Vital Views

Dr. Imelda Reyes 0:20
I Hello everyone, and welcome to another segment of vital views podcast by the UNLV School of Nursing. My name is Imelda Reyes. I'm the Interim Dean for the School of Nursing, and I will be your host today, I'm very excited to be joined by Carolyn Jones, a filmmaker who uses passionate and personal storytelling to examine issues of global and national concern. Good morning, Carolyn, good morning.

Carolyn Jones 0:51
I'm so excited to be here. We're

Dr. Imelda Reyes 0:53
so lucky to have you visit our school and meet some of our faculty and students. Your film last night, American birth was amazing, and I love that you were able to join us this year for our Silvestri lecture as well. You

Carolyn Jones 1:06
know, I'm grateful to be here. Dr Silvestri, I think, is thinking outside of the box a little bit when she invites me to come because I'm not a nurse, I'm a documentary filmmaker, but I think having an outsider perspective on this profession is helpful. So I'm very grateful to her for asking me to join you today?

Dr. Imelda Reyes 1:21
Yes, absolutely. And I'd like to start with the story, about the way that you tell the story and the way that you portray it in the film was like, amazing. And so what is like your connection to nursing and what brought you to like doing a film like this? Well,

Carolyn Jones 1:35
it's a little bit of a journey I have. I started off as a photographer, so my career began making books. The first book I did was a book called Living Proof courage in the face of AIDS. And I think that project really taught me that my purpose in life is to capture images and tell stories of people whose story might not otherwise be heard. And I also am kind of an eternal optimist. So even when I was doing a book about people living with AIDS, I wanted it to be a book about people living with AIDS, not dying from AIDS, and so people who were like grasping the last bit of their life and living it to their fullest, and that would provide hope and inspiration for other people going through a similar thing. Now that was in the late 80s, of course. So it was during a time when AIDS was a, you know, a death sentence, really. So most of the people that I interviewed are no longer with us, but it it taught me the path I wanted to be on, which was to tell meaningful stories and bring things to light that the public might not otherwise see and and then I had a personal experience where I had breast cancer, and I had a nurse named Joanne staha. And Joanne just knocked my socks off. She just had this incredible level of emotional intelligence that got me through the whole thing. And I was always curious about the DNA of a nurse. Who are you people, and how do you do what you do? And how do you gain that kind of knowledge? So it's just a fascination I have with the profession that

Dr. Imelda Reyes 3:03
is so wonderful. And I think, you know, in watching the film last night, one of the things that I heard you say was you wanted to bring to light kind of a different view of birth. So could you tell us a little bit about that and how it led into this

Carolyn Jones 3:17
movie? Sure. Well, you know, I'm really affected by what's going on in the country and in the news and at the time. So we started this film about two years ago, and at the time, I felt like I was just kind of getting bombarded with news headlines about the maternal mortality crisis and how our numbers in America are so much worse than other wealthy nations. And I so I wanted to really dig in on that, and I couldn't imagine why we as a country who spent spend so much on health care would have these crummy numbers. What's that all about? And and how could I find I didn't want to make a film that was just about how dark that is, how dreary that is, but make a film that would give some hope, like show people a different way, a different path. So I kind of started digging into it, and a few things rose to the surface right away, not the least of which was midwifery as an approach, where in all other countries in the world, they use midwives all the time, and their numbers are lower. So why aren't we doing that? I just couldn't imagine, as a country, why we're not investing in our families, in our youth, in our future. So I wanted to make a film that wouldn't say, you know, you should make this choice, or you should make that choice, but say, these are your choices. This is what birth in all of these different settings look like, and we need to be really educated about which path we choose. I think we've forgotten what birth looks like in this country, and it's a very, very beautiful, majestic, magical thing that I had the privilege to film and watch five times making this film. So I'm even more committed to people making good choices.

Dr. Imelda Reyes 4:59
Yeah. Yeah, I think that is fascinating, because you're right. I think you know, so many of us, you just kind of follow the path. And I think opening up people's eyes and views to like something different is is just spectacular. So besides this film, can you tell us a little bit about some of your other

Carolyn Jones 5:19
work? Sure. So one of the things I do is I have a nonprofit foundation called 100 people, and that foundation has been devoted over the years to looking at global issues. So I've spent a lot of time traveling around the world looking at everything from poverty and lack of safe drinking water and all kinds of issues. And I think that my fascination with nurses has brought me back to this country, and looking at our issues here and seeing them through the lens of a nurse has been so profound for me. So this is my fourth film looking at issues in America through the lens of a nurse. And each film I follow nurses, but they're kind of, you know, the bridge I use to get to the to the issue. So I've looked at everything from the prison system and health care in the prison systems to returning war veterans to poverty, to aging to end of life choices. And then the film that I did right before American delivery was a film called in case of emergency, where I spent two years in emergency rooms all across America looking at the opioid crisis and gun violence and mental health and the lack of health insurance and all kinds of things. So I just find the profession of nursing to be a really non political and non judgmental way of gaining the truth about different issues that we all face in our country.

Dr. Imelda Reyes 6:48
I think that's wonderful. So I know you said that you started as a photographer. How did you then, like, transition into film?

