The  American  Nurse
2015

California Film Institute San Rafael, CA

with

Nita Lagleva Gibson

Senior Public Health Nurse, County of Marin

and

Dr. Darlene D. Francis

Associate Professor of Public Health and Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley

and

Dr. Margaret "Molly" Bourne

Medical Director, Serenity Knolls and Chief Medical Officer, Hospice by the Bay

and

Dr. Brian K. Kennedy

President and CEO, Buck Institute for Research on Aging

The American Nurse— All About Nurses

A panel discussion in honor of National Nurses Day.

California Film Institute San Rafael, CA

Film Synopsis

The American Nurse is a heart-warming film that explores some of the biggest issues facing America through the work and lives of nurses.

This documentary explores some of the biggest issues facing America—aging, war, poverty, prisons—through the work and lives of five nurses: Jason Short, who works with housebound patients in Appalachia; Tonia Faust, whose prison hospice program allows inmates serving life sentences to care for their fellow inmates; Naomi Cross, who coaches an ovarian cancer survivor through the Caesarean delivery of her son; Sister Stephen, who runs a nursing home where the entire staff comes together to sing for dying residents; and Army veteran Brian McMillion, who rehabilitates wounded soldiers returning from war.

About the Speaker

Nita Lagleva Gibson is the senior public health nurse for the County of Marin.


Dr. Darlene D. Francis is an associate professor of public health and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research program explores how biological, psychological and social processes interact over a lifetime to influence health and vulnerability to disease.


Hospice by the Bay Chief Medical Officer Dr. Margaret “Molly” Bourne is board-certified in Family Medicine, Addiction Medicine, and Hospice and Palliative Care. Dr. Bourne joined Hospice by the Bay as medical director in 2007, after practicing for 10 years in primary care and addiction medicine.


Dr. Brian K. Kennedy is the president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Currently, he studies the pathways that modulate longevity in life forms ranging from yeast to mice. A major focus of his current research is to study the target of rapamycin (TOR) pathways. One of the goals of his research is to determine whether pathways like TOR can be regulated to treat the diseases of aging.