Hospitals can be pretty inhospitable places.
But not if nurse Jared Axen is beside you. “It’s easy to turn on the TV and walk away,” says the thirty-something nurse, explaining his philosophy on entertaining and comforting his patients. “Even if somebody’s having a bad day you can change their day.”
So how does Jared entertain and comfort his patients? He sings to them. “When I sing to them, they request less pain medication because they have less pain,” he explains. “It makes them happy.” He feels that by singing, he connects with his patients, who are often elderly, on a deeper level, and it makes him feel better too.
At the hospital in Valencia, California, Jared sings everything from show tunes to classic hymns to Frank Sinatra.
Watch this astounding and moving video as Jared brings tears to the eyes of one of his patients.
Serenading the sick became part of his daily rounds, gaining him the moniker “The Singing Nurse.”