Come October, I will have been editor of Pulse for four years. Cliché or not, it doesn't seem that long.

When people ask me if I ever get tired of writing the same old stories about nurses and health care professionals, I just laugh. They don't know the field very well. Nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and all the other therapies may be a lot of things, but boring isn't one of them.

BARRY WILLIAMS/Special (ENLARGE)

Constance Harrell, Hana Weji and Kat Cooper, from left, play a game during Camp To Go at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding.

In the last month, I've met Kim Ryan, the new CEO of Emory Eastside Medical Center in Snellville. Don't be fooled by her youthful appearance and bright smile; this nurse knows how to meet challenges head on. She led the command center that evacuated 178 patients and 1,100 employees from Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Getting everyone out of New Orleans safely was a sprint, compared with the 2½-year marathon of rebuilding and reopening the hospital in that devastated city.

Katrina taught Ryan many lessons about leadership, disaster-preparedness and the importance of health care in a community. Emory Eastside will benefit from her experience.

I also watched a new paradigm of critical care in action at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta. From a nearby building, critical-care nurses and doctors were electronically monitoring intensive care patients in the hospital.

The hospital's eICU team provides backup for bedside nurses who have questions or face unusual situations. Team members can use a camera to assess a patient's condition, access medical records and monitor vital signs so they can prevent complications.

Julie Swann, a nurse for eight years, loves the challenge of meshing a "real" intensive care unit with a remote one, and she's proud of the improved patient outcomes that have resulted. The eICU technology can monitor patients in any hospital room tied to the network, no matter how far away the room is. This could be a way to bringing a higher level of patient care to rural hospitals that have limited resources.

Another inspiring story was far from boring. Watching a toddler laugh as he attempted to blow out a pretend campfire taught me that, to kids, camp is a mind-set as much as it is a place.

As Camp Twin Lakes leaders suspected, it's possible to run a camp in a hospital. They piloted Camp To Go at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding in Atlanta last month, bringing silly songs, games and s'mores to youngsters who were too sick to attend camp. The atmosphere was festive, bringing smiles to children, staff members and parents alike.

"It's fantastic," said Johnnathan Ward, hospital chaplain. "Kids still need to be kids — even in the hospital."

When I flip through past issues of Pulse, I'm amazed at how many different and interesting stories we've covered. Thanks for sharing!

- Do you have any story ideas for Pulse? We'd love to hear more about your career and what you do after hours. Send e-mail to pulseeditor@ajc.com or call 404-526-2078.