Move Over Charlie Sheen: Nurses Have Always Been Rock Stars

By very definition, the nursing professional is an expert in the diagnosis of a human's response to their state of dis-ease.  While there are certainly measurable and clinically proven outcomes to determine and define your patient's response to their state of non-wellness, please be reminded that nursing is an art as well as a science.  A bit of a left brain meets right brain experience, all under one skull.  Seriously, how cool is that?


This is just another reason why nurses are Rock Stars.


In the current top-heavy and financially driven processing plant environment of a typical hospital patient care unit, we often do not have the time to utilize the artistic, creative psychic intuitive aspects of our unique profession.  This is a detriment to the healing of our patient population.  Nurses are taking back control over the healing of the patient!  Yes!! Think of the impact on your shift, on  the other staff, and in your Smiling Heart, just by taking a few seconds to connect energetically with the person in the bed with the wrist band.


I believe that where the artistic aspects of the Healer live also resides the intuitive and psychic abilities in all those who care for others with compassion.


Injecting a bit of your right brained, artistic and creative, sensing, feeling, Intuitive Self--in addition to the injection of narcotics - ultimately serves to heal this patient in a more whole fashion, and causes you to feel damned good about yourself, too. 


Your 42 year old post-op patient is vomiting, guarding her surgical site, writhing and crying.  Scientifically, you are aware that this indicates that your patient is responding to their pain.  Intuitively and empathically, (the very same qualities which energetically attracted you to becoming a healer in the first place), you have a knowing that the pain is in response to fear.  You take 5 minutes to sit down and educate her on the typical post operative process while administering her prescribed narcs.  This process alleviates a great deal of anxiety, decreases her pain level which creates an environment where learning can occur, and causes you both to feel connected beautifully with another human being.  More often than not, that 300 seconds of your time is more effective for the overall healing of this entire being, than would be to simply only administer narcotics, chuck the syringe in the Sharps and bolt out the door.


Mind, Body and Spirit Healing at it's simplest and finest.  Brought to you by The Nurse.


You do this 20 times a day.  Did you ever consider the process by which this occurs?  Probably not, because it is effortless, thoughtless and natural.


I am sure it is not rare that you "just knew" that one of your patients would become very ill during a particular shift.   The next time this occurs, mentally revisit this experience and ask yourself what part of your innate nursing dialogue "told you" this.  Was it a hardcore change in their physical appearance such as pallor, diaphoresis, confusion or the like?  Or, was "it" something else?


When considering your sense of knowing regarding someones pending "crash" as something non-clinical and unable to be "text book" defined,  think in retrospect about that which you felt and sensed, for it is in what is often not said versus what is stated, where the answers are.  This is what Psychic Work is.


A heightened experience of Knowing-- obtained and acknowledged as being True, by non-scientific and completely intuitive, immeasurable or invisible Truths.


Yes, You are Psychic.


The more we practice and embrace this side of nursing, this aspect of our healing personalities, the healthier we will become as clinicians, healers and humans.

Take care of yourself and your Higher Self.  Embrace your Inner Rockstar, and always remember to
Nurse Your Spirit.

Nursing is an Authentic Profession:Authentic Counseling for Nurse Burnout is Effective and Empowering!

Please note:  The red bold font is me, the smart assed nurse-turned- metaphysician/ holistic transpersonal counselor for nurses in the eye of the storm of their burnout. 

This article was published on Careerbuilder.com.


"The following article was written by Kate Lorenz, who is the article and advice editor for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues". This article obviously was written without regard to the specific issues related to the nursing profession, or any other healing profession.  For the sake of clarity (and driving home a point or 10) , my comments, hence points of view will be easy to distinguish from the original author.  My goal is to indicate that the profession of nursing is so unique, so authentic, not only in it's scope, but in the approach that must be taken.  The counseling strategies I utilize at my practice, Nurse Your Spirit, LLC, will not only remove the bandaids from the wounded nurse's boo-boos and truly create deep self healing, but by doing so, will enhance the nurse's work environment, hence the profession of nursing as a whole.  How?  Because you are contagious, and it begins with you.

