The Nurse and the Nun with Linda Wick, DNP, APRN

Dear friends,

Nurse practitioner Linda Wick has spent more than four decades in medicine, beginning her journey as a six-year-old watching nurses care for her injured brother.

In today’s story, she recalls the early lessons that shaped her career—from the strict nuns who taught her at the College of St. Scholastica to the life-and-death responsibilities of the ICU and dialysis unit. When a medical emergency reunites her with one of her toughest teachers, Sister Helen, Linda is forced to confront the words that haunted her for years.

We first heard Linda’s story on stage at Intersections, a live storytelling event produced by the Center for the Art of Medicine in Minneapolis in 2024 through our program, The Nocturnists Satellites.

Below are a few excerpts from Linda’s story—on mentorship, mistakes, and the heart of nursing.

Enjoy,Emily and The Nocturnists Team

Favorite moments from this week’s episode

A Six-Year-Old’s Awakening “I was six years old when my brother was in a terrible car accident. His legs were crushed between two cars, and he lay in traction for weeks. I remember the nurses—the ones who kept him from getting bedsores, who joked with him when he got cocky, and who comforted my mom. I watched them and thought, this is what I want to do. My nursing career started when I was six years old.”

The Nuns of St. Scholastica “The College of St. Scholastica was run by Benedictine nuns—some like mothers, some like tyrants. Sister Agatha made us memorize the periodic table by heart. Sister Helen Claire taught skills and had no sense of humor. She once told me, ‘One day, you’re going to kill someone.’ I was twenty and thought she was just mean. I had no idea how long I’d remember those words.”

Integrity When No One’s Watching “Sister Helen also said, ‘Integrity is what you do when nobody’s watching.’ Nursing gives you a thousand chances a day to prove that. You can make a mistake and hide it—and no one would ever know. I remember my first drug error. It wasn’t catastrophic, but I still called the physician. All I could think was: she was right. Integrity is what you do when nobody’s watching.”

A Reunion in the Dialysis Unit “When I walked into the dialysis suite, there was blood everywhere. A patient’s fistula had ruptured. And then I saw her face. Sister Helen. My first thought was: Why does it have to be her? I went into ICU mode—calm, steady, focused. I told her she’d be okay, that the surgeon was good, that we’d take care of her. But inside I was thinking: Please don’t die on my watch.”

Minneapolis: Upcoming call for stories

The Center for the Art of Medicine will host their next live storytelling show, For the Moment, at the Parkway Theater on April 30, 2026. Their call for stories opens in early December, so if you or someone you know wants to share a story, reach out to cfam@umn.edu to join the email list and learn more.

EXTENDED: Call for stories for Trust in Medicine series

We’re excited to announce our new podcast series, Trust in Medicine.This series explores how trust in healthcare is being built, broken, and reimagined in a rapidly changing world—where shifting guidelines, systemic inequities, and new digital voices all shape how patients and clinicians experience medicine today.

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