I've been writing my whole life. I've been a nurse for 30 years. Stork Writer is where the two meet.
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I can't tell you how many times I've pulled up a chair next to a patient's bed.
Often it’s a mother coming in from home, or sent over from the office, for an induction. Nobody has told her that getting her body ready for labor can take a day or two before the induction itself starts. She’s anxious, and the unknowns are the hardest part. So I sit down and walk her through it. By the end, I can see some of the anxiety leave her face, and trust has begun.
That kind of teaching takes time, and busy units run on tight schedules. I always wanted more time to teach. Writing gives me that time, and it lets me reach far more people than one bedside ever could.
People have told me for years, “You write so well.”
In 2004, my oldest son was paralyzed in a diving accident on his high school graduation day. I knew nothing about spinal cord injuries, and I had to learn fast. My cousin set up a blog for me, paulspath.com, and I wrote every day. I explained what was happening medically and what each day felt like. I did the same when my mother went through cancer.
That's where I learned what good health writing does. It gives people the facts, and it doesn't leave them alone with those facts.
I spent 24 years at a Magnet-recognized community hospital, on a unit where we cared for families through labor, delivery, postpartum, and the newborn nursery. I became well-versed in all of it. Since then I’ve worked in hospitals across New York State, from a small rural hospital in the Adirondacks to large, busy hospitals in New York City. Along the way I’ve:
Helped reopen a labor and delivery unit and trained its new nurses
Worked through a nursing strike
Cared for high-risk and low-risk patients, and everything in between
Supported sick newborns alongside the doctors until the NICU team arrived
Explained care to families from many backgrounds, sometimes through an interpreter
Every hospital does the same task a little differently. That range is what I bring to your content.
An interview-based video for my hospital's unit.
Made during COVID when in-person tours stopped. Viewed more than 2,000 times, and still used by the hospital.
Years of daily writing through my son's recovery and my mother's illness.
Taken and edited for parents after the loss of their baby, in collaboration with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, so they would have them in time for the service. That work taught me how to write about loss with care and without clichés.
Registered Nurse (RN) · AWHONN Advanced Fetal Monitoring · BLS · ACLS · NRP · S.T.A.B.L.E.
I live in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, about halfway down the west side of Canandaigua Lake. I'm a mother and a grandmother.
Horses have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve ridden, competed, and taught lessons for more than 15 years. I used to event, the triathlon of riding: dressage, cross-country, and stadium jumping. When my kids were younger, I ran a big 4-H club, and they showed at the county and state fairs.
Photography came to me from my mother. She photographed every competition and community event, and the next day she’d hand everyone a disc of their pictures. When she became too ill to keep shooting, I picked up her camera. Today I photograph and make videos professionally, but the reason is the same as hers: a good candid photo gives someone a moment they can keep forever.
Off the clock
Behind the camera
My mother taught me that a good photo is a gift. I still shoot and edit for the people I love, and for anyone who wants a moment they can keep.
A fast-paced look at my niece’s road to the barrel racing world championships. I’ve been teaching her to ride since she was two.
A dude ranch vacation with one of my best friends and her daughter. We sent it to the guest ranch as a thank-you.
A day out on Keuka Lake, here in the Finger Lakes.
A family video celebrating a new arrival.
Once I have a mission, look out. Tell me about yours.
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