Abington Memorial Hospital

 Approves Stroke Study
Program Notes 2–3
Bedside Harp® Community Sounds 4
Upcoming Events
Administrators’ Corner
5
5
W e have just re-
ceived word that
Bedside Harp®’s pro-
Ad Libitum 6 posed stroke study has
Encore! 7 vited to play a 10-
been approved by the
Institutional Review
THE BEDSIDE HARP® REPORT Board at Abington Me-
Edie Elkan, Founding Director morial Hospital in
Diana V. Nolan, Editor
Abington, PA. As re-
Neshaminy Medical Professional Center ported in the Research
4802 Neshaminy Boulevard, Suites 3–4 Supplement of The
Bensalem, PA 19020 Bedside Harp Report,
(PA) 215-752-7599; (NJ) 609-273-0068 our research will ask,
Facsimile: 215-752-0529 “Does the intervention
of harp therapy in the
earliest stages of a
Report
about an hour each
day, more often when-
ever possible. Partici-
tor of Bedside Harp.
Bedside Harp interns
and graduate harp
pants will also be in- therapists will deliver
the music and encour-
string lyre. The lyre age participants to
will be kept at the hos- make music them-
pital for the partici- selves on the lyres.
pant’s use throughout We hope this exciting
his/her hospitalization. project will take harp
Our investigative therapy to new levels.
team includes neu-
rologist Dr.
2009 MAY YTD
James M. Burke,
Number of patients
Deborah Murphy, in our host hospitals
MSN, RN, ANP- who received live

harp therapy ses-

BC Stroke Pro- 837 3,578
stroke have a positive sions lasting five or
gram Coordinator more minutes
impact on a patient’s
residual effects?” Live at Abington Me- Number of hours of
live harp therapy
harp music, often ac- morial Hospital delivered to pa-
tients, their loved
companied by voice, and Edie Elkan, ones, staff and
182 908
will be played at the MA, HCMHT, doctors at our host
hospitals
bedside for a period of Founding Direc-

Three New Mastery-Level Modules

Receive Rave Reviews
®

Mastery level candi- The courses, con- questions starting out

dates and graduates ceived of and created like, “What would you
alike were offered the by Founding Director, do if...” and “How
opportunity to partici- Edie Elkan, build one might you handle a
pate in our three new upon the other, much situation in which...”
modules—Module VII: like the four classroom got the ball rolling
Conversations on Ethics modules for the first each week. At the
for Harp Therapists; level of certification. course’s end, students
Module VIII: Conversa- These modules, remarked, “this course
tions on Research for though, delve more should be required for
Harp Therapists; and deeply into topics and every living human
Module IX: Harp Ther- offer participants being,” and “Before
apy as a Mind Body hands-on experiences. taking this course, I
Modality. All three were For example, Module never realized all the
well received by partici- VII on ethics, a 12- issues I could encoun-
pants and perhaps as week online course, ter.”
importantly, were has students work their The online course
deemed by them to be way through ethical on research, also 12
THE

