Years after guiding a family through the challenges of advanced heart failure, a nurse practitioner discovers that her care and compassion helped shape another future nurse

For Joan Parise, MS, RN, ANP, nursing had always been a calling. Growing up with asthma, the director of clinical affiliations for the MGH Institute's School of Nursing spent a lot of time around medical professionals, developing an early fascination with the field. That interest carried her into a career as a nurse where she spent years working in general medicine and cardiac intensive care, and eventually as a nurse practitioner in advanced heart failure and transplant. What drew Parise to working with heart failure patients was the holistic approach it required. She didn’t just want to treat illness; she wanted to educate and support the difficult emotions it brought for patients and their families as well. 

This commitment had a profound impact on the life of Ellen Sohmer. At the age of 11, Sohmer’s father, John, became ill with congestive heart failure. He underwent treatment and spent over 300 days waiting for a new heart. At the time, Parise was the inpatient nurse practitioner responsible for his care, and throughout that year she became a steady source of compassion and support for Sohmer’s family. 

“So much was out of our control. Being able to be in control of my understanding was great, and I think that brought a lot of solace to me,” said Sohmer. “The info and the friendliness of all of his nurses, especially Joan, is what made me feel so comfortable and made my family comfortable.”

She didn’t realize it at the time, but Sohmer was witnessing the kind of nursing that would inspire her own interest in medicine. One of her most cherished memories was what the unit called “Swan Holiday.” Her father had a Swan-Ganz catheter, a line placed in his neck to monitor heart pressure and on Fridays, patients would have it removed. Sohmer happened to visit on one of those Fridays. Parise put a mask on Ellen at her father’s bedside and guided her through the process while removing the line.

John Sohmer eventually received a successful heart transplant, and life went on. Ellen Sohmer grew up, went to college at Fordham University in New York, and pursued digital design, but in the back of her head the curiosity remained. One day during her internship while sifting through photos of meatball subs for a client’s social media feed, she realized she wasn’t quite satisfied. 

“I felt like I can offer a lot more to people,” Sohmer said. “Something deeper, emotional, and hands on.”

Around that same time, her father’s health began to decline again. He developed kidney failure and then pneumonia. The family made the difficult decision to shift to hospice care. Not long after his passing, Parise reconnected with Ellen’s mother through Facebook. Parise had never forgotten the family even though it had been over a decade since she had seen them. She had even kept a photo of herself with John taken during a fundraiser years before.

After reconnecting, Ellen Sohmer met with Parise virtually and shared her own interest in becoming a nurse, a career that felt truly meaningful. 

“Once I saw her and heard her voice, it brought back so many happy memories.” Sohmer recalled. “She encouraged me to get my foot in the door as a nurse assistant.”

Parise was equally moved. 

“I just had no idea of how much of an impact I had made on her,” Parise said. “You don’t expect it to happen when you’re just taking care of patients, but it does and that’s why we’re nurses, because we’re willing to extend on the emotional side.”

Encouraged by Parise, Sohmer decided to start again. She became a nurse assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital, then applied to the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, where Joan was teaching. 

“I couldn’t pass up being in Boston,” Sohmer said. “Being where my dad got great care and having Joan as a mentor motivated me to choose the IHP.”

The year was challenging, but Sohmer had Parise to turn to for encouragement. Parise reminded her of how proud her father would be and shared stories from those hospital days.

And then, life brought the story full circle.

At commencement, Sohmer walked across the stage and shook hands with faculty until she heard a voice call her name. She looked up to find Parise standing at the end of the stage, diploma in hand. 

“We both burst into tears,” Sohmer laughed. “What are the chances out of the hundreds of people teaching and studying at IHP that she happened to be the one handing out diplomas. That was incredible and such a beautiful sign.”

For the pinning ceremony that took place a few weeks later, Sohmer asked Parise to be the one to pin her. Despite it being her wedding anniversary, Parise and her husband came.

“It was just really touching because her whole family was thinking, this is what he [Somer’s father] would have wanted,” Parise said. “I could cry about it right now. It’s the biggest honor that you could ever be asked.”

For Sohmer, it felt like a culmination of all her life experiences.

“I hope to bring what Joan has brought,” Sohmer said. “When one of my dad’s cardiologists wanted to send him home, Joan trusted her gut and advocated. That is what I aspire to be.”

Today, Sohmer works in New York, beginning her nursing career but carrying Boston, and Parise with her. One day, she hopes to return home and maybe even work alongside her mentor.

For Parise, her connection to Sohmer and her family is especially meaningful to her own history. 

“My mom worked as a nurse’s aide, but she never got the chance to go to nursing school. When I was pinning Ellen — even though she’s not my own — it just felt generational.”