Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital — Poetry Collections

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Our Listener Poets spent six weeks visiting several units of Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital. When a curious person saw their signs and stopped to take them up on the Free Custom Poetry they offered, each Listener Poet asked, “What should the poem be about?” Then, they listened.

Inspired by those conversations, the poems in this book tell the stories of some of the humans who work there.

Listener Poets Jenny Hegland, Ravenna Raven, and Frankie Abralind

Washington, D.C.

Poems in this Collection

The Art of Caring

She began her career as a hospice volunteer and then worked as a critical care provider in the Emergency Department for many years. She told me she always wanted her patients to feel empowered while in her care. “This feeling has to do with quality of life,” she said.

Why I Take My Time

We talked when she had a quick break during her shift at the Infusion Center. She told me how important it was for her to make the most of the moments she had to make connections with people.

Traveling Nurse

She told me that she had lived in Florida for 50 years but now that she had an empty nest, she’d become a traveling nurse so she could live in different places. “I was only supposed to be in D.C. for three months,” she said, “but now I’ve been here for nine because I just love it so much.”

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Name

First Name

Last Name

Subject

Postal Mailing Address

Additional Message

Our Collections

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Association of American Medical Colleges, 2021

Georgetown University Medical Center, 2020

Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital, 2020

Inova Schar Cancer Institute, 2019

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The Gold Humanism Summit, 2019

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Mayo Clinic Transform Conference, 2019

Erie Shores Healthcare, 2019

International Integrative Nursing Symposium, 2019

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American Nurses Association Annual Conference, 2019

Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital, 2018

Over the course of a month and a half, poet Elle Klassen had one-on-one conversations with nurses, patients, doctors, family members, clinical technicians, administrators – really anyone who approached her and her typewriter at the Free Custom Poetry table she’d set up in their hospital.

The poems inspired by these conversations tell the stories of some of those humans.

Listener Poet Elle Klassen

Washington, D.C.

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Poems in this Collection

the strongest creature

Being in healthcare can be extremely rewarding, but it comes with the occupational hazard of loss. This woman loved the work she did with dementia patients and the connections she was able to form with them. However, she also struggled with the frequent loss of people she had bonded with.

Our Collections