It’s the eve of Halloween, and it’s time for...
We have some fabulous reads today... a few quite creepy to satisfy the occasion and others to make you smile and touch your heart.
Let's go!
First of all, my friend TherapyDoc at Everyone Needs Therapy shared some tips and an entertaining yet “frankly” alarming story for us on About Those 8 Ways to Spot a Dishonest Date. (How’s that for scary?) “I’m not gonna lie,” but her post is totally interesting. “Honestly”... you may giggle, but it will leave you thinking!
Disappearing John, an ER nurse, writes about A Strange Outbreak in his area. What kind of outbreak, you ask? Well, it seems that in Arizona, people are coming down with pseudocyesis. Don’t know what that is? In a few words, it’s a false pregnancy. Yep, all the symptoms but no fetus. (Halloween appropriate? You can decide...) Ignoring all of the thoughts running around my head on mental illnesses and the multifaceted, overwhelming emotion behind some women’s desire for children... we’ll move right along. (But still... how would this rare syndrome be occurring repeatedly in one area?)
Braden snuck in two posts! How trick-or-treat-y of him! An ER nurse who is threatening us with morphine (I’m serious - check out his profile!) has two very great posts on “Never Events.” The first: It Isn’t a Never Event if it Isn’t Called a Never Event will probably make you laugh out loud. I did. Jump in and add your ideas for creative charting! His second post, Serious Never Events will make you stop and think. In our healthcare society, how dare a patient be held responsible for their own actions!! Right? Uhh... wait a minute... It’s our job to solve all of their problems and keep the inevitable from happening? Now that’s scary.
On another scary note, Karin proposed an interesting thought on her blog: It’s Over: The Nursing Shortage. As a nursing student, you may think that I am alarmed, but I’m not. I’ve actually wondered the same thing myself. The “shortage” the associations and media tell us about.... The one that makes naive high school seniors go to nursing school with big dreams of money and mansions and a fabulous schedule and cute scrubs? Yep, that one. Join in on the discussion in the post’s comments. [Disclaimer: Many people go into our field for the right reasons, but there are those who jump right in because they hear someone exaggerate the job security, benefits, hours, salary... I mean no disrespect to either. :)]
Perhaps a spooky coincidence, Nurse Laura at NurseConnect posted Are Nurses Feeling the Pinch?, proposing questions about our profession and the current state of the United States economy. How is it affecting us? Our jobs? Our job security? New nursing prospects? Nursing education? Join in the discussion. There’s truly a lot to think about.
Whew....
All this Halloween craziness and overall critical thinking sending your head for a spin? Neuro guru Alvaro submitted a post he wrote interviewing a University of Oregon neuroscience professor, Dr. Posner, about his research on the idea of Training: Attentional and Emotional Self-Regulation. It’s a very interesting read. Just watch out though - there’s a little scare hidden in there. Just click the link to the Stroop Test when you get there. Dr. Posner’s little teaser might just make you feel umm... not that smart! (Or it might just make you remember that you really needed to get a few more hours of sleep last night!)
And speaking of your head, I bet you’re wrong on something. Male nurses. Did you really know that they’ve been in our the care-taking role longer than women? Kathy at NurseConnect has all the details in A History Lesson on the Male Nurse. It’s quite interesting, and if you know much about feminism and its history, it’s even more interesting... perhaps upsetting. Nursing and related activities - whatever it was called at the time - has always gone through cycles being esteemed to being lowly and primitive. You’ll learn from Kathy that a long time ago (BC, not 1800!), it was a distinguished honor only for men. Funny how during a few of nursing’s “better” times, it was during the men’s role in the profession. Go check out this little history lesson and don’t forget to love the male nurses! I think they bring an entirely different mindset to the table and have many strengths and weaknesses that complement ours in the healthcare setting.