Carolyn Jones 6:56
Yeah, well, that it's been a journey. I think if you, if you, I've published four books now, and if you look at each book, every time there were more words, there were more words than the last book. So in the beginning, I was just really interested in capturing an image that would tell a whole story in one photo. And then I was like, oh, but I'm really missing the conversation and the richness of what I'm learning about this person. So so the books even got wordier as I went along. And then I started videotaping all my interviews. And then one thing led to another, and frankly, it was through my foundation. I was already shooting a lot of short films that captured the issues as I was traveling around the world. But, but with with the American nurse project. I really wanted to show the public the work that nurses do. So it became very important for me to kind of walk over the threshold into someone's home or into their hospital room or wherever the care is being given, and show that to the world, like, what does that really look like?

Dr. Imelda Reyes 7:59
That is that, again, it's so it's fascinating how you've been able to transition from like one realm to another. And I think with the work that you've done in highlighting nurses, you know, I know you were recognized as an Honorary Fellow by the American Academy of Nursing. Can you tell us what that was like? Holy

Carolyn Jones 8:15
smokes. Well, that was kind of the an amazing thing to have happen. I was flabbergasted that I was even nominated, but to be standing in that room with all of these, really, you know, people I've studied and researched and wanted to meet, and it was an honor that I will never forget. And I'm so touched, you know, I think, not being a nurse, but really digging into this world for the last 12 years, I feel like I have a certain understanding of the profession, and I'm really devoted to having the public know more about it, because I still think it's a really misrepresented profession. So being recognized by the Academy was like a showstopper. That's that's

Dr. Imelda Reyes 8:59
so wonderful. I'm so glad we were able to do that and to recognize all of the work that you've done. What advice do you have for aspiring nurses? Stay

Carolyn Jones 9:08
with it. Oh my goodness, we need nurses so desperately. But I think a couple of things. The first thing I'd like to say is, get really noisy. You know, I've had a chance to meet a lot of nurse leaders along the way, and I think nurses are in this really unique position to understand our society, our communities, our families, and to be able to make really profound change. And I think that they are, and I the talk that I'm giving later today is about nurses being able to move the needle on the biggest issues of our times, and I really believe that. So I think that the very thing that make makes nurses really good at what they do is also the same thing that makes it hard to talk about what they do, right? There's you're kind of hard wired to put someone else. Feelings, pains, thoughts, emotions before yours. And so I think I want to shift that. I want, no I want nurses to be as noisy as they can be, and to find their way into helping us make better decisions that we're making in the in this country.

Dr. Imelda Reyes 10:16
So I know, like having been a nurse for 25 years, I think you know what you capture in your films, and what you, what I think you do so beautifully, is the art of nursing, like it's there. I mean, it's a science, and there's, it's healthcare, and we're in, you know, among these different models. But I think, you know, again, just the way that you portray it, and, you know, it really showcases how that comes together. So is there anything else you'd like to share with the audience today? Yeah,

Carolyn Jones 10:42
I mean, I think that's I'm so glad you brought that up, because it is an art and a science, and I find sometimes that nurses don't want me to talk about the art, because it feels like a soft skill, and yet, this is the main thing we need in our country to heal right now, is the skills that nurses have to be able to and this is scientific, right? You know, when you calm someone down, when, when you're gentle with someone who's agitated, it lowers their blood pressure. You know, it lowers their heart rate. These are scientific things that are done, but it is a marriage of those two. And I, I just think it's an extraordinarily beautiful profession, and I it for me, it has been transformative in my own life. I couldn't be any more grateful to be able to dig into this world and be with people that I admire so much. I kind of feel like no matter what else is going on in the world right now, I get to spend time with people who are focused on caring for others and making making the world a better place. As corny as that might sound, I think it's really true, and I think we need to listen more to the nurses around us. So

Dr. Imelda Reyes 11:51
what do you what do you have coming up, like, Are there any like, new, exciting projects that you wanted to kind of share? Well,

Carolyn Jones 11:58
yes, I am just about ready to dig in on a brand new project that will take me the next couple of years to work on that's really about migration. Nurses coming here from other countries, studying. Some are staying. Some are sending money back to their local communities. Some are going home with the knowledge that they learn and doing something at home that reflects that, I think again, being affected by the world that we live in, I think we've sort of demonized people from other countries coming in, and we need to recognize that people come here and they offer so much, and we need to explore that and admire that and tell those stories. So I'm hoping to tell a story that's about immigration and migration and the success stories that that we'll find of people who have done that really well, well

Dr. Imelda Reyes 12:55
as a child of an immigrant, I think that just sounds, again, super fascinating. And I'm really looking forward to some of your future work. Well, I've been super thrilled to spend some time with you today, and again, for you taking the time with us here at UNLV School of Nursing. Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Carolyn Jones 13:14
I think that's it. I'm just I really think that the profession of nursing is such a wonderful journey to take, because I've met a lot of people over the course of my career, but I've never met a group of people that find purpose in every single day and work so long at it. I've met so many nurses who retired and came back. So I just, you know, have the utmost respect and admiration for everyone who chooses this feel well?

Dr. Imelda Reyes 13:41
Thank you again for all of your time and and again, I look forward to your talk later on today. Thank you. You