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very day before he goes to work, Rob Davis fills his
pockets with a handful of rubber bands, a 3-foot-
long rainbow streamer, a silk handkerchief, a deck
of playing cards, cotton balls,
coins, a few dollar bills and
one stethoscope. Then he slips
on his bright green running shoes and gets
ready for his performance. The audience
is patiently waiting for his shift to begin at
Texas Health Harris Methodist, where Davis
works as a registered nurse with more than a
little magic up his sleeve.
Davis has been in nursing for over a decade
and just started the Master of Science in
Nursing Clinical Nurse Leader Program at
TCU. He fell in love with the art of magic when he performed at
his son’s birthday party two years ago. Today, he’s taking his magic
to the hospital floor and getting paid for creating wonder while
keeping kids — and adults — on the edge of their seats.
People say laughter is the best medicine, and Davis puts that
theory into practice. He uses cotton balls instead of red sponges
for a signature disappearing act, and brings out his deck of cards
for some well-timed trickery.
“I do it to get patients’minds off what’s going on,” he says. “And they
respond very well.”
In the cardiac unit where Davis works, a little
distraction from the gravity of the situation can
be just what the doctor ordered.
“If you start joking with them — getting their
mind off the pain — they’ll do better when you
get them up [after surgery].”
For Davis, 35, the relationship between magic
and nursing is no mystery at all. “Magicians make
a temporary change in somebody’s life and
create wonder, mystery. Nurses do true magic,”
he says. “We can save somebody’s life and make
an emotional impact on a person when they are at their most
vulnerable moment.”
Get a dose of Davis’s magic act by visiting his site,
RobDMagic.com.
The
MAGIC
of
NURS ING
E
“I DO IT TO
GET PATIENTS’
MINDS
OFF WHAT’S
GOING ON...”
By Sarah Angle
FEATURES
Harris College Magazine
- 2014 ·
11