absolutely essential dilemmas relevant to weeks, progressed

courses for anyone their work in harp logically from the eth-
wanting to deepen their therapy. In addition to ics course, but fol-
knowledge and profes- working chapter-by- lowed a unique for-
sionalism. chapter in our text, Continued on page 2
Page 1
cÜÉzÜtÅ aÉàxá
Continued from page 1
mat. The first part of the course pre-
pared students to take the NIH certifi-
cation for researchers, which all par-
ticipants accomplished in week seven
of the course. Students then used the
remaining weeks to collaboratively
prepare an actual harp therapy re-
search proposal, including conduct-
ing a formal literature review and
writing an informed consent. The
feedback we received on this course
was also enthusiastic. Everyone was
thrilled to have passed the NIH certi-
fication and in awe over the amount
of work and planning that goes into
every formal research project before
the clinical portion of the study can
commence.
The weekend of June 13 and 14
brought mastery-level candidates and
graduates together for the first pres-
entation of Module IX: Harp Therapy
as Mind Body Medicine. This inten-
sive 17-hour course explored the
many possible applications of harp
therapy not only in a medical setting,
but also in other settings, and coupled
with other integrative therapies such
as guided meditation and yoga, as
well as in developing private one-on-
one sessions. This evidence-based
course is based upon the specialized
training Edie received from 2004
through 2008 from Harvard Univer-
sity Medical School’s Benson-Henry
Mind Body Institute in Boston, Mas-
sachusetts. Our offering included
coursework on meditation, guided
Page 2
Bedside Harp® Spring
2009 class at Bucks
County Community
College—from left to
right: Graceanne
Adamo, Nancy
Ostroff, Betsy
MacKenzie-Stubbs
Kerry Huntington.
imagery, the relaxation response,
empathy, cognitive restructuring,
and, of course, a good amount of
music. What seemed to strike par-
ticipants particularly was how won-
derful it was to work with the other
therapies. One student commented,
“I feel very encouraged that I can
find places other than healthcare
facilities to offer harp therapy.” Sev-
eral others wrote that they were as-
tounded to realize the power of posi-
tive thinking and belief. This mod-
ule, as all of our mastery level mod-
ules, will be offered once a year. For
further information and dates, please
call our office.
Edie Elkan Speaks at the 18th Annual
Radiation Oncology Conference
The 18th Annual Radiation Oncol-
ogy Conference for Nurses, Thera-
pists and Dosimetrists is described,
in its brochure, as “a national sym-
posium providing state-of-the-art
knowledge pertaining to current
and evolving treatment options for
patients with cancer.” This year’s
sessions included information fo-
cusing on the entire trajectory of
radiation treatment, multi-modality
management of site specific can-
cers, patient assessment, side ef-
fects and quality improvement ini-
tiatives and harp therapy. As she is
always wont to do, Edie opened her
Bedside Harp® Now
A Corporation
When Edie founded Bedside Harp®
in February 2002, the lawyers she
consulted advised her to establish it
as a New Jersey Limited Liability
Company, because at the time it was
only a one-person endeavor and the
only contract she had in hand was
with Robert Wood Johnson Univer-
sity Hospital Hamilton, a New Jer-
sey hospital. Now, nearly eight
years later, Bedside Harp has seen a
rather remarkable expansion with
Edie still heading the organization,
but with many others actively in-
volved in all phases of its operation.
Edie felt that it was clearly time to
rethink things. And so from now on,
you will no longer see Bedside
Harp, referred to as an LLC, but
rather as a corporation—Bedside
Harp, Inc. Nothing more has
changed—we’re ever dedicated to
providing the highest quality pa-
tient-centered hospital hosted pro-
grams, to offering comprehensive,
evidence-based training and certifi-
cation, and to participating in
groundbreaking research.
presentation with a harp therapy ses-
sion, walking around the large con-
ference room, playing gentle and
healing music. Participants smiled,
some closed their eyes and breathed
more deeply, others just let the vi-
brations wash over them. Edie then
spoke, presenting evidence-based
data and punctuating each point with
a poignant case history. All in atten-
dance gave her a warm reception—
one attendee came up to Edie at the
close of the session and announced:
“Now I know why I traveled over
400 miles to come here—it was to
hear your presentation!”
THE BEDSIDE HARP® REPORT
 2009 Graduation
Ceremony Planned
Bedside Harp®’s 2009 Graduation
Ceremony will take place this year
on Sunday, August 16 at the Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital
Hamilton Center for Health and
Wellness. The ceremony will begin
at 2:00 PM in Hamilton, NJ.
This year’s graduates include Cer-
tified Harp Therapists: Kathy Platt,
