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Web site spotlight: Nurse lifts patients’ spirits through song

Nurse Leader Weekly, October 20, 2008

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Sandra Mattingly, RN, has been given a second chance to put her nursing skills to use. This time around, she is bringing an additional skill to the bedside: song.

"We have all of the clinical skills and the modern technology. Nurses need to see eye-to-eye with their patients and relate the heart, not just the procedure," says Mattingly. "That's what's missing in nursing today."

Known as the "singing nurse" at Prattville Baptist Hospital in Prattville, AL and Baptist Medical Center South Hospital in Montgomery, AL, Mattingly's vocals are lifting the spirits of her patients who are battling cancer, offering them hope and encouragement during a time they need it the most.

Mattingly says the road to singing for her patients began after she suffered a serious car accident that prevented her from working for four years.

"I said I'd never work again," says Mattingly of the accident that left her with a broken neck, a crushed foot, and resulted in multiple surgeries. "But I missed taking care of patients and one day I said 'Lord, please just let me do it one more time.'"

Editor's note: This excerpt was adapted from the article, "Nurse inspires patients through song" featured in The Reading Room on HCPro's new online resource center, www.StrategiesforNurseManagers.com. Get a free trial membership that will give you 30 days to test drive all the exciting features on the Web site.

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