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Literature & Medicine: Eye Witness
by Kate Cohen :::
bio
Kate Cohen has participated in the Literature & Medicine program at Southern Maine Medical Center for several years. A nurse since 1971, she is now an R.N. for the mental health unit of Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, Maine.
Reflections on Reading
My initiation into our yearly Literature & Medicine reading ventures
at SMMC occurred after another employee, who would often see me bent over
a book during my break, encouraged me to join the seminar. For me, reading
had for some time been a rather solitary experience, serving both to calm
my thoughts during a busy day and offer some respite from the often complicated
patients who are part of my occupation. By habit, I arrive at work quite
early and spend about fifteen to twenty minutes reading. Be it a dark,
cold winter’s morning or a bright spring day, many staff members must
have wondered what I was doing in my car as they raced from the parking
lot to start their own workday.
My participation in the program has helped me make that shift from reading
solely for escape and private reflection to seeing the potential of the
shared reading experience. In my work as an R.N. in the mental health
unit of the hospital, the patients I see are often in crisis. In our Literature
& Medicine group I met colleagues who, unlike me, work with people
on an out-patient basis. Listening to their perspectives as we discussed
various readings has enabled me to better appreciate that the person who
I see as an in-patient in crisis also exists as a citizen in the greater
community; my colleagues’ broader view of patients’ lives — their
skills and experiences — has enriched my own understanding of these
patients.
I have also found the readings themselves valuable. The novel Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks remains for me the most dramatic of the texts we have discussed. Based on the historical records of an actual village, it chronicles the story of a small English village’s challenge to remain within its walls and face probable death in order to prevent the spread of a devastating pathogen to the general community beyond. It was interesting to gain insight to the characters’ personal struggles, the methods they used to cope with such staggering personal losses, and their attempts to include scientific study to explain the unexpected pattern of survival noted by specialized subgroups within this community.
This theme of difficult choices and tolerance for life’s sometimes complex and seemingly unfair burdens also characterizes the lives of patients I see who suffer from mental illness. My patients’ isolating mental disorders remind me of those village walls separating the villagers from the larger world. Patients often describe the various "walls" constructed around them by their families, the general community, and even medical providers who may at times lack the understanding that their symptoms or changes in behaviors are part of a chronic illness.
As providers, our inability to resolve a patient’s medical and social problems is equally painful. This book, like the others in the Humanities Council’s program, reminds me of the fragility of each person’s daily interaction with the world around them and of how each of us has the great opportunity to convince people, even through a single contact, of their potential for growth and of their value within our community.
I hope to be able to explore more in another winter Literature &
Medicine program. Perhaps there, with the shared insight and passion
of others, I’ll begin to explore the very subtle messages of the poetry
we read together.
Eye Witness is a column devoted to the stories of Literature & Medicine participants. We invite you to submit short essays about your experiences in the seminars, and to share your reflections with a larger audience.
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Literature & Medicine has received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.