Granai della Memoria

I decided to become a nurse at the age of 2-3 following the meeting with Sister Giuseppina, when I was hospitalized at Koelliker, thanks to which I understood that HELPING OTHERS IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH. When I said I wanted to be a nurse no one took me seriously, especially my family and especially my father who also opposed me. I am a nurse who attended regional school with only two years of high school, without a high school diploma and my father was very angry because he said I had to study. He forgave me of this around age 92, shortly before he died and thanks to my students. When I graduated I wanted to go to work where no one wants to go: in general medicine. They didn't send me there. They sent me to an ultra-specialist department: the bone marrow transplant. It was a department that changed my life. It was a strong experience that changed the meaning of my life, of my perception of life. I reactivated my childhood experience that HELPING OTHERS HELPS THEMSELVES. I'm still very happy doing the work I do. Without a patient to do something for I feel bad. Even though I got so pissed off, I don't know what burn out is. I'm very fiery, I say everything that comes into my mind but I'm not angry. THE CURE IS PUTTING YOUR HANDS IN THE MUD, it's staying in contact with the spirit, it's giving a name to things. Care is conflict, even with oneself because each of us can only heal with what we have. At nursing school they said I couldn't be a nurse because I was too emotional a person. Dr. Olessina, my mentor, told me: "Remember that what is your curse will be your asset." And so it was. Mental health is my love. Care has many souls and each of us is polarized towards a soul of care. What I would like to say to the students is: "Look for your place!". I worked for 23-24 years in SPDC, the tables were flying and I was in the middle. One day an old nurse told me: “You have to stand there and disappear in the eyes of the patients. If you do this you will understand many things." I didn't just train in the classroom: I did 35-36 years of personal analysis (25:05). I learned to walk in the dark because in mental health you don't always know where you're going. It's an area that, if a professional needs all the certainties, leads to a hell of a life. I always give this advice to my students: "Try not to suffer too much, look for a place where you like the type of assistance that patient requires! This is the greatest protection against burn out."