Next, let’s take a little break from the “scary” and go visit Running Wildly.... She sent in two posts, and they are both fabulous. Post-survival is near and dear to my heart since it’s her thoughts on wrapping up nursing school and getting ready to rejoin the world! (We all know that nursing students have no time to eat or sleep or breathe, let alone be a human being with an actual life...) In her post, she reminisces on what nursing school is and isn’t and how it has changed her. Next, you have to check out Jigsaw Puzzle - a moving story unfolds in the ER’s trauma room. There’s rushing and yelling and CPR and chaos. There’s no time for anything but fighting for a life. Sadly though, this time, medicine and the resilience of the human body aren’t enough. Running Wildly gently compares nursing with he lping patients put together the jigsaw puzzle of life. Unfortunately, sometimes the pieces don’t go together like the picture on the box. Her story and analogy are beautiful.
While we're on the more serious side, let’s not forget that today wraps up Breast Cancer Awareness month. Is breast cancer screening always a good thing, or does it sometimes do more harm than good? Even we as healthcare providers receive mixed information, so what is a patient to do? Are we accurately informing them or shying away from the topic because we don’t know ourselves? Thankfully, Sandy at Junkfood Science sorts out both arguments for us in Brest Cancer Screening - What's Right for You? It’s a long read, but every bit of it is packed with info. Sandy definitely did her research! Take your time to peruse her post and understand both sides. Knowledge is power, and we need to be well-versed both for ourselves and for the ability to equip our patients with the fair options they deserve.
And on that note, let’s wrap things up by talking more on informed decisions and being knowledgeable on both sides of an issue. Dr. Jessen from Highlight HEALTH showed me his fabulous post that is just full of information and links on both candidates' perspectives on healthcare topics. He was very clear in telling me that he sent this to Grand Rounds, too, but due to the election being less than a week and my belief that everyone is entitled to fair, unbiased knowledge, I’m recommending that you read his post, the 2008 Presidential Candidates on the Issues of Biomedical Research and Healthcare.
And that's all for this time! See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? We got a little freaked out in the beginning but by the end, it was more treats than tricks, right?
Thank you so much to everyone who submitted - all of the posts were wonderful, and it was a pleasure to read each one of them. Also, thank you to everyone who is reading this and supporting the nursing blogosphere. Take your time to explore these great posts, comment, learn, and make new friends.
Want some more good nursing stories? Check out my sidebar for info on a fabulous brand new compilation of hope-related musings by nurses called Meditations on Hope. (And sorry, shameless and way-excited plug here... one of the contributing writers was none other than yours truly!)
Oh and don’t forget to be thinking of your posts to submit for the next Change of Shift over at Flight Nurse's blog!
Have a Happy Halloween!
So fail. Be bad at things. Be embarrassed. Be afraid. Be vulnerable. Go out on a limb or two or twelve.
You will fall, and it will hurt
But
the farther you fall,
the higher you will rise
The higher you rise, the clearer your future becomes. Failure is a gift, welcome it. There are people who spend their whole lives wondering how they became the people they became, how certain chances pass them by, why they didn’t take the roads less traveled. Those people aren’t you. You have front row seats to your own transformation and in transforming yourself, you might transform the world.
It will be electric,
and I promise it will be terrifying.
Embrace that;
embrace the new person you’re becoming.
This is your moment.
I promise you, it is now, not two minutes from now, not tomorrow, but really now. Own that, know that deep in your bones, go to sleep every night knowing that, wake up every morning remembering that,
and keep going.
{Jack & Bobby}
This is your moment. This is my moment. Every moment is all of our moments. So why is that so hard to remember sometimes?
I'm in this goofy funk. I hate to be like this. I hate to be broken and messy. So I've been quiet. I am sorry to the friends I haven't called back, the people who are patiently waiting for returned emails. The appointments I've cancelled, the things I've neglected to do... wow. When in the world did I turn into this person? When did I pass the point of no return? I'm never like this. I'm obsessive, independent, organized, totally Type A. I care. I care about the big things and the tiny, minute details. I know what I'm doing, and I know what I need to do to stay on track. I'm an expert on holding things together when that's the last thing I feel like doing. But lately? Not so much.
Things had been getting harder and harder, but I'm a fighter. I was doing okay. Keeping on... Struggling, but okay. But then one thing led to another, and I got my mind onto the wrong things. I ruminated on my biggest fears and challenges. I reencountered some past memories and had to face a few things - good things - things people would normally be happy about - that stirred up deep grief in my heart. I questioned and I cried. I tossed and I turned. I went a few weeks without more than an hour or two of sleep each night. Everything was intensifying everything, and I was just dizzy with all the circles I'd been running inside my head. I got on this crazy ride that just wouldn't stop. Everything kind of went the craziest kind of crazy and, well, I had a pretty monumental nervous breakdown a few weeks ago. To say that I can't seem to find the way up would be an understatement. I'm trying though. Hard.
