Nurses Are The Worst..........What?

Nurses are many things to many people, we are called many things from angels to saints, but the one thing I can admit myself is that this nurse is the worst.....patient. Yes, I have a hard time doing what I should be doing, taking care of me. I am getting better at it though, I have learned that oh so hard lesson of saying no and not taking on so much. Lessons I have had to learn the hard way, trial by fire. 
Giving so much of ourselves to others and the inability to say "no" can leave any nurse without the proper time to care for herself or himself. Burned out nurses leave the profession everyday because they forget the importance of self care.

Self  care is as important as patient care now, you must advocate for yourself because nobody else will. 

Many of us work 12 hours, night shifts, over-time, 2nd jobs, go to school, then turn around and have to go home to a house full of kids, disabled spouses or elderly parents that might be ill too. I know I work a weekender position, but often feel like I work 7 days a week due to the stressors of having a disabled husband and homeschooling my kiddos. There is always something at our house to do or somewhere to go. 

Have you ever gone to work tired, irritable, lacking sleep and felt like you took that frustration out on your coworkers or even your patients? How about going to work and feeling sicker than the patients that you were caring for? Those things should not be happening. 

Taking care of yourself on a daily basis, balancing work and home environments, decreasing the level of stress you feel and learning some tools to educate yourself so you can be your own healthcare advocate will lead to a nurse that enjoys taking care of others again.

List of Awesome Self Care Tools: these are just some of the things that I find to be helpful

1. Learn how to say "NO"- this is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your family. You don't have to do it all, your kids don't need to do every sport or club at school, let them pick one they love. The time you spend at home as a family they will cherish more later on. 
2. SLEEP- your body heals itself and repairs itself while you sleep, you have got to get some sleep!! forget this staying up all day and trying to work all night long (unless you want to land in a ditch dead one day- that's where you are headed). I use essential oils to help me sleep, a little lavender or vetiver oil on my feet at bedtime and I have no trouble sleeping day or night.
3. ROUTINE- get yourself into a routine- your body will thank you- your sleep will come easier- for instance I work night shifts on the weekends, so my routine is to stay up all night at home on Friday nights and sleep on Saturday- my family knows this is my routine and I get my sleep, everybody is happy and I am awake to drive to work safely. What kind of routines can you set up during the week? Make a white board for the kitchen and write your routine on it, tell the family you are going to follow this, they will love you for it.
4. Eat whole foods, fresh foods and don't go without meals- this is just a no brainer, Food is energy..........if we don't eat, we don't get the fuel we need to function. Crap in is Crap out.....right?
5. Add Probiotics to your daily supplement regimen - this is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself healthy. Your gut health is one of the most important things, it is like your 2nd brain! Billions of good bacteria live in your gut and they need to stay healthy to help you fight off any threats to your immunity. Just do it! 
6. Exercise- yes I know you are saying, when am I gonna fit that into my busy schedule, well a walk 3 time a week will make you feel so much better I am telling you. Even though I have arthritis and chronic pain, I can manage to get some walking into my busy schedule so I know you can do it too. Work your way up to swimming, biking, hiking and other activities that you can do together as a family. We love to go hiking in the mountains, it does not even feel like we are exercising but we are. Exercise is fantastic for your mood and your joints!
7. Laugh! humor is such a stress reliever, smile daily and find something to laugh about. Think positive and your life will be positive. 
8. Music soothes the savage beast-- you! I love to crank up the tunes and just get lost in the music when I am in the car, it helps me calm down and destress on the way home from work.
9. Leave your work at the door!! As an ER nurse for over 28 years now I have learned many strategies to cope with the things we see in the ER. The biggest thing is learning to leave it at the door when I clock out, that has helped me more than anything. I don't take my job home with me, or talk about what happened at work with my spouse or kids. It's just like a switch, I just turn it off. ( Unless something tragic happened, we debrief and talk at work before we even leave work- highly recommended).
10. Get organized-- get a day- planner and write everything in that planner, including your days off work, trips to the spa, your mani-pedi appt, all the things you can look forward too, schedule date nights with your significant other. Organize your house, keep things simple, don't overwhelm yourself with clutter. Plan and keep a routine for cleaning,laundry grocery shopping, bill paying etc. 
11. Slow down and Breathe! learn meditation- it is a great way to connect with your inner self and de-stress. Prayer is a fantastic way to help you in your self care journey. 
12. Try Aromatherapy- I discovered the power of essential oils and have fallen in love with the wonderful benefits they have provided my family and my health. We have felt so much better since discovering the value of these gifts from above that have been around for billions of years.
13. Unplug and get outside- yes you can do it, leave that phone, tablet, laptop or other digital device off and get outside, breath some air, smell the flowers or fresh crisp leaves or newly cut grass. We spend so much time connected to our devices that we have lost the connection to ourselves and others.
14. Explore Alternative Holistic Healthcare Options- we are always taught to use western medicine in our healthcare practices that we often forget the benefits of other types of medicine out there. I am learning so much more about the natural medicine model and a more "whole body" &  holistic approach to medicine. Medicine is much more that just prescribing a pill all the time, right?

