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A Gift for Taking the Fear Away
Using her wits and her heart, nurse Bartholomay brings comfort to cancer patients
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Barthlolomay prepares an IV treatment for Richard F. White
Photo by: Michael Manning
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Touched by an Angel
Mimi Bartholomay
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
In September 2001, my husband, Sandy, and I met an angel at Massachusetts General Hospital's Cancer Center. She seemed a normal, hardworking nurse that first day, but as my husband's treatments continued, we discovered the truth.
Our nurse, Mimi Bartholamay, has tremendous warmth and pays amazing attention to detail. She always follows through. She is patient and thorough in her explanations of medications and treatments. All of her patients are treated with utmost respect and dignity. Of the hundreds of patients she cares for, you feel you are the only one. Mimi gave endlessly of her professional knowledge with sincerity and compassion. At all times we felt safe and confident in her loving care. We actually looked forward to chemotherapy days because Mimi is full of fun. Just knowing she was there for us with her encouragement and support kept our spirits up.
Mimi is unique and extraordinary. She gave us courage and hope until the end. We were truly touched by an angel.
-Nominated by Janet Cahaly
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A Focus on Living Well
Mimi Bartholomay
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
I first met Mimi when I began chemotherapy after being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer three years ago. She is the nurse who administers my chemotherapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital infusion unit, and I typically see her several times a month.
Mimi impressed me from the start not only with her skill in finding a vein (a particular challenge in my body), but also in helping me cope with side effects of the medication. She has helped me navigate the labyrinth of sometimes confusing, though wellmeaning treatment and diagnostic care that a cancer patient must endure. Over the years, Mimi has grown to be more than just a fabulous caregiver and advocate for my healthcare, she has also become a cherished friend.
It may be hard to imagine, but I often look forward to my chemotherapy treatments, since they have become much more about spending time catching up with a dear friend than about receiving medications for a serious illness. Friends and acquaintances often comment on how I've managed to keep such a positive attitude since my cancer diagnosis. I owe much of my spirit to Mimi, who, through her compassionate care and boundless energy, has shown me that I can face this illness with a smile, a steadfast resolve and a focus on living well.
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Being the articulate, intelligent, efficient nurse that she is, Mimi Bartholomay often gets asked the inevitable question: "How come you're not a doctor?"
However many times the question is put to her, the answer is always the same. "I've never had any desire to be a doctor," says Mimi, who's been a
nurse at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center's Outpatient Clinic for the past decade. "A doctor's job is to manage the disease.
A nurse's job is to manage the patient's response to the disease."
The challenge of getting inside a patient's psyche, of comprehending his psychological as well as his physical needs, is what Mimi finds so rewarding. "People allow nurses to enter their lives in extraordinary ways," she says. "There's a degree of intimacy that can be so extremely powerful."
Although Mimi was always inclined toward nursing, she didn't begin her studies until after college. As an anthropology major at Beloit College, she was enjoying the academics too much to veer off on a medical track. But after moving to Boston and working for several years as a researcher in public health, she decided she was tired of "pushing paper." She enrolled at the MGH Institute of Health for a threeyear, full-time program that awarded a master's degree in nursing. Inspired by her professors, she decided to specialize in oncology, or cancer treatment.
A Way to Connect
"Working in oncology you have an opportunity to connect with patients over a long period. You become an advocate for them at a very vulnerable time in their lives," she explains. Oncology nurses must listen carefully to a patient's complaints. A good nurse can help relieve the discomforts of chemotherapy or, hearing symptoms described, pick up on the return of the disease.
Increasingly, there is the pleasure of seeing people recover and move on with their lives. "You'd be surprised how much laughter you hear in our clinic," says Mimi.
But not all outcomes are so fortunate. "Birth is a beautiful experience, and death can be too," she says. "If you can help a patient embrace death and meet the end with grace, it can be an extraordinary gift to the patient and his family."
If Mimi has one worry for nursing it is that cost-cutting pressures will devalue the "human side" of nursing. A shortage of nurses means that there will be less time to spend with each patient, less time for caring.
A Proud Profession
To keep this from happening, Mimi has long been affiliated with the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center, a nonprofit group dedicated to strengthening the relationship between patient and caregiver. The center was born out of the life and death of Ken Schwartz, once Mimi's patient, who wrote about his losing battle with cancer for The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. The group raises funds for conferences on keeping the humanity in healthcare.
"We have something known as 'Schwartz Center rounds'. Just as doctors visit each bed to analyze medical symptoms, we visit to tackle the ethical and personal issues surrounding each case," Mimi explains.
These are hard times for health care, she says. Because of money pressures, "everybody is maxed out." But there is also much to be proud of: major advances in medical diagnosis and treatment, more and better drugs. And finally, the ever-present dedication of caring professionals. For Mimi Bartholomay, there are heroes on every floor of her hospital. "Every nurse I work with deserves this recognition," she says. "It's an honor to be one of them."
2003 Profiles:
Martha Gauvin | Ying Sun
A Salute to Nurses 2003
The Caring Profession
How You Can Become a Nurse
2003 Featured Nominations
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