In Celebration of Nurses Month: Remembrance & Renewed Hope

Presented by Hektoen Nurses and the Humanities and the AMSN Chicago Chapter #317

May 1, 2023 – May 31, 2023

Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God’s spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.

Florence Nightingale

Hektoen Nurses and Humanities and the International Museum of Surgical Science are delighted to announce the new exhibit: Remembrance & Renewed Hope, on view for the month of May in the Museum’s historic Library in honor of Nurses Month. The Museum’s library features a long antique green table and chairs. This exhibition will feature twelve place settings for a Nurse’s dinner table display. Eight of the settings feature past nursing leaders (Remembrance) and four are current nursing leaders (Renewed Hope). The displays are created by a group of nurses who are also practicing artists. Discover each artists interpretation of these important nurse figures.

Featured nurses will include:

• Florence Nightingale (D)
• Mary Seacole (D)
• Clara Barton (D)
• Ildaura Murillo-Rohde (D)
• The 1964 student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital Nursing school (D)
• Luther Christman (D)
• Anne Zimmerman (D) Executive Director of the Illinois Nurses Association (INA)
• Sharon Cahill, BSN, RN (D)
• Krystal Hanrahan, MSN, RN (D)
• Janice Phillips, PhD, CENP, FAAN (A) Director of Nursing Research & Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center
• Mary McDermott, BSN, MSN, EdD, FAAN (A)
• Kristin Ramsey, MSN, MPPM, RN, NE-BC (A) Senior VP, Quality, NMHC, Wood-Prince Family Chief Nurse Executive, NMH/NMG
• Barb Holmes Gobel, MS, RN, ACDN, FAAN (A) Associate Director of Professional Practice and Development & Magnet Program Director
• Lauren Underwood, MSN/MPH, RN, FAAN (A) Democratic Party Communication Chair, Democratic Representative IL in Congress 2023

Artists include:

• Sedane Henderson PCT
• Ma. Eliza Micha Alcantara RN
• Alyssa Hudik RN
• Janessa Anguiano RN
• John Smisek RN
• Alyssa Saklak RN
• Maria Zaragoza LPN
• Marcela Gomez RN
• Johana Hernandez RN
• Sonja Will, Administrator
• Sophie Oracz, RN
• Cora Palmer, RN

Guest Speakers related to the arts and humanities as well as workshops and conversations among nurse artists will be scheduled.

Upcoming Events for Nurses Month

May 7, 2PM – Florence Nightingale Reenactment

May 11, 5PM – Judith Paice, PhD, RN Fireside Chat

May 13, 11AM – Rachel Gage, MA, MSN, APNP, AGPCNP-BC Lunchtime Tea

May 17, 5PM – Clara Barton Reenactment

May 18, 5:30PM – Carolyn Smeltzer, RN, EdD, FAAN, FACHE, CHS Consulting Healthcare Services Fireside Chat

May 23, 5:30PM – Misty Kirby Nolan, DNP, MSN, APRN-CNP, ANP-BC, PMGT-BC Lecture

May 28, 12PM – Closing Ceremony with Evelyn Perkins, MS, RNPMH-BC, NE-BC

About the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses Chicago Chapter #317: AMSN(Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses) Chicago chapter #317 was founded in 2008 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital by a team of 12 dedicated nurses, who are still committed to excelling Medical-Surgical Nursing care in the city Chicago!

About Hektoen Nurses and the Humanities: Nurses & the Humanities was founded in June 2006 to present programs that demonstrate and encourage the healing power of the arts and the humanities for caregivers and their patients. Programs addressing diverse themes of nursing and the humanities (art, literature, history, philosophy, music, theater, and dance) have various formats, including lectures, workshops, classes, and excursions. The programs are geared towards nurses, caregivers, medical professionals, and nursing students, but are open to the general public.

The Hektoen Institute Nurses and Humanities Advisory Committee provides humanistic, creative and interactive educational opportunities to clinicians. We endeavor to expand imaginative horizons and to explore the arts as a source of healing for the self and for providing compassionate and holistic care to others. Our interactive arts-focused programs offer opportunities to network outside the healthcare arena and to explore the untapped healing potential of creativity.

About Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities: Hektoen International is a free online journal of medical humanities, its articles are first published in the appropriate thematic section of the journal, this being the official publication date for future reference. The articles may later be highlighted on the front page and sometimes republished there, for we think of our journal as a museum and its articles as its precious collection, to be exhibited again and again, like a Correggio or Titian, not archived and forgotten.

We also publicize our articles through email newsletters and social media pages. Publishing online allows prompt publishing, gives access to a wider audience, and keeps pace with evolving technology. In an era of change and innovation, just as when the printing press of Guttenberg replaced the illuminated manuscripts of monks and scribes, it is truly exciting to be on the cusp of new developments and experiment with new forms of communication, but also to balance the modern with the traditional, and publish a serious journal of medical humanities, thus Uniting Medicine with Culture.

Located in the Illinois Medical District, the Hektoen Institute of Medicine was founded in 1943 by a group of prominent Cook County physicians as a venue for funding and conducting medical research and education. It was named after Ludvig Hektoen, professor of pathology at Cook County Hospital and Rush Medical College, who made many advances in science and was considered to be one of the first to devote himself prominently and consistently to the science of medicine.

Today, Hektoen is a nonprofit health service and research organization that administers grant awards on behalf of community organizations, independent investigators, and institutions working to improve care and resources for the underserved. Hektoen’s sponsored programs address some of the most pressing health concerns facing underserved populations in Chicago and throughout the world, including: domestic violence, substance use, and mental health; HIV care and support services; community oncology; early intervention; healthcare reform; and a diverse array of other research and services.

The Institute also engages in a series of educational programs, publishing Hektoen International, an online journal dedicated to advancing the medical humanities, and supporting several other programs whose goal is to improve health-care and education in the Chicago area.

Thank you to our sponsors!

AMSN Chicago Chapter #317

Interested in making a contribution to the exhibit? Contact the President of AMSN Chicago Chapter #317, Cora J. Palmer MSN, CMSRN, at cpalmer@nm.org

This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

The International Museum of Surgical Science acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.