Jim Sutherland, Jan Lucas, Jane
Oskutis, and Pat Stebbins. At the
Mastery Level, our new Certified
Master Harp Therapists will be Diane
Penchansky, Janet Zimmerly and Pat
Craig.
This year, Diane Grillo of
RWJUH Hamilton will be honored
with our Bedside Harp Living Leg-
end award for her work and support
of Bedside Harp’s program.
Harp Technician Provides Repairs and Regulations
Recently Bedside Harp®’s Ben-
salem office was a hub of activity
with the arrival of our official harp
technician, Brian Stevenson. Brian,
a certified harp therapist who
graduated from our 2007 certifica-
tion program, comes to Bedside
Harp about four times a year to do
repairs, regulations and restringing
of harps for Bedside Harp students,
interns and graduates.
Building harps has been a life-
long activity for Brian who built his
first small harp with his father years
ago. His father was a woodworker
all his life, and Brian had a passion
for music, talents they combined to
construct that first harp. As Brian
outgrew his small harp, they made a
larger one and continued to move
up in size until he was building, and
playing professionally, a pedal
harp.
Brian studied music and received
a performance degree in wood-
winds from Shepard University. He
went on to spend two years in a
seminary where he received a de-
gree in ministerial studies. But he
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2
Bedside Harp Offering Floor Harps for Sale
Currently in our showrooms, Bed- Dwight
side Harp is offering a number of Blevins in
floor harps for sale, in addition to Colorado. We
the Marie therapy harps that have have 22-string
been available for some time. Maries in
The floor harps in stock include a stock, ready to
Marini Shalom floor harp, fully lev- pick up and
ered with gold Truitt levers. The in- take home.
stock model is made of walnut Finally, as
wood, however the harp can be or- mentioned in
dered in a variety of woods. an earlier
There are also two Blevins River- newsletter, we
song models which also have 36 have 10-string
strings and gold Truitt levers. The Davidic lyres Riversong 36-string
Riversong offers a luscious tone made by floor harp
quality and great portability. It can Marini in Lan-
also be ordered in a variety of caster, PA. These will be used in our
woods; the ones in stock is made of upcoming stroke study (see page 2).
mahogany and cherry. For information on pricing or to
We also carry the Blevins 20-, make an appointment to visit our
22-, and 24-string Marie harps, showroom, please call Shannon at
made to Edie’s specifications by our Bensalem office: 215-752-7599.
continues to make and repair
harps, and currently makes his
living from harps—playing
music part-time in a church,
performing and teaching, in
addition to the technical work.
As our harp technician, Brian
stresses the difference between
a harpmaker and a luthier. A
harpmaker may simply be a
cabinetmaker who has decided
to build a harp, whereas a
luthier understands the sonic
properties of the wood and the
wood’s strength. He is a true
craftsman who understands the
tonal qualities necessary for a During a recent visit to our offices, Brian restrings
good, strong, long-lasting harp. a harp for a Bedside Harp intern.
A luthier will have played
around with different types of wood services, he also presents a popu-
and studied literature to understand lar segment during Module II of
those sonic properties. Brian rein- our Certification program on
forces his own expertise by consult- Myers-Briggs for Harp Thera-
ing with luthier Howard Bryant in pists—self-discovery through the
Lynchburg, VA who does major res- the use of the Myers-Briggs per-
torations of antique harps. sonality indicator. You can find
Brian comes to us from Manassas, out more about Brian’s schedule
VA where he lives and works. In and availability for repair work
addition to providing harp regulation by calling our office.
Page 3
Uxwá|wx [tÜÑ VÉÅÅâÇ|àç fÉâÇwá
We’re nearly ready to go home, and
I thought that I’d share with all of
you the last article that I’ve written
for our Joint Area Support Group
Newsletter. People ask me what it’s
like to be deployed, and I thought
that you might like to read this be-
cause it really sums up my thoughts
on what has happened to us
throughout this, my third deploy-
ment to a combat zone. I’ve directed
it to our troops and I’ve received
feedback from many and it echoes
the mindset of many of us.
Jan Koczera Ends Third Iraq Deployment
ing about, it doesn’t matter.
Here is what has happened to all
of us. Everyone of us has been
forced into a totally different life-
style, forced to meet and work daily
for months with people from com-
pletely different backgrounds, edu-
cation, nationalities, races and relig-
ions. We have learned that we can
accomplish the hardest tasks if we
will only work together and take one
step at a time. We have also learned
that probably the greatest single evil
in human society is to refuse to care,
to refuse to try, to refuse to step out-

