Art & Soul
Nurses use creative pursuits to enhance their relationships with patients

By Linda Childers
April 26, 2004

It was the middle of the night and the residents of the Midwest nursing home were asleep in their rooms.

Several nurses, including Ann Kerperien, RN, of Lenzburg, Ill., were charting at the nurses station when they first saw a light floating down the hallway. At first, the nurses thought it was a joke. They stood amazed as the luminous light moved toward them, and then watched as it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

For Kerperien, observing strange occurrences and supernatural events wasn’t a new experience. As a nurse with more than 25 years’ experience, she had documented many unexplained encounters.

“The public never hears about these experiences because nurses are taught patient confidentiality, and we realize that admitting these encounters could harm our own credibility,” Kerperien said.

For years, she was reluctant to talk about her encounters, fearing others might think she was crazy. Only after hearing many of her patients and colleagues describe similar experiences did Kerperien decide to chronicle her experiences in her book A Dying Man Never Lies [www.nurseghost.cc].

Kerperien is one of many nurses throughout the United States who have found a way to use their creative abilities to help patients. These caregivers channel their talents in writing, photography, illustration, and performing to enrich their own lives and those of their patients.

“I often use stories of these encounters to help comfort my patients and their families during the death and dying process,” Kerperien said. “My patients were so fascinated and calmed by these events that I decided to turn all of my notes into a book.”

Kerperien’s first unexplained encounter occurred in 1975 when she was working as a nurses aide at a retirement community. Since then, she has observed countless strange occurrences and supernatural experiences and has talked with numerous patients and medical colleagues who have had similar experiences but were afraid to confide in anyone.

“I don’t have the answers as to why these events occur, but after years of seeing and hearing about these experiences I do believe in life after death,” Kerperien said. “People talk about seeing spirits and ghosts in churches and on battleships all the time, why is it hard to believe that they exist within hospitals and nursing homes?”

Kerperien is at work on her second book, Angels Fly Before They Die, a continuation of unexplained experiences. She is a frequent guest speaker and has been invited to London this summer to do a book signing.

“One of the hospitals I will be visiting in England closed down one of its units because of all the unexplained supernatural events that have occurred there,” Kerperien said. “After countless experiences, all the doctors and nurses refused to work on that particular floor.”

As she works to complete her second book, Kerperien encourages the author within all of her patients and colleagues. “Everyone has a story to tell,” she said. “Even if people record their memoirs as a legacy for their family.”

A beautiful mind

When Edgar Catacutan, RN, BSN, returns from a trip, his colleagues immediately ask to see his vacation photos.

Catacutan, who works in the emergency department at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee, has established a solid reputation for his impressive shots of landscape and nature scenes. “I like to capture quiet moments on film,” said Catacutan, who finds photography a great way to relax.

Others in the health care field can attest to the healing abilities of his photos. His art hangs in several Milwaukee-area buildings, including Covenant Healthcare facilities and the Reiman Center for Cancer Care, where patients selected photos that were then placed on the ceiling of the treatment rooms.

“Most of my photos feature waterfalls, lakes, and mountains,” he said. “The patients and staff members felt my photos reflected the tranquil atmosphere they were trying to create for patients undergoing radiation.”

Photography started as a hobby for Catacutan, but his work now has taken on a life of its own.

He has conducted several exhibits in conjunction with his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing. Last year, he held an exhibit at a local cafE9 and donated a portion of his sales to the Nurses’ Alumni Organization at his former college. Funds help pay for student activities, scholarships, and grants.

“As an undergraduate I benefited from an NAO scholarship and I wanted to give back to others,” said Catacutan, who was the recipient of the 2002 NAO Distinguished Alumni award.

His photos are a living testimonial to his vacations to destinations including Alaska and various national parks. They also serve as a means of escape. When Catacutan is behind the lens of his camera, it’s a brief respite from his job in the emergency department where a typical shift brings everything from gunshot wounds to serious illnesses.