" Do you think you never have or never will experience work burnout? Consider these statistics:


• The American worker has the least vacation time of any modern, developed society.


• In 2007, 20 percent of workers said they would be checking in with the office while on vacation.


• More than half of workers say they work under a great deal of stress, and 77 percent say they feel burned out on the job.


• Forty-four percent of working moms admit to being preoccupied about work while at home and one-fourth say they bring home projects at least one day a week.


• Nineteen percent of working moms reported they often or always work weekends.


• Thirty-seven percent of all working dads said they would consider the option of taking a new job with less pay if it offered a better work/life balance.


• Thirty-six percent of working dads reported they bring work home at least one day a week and 30 percent say they often or always work weekends.


These statistics, taken from CareerBuilder.com surveys of American workers, demonstrate the pressures employees in the United States are under to be available to the office, despite responsibilities -- or plans -- away from work. All this, coupled with longer work hours and many individuals handling the workloads of two, can easily lead to worker burnout.



If you think burnout on the job is just an excuse used by the weak to get out of responsibilities, think again. Stress and burnout can affect your immune system and has been linked to migraines, digestive disorders, skin diseases, high blood pressure and heart disease. It causes emotional distress as well". Yup. And seriously, will cause a separation of mind and spirit, spinning you into a vortex of darkness, until you really address the core issues.  What led you to want to be a nurse to begin with?


"Job burnout is a response to work stress that leaves you feeling powerless, hopeless, fatigued, drained and frustrated," writes Dr. Audrey L. Canaff, a UC Foundation Assistant Professor in the Counseling Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in her article on WorkplaceBlues.com. "But since job burnout is not an overnight occurrence, it's important to recognize its early signs and to act before the problem becomes truly serious." Before it becomes truly serious?  You are led down the road to heal others already primed for burnout.  It does not magically occur.  The system only makes things worse by adding undiluted Dakin's solution right into the wound of your soul. 

"Consider these five warning signs of burnout:


Sign No. 1: Your co-workers are walking on eggshells around you.


If you find yourself becoming cranky and irritable with co-workers you used to get along with, it may be more than just typical interpersonal dynamics". Does fantasizing about giving your unit manager an ice water enema fall into this category?


"Sign No. 2: You come in late and want to leave earlier.


You used to wake up in the morning excited for another day, but now every day you dread heading into the office. Once lunch" lunch "passes you start watching the clock, counting the minutes to the end of the day.

Sign No. 3: Apathy has replaced enthusiasm".

Enthusiasm:  Hi, I am nurse Perky.  How can I help you?

Apathy:  Listen, You think YOU have problems?


"You feel no motivation, no sense of accomplishment and have no desire to be challenged. Those who have burnout lose their motivation to perform, as well as their feelings of pride for a job well done.



Sign No. 4: You've lost camaraderie with co-workers.


You're no longer interested in the company network. You used to go to lunch", Ha! What lunch?  "go out for drinks and participate in other company functions but now have no desire in socializing in or out of the office". The office=the dungeon, otherwise known as the floor/unit.


"Sign No. 5: You're feeling physically sick.


You always feel exhausted, have headaches, feel tension in all of your muscles and are having trouble sleeping. These physical signs are common indicators of job stress, and demonstrate that this can turn into a physical problem.





If you are experiencing these symptoms, it's time to make some changes. "Newsflash.  There will be nothing to change mid stream, if you addressed your energetic attraction to healing others in the first place.  "You can start by talking to your boss or someone in your human resources department", where I am certain they will be totally empathetic, give you a hug, and tell you to take the rest of the day off "about how you can confront the problem together"  together, eh? Is that the same as being told to pull yourself up by your boot straps and get back to work? "by redefining deadlines", Sorry admitting, I can't take that new admission.  Listen, dying guy in 201-b, can you just hold off until after my shift is over? "delegating or outsourcing a project or two. In her book "Stress Management for Busy People," Carol A. Turkington recommends taking these proactive steps:

Please consider the following, and find the commonalities in these examples.


Learn to say no".