W e are veterans, we see life in

a different way.
I want to share one last message
side of your comfort zone. We have
seen Iraq, and we’ve seen both great
hope and we’ve seen the worst that
from this deployment, because one human can do to another. We
something has happened to every are not the same.
one of us that you may not even be Veterans have a different way of
aware of. I’ve seen this happen looking at things and a different
twice now, and I know it will also set of priorities than everyone else,
happen this third time. We are all and you will find it happening to The other way is the way of under-
veterans now. We will all come off yourself, to your great surprise. standing. When you look at a per-
that plane in the United States and You will probably find yourself son, you will no longer be so quick
we will all (trust me, it’s true) think going one of two ways, and both to classify them by their education,
that our eyes have changed because are good and I want to encourage their skin color or their faith. In-
we will never quite see things the them equally. stead, you’ll know that every human
same way that we have before. One way is the way of involve- being has within them the potential
You probably won’t believe me as ment. People will share their com- for great achievement and at the
you read this, but it’s true. You will ments, criticism, frustrations and same time the potential for complete
not be the same. I’m not talking anger and they’ll ask you your opin- and utter failure, and you will find
about combat or seeing blood or any ion. You’ll give it, and they will re- yourself doing everything you can to
traumatic thing like that, although spond, “Nothing’s going to change, encourage them, to lift them up and
some of us have had that experi- why even try?” And you will find to set them on the path to success.
ence. Also, some of us have done yourself saying, “We’re going to try, You may feel alone as you do this,
very well, some of us have had sig- because we can and because it’s the but realize that there are thousands
nificant problems. It doesn’t matter. right thing to do.” And you will get of us out there who feel the same as
I’ll repeat that—for what I’m talk- involved and you will be a leader. you do. We are veterans, we see life
in a different way.
When you started reading this you
SUBSCRIPTIONS & ADVERTISING thought that you had come to the end
The Bedside Harp® Report is distributed to all Bedside Harp students and of this deployment and that you
graduates and other interested parties by email (free) or hard copy would return home and everything
($12/year). This quarterly newsletter is full of the latest information about will be normal again. Welcome,
Bedside Harp programs and new developments in our field. We accept clas- you’ve just come to the beginning of
sified and display advertising; please call for rates and details. We reserve an entirely new chapter in your life.
the right to reject or cancel any advertisement that we deem unacceptable. With God’s help, your life will never
To subscribe or to advertise, send your ad and mailing information to be the same again.
diana@bedsideharp.com. Bedside Harp, Neshaminy Medical Professional —Chaplain Jan Koczera,
Center, 4802 Neshaminy Boulevard, Suites 3–4, Bensalem, PA 19020. Bedside Harp Certification
Class of Spring 2007