I'm exhausted, I'm bruised, and my scars have been re-opened. I know it's been a big combination of things, but I am in a million pieces right now. I'm frustrated I can't handle things. I'm the one who always handles things, you know? It's absolute madness around here right now. I need rest. I need answers. I just need a little bit of peace.
I'm so desperate for any kind of hope I can find, and when I find it, I hold on so tightly to keep myself from falling under once again. It's the same old story, I know. But who am I fooling? I refuse to fake a smile and paint you a picture of a life that has never been.
BUT...
No matter what, we always know this one thing to be true...
He is here. He is listening. He is holding me. The God who calmed the sea with His voice, healed the crippled with his love, and raised the dead even when there was no hope. The Lord who bears the scars that should be ours, the one who saved His children in the furnace and the lions' den. Remember Him? Yes, that God. He's here. With me. With you.
But if we are so certain, then why is it so hard to remember? Why do the dark nights seem to dim out the only light we can hang onto?
*~*
Last week, I had a severely mentally handicapped patient who I sat with during my shift. He was restrained into his bed with the highest level of restraints a doctor can legally order, and he would continually go into fits of jerking and pulling. It broke my heart to see him so distressed. I tried his favorite shows, his favorite music - everything. He couldn't talk, and his cognitive functioning was so low, but I didn't give up. Finally, a thought came to me. I sat beside his bed and when he went into his fits the next time, I tried something that my mom used to do when I was sick as a little girl: I simply whispered the name of Jesus.
He instantly stopped struggling. For the rest of my time with him, each time he'd get distressed, I'd do it again. Without fail, each and every time, he would instantly quit struggling and lay back down.
That night really impacted me for a couple of ways. For one, it's amazing what the power of God can do if we just remember to come to Him. The enemy just doesn't stand a chance. Secondly, how many times are we struggling so badly, fighting way harder than we need to? My patient was fine - he had no obvious reason to be in that state of distress. Yet still he was hurting himself because he was convinced he had to struggle like that. Also, I think once he got going, he just kept fighting just to fight. Now who else does that sound like? Do you ever fight so hard that you're really hurting yourself, making things worse, but you don't even think to stop and remember the truth that you know deep inside? Yes, Newton's law of motion is true. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. Our minds can go nuts sometimes, and we convince ourselves that it's easier to just continue than to stop and turn around. Crazy. And to think we have that peace that passes understanding. Right here beside us. But just like anything else, it won't be of any use if we're too frantic to just stop and pick it up. The truth is so simple if we can just see it.
In His arms, there is no reason to battle or resist. It's just rest. And strength. And absolutely everything else we need.
Until we're strong enough to go again.
Lord, heal our hearts. So many of us are broken.
And despite it all?
We are so blessed.
So this is how the story went
I met someone by accident
That blew me away
That blew me away
It was in the darkest of my daysWhen you took my sorrow and you took my painAnd buried them away, you buried them awayAnd I wish I could lay down beside youWhen the day is doneAnd wake up to your face under the morning sunBut like everything I've ever knownI'm sure you'll go one daySo I'll spend my whole life hiding my heart awayAnd I can't spend my whole life hiding my heart awayI dropped you off at the train stationAnd put a kiss on top of your headI watched you waveI watched you waveThen I went on home to my skyscrapersNeon lights and waiting papersThat I call homeI call it homeAnd I wish I could lay down beside youWhen the day is doneAnd wake up to your face under the morning sunBut like everything I've ever knownI'm sure you'll go one daySo I'll spend my whole life hiding my heart awayAnd I can't spend my whole life hiding my heart awayI woke up feeling heavy heartedI'm going back to where I startedThe morning rainThe morning rainAnd you know I wish that you were hereBut that same old road that brought me hereIs calling me homeIs calling me homeAnd I wish I could lay down beside youWhen the day is doneAnd wake up to your face under the morning sunBut like everything I've ever knownI'm sure you'll go one daySo I'll spend my whole life hiding my heart awayAnd I can't spend my whole life hiding my heart away*hiding my heart*
brandi carlile
Got this in an email yesterday... hope it blesses you as well. It's by Sheila Walsh.
