Carolyn Jones: A tribute to nurses
Carolyn Jones: Un homenaje a los enfermeros
Carolyn Jones creates projects that point our attention towards issues of global concern. Full bio
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the names of our doctors,
los nombres de nuestros médicos,
the names of our nurses.
los nombres de nuestros enfermeros.
to get through the surgeries
superar las cirugías
of the treatment just fine.
every single hair on my body
todo el cabello
that I was going to have.
to pretend anymore
everybody treating me with kid gloves,
me trataran con pinzas
me to get up out of that chair
de aquella silla y huyera.
to me like we were old friends.
como si fuéramos viejas amigas.
when I'm on the verge of losing it?
cuando estoy a punto de perderlo?
of her shoulders she said,
the one thing I had overlooked,
que yo había pasado por alto,
my life would get back to normal.
volvería a la normalidad algún día.
when you're fighting cancer
cuando uno lucha contra el cáncer
about how you're going to look.
se preocupe por el aspecto,
going to treat you so carefully.
lo tratará con demasiado cuidado.
for the first time in six months.
por primera vez en seis meses.
for apartments in New York City,
apartamento en Nueva York
to the chemotherapy --
a la quimioterapia...
know just how to talk to me?
cómo hablarme?
into the world of nurses.
en el mundo de la enfermería.
que hiciera un proyecto
I was asked to do a project
the work that nurses do.
realizado por los enfermeros.
across the country.
en todo el país.
photographing and filming nurses
fotografiando y filmando enfermeros
un viaje por EE.UU.
that would take us to places
public health issues facing our nation --
de salud pública de la nación:
la pobreza, el encarcelamiento.
the largest concentration of patients
la mayor concentración de pacientes
to nominate nurses
y centros nominar a los enfermeros
que conocí fue Bridget Kumbella.
was Bridget Kumbella.
when he had fallen from the fourth floor
y cayó de un cuarto piso
to be flat on your back
y no recibir el tratamiento necesario.
of care that you need.
to go into the profession of nursing.
cuida a un grupo muy diverso de pacientes,
of patients that she cares for,
to understanding the impact
a entender el impacto
when it comes to our health.
en materia de salud.
a bunch of feathers into the ICU.
con un puñado de plumas
from all different religions
tienen distintas religiones
of objects for comfort;
como consuelo espiritual;
or a symbolic feather,
o una pluma simbólica,
in the Appalachian mountains,
de las montañas de los Apalaches,
and a repair shop when he was growing up.
y un taller de reparación en su infancia.
that he now serves as a nurse.
en la comunidad se ocupaba de automóviles.
to become a nurse,
para ser enfermero,
pulling him back to nursing.
lo llevaron de nuevo a la enfermería.
that an ambulance can't even get to.
una ambulancia puede llegar.
he's standing in what used to be a road.
de lo que solía ser un camino.
flooded that road,
for Jason to get to the patient
Jason ahora de llegar al paciente
with black lung disease
against the current up that creek.
contracorriente por ese arroyo.
we ripped the front fender off the car.
el parachoques delantero del auto.
put the car on the lift,
reparó el parachoques
to meet his next patient.
a su próximo paciente.
caring for this gentleman
cuidó a este caballero
the work of nursing really is.
que es en realidad la enfermería.
era un novato.
to life in San Diego yet.
de nuevo a la vida en San Diego.
of being a nurse in Germany
como enfermero en Alemania
coming right off the battlefield.
que regresaban del campo de batalla.
the first person they would see
la primera persona que verían
their eyes in the hospital.
as they were lying there,
al verle, lo primero que le decían era:
Dejé a mis compañeros allí".
I left my brothers out there."
