A Work of My Heart~ what makes me tick

This video made me cry as I sit here late at night unable to sleep once again, tired from another long weekend working my 12 hours shifts in the ED. Somedays I just don't know if I can keep going, I am exhausted and get so tired of the constant complaining of patients that come into the ED for stupid crap that they should have gone to their primary care doctors for. They whine and fuss about the wait, the doctor, the staff blah blah blah, but then I have the pleasure of taking care of some absolutely fabulous people that are so nice. They can be so sick but still say thank you for the care I gave them, they can still smile at me and make my day, they can still make me feel like I do make a difference in somebody's life. Emergency medicine is a hard and fast environment, changing all the time, being prepared with your adrenaline in standby mode continuously  takes it's toll on a body, I can feel my heart racing up and down pumping excitement and energy to keep my brain cells clicking and my feet moving. My blood pressure I am sure does the same.
Yes I am an adrenaline Type A junkie I guess, I thrive on that excitement or even just the thoughts of a potential excitement.
Why do I do what I do? simply because I like it, love it! I like going the extra mile to just be the nurse that cares. The nurse that makes sure you have that warm blanket, socks on your feet, ice chips, ginger ale or crackers if you want them, makes sure your kids have that coloring book, stickers ,stuffed animal or some distraction to make their visit to the ER a positive one too. I am that nurse that focus's on care as a whole, you and your family/visitors, they are an important link in the chain of your survival when you leave, whether it is going home or being transferred out.
Nursing is not glamorous and the smells are not happy ones, if you know what I mean. The pay is good, but not nearly enough for the battle you will fight and the war wounds you will display. So nurses that stay in nursing for a number of years are usually in it for their undying love for the profession, not the cute shoes, uniforms or certainly not the hot doctors (they are all married or assholes).
Enough of my disertation....... time to watch this video that actually made me cry....enjoy! #Nurse On and #NurseUp your fellow nurses, they are all here with you for the long run! Show them some love too!
Watch this video and you will see why I have totally loved being in the nursing field since I started out as a junior volunteer(candy striper)  at age 15.

Needle Chickens and Tattoo Wonders~~

How many times have we as nurses encountered the tattoo covered wonders that are scared to death of a needle. The cartoon above may be a bit overboard, but I thought it was funny. And since when do the doctors give the shots...lol.

Have a great week this week and stay safe please!
Leslie

Free Compliments for Nurses or anyone else

Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it.
Swedish Proverb

From the fantastic Nursetopia blog I wanted to share this poster that I am taking to work with me in the morning. Going to pay back kindness and make my coworkers day!! We all need to feel appreciated and part of the team, even the guy who mops the floor is an integral part of our team.
Kindness spreads like fire, a simple smile can make the day of another nurse, doctor, family member who needs a lift.
Work is hard enough; share the love. You can download your own on the Nursetopia site and save to your computer to share with your boss and others on your team. Click the image to go there.

From the oh so even wonderful Kind over Matter blog

is even more "Kind over Matter" if you will say. 

I love this blog just as much, such positive vibes flow. 

The poster is another that you can place in your break room to  pass on

the kindness 

Click the image to go to the page and download

quoted from the KOM website, some grand stuff: 

Before I became a work-at-home mama I rocked a day job in health care. I was a nurse's aide in quite a few different settings. I worked all three shifts throughout the 7 years that I worked in the field. I worked in a handful of nursing homes, personal care homes, a rehabilitation center, an assisted living complex & then finally, in home health care. I really did love helping people but it was a SUPER stressful profession, both mentally & physically, especially when we were understaffed. What would make or break my day would be who was on with me that shift. At one point, during my first year of work, I worked with SUCH an amazing TEAM. Like, we got shit done, we didn't skimp, we all loved our residents to pieces & we worked TOGETHER to finish our tasks & raise the quality of our residents' lives. We went that extra mile to make each other smile too. It was truly a beautiful thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Another great reminder is Kate Swoboda's Love Letter to the World

 Kindness really is contagious, maybe you can get the bug to spread in your place of work by taking one of the steps below! It won't hurt, I promise!

