Most doctors enter medicine for good reasons. Yet, some hope to become rich.

   No one enters nursing to become wealthy. No one succeeds in any of the caregiving professions if money is their primary goal.

   Part of the reason is found in the quote Liz Wessel shared this weekend from Florence Nightingale: "[Nursing] is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." 

   To treat one's calling as a "fine art" is to elevate it. The power of referring to caregiving this way highlights something crucial: Art succeeds when it integrates deep compassion with high competence.

   This is the essence of Radical Loving Care^®. The "passion" in compassion means one's whole being is engaged. 

   What a gift for the sick to find themselves cared for by an angel! That is what every RLC caregiver embodies. Angels heal when they let God's Love flow through them. That is what Liz, as a caring being, has done all of her life. 

   As we celebrate nursing this month, Liz Wessel, R.N, M.S.N., tops the list of Radical Loving caregivers. Any patient touched by her as felt this. Any co-worker open to her presence experiences healing. Every leader performs better when they use her as a model.

   Across half a century I have known hundreds of nurses & have been responsible for tens of thousands of caregivers. The late Marian Hamm (pictured), the Chief Nursing Officer I worked with longest; Tracy Wimberly, a public health nurse who became a Senior Vice President for Patient Care in Columbus & Nashville, & Liz Wessel, are the bright stars in a constellation flooded with beauty, grace & profound love.

   Nightingale was known as "The Lady with the Lamp." Her light illuminates the path for every nurse. 

   With all the tributes that flow this month none can be adequate to the real gift that nursing offers. 

   Thank you, nurses everywhere. You hold in your hands the Golden Thread of healing. We are grateful. We love you. May God's face smile upon you each day & night of every year. 

   Caregiving is, in fact, the finest of Fine Arts. 

-Erie Chapman

Portrait of Marian Hamm by Barb Schwartz