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Stay Curious, Researchers
I have researchers on my mind. Yesterday I participated on Town Hall panel called “Everybody Has a Story” for the Alberta SPORU Virtual...
Sue Robins
Oct 14, 20204 min read
186
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This Isn't Working
I’m watching the growth of the second wave of this pandemic with horror. Public health officials are asking people to change their...
Sue Robins
Oct 9, 20204 min read
178
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How To Dehumanize Health Care
How do you dehumanize health care? It's easy: turn people into numbers and ignore the patient story. People in health care say they...
Sue Robins
Oct 6, 20204 min read
570
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Visual Art As Healing
(This is the second essay in a series about Patient Storytelling). In the midst of this global pandemic, COVID has turned many people...
Sue Robins
Sep 29, 20203 min read
306
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Beyond the Podium
(This is the first in a series of essays about thinking creatively about patient storytelling). Let’s think outside the rectangular box...
Sue Robins
Sep 28, 20204 min read
111
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We All Have Stories
I once gave a talk to a group of PICU nurses. I asked them – how do you take care of yourself when a child you are caring for dies? They...
Sue Robins
Sep 23, 20203 min read
447
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Left Out. Again.
It is the first week of back-to-school in our school district. I am tormenting myself by thinking if governments FIRST made schools safe...
Sue Robins
Sep 16, 20201 min read
67
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People Are Not Numbers
A few years ago I attended a hospital's strategy workshop. There was a lot of lecturing from the podium from people in business suits and...
Sue Robins
Sep 14, 20202 min read
243
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Keep Banging on That Drum
I’m always blahblahblah storytelling, blahblahblah. This essay is about storytelling. For the past few years, the University of British...
Sue Robins
Sep 12, 20203 min read
266
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In Praise of Nurses
A running family joke is that I am half a nurse. I transferred out of nursing into an English program two years into a four year BScN...
Sue Robins
Sep 8, 20201 min read
42
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We Are Never Going Back To Normal
When I got divorced, I never went back to the way it was before, even when I got remarried. When Aaron was born with Down syndrome, I...
Sue Robins
Sep 7, 20201 min read
947
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The Art of Really Listening
The best sort of people are those who create space for stories. They can sit with an uncomfortable story without minimizing it,...
Sue Robins
Aug 20, 20204 min read
1,406
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trust your gut
The $10,000 question that plagues all families: What are you doing for back to school? Actually, it is more than a $10,000 question...
Sue Robins
Aug 18, 20203 min read
246
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Bird by Bird
I promised myself I’d get this tattoo after I finished my Bird's Eye View book. So in mid-October of 2019, that’s exactly what I did. ...
Sue Robins
Aug 16, 20202 min read
218
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Severe Back to School Jitters
I’ve done the back to school thing with my children for the past 22 years. It is safe to say this year is like no other. My youngest son...
Sue Robins
Aug 13, 20204 min read
272
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The Neonatologist and The Mom: Relationships Matter in Health Care
I first met Dr. Johny Van Aerde in 2008, at a children’s health conference in Montreal. At the time, he was a Neonatologist and Regional...
Sue Robins
Aug 4, 20204 min read
144
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Patient-Centred Care: When words become meaningless
The terminology of what started out as bedside manner has bounced around from patient centred care to patient experience to patient...
Sue Robins
Jul 22, 20202 min read
453
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Explaining K.I.D.S. – Four easy steps to demonstrate respect to patients
I’ll never forget hearing Juliette Schlucter speak at a pediatric health conference many years ago. She shared the concept of K.I.D.S....
Sue Robins
Jul 15, 20206 min read
488
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My Broken Record: Communication is Important
I have this long convoluted COVID-related story about diagnostic imaging appointments at our cancer hospital that got cancelled and never...
Sue Robins
Jul 7, 20202 min read
199
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At the Grocery Store
(September 26, 2020 edited to add: We are back to almost full lockdown again and relying on our local grocery store delivery service. ...
Sue Robins
Jun 27, 20204 min read
68
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