Biden's Speech Discussing a Military Nurse Who Cared For Him Goes Viral
Pearl Nelson, a nurse at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, has made national headlines thanks to President Joe Biden. President Biden was delivering a speech on Tuesday about healthcare policy in Virginia Beach when he told the story about a nurse that cared for him.
Biden Felt a "Human Connection" With The Nurse
“When I was at Walter Reed all that time, after a couple of craniotomies, I was lying there. And I had a nurse named Pearl Nelson, military. She’d come in and do things that I don’t think you learn in medical scho- — in nursing school,” said President Biden.
He later went on to say,” She’d whisper in my ear. I didn’t — couldn’t understand her, but she’d whisper, and she’d lean down. She’d actually breathe on me to make sure that I was — there was a connection, a human connection.”
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The entire speech can be found on The White House’s briefing room website.
The President Has Talked About Pearl Nelson Before
This isn’t the first time that President Biden has shared the story of Pearl Nelson. X Strategies LLC senior digital strategist Greg Price shared a tweet from Grabien founder Tom Elliott from July 22, 2020.
.@JoeBiden: "I had nurses at Walter Reed hospital who would bend down and whisper in my ear, go home and get me pillows. They would … actually breathe in my nostrils to make me move, to get me moving.” pic.twitter.com/hxW1UYs7Ba
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 22, 2020
President Biden’s remarks did receive some interesting replies, especially on social media, but he praised healthcare workers, especially nurses.
He said, 'And, by the way, you docs are good, but if there’s any angels in Heaven, they’re all nurses — male and female. You know why? You guys let us — you guys make us — allow us to live. Nurses make you want to live. I’m not joking.”
About Nurse Pearl Nelson
According to the Maryland Board of Nursing, Pearl Nelson was first issued a Maryland nursing license in 2000. It expired in 2011. Per her LinkedIn, she was employed as a clinical nurse specialist at Walter Reed for over 17 years leaving in 2003.