Patient: Nurse?  I need to go to the bathroom. 

Nurse:  No. 



"Reevaluate your goals".  K.  My goal is to not be here. Maybe this is a good time to move to that remote village in Strunghofthinguaniaxtaplan.  Wee!



"Reduce your commitments at work and at home". Simple.  I can do that right away.



"Learn stress management skills".  Yawn.



"Get plenty of rest and eat a healthy diet".  Can you hand me that nail file...(so I can stab myself in the eye with it)?

"Finally, give yourself a break. This means taking your vacation days, no matter how important your job is, and taking little breaks every day to re-group, re-energize and unwind".  I can hear nurses everywhere saying, "Why the hell didn't I think of that"?

"Remember, if you don't take care of yourself in the office, you work will suffer and your health may pay the price, too".  As simple as that!  It's magic!  Go on.  Flip that switch and make it all go away.

Well?  What do these things have in common?  Think about it.  What are the deep seeded reasons for saying yes, not knowing limitations, spreading yourself too thin, and desiring to help people?

Self Love and Boundary Issues.  Wearing the Wounded Healer Archetype like a Heavy Cloak, for starters. 

Why were you energetically attracted to becoming a nurse healer?  The treatment of inevitable burnout exists in the answer to this question. 

Nurse Your Spirit.  Love yourself enough to do so.  Be true to yourself.  Heal your heart, make sense of your glorious Self..and by doing so, you will help to heal your environment and the profession of nursing, one nurse at a time.  Now that, my dear kindreds, is the way it's done.

http://www.nurseyourspirit.com/

Happy New Beginnings! Learn more about Nurse Your Spirit, on the Radio!

Nurse Your Spirit launches it's premiere talk radio show, called Nurse Your Spirit!  We air at 4PM AZ Time ( 5 PM Central, 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific).  January 3, 2011.  Today's broadcast is titled  "Nurse Burnout:  Curse or Blessing". Here's the show in a nutshell! :)

How would you feel if I told you that before you were born, you chose your life time and you chose your circumstances (with all of it's consequences) in order to provide you with life lessons, all for the sake of preparing you to be a healer and giver? How about if it were suggested to you that you have been divinely led to where you are because you are energetically capable to be the provider of comfort and healing to humanity during a New World Order? What about the concept of an individual having had agreed to accept the responsibility of a healer's life? Sitting down? Ponder the notion that you became a healer of others for the sake of experiencing the condition of burnout, in order for you to be able to elevate your consciousness and heal yourself and others from a place of pure compassion and love? I'd love to hear your views. This week, for our Nurse Your Spirit premiere blogtalk radio show, we will talk about these issues, the treatment of burnout as a symbol of weakness vs: the inevitability of nurse burnout for the sake of spiritual growth, and more.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nurseyourspirit

 

Next Monday, January 10, 2010, same time:  different nutshell: :)

Last week, we explored the innate and authentic characteristics of individuals who are led to the healing of others. This week, we will explore the externally derived circumstances in our healthcare system

which inflame the nursing profession. Tools for personal healer's empowerment will be discussed!

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nurseyourspirit

 

I'd be honored if you joined me.

 

 

 

Who Took the Sacred Out of Service? An Article by Carol Gino

Dear Blog Peeps!

For my last blog post of the year, I am proud to share with you a link to an article which has been written by my friend, Carol Gino.  I encourage you to visit Carol's blog for pertinent information about the challenges and opportunities in the nursing profession.

 http://hopefulhealer.com/

Learn more about this amazing, passionate and powerful woman below:
"Carol Gino RN, MA, has been a nurse, author and teacher for many years. She has worked in all areas of nursing including Emergency Room, Intensive Care, the Burn Unit, Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Pediatric   Intensive Care, and Hospice Care for the terminally ill.

Her first book “The Nurse’s Story” published by Simon and Schuster sold to nine foreign countries. It is still in print in Japan. It was a feature of the Book of the Month Club and Nurses Book Club and was on PW’s list for six weeks. It was #2 on the Los Angeles Times list. Carol did two cross-country tours for The Nurse’s Story: which included TV, radio and print media.

