Don't Fence Me In

My first nursing job was on the sixth floor of a large downtown hospital. I really liked my co-workers and had a great learning experience, but there was something missing - being able to go outside. We could look out of the small locked windows and tell if it was raining, or see the skyline, but I needed to feel freer than that. Now one of my job requirements is a one story building, and for the past decade have worked in such a place. Not only do I know freedom is only a key and a few steps away, but the well landscaped outside comes in to us via wall to wall windows. One lovely day this week, while in a meeting in a room with a view, I sat peacefully as I watched white clouds move across the blue sky, a rose bush in bloom, and a mockingbird flying behind a tall foundation plant. I knew she must be tending to a nest back there just like the cardinal we have been watching in another bush. (First the eggs were discovered, then they hatched, and now the little birds have flown up to the lowest branch in the maple tree where dad is watching over them.) We can open the doors to the courtyard so the patients can get a therapeutic dose of sunshine and fresh air. We can sit on a bench under one of the graceful shade trees, and talk and relax. Besides the ability to walk outside if we need to, I think we all feel better when we connect with nature.