It’s the nightmare phone call that every parent dreads they will get. My heart began beating out of my chest as I answered the phone. “Mom, the doctor asked me to call you. He wants to meet with the family first thing in the morning. How soon can you get here?” “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I love you.” That call was just one of the many calls, like that, I had received over the past two years. My son Ryan was dying from kidney and heart failure. It was, however, the last call like that, I would receive.

With every call I answered, my head and heart did the exact same thing when there is a crisis. My head and heart disconnected. My nurse brain would begin running the “nursing process” subconscious program it’s been running for forty plus years.  Assessing the situation, planning my response, and evaluating how best to implement a life-saving plan for Ryan. After all, I’d help save many patients over the years. This...