A Place For Healing

A place for

healing

By Michael Abramowitz Greenville: Life in the East Photos by Juliette Cooke

The massive new Vidant Cancer Center tower in Greenville opened in March as a monument of sorts to the medicalcommunity’s all-out commitmentto conquer the dreaded killer thatclaims so much of this region’s humantreasure. Inside, nurses and other medicalstaff fight a daily battle to meet thedisease head on.

Oncology is not the ideal career choicefor every nurse, but those who chooseit say the rewards far outweigh the

Vickie Downing enjoys the healing garden at Vidant Cancer Center

challenges. Vidant administrators, community leaders, nurses and medical staff planned and designed the new center together, based on the special needs they knew cancer patients and their loved ones would have — and the special challenges that those who care for them would face every day.

With that understanding, thoughtful planners designed three relaxing “healing gardens,” designed and strategically situated near specialized sections of the tower as a place of respite not far from the battle zone but far enough away in form and appearance to provide them with a

calming and supportive environment. One of the gardens was built specifically for the staff, but nurses often make their way to the main garden and share the space with their patients and families.

Oncology nurses Victoria Slowinski, Leighann Henley and Vickie Downing, each with decades of experience in the specialized field, met in the garden with the Daily Reflector on a perfectly calm and sunny spring morning to talk about why they love oncology nursing and how the gardens help them love it even more. In their line of work, it seems little things can go a long way. Surrounding them were

flowering shrubbery, rock sculptures, sandstone brickwork, benches and picnic tables.

“It’s nice to have a place other than our little break room to get away from the beeping monitors and find some peace and quiet and sunshine,” Slowinski said.

“We’re thrilled with everything here at the cancer center,” Henley said. “The purpose of this cancer center is to take care of the people of eastern North Carolina. My purpose is to be a part of that. The fact that the hospital has done something to take care of me is pretty extraordinary. They certainly didn’t have to erect these

I ’ v e b e e n a t V i d a n t 3 3 y e a r s a n d r e m e m b e r t a l k i n g a b o u t h a v i n g a b u i l d i n g l i k e t h i s m y e n t i r e career...

Vickie Downing

Leighann Henley talks with The Daily Reflector at Vidant Cancer Center

gardens for the employees. I think they recognize that this is a special patient population and the nurses are very dedicated to these patients.”

Downing’s office is on the tower’s fourth floor, allowing her to look down into the garden even when she can’t sit in it. When she sees her teammates having lunch there, she knows it is serving its purpose.

“Caring for these patients is a wonderful privilege to us. We see them in the best of times and the worst,” Downing said. “We’re all human beings and our patients leave a mark on our hearts no matter how

long we take care of them. We can come out here to regroup or to just get a breath of fresh air, then get back in there and do what we love so much.”

Even on a cold or rainy day, Slowinski enjoys sitting at her computer and looking out into the garden. That view was planned for the satisfaction it brings her and her colleagues. In fact, a third garden was built just for viewing from inside. Patients who receive chemical infusions can sit in comfortable recliners situated just right for a view of the flowers, rock and water sculptures and earth-toned brickwork outside while receiving cancer-fighting

treatment. “You’ve got a beautiful view from everywhere you are,” Slowinski said.

“The little details that went into the whole building are amazing, including the beautiful artwork,” Downing said.”The day we moved the patients into their spacious new rooms, their whole affect changed. It’s just made everybody’s mood so much lighter.”

The gardens and all the art and technology designed into the new cancer center are not the sole support and comfort that the nurses find at the cancer center, but rather complementary to what the

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Victoria Slowinski talks with The Daily Reflector at Vidant Cancer Center

nurses give to each other, Slowinski said. They are used less for their solitude and more as a conducive environment for coming together and supporting each other, she said.

“The nurses on our unit derive a great deal of strength from each other and we rely on each other a lot,” Slowinski said. “We laugh together, we do things together and we jump in to help if one of us is overwhelmed. This will be a great place to gather together and meet.”

Nurses become very invested in their

patients, sometimes from time of diagnosis until they pass away, Henley said.

“I’m very thankful for that privilege of being there for them and getting to know their families,” she said. “Nurses that work here have that in common. The garden promotes our ability to gather together, socialize and speak openly; even to have staff meetings out here. I participated in some of the planning discussions for the cancer center, and we discussed these very ideas; that’s how we came to have three different gardens.”

The entire cancer center represents hope and healing, whether in the eyes of patients or staff members, Downing said.

“I’ve been at Vidant 33 years and remember talking about having a building like this my entire career,” she said. “It seems surreal to me that we’re actually here now and get to take care of our patients here. Whether I look into the gardens from my window or sit in them, I know the benefit it’s bringing to our patients and staff.”

18Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2018

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