Margaret Shaw recalls being fascinated by the stories her mother told about her job as a nurse.
“She’d tell about patients she’d seen, and the things that touched her that were inspiring,” Shaw said. “I remember telling her in 11th grade that I wanted to be a nurse.”
Initially, Shaw, 54, considered a career as a midwife.
“But once I got into pediatrics, I fell in love,” said the Mississippi native and Emory University nursing school graduate. “At one point, I spent six years working with adults, but I missed the kids so much that I took a job at Children’s [Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston].
“I loved that even when they’re sick, there’s a vitality and sense of hope about children. They believe they’re going to get better, and most of the time, they do. You don’t have that same sense with adults.”
Working with little ones goes beyond the usual patient/caregiver relationship.
“There’s a family focus because you’re also working with parents,” she said. “You can’t just deal with the patient alone. And you have to look at where the child is going — what he needs to be successful. That’s not often the case in the adult world.”
In her last job at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Shaw worked in Egleston’s pain clinic, where she met Sherry McDaniel and her son, Ryan. When the youngster spent 62 days in the hospital with complex regional pain syndrome, McDaniel could count on Shaw holding her hand as well as caring for her child.
“I once confided to Margaret that I was afraid my son was going to die from the pain he was suffering,” McDaniel wrote. “She advocated for my son with the doctors and got him the attention he needed.
“My son also has cerebral palsy, and she was the per-fect liaison for making sure Ryan was assigned a general pediatrician to oversee all of Ryan’s care. She still would check on Ryan at least twice a day. She will do anything she can to help a child, and thus helping the child’s parent.”
Shaw, who has no children of her own, said the experience of being in touch with tykes is always thrilling.
“Kids are fun,” she said. “Where else can you hold a baby while working and have it be therapeutic? It’s always a very moving place where you can touch someone’s life.”
Shaw recently moved to a new phase of her career. She is working in the pediatric program of Hospice Atlanta, where she helps families face a final transition.
“The best you can do is make it better for that child, for that family, in the last phase of their life,” she said. “That’s how you make a difference and deal with it. But you also cry — a lot.”
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