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Unit more colorful because of nurse

by Mary Helen Yarborough
Public Relations
Children in 7B are very sick. Some have cancer or diabetes, and some need organ transplants. Despite the seriousness of the unit, the aura in this area of Children’s Hospital is a bit cheerier and certainly more colorful.
 
Jennifer Hutchinson, R.N., who’s been here not quite a year, has filled large windows with storybook characters and cartoons that she has painted while off duty.
 
A Fort Smith, Ark., native, Hutchinson started painting murals when she was a nurse at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
 
Hutchinson puts final touches on Winnie the Pooh.

“At St. Jude’s, they had window markers that children could use to draw on the windows,” Hutchinson recalled. “I had this one patient who was scared, but he liked Madagascar (the movie) and Curious George. So, one night I drew those on his window, and he liked it. So, it kind of grew from there.”
 
When Hutchinson finishes painting the murals, she plans to donate the materials to Child Life. She may paint for other units, “But it would depend on how much time I have,” she said.

   

Friday, June 27, 2008
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