She has appeared several TV and radio shows including “The Today Show”, “Charlie Rose”, “Houston Live”, “Regis”, “AM Los Angeles”, “AM San Francisco” etc.. The Nurse’s Story was serialized in the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post etc.. People Magazine did a feature article on her, and she has been highlighted in many other local and national papers.

She has written articles for New York Magazine (aka Teri Daniels) American Journal of Nursing, and other Nursing Mags. Three of her articles were published in Nursing ’97 (the largest nursing journal – circulation of over 350,000.) Three of her stories and several editorials appeared in Nursing ‘98.

Ms. Gino’s second book “Rusty’s Story” sold 350,000 copies and again, Carol did a 15 city media tour. That book received the Epilepsy Association’s National Book Award and was on the New York Times bestseller list for 5 weeks. She also received the Service Award from the Epilepsy Association of Ohio and spoke to many epilepsy associations across the country. Ciba Geigy made her their spokesperson for the anti-convulsion drug, Tegretol. And another media tour followed.

In 1997, Kensington Books published Carol Gino’s new book about the death of her grandson: “Then An Angel Came…” Both her previous books, “The Nurse’s Story” and “Rusty’s Story” have been reprinted.

Ms. Gino still acts as a Nursing consultant in Healing Imagery for Total Care Home Health Care agency. Her Masters in Transpersonal Studies focused on new modalities for healing, changes in consciousness, and cross-cultural healing.

“The Nurse’s Story” screenplay was completed by Mario Puzo. It has been submitted for a feature film or major TV series.

Ms. Gino was a keynote speaker at the National SIDS Convention in Dallas Texas in 1997, and she was also a speaker at the Bereavement Convention in upstate New York, entitled “Helping Families Cope with Grief” in Tarrytown.

The trade paperback edition of “Then An Angel Came” was released in September 1997 by Kensington Books.

She began her own publishing house called Starwater Press Ltd. in 1987 to publish spiritual and angel books and tapes long before they were in mainstream consciousness. Since then she has also started aah-ha! Books in 1996 (Help for Hard Times – clear and simple) for her more mainstream titles.

Carol Gino was the long time companion of author Mario Puzo for 20 years until his death in 1999 and in 2001 completed his book “The Family” which was published by Judith Regan of Harper Collins. It too was a best seller".

May Peace be with you all during the holiday, and during every day.

Lori

You Can Lead a Nurse to Water But Then, What Ever Will They Bitch About?

I am the proud founder of Nurse Your Spirit, LLC, a holistic counseling and healing practice.  As a registered nurse, metaphysician and certified practitioner, my goal or my speciality if you will is to assist other nurses who are experiencing the horrors of burnout to recognize that this highly toxic experience is actually a gift.   Yes indeed, a gift in the form of subconscious choices that you have made along the way.  Choices which lead to opportunities for growth, the big red bow on the top being the resurrection of one's self worth, the ability to heal one's self and others from a place of compassion, comfort in the task to aid in the energetic healing of the planet.  The spontaneous occurrence of experiencing inner cohesion and happiness.  Doesn't that sound amazing? 
Knock Knock!  Doesn't it!?

Seriously.  Who wouldn't (in their right mind)  desire this?

Nurses. That's who. 

I have counseled massage and occupational therapists, pharmacists, Reiki practitioners and psychics, radio personalities, makeup artists and alternative healers, yet, not one nurse.



Do you know why?


Nurses are highly intelligent. Of course you do!

(This is a much simpler formula than calculation drip rates, seriously)...

Nurses love to complain.  If you fix yourself, there is no more blame.  Scary!

I can say this with confidence because I walked in those clunky clogs for over twenty years.   There are complaints about the paperwork, the insubordination of aides and patient care technicians, the nurse to patient ratios, the lack of managerial support.  The distaste regarding the aspect of nursing being "customer service", not being able to spend more time with your patients, the green -behind- the -ears  new know-it-all interns showing up in July, never getting a lunch break, disgruntled patients and family members....  I know I need not continue.

