Holiday gratitude inspires nurses

I read the article by Rich Fahey about his daughter being born at Christmas time ("For Christmas babies, nurses are Santa's elves," Globe South, Dec. 24), and want to thank him for the kind words he wrote about nurses.

My husband gave it to me to read, and as I finished I told him that it is families like his, that are so appreciative of the work that nurses do, that make it much easier to work the holidays. It is tough to leave your own family at home, but knowing how grateful our patients' families are makes it all worthwhile.

I feel for his daughter. I, too, lost my mother in 1995, and holidays are never quite the same. As I write this e-mail from a nurse's station at Mass. General, my 3-month-old son, who was also born at South Shore Hospital, sleeps peacefully, hopefully not knowing his mom is at work.

Nancy Kelly
Milton

Story was music to harpist's ears

I am writing to give feedback on the recent article Peter Schworm wrote about my harp therapy work at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital ("A harpist's practice in sound therapy," Globe South, Dec. 24).

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, both locally and around the country. For example, a musical therapist from Kansas writes, "Thanks for sending the great article! This is what we need to raise awareness about the power of music. It is such a blessing that your hospital realizes that patients need more than the technical side of medicine. I am going to make a copy of this and take it to the hospital where I play music. They are not as advanced as your hospital. We only have music three hours a week. Not nearly enough for all those folks suffering emotionally and spiritually."

Because of this article, I am being asked to write my own for the upcoming Harp Therapy Journal (harptherapy.com) that is subscribed to by harp therapists working in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and hospices throughout the world. The timing of this article helped widely showcase the use of harps for therapy as a vital tool in healing within a hospital setting.

Peter Schworm's quick grasp of the essence of what we do as well as his gifted ability to express it so clearly and concisely has furthered our work tremendously.

Nancy Kleiman
Dedham

Protect students at Bridgewater

Among all the state colleges, Bridgewater State for the last 40 years has been an institutional leader in matters of education ("College might go for a PhD," Globe South, Dec. 28).

If it were to achieve university status, I would fervently hope it would be as an independent state university and not part of the top-heavy, unwieldy structure now in place for the other Massachusetts universities.

However, I am concerned about the enrollment. To say it "would remain essentially the same" is misleading. Maybe the population numbers would remain the same, but the attention to students and distribution of assets would be skewed with the undergraduates footing the bill, more likely by way of lost programs, support staff, and undergraduate faculty.

Clare Donahue
Walpole