Tickling the funny bone

Theresa Garnero, RN, always suspected she had a future in art.

Her mother produces ceramics and oil paintings; her grandfather is a sculptor.

Garnero, who works as a diabetes educator at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Calif., remembers getting her start as a cartoonist by receiving rejection letters from Walt Disney when she was 8 years old. The letters didn’t dispute her talent, but they claimed she was too young to join their workforce.

As she approached adulthood, Garnero discovered her passion in nursing and became a certified diabetes educator and an advanced practice nurse. She continued to produce cartoons for her own enjoyment and at the request of colleagues who wanted to run her illustrations in newsletters and medical journals.

Last year, Garnero was inspired to write and illustrate a book that offered patients a lighter look at the serious subject of diabetes.

“When people are first diagnosed with diabetes, they are inclined to fear the worst,” Garnero said. “The misconceptions about the disease are ubiquitous, and I saw there was a need for more positive and visually inviting information.”

Enter DIABETease, a fun 60-page paperback filled with colorful, comical illustrations and information about diabetes.

A ladybug mascot named LadyBetes shows readers how to control the disease through 50 color cartoons and resource/definition lists. Garnero wrote, designed, and produced the book. In addition, she is donating half of the book’s proceeds to diabetes research.

“I hope this will be a fun and useful tool for both patients and health care practitioners,” Garnero said. “Diabetes is on the rise and so many people, including doctors and nurses, don’t have a strong knowledge base of the disease.”

Garnero wanted to produce something different than a medical textbook or a text-heavy brochure that a patient might be reluctant to read.

“The Centers for Disease Control has declared diabetes a disease that has reached epidemic proportions,” she said. “This book is my attempt to do something innovative to raise awareness of the disease.”

(Garnero’s book can be ordered by calling Book Surge at (843) 579-0000, Ext. 00.)

Clowning around

When Donna Smilow, RN, of Martinez, Calif., gets ready for work, she often trades in her usual attire of surgical scrubs for an outrageously colorful clown outfit, wig, nose, and grease paint.

After transforming herself into her alter ego, Lovee’e the Clown [www.loveeetheclown.com], Smilow is ready to make the rounds at a local children’s hospital.

A trauma surgical nurse in the San Francisco Bay Area, Smilow became a caring clown six years ago. After working in the trauma field for 16 years, and experiencing more death and despair than many people see in a lifetime, Smilow was looking for a change of pace and a way to incorporate harmony into her life. A television show on clowns led her to a career in clowning.

“I truly consider Lovee’e to be my blessing,” she said.

Smilow has entertained adults and children throughout the Bay Area at schools, hospitals, birthday parties, and other events. Using her stage name, she brings smiles to the masses through her unique brand of comedy, juggling, and magic.

A staunch believer of therapeutic humor in hospitals, Smilow often relies on comedy to relieve stress among her patients about to undergo surgery.

“Sometimes donning a clown nose or laughing with patients can put them at ease,” Smilow said. “Children especially react well to humor and are able to better understand procedures when you explain them in a friendly and fun manner.”

Smilow, president and co-founder of the East Bay Clown and Magician Club, is also the official clown for John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek’s pediatric oncology unit. Every holiday, she visits the children to raise spirits and spread cheer.

Recently, Smilow added certified childbirth educator, hypnobirthing practitioner, hypnotherapist, and life coach to her list of credentials. She now offers classes for pregnant women who wish to deliver their babies using hypnotherapy techniques.

Through hypnobirthing, pregnant women and their spouses learn how to achieve a pleasant and less painful birth experience. The technique allows women a rewarding, relaxing, and stress-free method of birthing based on the belief that all babies should come into the world in an atmosphere of gentility, calm, and joy.

“I’m very excited about the new avenues my life has taken. I’m living my real-life daydream,” said Smilow, who recently celebrated her 40th birthday. “I believe that the second half of my life is about bringing more joy and laughter into the lives of patients.”

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