These tips and tools are only good if you apply them, your patients, coworkers and family will surely appreciate a nurse that is the best ..................nurse he/she can be.

This post was written as part of the Nurse Blog Carnival. More posts on this topic can be found at http://thebossynurse.com. If you are interested in participating find out more details and sign up.

Healing Presence Is An Art Form #ArtofNursing #nurseblogcarnival #nurses #finearts

The art of nursing - that healing presence and patient-focused practice first envisioned by Florence Nightingale.

When we think of the term " fine art" most often we envision a beautiful painting, sculpture or drawing comes to mind doesn't it? Nursing and healing is not the first thing that pops into your head when you think fine art, but the art of nursing is a fine and artful profession.

The Fine Arts
Nursing Art dates back many years to times of our predecessors. I love vintage nursing art and photography from all eras. The nursing profession has come such a long way since cotton cloth bandages and needles sharpened by the nurse, not some sterile factory many miles away. Necessity was the father of invention most days as nurses used whatever means they had to heal and care for the sick and wounded.

Timeless is the the quote from Florence Nightingale, "Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with the dead canvas or dead marble, compared to having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said the finest of Fine Arts."

The Mission Field

Nursing is an art of devotion, it requires a type of selfless hands on healing presence. No matter the era of time or style of uniform worn nursing the sick and injured has the same from the heart art of caring and skillful touch of the "nurse". Task oriented robot nursing has no place in the "art" of true caring and healing, but sadly so many young nurslings go into this field with the task at hand attitude. Financial gains can also lead a nurse into the profession for some wrong reasons. 

Most of us can agree that we did not go into nursing for the monetary gain, but something more....something deeper within our beings. Many nurses like myself felt a spiritual calling from above to care for others. I have always called my work my mission field, as God seems to lead me in the path of those patients that most need my care or experiences. 

These Hands of Mine:

These hands of mine do not appear like a work of art that anybody wants to look at, they are worn, tired, wrinkled now and dotted in age spots, scarred up and poorly manicured. If my hands could talk they might just tell you of the many years they have been a healing presence in healthcare. How they helped me put on that very first jr volunteer (candy-striper) uniform so proudly at age 15, that eventually lead me into the field of nursing (even though I wanted to be a veterinarian).

These wrinkles might tell you many happy and sad stories of over 28 years of working in the Emergency Department, of holding many hands and giving many hugs to patients, families and co-workers. The power of touch has such a healing effect, these hands have tried to make a difference in the compassionate care we give others. Just like we use our ears to listen, we use our hands to open that conversation up and say "I care about you".  These hands have held newborn babies as new life emerges, and held the dying as life faded away. There has to be an art to using your hands I believe.

The Art Of Nursing

Nursing is a timeless art of healing and devotion to care. No matter what area you work in or what level of education you may have we all practice a selfless beautiful art form. Like the painter focus's on the blank canvas, the nurse focus's on her patient and paints a picture of compassionate healing. She/He uses the tools of the nursing practice (stethoscope, bandages, scissors and such) like the artist uses a brush or sculptor uses tools to sculpt a form. 

Art of Self Care, Self Love:

Remember to also take time to focus on yourself as the healer, your ability to practice your art form is only as good as you are. The Art of self-care is just as important in our lives as caring for our patients is to our mission fields. The artist can not paint if he is not well enough to lift his paint brush to the canvas and paint the picture that is from his heart.

The same thing is true for the healthcare provider that does not feel well, the care that flows from your hands is just not the same as when you are healthy and able to give your full attention to the tasks at hand, caring for your patients. 

The Art of Nursing 2.0 May 5-8th 2015 is a great way to help you practice, heal your spirits and improve your art form, check out the event and sign up HERE! This 4 day virtual event coincides with Nurses Week this year. 

This post was written as part of the Nurse Blog Carnival. More posts on this topic can be found at  ElizabethScala.com. Find out how to participate click the box below and join us!