*
Father God,
As many believers who have come before us, we find ourselves in the midst of very difficult times. There are wars and rumors of wars. Famines and disease spread across the earth consuming the most vulnerable and weak. Here in our own nation, there is lawlessness, deceit and despair.
It seems as if the very pillars that have held us strong for so many years are crumbling.
But Lord, we remember you. In the midst of what appears to be true for a moment, we remember You. You are Truth for all time.
You are never shaken.
We stop now and remember your promises. You did not promise that we would not walk though dark days, but rather that you, the Light of the World, would never leave us.
You said you would guide our steps.
We ask you now to forgive us. Forgive us when we have become caught up in the materialism of this world.
Forgive us for forgetting whose we are and why we are here.
Today, we bring all that we love - our families, our children, our hopes and dreams, and once more with faith and trust in your goodness and mercy, we place ourselves in your care. Let our lives be clear channels of your love and grace in these days. Help us to live as those who are filled with hope and not with fear, with peace and not with panic.
We remember the words of the Psalmist, David:
I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. He won't let you stumble, your Guardian God won't fall asleep.
Psalm 121:1-3
Thank you that you hold us in the palm of your hand.
And you are our God.
For the sake of the one who loves us and gave himself for us, we ask these things in the name above all other names, Jesus the Christ our Saviour and Lord.
Amen
Ahhh, I love Saturday nights (Sunday mornings? Whatever it is at 2am...) After a lovely evening with my fiance, he goes home (sad) and I come upstairs to settle down and wrap things up before going to bed. Annnd check Post Secret. Duh!
Here's my faves from this week.....
It should NOT be this way!
I find this quite funny... seriously though, don't YOU always draw a blank on half of the local candidates?
I know the feeling... and I didn't even go AWAY! lol
This is so precious. The colors, the little girl.... It's amazing how fast that beautiful innocence can be stripped away. This secret haunts me.
Annnnd...
Check this out....
Yep. My secret. Sent. Scary, right? It felt good though to put that in the mail. Odd, I know, but seriously... you should try it. I put my postcard in an envelope just because I didn't want it getting all messed up (I hate when the posted secrets have labels and postmarks in places where you can't read the words!) so I hope that's okay. Plus it's more secretive... you know, put it in an envelope, purposely leave out the return address.... very fun. And freeing.
I wonder if they'll post my secret. Part of me hopes so...
Would you know it was mine?
After months of waiting, here it is....
Click through to find out more and to take a peek inside.
{Mediations on Hope in the Kaplan Voices: Nurses series}
I am so humbled and honored that my story was chosen to be a part of this beautiful collection of stories, all written by nurses, about the beauty of hope.
One of my dreams (ever since I can remember) has been to write a book, so this is just one step on the path. I have had 3-4 dozen pieces of my scrapbooking art published in various books and magazines before, but that is nothing compared to this. I can't even put into words how it feels to know that my voice - as a young person, as a scarred but old soul, as a witness to this crazy miracle, and yes, as a NURSE - is being heard. Just a little nursing student with the soul of a fighter and a heart larger than life... I wrote a story about what I saw, what I experienced... what impacted my life and made an impression I will never forget. I simply observed the most miraculous hope and love as an innocent bystander. I stood still and watched such unbelievable virtue just exude from a very special patient and her husband. Life happened, the good part of life happened, and now the entire world can see, too, what I saw. All through my little voice that was chosen to be heard.
Walking into Barnes and Noble and seeing this book on the shelf and opening it to see my exact words, written from the deepest part of my soul.... I wish I could describe it but as I said, I still cannot find the right words.
But enough of that... ;-) Whether you're a nurse or not, I really recommend this book. (And no, not just because I wrote a few pages of it!) These stories will touch your soul immensely. And you who are nurses? It's stories like these that linger in our hearts and somehow enable us to love our jobs despite the long hours, staffing shortages, and abounding demands.
This book truly is about hope, and in this world today? We could all definitely use just a little bit more of that.
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