPE and Humility Following Tragedy.” Even though we had never met in person, we were connected.  Her healing presence resonates through you and catches you in a web of peace. When I think of compassion, I think of JoEllen. Her work is genuine and focused on giving hope to underserved populations. Her dedication to nursing, her family and her community will inspire you to make a difference.

Q.  Please share with us the work that you’ve done with the Lakota Sioux Indians and their teens with suicide prevention.

A.  Our culture is the foundation for our sense-of-self.  In it are embedded the language (which transmits meanings, images and metaphors beyond the simple words), the rituals around birth, death, life transitions etc., and most importantly, our definitions of spirituality.  It is within the nest of family and community that our identity is born.  Unfortunately, from years of colonization, and a long disruption to this natural process by boarding school requirements for the children, the Native American culture on many of the SD reservations has been distorted or destroyed.  On Pine Ridge, we were able to assist an amazing couple, Mark & Tilda St Pierre, in creating the Cloud Horse Arts Institute.  Tilda’s Grandfather was a Sioux leader and the Medicine Man for Crazy Horse.  Before he passed, he told Tilda to restore the language and culture to the Native Children so they could return to their roots and find a strong sense of identity once more.  With little money, and great commitment, this couple holds multiple arts events each year.  They teach the children how to bake Indian Fry Bread, speaking in Lakota language as they perform this simple but time-honored way of preparing food.  They teach them how to clean a buffalo hide and tan it, making clothing and art forms from the leather.  They hold winter camp and set up tipi’s, sitting around a fire for storytelling from the elders.  Their program has grown in such popularity that this year more children went out for theater than for football!  Last year we were able to sponsor an exchange visit of a young man from Peru.  He shared stories and activities of how their Native cousins live in the mountains.  After the program one of the children commented, “Now I know we are not alone”.  They love touching into the rhythm and the energy which is the central core of their ancestry.  In this way, a hope is being restored in the children, and their desire to learn and grow and contribute back to community is reducing the suicide rate amongst the young people.

Q.  Where have you traveled to work on developing health programs for congregate living communities and what were the lessons learned from that experience?

A. Currently we are privileged to work in inner city settings where, due to poverty and lack of insurance, some of the hospitals with an 85% occupancy rate will lose $3 million/month due to uncompensated care.  The hospitals are forced to close or move out of the neighborhood.  So we have the opportunity to support the community to take back the building, set up health clinics, affordable housing, workforce development education, and offer local citizens a small space (which used to be a patient room in the hospital) in which to set up their own business.  Soon this hospital is filled with education and day care opportunities, a youth center, locally-owned beauty salons, piano lessons, multiple shops for clothes and accessories, etc.   What we find repeatedly is that instead of having ‘outsiders come in with grants and solutions’, people KNOW what is needed and how to solve their own issues.  They just need the money and opportunity, and within a short period of time…..what was once an impoverished and crime ridden neighborhood becomes a thriving community!

Q.  You’ve been an advocate for nurses for a number of years. What has been your most frustrating effort and your most rewarding?

A. I have a deep respect and appreciation for the entire health care team….it takes all of us to support a complex patient.  But my passion is for nursing: it is a privilege to be a nurse.  We have the opportunity to support and bear witness to people in a moment of crisis or need.  They have no energy for pretense, so they show up with all their issues, fears, courage and candor as they sort out the event and its impact on their life.  The biggest joy has been creating support systems for patients and families that help them both have a meaning-full experience.  My biggest frustration was how the system broke down when my own daughter was a patient as she experienced a significant medical error.  That experience gave me a deeper understanding of what is truly needed in the illness event.  A healing presence is more important to true recovery than all the technology in the world.

Q. What new project are you presently dedicated to?

A. In America today over 85 million young people do not finish high school.  We are currently developing a Healthcare Workforce Development Curriculum for underrepresented sectors of society.  This web-supported simulation-based program will help high school students graduate a few hours short of an LPN degree.  In some settings, starting salary for an LPN is $50,000!  From there they can continue their education into RN practice, or some other Allied Health career.  This educational program can be placed into Learning Centers anywhere where people gather.  Remediation programs in math, science and reading are also provided so that people with disadvantaged backgrounds can close the gap in foundational skills so they can be successful in the world.  America was built on the principles of democracy and education.  The internet allows us to place career education into the hands of anyone with compassion and a passion for service.  They can start where they are and continue in a way that allows them to realize their destiny, and society to become more healthy.