Start Small. Most of the things I am about to mention will take you no more than 5 minutes or less to do. Say thank you, make coffee, tidy the break room, do the dishes, have a sense of humor, SMILE MORE, complain less, don't gossip, give praise freely. Be Kind, Be Kind, BE KIND. You probably spend an upwards of 2,000 or so hours with your co-workers a year. You should really try to make it a positive experience for yourself & those around you.

Bring Food. Bagels, chocolate, fruit, donuts, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, a veggie tray... chocolate! It doesn't matter what it is. Bring it. Share it. Bake something & bring it in (Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!?), a covered dish, anything will surely be a huge hit! You don't have to go all out either, stop at your local grocery store pick up some fresh or frozen bagels & a tub of cream cheese, a box of donuts, pick up some coffee on your way to work or better yet, offer to run out & pick up a coffee or food order.

Start a Gratitude Board. As I was scouring Flickr for photos to feature in this post I ran across the one above. Her company has a "Thank You Board" - whomever has the most notes each month wins Employee of the Month & is rewarded. Of course, whomever has been the employee of the month the most throughout the year becomes the employee of the year at the end of the year! Love this idea, so much.

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
William James

Show Your Appreciation. This harmonizes with the suggestion above because I feel that is extremely important & want to emphasize on it more. Maybe one of your co-workers showed you how to do something or to get more personal, shared with you a great book, song, poet or movie that you deeply enjoyed. Let them how much you appreciate them by saying Thank You, maybe you can return the favor. Show them how grateful you are by acknowledging them, you can pass along the goodness they shared with you to someone else. When you do, don't let the person that turned you on to or helped you with something out of the story. Not only is it one of the most important parts of the story but by doing so, the gift of appreciation will continue to be given to them & that my friends, is truly a beautiful thing.

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise & confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.
Author Unknown
Share Yourself & Encourage Others to Do the Same. Open up, let yourself be seen. This will make you vulnerable but it will also be the only way you will connect on a deeper level. Hang photos of your loved ones, display mementos of your interests & passions (ummm, don't go overboard though!) If you have an office, keep your door open as much as possible. When folks arrive make them feel welcomed. (Did I mention chocolate?!) Share the important things in your life. Ask about the important things in your co-workers' lives. Sometimes all anyone needs is someone to talk to.

So, if you rock a day job... commit yourself to being Kind. It really does go a long way.

On another note: Important Please Read!

Nurses live and work in such stressful environments that sometimes we tend to turn on ourselves, forget who we are and hurt each other. Lateral violence or horizontal violence among nurses is on the rise and should not be tolerated. As a victim of this kind of violence I really was not aware of it until I stepped away and looked back.

If you are suffering at work, hate your job, never get any kindness, other nurses are treating you unfairly and/or your management is also treating you unfairly. You need help. You need to think seriously about your life, your job and your happiness. How can you take care of your patients when you are not happy yourself.

Think about that a while

Leslie 

Some Clean Nursing Humor..sorta

Friday is fun and so is being a nurse especially an ER nurse, we seem to be a special breed. ER nurses have a "special kind" of humor that you don't share with the ladies in your church group.We mean no harm, it is a coping mechanism for me to get thru the trauma of my day or night shift. When you see nothing but sickness and despair, you need a good laugh to brighten your cloudy day. So laugh on people!!


A spoof of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" done by two Indiana Wesleyan University 2009 Nursing majors. This video is about hospital handwashing guidelines. All rights reserved by Joel Ferguson and Corey Sizelove.






The UAB ER rap was concepted and created by ER nurses for a National Nurses' Week contest and celebration. UAB nurses and other staff members are featured in the video.


A spoof of Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback" done by the University of Alberta 2010 Med class. Wenckebach is a type of cardiac arrhythmia.

And the last one Rocks!! I love this! UAB you are the bomb!!
"I ain't afraid of no Stroke!!  if I act FAST that is...