AS DOCTORS, NURSES AND other healthcare workers around Orange County came together to celebrate their faith and profession, one Orange County nurse manager shared her own story of being a servant leader.
The Diocese of Orange held its annual Healthcare Profession Mass, known as the White Mass, on Oct. 19 at Christ Cathedral’s Arboretum. The Mass, which dates to the late 1800s, is offered for healthcare workers and mental health providers. It is called the White Mass because of the number of white coats in the audience. The Mass is held around the Feast Day of St. Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of physicians and surgeons.
THE WHITE MASS DATES TO THE LATE 1800S AND IS OFFERED FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS. PHOTO BY IAN TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Fr. Bao Thai, rector of Christ Cathedral, presided over the Mass and spoke about how healthcare workers carry out their mission in hospitals through quiet acts of care, long nights of vigilance and gentle words to a frightened patient, he said in his homily.
“We gather today in deep gratitude and reverence for this White Mass, a celebration to honor those who serve in the sacred work of healing: our doctors, nurses, therapists, chaplains, caregivers, support staff and all healthcare professionals,” said Fr. Bao in his homily. “Your vocation is more than a job; it is a ministry. A calling. A mission.”
Endocrinology nurse and practicing Catholic Jennifer Christensen is a nurse manager at City of Hope Orange County. She oversees the main clinic at the Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, where as many as 400 patients are served on a busy day. Christensen, a mother of two whose home parish is St. Timothy Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel, didn’t originally set out to be a nurse. She earned her first degree in philosophy but had no interest in law.
ST. TIMOTHY PARISHIONER JENNIFER CHRISTENSEN (LEFT) WORKS AS A NURSE AT CITY OF HOPE ORANGE COUNTY. PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF HOPE ORANGE COUNTY
Always a caretaker with a strong interest in medicine, Christensen decided to pursue a second degree in nursing. Growing up Catholic, Christensen credits her faith for helping to instill the importance of kindness and caring for others. Her family was one who never missed Mass for sports, said grace before dinner, prayers before bed and talked about God at the dinner table — but it was in an authentic, not heavy-handed, way.
When Christensen started working at City of Hope, she originally thought working with cancer patients would be too difficult.
“I never thought I’d work with cancer patients,” she said. “I actually always thought it would be too hard to build relationships with patients and then the outcome isn’t always what you want it to be.”
But when Christensen started at City of Hope in September 2020 to help initiate its endocrinology department, she found the job gratifying. Even with patients who were going to die, she found it rewarding to help them onto a pathway toward death that is peaceful.
“These are some of the kindest, most generous patients,” she said. “They are going through chemotherapy, they are losing weight, they are sick, they are in pain, they have chemo brain fog and yet, they are still the nicest, most wonderful people and they are so grateful for the care they get.”
Christensen said nursing for her is all about the patients; many of them become like family. She prays for and with her patients and helps them remember that God has a bigger plan for them. The more time she spends with patients and gets to know them, the more their barriers come down, and you can help them, she said.
“If you build relationships with those patients,” Christensen said, “then you can really get down to helping them help themselves.”