Ya has dado suficiente, hermano".
who's seen combat.
y un soldado que ha estado en combate.
the veterans in his care.
a sanar a los veteranos que atiende.
in Wisconsin called Villa Loretto.
en Wisconsin llamado Villa Loretto.
can be found under her roof.
encontrar todo tipo de vida.
to adopt local farm animals,
de adoptar animales de granja,
those animals have babies.
tienen cachorros.
those baby ducks, goats and lambs
esos patitos, cabritas y corderos
for the residents at Villa Loretto
los residentes de Villa Loretto
remember their own name,
sus propios nombres,
in the holding of a baby lamb.
en sus manos un corderito.
from Villa Loretto
para rodar parte de su historia.
de un paciente moribundo.
someone you love them completely
amor incondicional a alguien
at any other place in my life.
y en ningún otro lugar en mi vida.
when it comes to our health care.
en lo que a la salud respecta.
of the need for quality of life,
sino con qué calidad lo hacemos.
technologies are created,
nuevas tecnologías que salven vidas,
complicated decisions to make.
decisiones complicadas.
and the dying process.
el dolor y la agonía de la muerte.
to navigate these waters?
all the help we can get.
relationship with us
una relación única con nosotros
una cierta intimidad emocional.
her world without him in it.
se quebró la cadera,
luchando por su propia vida.
fighting for her own life.
of the care of nurses --
stayed by her side
nos quedamos a su lado
to make the right decisions
las decisiones correctas
upon the guidance of nurses.
de los consejos de los enfermeros.
in terms of how to care for my mom
en sus últimos cuatro días de vida.
and relief from pain.
y le aliviaron el dolor.
to put a pretty nightgown on my mom,
para ponerle un camisón bonito a mamá,
just in time for my mom's last breath.
para el último aliento de mi madre.
dejarme en la habitación con ella
how long to leave me in the room
eternamente agradecida
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Jones - Photographic ethnographerCarolyn Jones creates projects that point our attention towards issues of global concern.
Why you should listen
Best known for her socially proactive photographs and documentary films, Carolyn Jones creates projects that point our attention towards issues of global concern. From people "living positively" with AIDS to women artisans supporting entire communities and nurses on the front lines of our health care system, Carolyn Jones has devoted her career to celebrating invisible populations and breaking down barriers.
Jones has spent the past five years interviewing more than 150 nurses from every corner of the US in an effort to better understand the role of nurses in this country's healthcare system. She published the critically-acclaimed book The American Nurse: Photographs and Interviews by Carolyn Jones, for which she was interviewed on PBS NewsHour and featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post and USA Today. She directed and executive-produced the follow-up documentary film The American Nurse: Healing America, which was released in theaters nationwide and was an official selection of the 2015 American Film Showcase, a cultural diplomacy program of the US Department of State.
Jones has spent her career focused on telling personal stories, and her first introduction to nursing was through a very personal experience of her own, when it was a nurse who helped her get through breast cancer. That experience stuck with her, so when she started working on the American Nurse Project in 2011, she was determined to paint a rich and dynamic portrait of the profession. The goal was to cover as much territory as possible, with the hope that along the way she would capture stories touching on the kinds of issues that nurses are dealing with in every corner of the country. The project explores the American experiences of health care, poverty, childbirth, war, imprisonment and the end of life through the lens of nursing.
Prior to The American Nurse, her most widely acclaimed book, Living Proof: Courage in the Face of AIDS, was published by Abbeville Press and was accompanied by shows in Tokyo, Berlin, the USA, and at the United Nations World AIDS Conference. In addition to her multiple exhibitions, book and magazine publications, Jones has collaborated on projects with Oxygen Media, PBS and the Girl Scouts of the USA. She founded the non-profit 100 People Foundation for which she travels the world telling stories that celebrate our global neighbors. As a lecturer, Jones has spoken at conferences, universities and events around the globe. In 2012 she was honored as one of 50 "Everyday Heroes" in the book of that title for her work with the 100 People Foundation.
Jones' career was punctuated by two brushes with death: first, running out of gas in the Sahara as a racecar driver, and second, a breast cancer diagnosis. Her newest project, the forthcoming documentary Defining Hope, is the culmination of a journey investigating how we can make better end-of-life choices.
Carolyn Jones | Speaker | TED.com