Nursing in the Storm: Voices from Hurricane Katrina » (New Edition)

Denise Danna, DNS, RN, is Associate Dean for Professional Services, Community Activities and Advanced Nursing Practice Education, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Nursing, New Orleans. For 32 years, Dr. Danna worked at Memorial Medical Center, New Orleans, holding several leadership positions, including Chief Nursing Officer for 15 years. She is an active member of the American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, National League for Nursing, and Sigma Theta Tau International, Epsilon Nu Chapter. She is a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives. She has recently authored a book chapter on management and leadership issues and is a reviewer for Nursing Outlook. Dr. Danna is currently the President of the Louisiana Nurses Association.

Sandra Cordray, MA, MJ, holds a Master of Arts from the University of Wales where she studied from 1986-1987 at the university's Centre for Journalism Studies. She also received a Master of Journalism from Louisiana State University in 1989. For three decades she has worked in the fields of marketing and media relations for healthcare and educational organizations, holding management positions at the hospital and regional levels in New Orleans, Texas, and south Florida. During her nine years at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans she handled marketing and media relations and served as public information officer for the hurricane season. A native of Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where her sisters and brothers still reside. Hurricane Camille was the first major hurricane she experienced.

"Don't ever think that this can't happen to you. You are going to read this and it's going to sound like we created this scenario, but this is a real scenario that happened."

--Pam, Memorial Medical Center

"Everything that was battery operated eventually died. There were no monitors...we tried to take care of people in the most humane way possible."

--Lois, Lindy Boggs Medical Center

Nursing in the Storm: Voices from Hurricane Katrina takes you inside six New Orleans hospitals-cut off from help for days by flooding-where nurses cared for patients around the clock. In this book, nurses from Hurricane Katrina share what they did, how they coped, what they lost, and what they are doing now in a city and health care infrastructure still rebuilding, still in jeopardy.

In their own words, the nurses tell what happened in each hospital just before, during, and after the storm. Danna and Cordray provide an intimate portrait of the experience of Katrina, which they and their colleagues endured.

Just a few of the heroic nurses you'll find inside:

The book also discusses how to plan and prepare for future disasters, with a closing chapter documenting the "lessons learned" from Katrina, including day-to-day health care delivery in a city of crisis. This groundbreaking work serves as a testament to nurses' professionalism, perseverance, and unwavering dedication.

1 History of Nursing in New Orleans 1

2 Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans: Charity and University Hospitals 5

3 Lindy Boggs Medical Center 61

4 Memorial Medical Center 95

5 Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital 147

6 Chalmette Medical Center 177

7 Lessons Learned 211

8 Going Forward 229

Epilogue 241

References 243

Bibliography 247

Index 249