Page 4 THE BEDSIDE HARP® REPORT

Administrators’ Corner: A Conversation with John Marcantonio
Robert Wood Johnson University contrast, Bedside Harp proposes
Hospital (RWJUH) at Rahway has therapy and waits for an invitation
been hosting Bedside Harp® pro- from the patient, often through non-
grams for about six years. Recently, verbal communication. This allows
our Founding Director Edie Elkan sat the patient a sense of dignity as well
down with John Marcantonio to learn as the right to say no.
about his experiences with our pro- John is also impressed with the
grams and our work. John Marcanto- depth of Bedside Harp’s connection
nio is the Director of Patient Satisfac- to healing. Many groups and indi-
tion and Community Relations at the viduals offer entertainment and dis-
hospital, as well as a presenter on self- tractions to the patients, however
discovery through dream work at our Bedside Harp provides a service that
certification modules. is much more substantial, rooted in
John told Edie he did not have to vibrational therapy, and more worth- our harpists brings the hospital
believe what he had heard about the while to the patients. This commit- “better” patients to work with and
program—he could see it for him- ment is also demonstrated in Bedside also makes the staff better able to do
self. At Edie’s first visit to present Harp’s level of quality and compe- their work, for the healing vibra-
our offerings, he shadowed her tency. Our graduates and interns tions are felt throughout the hospi-
through the hospital for a first-hand have undergone considerable train- tal, by staff, nurses and doctors, too.
view of how harp therapy works and ing in classroom materials, keeping Bedside Harp’s programs include
its effects on patients. He remem- documentation and journals, and in- lessons for the community within and
bers specifically a man in a hospital cluding practical internships of over outside the hospital. John also appre-
room who had been on a ventilator 120 hours. This commitment to com- ciates this way to reach out to the sur-
for a long time. After Edie played petency is familiar to all profession- rounding community and noted how it
for him, one of the nurses told them als who work in health care and thus helps raise awareness of the hospital
it was the first time his breathing an important aspect of our program and its services in general, in addition
had settled down and his blood pres- as it provides a level of safety and to the specific harp therapy program
sure went down. The patient smiled protection of the patients. they may choose to be a part of. Fi-
and his wife was in tears saying it As he noted, John witnessed the nally, he commented on the thirst for
was the first time she had seen him effects of harp therapy immediately objective knowledge that Bedside
smile in two weeks. when he shadowed Edie through the Harp pursues by way of research, at-
One of the features John most ap- hospital that first day. But as the pro- tempting to measure the effects of
preciates about Bedside Harp is our gram has become a regular part of harp therapy in visible and tangible
approach with patients. While the the RWJUH Rahway environment, ways.
hospital’s professional medical staff he has noted profound effects Bedside Harp has produced a
make every effort to include the pa- throughout the hospital. He sees a DVD of interviews of our host hos-
tient in their treatment plan, inevita- decrease in anxiety among patients, pital administrators talking about
bly the patient is diagnosed, pre- anxiety that can cloud clinical out- the differences our program and
scribed and treated, often losing a comes, thwart memory, and stand in work make in their facilities. For a
sense of freedom and privacy. In the way of important decisions pa- free copy of this DVD, please con-
tients need to make. The music of tact shannon@bedsideharp.com.
hÑvÉÅ|Çz XäxÇàá
June 13–14 Module IX: Bedside Harp’s Harp Therapy Workshops, Bensalem, PA.
June 24–28 Module III: “Glimpses Within,” Spring 2009, registration through BCCC.
June 23–26 American Harp Society, 38th Annual Conference, Dearborn, MI.
July 9–12 Somerset Harp Festival, Alexandria, VA.
July 30–August 2 Module IV: “Creating Work for Yourself/Creating Yourself for Work,” Fall 2008 and Spring 2009.
August 16 Bedside Harp Graduation Ceremony, RWJUH Hamilton Health and Wellness Center, 2:00 PM.
September 10–13 Module I: “To Soothe the Savage Breast,” Fall 2009.
October 15–18 Module II: “Glimpses Within,” Fall 2009.
November 18–22 Module III: “Working with the Depressed, the Seriously Ill and the Dying,” Fall 2009.

VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2 Page 5

Tw _|u|àâÅ Bedside Harp® Moments
I began my first day of playing for
patients on the floors. I felt both
anxious and eager to begin. As I
began to walk around the fourth
floor hallway, I suddenly could not
think of how to begin a song—any
song. Realizing I was nervous and
adjusting, I soothed myself by be-
ginning to play chords with both
hands. This seemed to automati-
cally turn into noodling and I now
felt like I was easing in.
I am familiar with hospitals, having
worked in that setting as a physical
therapist. Bedside Harp®, however, is
different. It is easier because I need to
do nothing but be present and play/
create a cradle of sound, and chal-
lenging as I am beginning to expand
my noodling and repertoire and learn
a new presence. I realized that I need
to leave more open time, in the fu-
ture, at the beginning and end of my
planned playing to settle in, ground
and re-enter my world outside patient
rooms and the hospital.
The first patient was a male in his
70s seated in the chair on far side of
room, watching TV. As I noodled he
looked up. I played “Danny Boy” as
he reminded me of my Irish friend’s
father. He applauded at the end, smil-
ing back at me, as nodded his head
and we made eye contact. His posture
seemed to change and he appeared to
be more relaxed and sitting back and
more upright in his chair as I left the
room. I will continue connecting with
individuals through sound and notic-
ing body language and hand move-
ments.
Next, a nurse approached me as I
left the above patient’s room, stating
“that’s my favorite song,” so I played
“Danny Boy” for her in the hallway
as she sang it and I hummed along.
She smiled broadly and said thank
you, her eyes and expression seemed
more awake as I concluded. I will
continue supporting staff as this is
vital to their health and to patient
care.
I stood in the doorway and noted a
Page 6
female in her 50s lying in the bed read-
ing. As I noodled she looked up at me,
her eyes seemed to curiously engage
what I was doing. As I played “Over
the Rainbow,” our eyes met. She
seemed mesmerized, almost transfixed
in the moment. Though words were
not spoken it seemed as if deep grati-
tude was expressed by each of us in
those expansive moments. As I left the
room I noted a male patient approxi-
mately in his 50s standing and listen-
ing in the hallway. He asked me if I
was an angel and I smiled. I continued
to noodle for him and played several
songs. He thanked me and said, “that is
beautiful.”
Music is an international language of
the soul, enabling individuals to meet
and share priceless moments of healing
together. I will continue to listen to and
observe the patient’s language as well
as my own to determine when, what
and how to move and play.
I entered another room, occupied by
two female patients. They were both in
bed, one on the telephone and one
looking around the room. I continued
with noodling, followed by familiar
songs. Both patients looked up and
smiled, saying thank you. A doctor
entered the room and stopped long
enough to say “that’s beautiful.” I
moved on as he closed the curtain at
his patient’s bedside. Playing affects
everyone, including staff and physi-
cians.
I entered a room occupied by a fe-
male in her 50s, a gentleman seated
next to her, and a woman in the far bed
in her 60s. The first female was on the
phone talking to someone about her
medical history and current hospital
stay. I noticed that the female in the far
bed was painting on a small easel on
her bedside tray. After noodling I be-
gan playing familiar tunes. The woman
on the far bed looked up at me and
asked, “Is that a harp?” I told her yes,
continuing to play. She continued to
look and observe, almost as if being
taken by surprise. As I played tears
came to her eyes and she let out a sigh.
She appeared drawn into the music.
As I concluded, she profusely
thanked me with tears in her eyes.
Music has such a deep impact when
it provides a cradle of sound in the
hospital environment. I will con-
tinue to paint pictures with musical
repertoire.
I began noodling in the doorway
of this next room, occupied by a
male patient in his 40s. He was ly-
ing in bed with a female visitor ly-
ing next to him. I began noodling
and playing “In the Mood” and
“Heart and Soul.” He began to hum
as I continued playing. He smiled at
me. The woman lying next to him
smiled as I played. Watching the
two individuals respond together to
the music was very inspiring, show-
ing me another bridge by which
individuals journeying together
through healing can come together
through music. I need to expand my
repertoire with love songs.
I entered the next room and began
noodling in the doorway. I noticed a
gentleman approximately in his 70s
seated next to his bed and facing the
doorway. Another patient was behind
a curtain in the far bed. I moved from
noodling into “In the Mood,” and the
former gentleman began tapping his
foot and smiled, stating “that’s from
our time.” He began to hum and con-
tinued tapping and moving his body
to the music. He asked about my harp
and I briefly explained that it is a folk
harp and I play through the Bedside
Harp program. I next played “Heart
and Soul,” and suddenly realized he
was seated on a bedside commode.
We had been together, enjoying the
music, as if nothing unusual were
happening while we listened. He
thanked me when I finished, stating
how much he enjoyed my playing. I
nodded and said thank you. I left and
began chuckling inside at playing “In
the Mood” while he had been seated
on a commode.
—Gina Rosenthal, Bedside Harp®
Certification Intern
THE BEDSIDE HARP® REPORT
XÇvÉÜx4 Shannon Barletti