I am going to use a hospital environment as an example.  Working on a hospital unit is a creepy poison.  When it gets under your skin and into your veins, there is a sinister comfort.  Yes, that's right.  You drink the Kool-Aid.  You get locked into the web of darkness, and feel safe. 

You form deliciously delectable dysfunctional and codependent relationships and bonds with people who's company you'd probably never seek outside of the workplace.  You literally get off on talking about others behind their backs.  The private jokes are practically orgasmic!  The laughs and sense of connection you feel are more valuable than anything!  They like me.  They really, really like me!

If you look inward at your own dysfunctions ( yep, we all have em ), then you will have to take a good long look at yourself and hold yourself responsible for your own feelings and corresponding behaviors.  When you accomplish this, you realize that you cannot change the system, but you have the power to create a healthy way to survive in it, via personal accountability. There's serious power in this, yet therein lies the fear.

You lose the excuse to bitch and moan about everything under the sun.

Now listen, I am a really nice person and a caring counselor with compassion.  Yet this particular blog topic is imperative, so I give myself permission to be particularly snarky about it.

Sooner or later, the reality will set in.  You will run out of steam.  You will realize that this muck no longer serves a purpose.  The system will not change.  Your perceptions of it along with your corresponding behaviors will. 

With said compassion and because you are worthy, I will wait for you.

 When you are ready, visit Nurse Your Spirit. 

Giving Thanks for the Gift of Sweet Sweet Crisis

The idea that the recognition of crisis in one’s life serves as an opportunity for growth and joy continues to be validated in the most marvelous ways! When sources of stress and pain no longer serve a purpose, we are left emotionally peeled down and raw, energetically left with only our reality. In a sense, we back ourselves into a corner subconsciously, in an effort to heal from the inside out, from our spiritual core to our physical existence.


How long this takes naturally varies from person to person and issue to issue.

Often, the intellectual mind will spin our realities, offering us false justifications, a toxic vortex of smart sounding and witty rationales in an ultimately thwarted effort to remain stuck. We fearfully hide behind the veil of being somewhat of an enigma.  We may be lying to ourselves, but it’s hardly convincible to others.  Some never fully stop the spin, unfortunately.  Many do, and it is an honor to witness.

Why on earth would we want to remain stuck in pain?

Because we know that in that pain is a protective cloak. If we remain stuck, we don’t have to address our own demons. We know that doing this is hard work, and very emotional. We know that it will create inner turmoil because our relationships will be altered and mostly, we actualize that we must suddenly be accountable for our own actions. There will be no more blaming the system, the parent, the spouse, the child or the lover. We know that we will have to take responsibility for our own actions, emotions and behaviors. What we are unable to see while we are intoxicated by these self inflicted numbing falsehoods is that taking responsibility for one’s own life is not only a lot of  hard heart work, but it is beautiful and empowering.  A gift all wrapped up with your name on it, signed, sealed and delivered from the universe.  All you have to do is to have faith, and open it.

When one has backed themselves into this dark and murky corner filled with inner demons and cob webs, give thanks for the ability to actually see this darkness. Realize that on a level far beyond human comprehension, we are led to this place in order to heal, in order to crystallize our vision so that we may view our surroundings in a sublimely divine manner. In that crack of light is our invitation to self empowerment as a result of the beautiful and subtle energetic shifts which spontaneously occur during this process.

Show gratitude for the gift of Grace which allows us to grow and which stays with us when we are most afraid of this darkness. Stay spiritually and emotionally fit by continually being a living example of love and compassion. Guard yourself from negativities through boundaries, not walls. Love thyself enough to stay self empowered.

Above all, always remember to Nurse Your Spirit!

Coffee Table Discussion: An Engineer's Take on the "Inevitability of Burnout"

My husband comes from a family of engineers. If you have been reading my work, you know that from my standpoint, there are energetic tugs that work alongside natural aptitudes which cause one to be led to a particular profession, the deepest essence of this concept being karmic. My husband is an engineer. Far be it from me to categorize personality traits within particular careers (hardy har har), but my darling spouse is very linear and methodical in his thinking.

