theresa corn, RN, MSN

Theresa Corn is a star. But the remarkable thing about her is how she treats her patients, her students and her coworkers like they are the stars. The first day at the clinical site for my pediatrics rotation I was nervous and anxious for it to be over. I didn?t like peds. Theresa led the group of junior nursing students around Riley Hospital for Children, where she worked and taught. She paused for a moment as two girls, about six years old, struggled to push a heavy door open together. ?Look at these two,? she said to us, smiling and sounding as happy and proud of these children as if they had been her own. She stopped what she was doing and walked over to them. She held the door, totally focused on them, pleased as punch to be making small talk with the pair of them. Anyone would have thought that she was the luckiest person to have run into them. When they passed, she turned back to us and the moment passed. ?Huh,? I thought. She seemed so glad to have been able to just hold the door for them. Soon I realized that was part of how Theresa did things, how she treated everyone. Helping those girls and being so glad to do it was just a brief moment. It was such a small act it would be forgettable, but it is extraordinary to be around someone that puts genuine care and attention into moments that small. Moment after moment, person after person. That was how she treated me. That was how she treated her patients and the other nurses on the floor. She treated the other student nurses that way, too. She called us her stars. Despite myself, I ended up loving that clinical because of her. She really is the one that shines!