When visiting a hospital, we often notice how nurses interact with their patients. Some are incredibly kind, while others—sadly—can be unwelcoming, especially toward the elderly. But at Valencia Hospital, patients speak of one nurse with nothing but admiration. His name is Jared Axen, and many lovingly call him the “Angel sent from Heaven.” Jared stands out because he has his own unique way of comforting those in his care—he sings to them. His soothing voice helps him connect with patients on a deeply personal level.
On his blog, Jared wrote, “Hospice isn’t about giving up. It’s about making every remaining moment—whether months, weeks, days, or hours—truly meaningful.” When asked how he became known as “The Singing Nurse,” his answer was simple and heartfelt: “When people ask what I do, I say I’m a musician or an artist… but I’m also a nurse. One day, I just started singing to my patients. Singing is who I am. A few patients told the media about it, and the rest is history.”
Since then, Jared’s extraordinary compassion has captured national attention.
He shared, “I was invited onto Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and The Doctors. I’ve done interviews all over the country. But I’ve been singing to patients since 2007—long before the TV cameras showed up.”
Jared remembers the first time he ever sang to a patient: he was in college, delivering medication to a woman who had just learned she had cancer. “I walked in singing,” he said. “She had been crying, but the moment she heard me, she smiled. That’s when I realized how healing music could be.”
To Jared, nursing begins “at the doorframe,” and his compassion has touched millions. In one emotional moment captured on video—a clip now viewed more than seven million times—his voice moved a patient to tears… and brought him to tears as well.