I f you have contacted Bedside
Harp® for any reason in the last
couple of years, you have no doubt
already “met” Shannon Barletti. We
first introduced Shannon to readers
of The Bedside Harp Report in No-
vember 2007 when she was named
the Students Affairs Coordinator,
after working as an office assistant
since the spring of that year. Now
Shannon has taken on many respon-
sibilities and is the primary contact
for most of the people who contact
our organization.
In addition to coordinating stu-
dent affairs—which involves regis-
tering and enrolling students in our
instructional and certification pro-
grams, reviewing documentation by
our interns, and keeping track of
billing and invoices—Shannon man-
ages harp sales and rentals, handles
receptionist duties, supervises the
office assistants and oversees cleri-
cal work, and orders lunch! She
keeps the office organized and sup-
plied, and troubleshoots whenever
necessary, always willing to take on
any special projects that come up.
Edie Elkan notes, “Shannon is es-
pecially talented in creating our
homemade video and audio pro-
jects. She's become a real whiz at
cutting and editing. This past Fall,
she even took video camera in hand
and recorded our top hospital admin-
istrators talking to Edie about how
Bedside Harp made a notable differ-
ence at their facilities.”
Leslie Stickley, Bedside Harp’s
Associate Director, says, “Shannon
is not only Edie's right hand, she's
mine too. If I had to keep track of
students, times, registration at four
locations on my own, it just wouldn't
happen. Last minute cancellations, I
call Shannon and with a smile in her
voice she says ‘no problem!’ and I
know it will get done.
Bedside Harp teacher Nancy Beal
concurs: “She answers the phone
with such a professional ‘phone
voice’ that you always think you are
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2
the most important phone
call of her day.”
Leslie continues, “We can
email back and forth over
issues during the day and
get things resolved.” Nancy
adds, “she writes the happi-
est emails; I am always
cheered up when I hear
from her.”
Last-minute copying,
pulling supplies together—
Shannon makes it possible
for Leslie to work 50 hours
a week at St. Monica’s Manor and
teach. And Nancy notes that “a
small offering of milk (not dark!)
chocolate can brighten her day.”
Shannon came to Bedside Harp as
a senior at Bensalem High School
and her part-time assistant job has
now become full-time work in our
main office. Nevertheless, like many
other 20-year-olds, Shannon is also a
full-time student. She is in the nurs-
ing program at Bucks County Com-
munity College in Newtown, PA.
Just 12 credits shy of her Associates
degree in the Arts at Bucks, Shannon
expects to transfer to a clinical nurs-
ing program next year. She is a
Dean’s List student at Bucks with a
3.8 GPA and has been invited to join
their Honor Society.
As if this weren’t enough, Shan-
non is also a Board Certified
Emergency Medical Technician
with a pink stethoscope and a
bright orange “first-in” bag. She
volunteers at a local firehouse run-
ning the QRS—Quick Response
System—sending out EMTs to
provide medical assistance before
the ambulances arrive.
In high school, Shannon was in-
volved in the school music pro-
gram—vocal as well as instrumental.
Not surprisingly, she does not have
as much time for music any more.
However, she did learn to play the
harp and joins the harp circles when
they perform. Otherwise, in her
“spare time” Shannon enjoys cook-
ing and visiting jazz clubs in Center
City.
Leslie finishes by saying, “I
watch Shannon’s professionalism on
the phone, guiding students
through all their questions and con-
cerns and see how much this young
woman has grown and matured
since she came to Bedside Harp as
the copygirl!
“And, as someone who has had a
small part in helping her learn to
play the harp, while I wish she could
work at it more, she steps up last
minute and joins circle if we need
her. She’s already talented but,
when she finally has the time to
work at it someday, I think she'll be
a wonderful harpist and will hope-
fully get to enjoy the ability to take
this magical instrument to the bed-
side as part of her nursing career at a
much younger age than I was able
to! I don’t know what we would do
without Shannon!”
Five Things You Always Wanted to
Know About Shannon:
Favorite color: Green (have you
seen our latest stationery?)
Favorite musician: Harry Connick,
Jr. (have you heard what she plays at
her desk?)
Favorite food: Eggplant (at least
twice a week for lunch)
Favorite number: 7 (as in the differ-
ent tones in a major scale)
Favorite author: James Joyce (were
you expecting J.K. Rowling?)
Page 7

® tic use of the harp in healthcare. Committed to making a differ-
Neshaminy Medical Professional Center
4802 Neshaminy Boulevard, Suites 3–4
Bensalem, PA 19020
Phone (PA): 215-752-7599;
(NJ) 609-273-0068
Email: bedsideharp@aol.com
Our Mission and Core Values
The mission of Bedside Harp, LLC is to promote the therapeu-
ence in that setting, we play for patients, the worried well and
staff; teach staff and members of the community how to play
the therapy harp; provide harp therapy training and certifica-
tion; and participate in research projects. We exist to bring re-
lief, comfort and hope to patients, their families and all who
care for them. To achieve our mission, we are committed to:
E Excellence
P Professionalism
I Integrity
C Collaboration

Check out our

website!
www.bedsideharp.com

Thank you, Nina Kohl!

Neshaminy Medical Professional Center

4802 Neshaminy Boulevard, Suites 3–4
Bensalem, PA 19020
Phone (PA): 215-752-7599; (NJ) 609-273-0068
Email: bedsideharp@aol.com