Today in the chart

Do you have a favorite cheesy nursing-themed Valentine’s card?

• You’re the only code blue I want to respond to on Valentine’s Day.

• Blood is red, cyanosis is blue, I get tachycardia when I think of you.

• You must be aphasia because you’ve left me speechless.

Even with all the stereotypical cards, chocolates, and candies, it’s the perfect time to remember to show those you love that you care about them with a small gesture.

Here are six nursing love stories that will warm your heart this Valentine’s Day.‍

1. Houston Hearts

Sean Bastian-Bennett’s Perspective

Sean is an abdominal transplant/surgical ICU nurse at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston.

Sean and Shuranda started dating at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. They met in a pre-nursing anatomy and physiology class, but their relationship was rekindled on the first day of nursing school. “It didn’t help that the pandemic was at the beginning of our nursing career as well.” They quarantined together for 14 days straight and didn’t tire of one another. “She still takes my breath away, even after four years,” Sean beams. He shares they enjoy talking about what they go through at work because they can have tough conversations and not hold anything back.

Sharanda (Soon-to-Be) Bastian-Bennett’s Perspective

Sharanda is a circulating intraoperative nurse for OB/GYN, kidney transplants, and colorectal cases at Methodist Hospital in Houston.

“The start of our relationship was like a dream. We were just having so much fun each and every day. However, when the pandemic hit, it was a stressful time during our relationship,” Sharanda shares. But, she believes the pandemic was the best thing that happened to their relationship.

“Sean was right there for me when suffering from PTSD and depression from the pandemic. The kindness and patience he gave me was the first time I felt genuinely loved.”

Sharanda thinks being with another nurse is “the best thing in the world.” With everything that goes on in nursing, she enjoys having a partner who can truly empathize with her. “Everything we go through always ties back to nursing. Nursing school modeled to both of us how to become better individuals. Everything aligned perfectly with our love story, and we would not change a thing.”

They are currently planning their wedding, which is scheduled for April 2024.

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2. Advanced Practice Makes Perfect

Nicole Comeaux, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, met her husband Ryan after a Saints game. She was working as a nurse practitioner, and Ryan was in CRNA school. They both work at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, Comeaux at a pulmonary clinic, and Ryan as a nurse anesthetist in the OR.

“Being married to a nurse helps a lot with work-life balance,” Comeaux shares. “It is much easier to maintain when your partner understands the good and bad of working in healthcare, along with job expectations.”

Comeaux shares how supporting one another is key in their relationship. “We have always loved to travel, and now we get to do that with our son. We support each other’s hobbies. Ryan enjoys golf, and I have a margarita club that meets every month. We like to support each other.”

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3. Romance in the OR

Kathy Goodwin, RN, and retired operating nurse, shares that being a 35-year-old single parent after divorce made her question, “Is this all there is?”

Her career as a registered nurse in the operating room at MetroHealth System in Cleveland was satisfying, and she felt competent and engaged. Her 13-year-old twins were independent, and she felt something was missing from her life. She describes how she had dated a bit but never found the right one that filled the longing in her heart.

“That was until I noticed a handsome man from the Plant Engineering Dept named Bob who stopped in the OR most days to check and make sure that everyone was satisfied with the temperature in their respective OR Rooms.”

She decided to greet him, as everyone else did, though they hadn’t yet been formally introduced.

“The greetings turned into a little chit-chat, and one day, he confided in me that his wife had left him and that he was very grateful that his two daughters were helping him through a very rough time managing the house and the three children who still lived at home. As I gave him my phone number, I told him that I was a single parent also and that if he ever needed to talk, I was available.”

Weeks passed, and they said “Hello” occasionally, but nothing more. One of the OR nurses was getting married, and Goodwin invited him to join her, but he said that his children needed him and he wasn’t ready to start dating.

A few weeks later, Bob paged Goodwin through the front desk for a phone call. “It was Bob calling to tell me that he said his kids were managing well and that he would love to go to the wedding with me. Did I mention that he has beautiful blue eyes?”

Her daughter helped her pick out a new dress for the occasion. “Now it’s forty years later, and we have had a marvelous life together. I always feel that he is in my corner, and we take good care of each other. Our blended family members are all successful and healthy, and for that, we are very grateful!”

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4. Love Without Borders

Sarah Mollica and Carlo Longo met at a beach club in Italy where Carlo was lifeguarding. They hit it off, using Google Translate for much of their early conversations, but that didn’t stop them from dating, even despite the Covid pandemic and the long distance.

The couple took their NCLEX exams in 2022 and are full-time content creators on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

5. Float Pool Feelings

James Yoo, an RN in the Wound Care Center at UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center, first met his wife Charlotte Yoo, an RN on another unit at UM BWMC, while the two were in nursing school. The couple began dating a short time before accepting positions at UM BWMC. James describes how their nursing careers brought the pair to UM BWMC and kept them in close contact before they tied the knot.

“We met at school at Anne Arundel Community College’s nursing program in Maryland, and then we started dating a couple of months before we took jobs working at UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center. After applying to BWMC simultaneously, we both landed interviews in the same week and were even interviewed by the same person. As part of the float pool, my wife and I went through our orientations together before we began working on the same unit. The sparks never dimmed. Three years after our first date, we decided to make it official!”

The couple says they cherish being able to work at the same hospital where their love story and their nursing careers began.

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6. M&M

Mark and Monika Bauman, nurses at the University of Maryland Medical Center (Downtown Campus), Baltimore, MD, met during pre-nursing classes at a local community college. They were lab partners and sometimes met up before class to exchange notes. They lost touch for a few years but then met up again when Mark was working as a nurse and Monika was finishing up school. They caught up and eventually started dating and married in October 1991.

“Nursing brought us together,” Monika shares. “It was a shared passion and common ground for us right from the start. After two long careers, we are still married, still proud to be UMMC Nurses, and still talk nursing. We are one another's biggest fans.”

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The Nursing (Heart) Beat

Although each of these six love stories took place at a different point in their nursing journeys, all of them found romance while pursuing a career in nursing.

Don’t forget to show love to your friends, family, and nursing colleagues this Valentine’s Day. Want to keep up with more names and faces in the nursing profession? Subscribe to The Nursing Beat.