He explains concepts and ideas in the form of plots, graphs and diagrams in the air, with his hands. Poor guy can’t help it, he is who he is. Every single cell in his beautiful existence is literally marinated in this approach to all things. He deeply resonates with the concepts of fact, scientific models and proof derived from controlled experiments. This being said, he is somewhat of an enigma, as indicated by his interest in spiritual and metaphysical realms. He is also very interested in the cohesiveness between spirituality, metaphysics and science. What is interesting to me is how he approaches his studies and research of such immeasureable concepts in a highly organized and scientifically derived manner. The hubster learns by reading and gathering information from various sources that he deems reliable and capable. He then takes this information, and surmises a conclusion.  He embarks on a search, if you will, of externally derived knowledge.

So, this morning we were discussing my last blog post. Here is the link.  Being ever the true gentle man, he said something like, “great blog hon, I’m just intrigued. Why did you imply that all nurses get burnout? Don’t you think there are any nurses who are happy? The ones who go about their day, enjoy their job, their lives”?

(Even though the blog was focused on the importance of understanding that there is no distinction between anyone who heals, only the method with which they resonate to heal others differs, for the sake of simplicity, I will continue to use the word “nurse”, as we did in our conversation)

We discussed my take on the wording of this piece, and the conversation got colorful when I suggested that this blog was written authentically and derived from my innate state of knowing, and I told him that nurses may think they are happy, and not think they are experiencing burnout on a conscious or subconscious level.  Yet, they would probably be in the throes of a dysfunctional mind set to some degree, and/or that any toxicity they may be experiencing at a particular point is serving them a purpose. This is actually a clever avoidance tactic.  By avoiding addressing the bad stuff, they don’t have to address personal points for growth, and they can continue to blame their coworkers and the system for stuff. (Some folks find weird strength in bitch sessions, an illusion of power and strength in numbers- a misery-loves-company-bizarre-clique sort of thing).

I believe that healers are attracted to healing in order to eventually heal themselves. I even believe that we choose our lifetimes and our lessons. Here is what I mean.  Please keep in mind that this is a very nut-shelled version:

1: Agree to lifetime, learning and opportunities to achieve goal (which on a human level you are not aware of).  This is Divine Knowledge.


2: Realize an energetic pull or attraction to healing others.


3: Burnout/Crisis occurs.


4: Self Healing and energetic contagiousness occurs by addressing Burnout.  (Amazing experiences while reaping the rewards of your hard work)


5: You Flourish, feel sense of balance, poise and self worth.


6:  If this lifetime lesson agreement is unaddressed/unresolved-go back to #1.



So anyway, when we boiled it and boiled it, I realized that his concern was that I would be alienating a certain demographic. My practice is less than a year old, and that’s certainly counterproductive. Not only that, but I am really a very nice person, am sensitive and really dislike hurting or angering anyone, this he knows very well.

But here’s the thing. I rely on internally derived knowledge.  The older I get, the more intense the trust is.  I trust this as my darling trusts his research.  I am not a studier, per se. I don’t learn well that way. Reading, even though I love writing, is laborious and tedious to me. While I am quite nicely educated, the process was never truly smooth or easy. I relied on the help of friends and my good ole’ instinct. There are no hard and cold facts about this whole nurse burnout/ healer burnout discussion. One can assume, based on being in the profession for a while, reading statistics and the like, that there is a good scientific probability that many nurses are. Yet, as a metaphysician, I am an intuitive “knower”. My intuition is my guide, and intuition is direct Divine knowledge in my book. Divine Knowledge is never wrong, it simply is.


I know it in my core center that inevitably, healers of any description have levels of burnout. Whether they choose to address it or not is a different story.

These truths of mine are certainly not crafted to be suggestive, therefore the intention is not for you to choose to feel as though I am pigeon holing you by giving you no gray areas to work with. These truths are written from this perspective: if you resonate with this information, you do. If you don’t, you probably really seriously and absolutely do not. Yet the hope is that if you fall into the latter category, you will allow this concept to unfold in your heart when it beckons you to do so.

After this valued discussion with my best friend, my ideals and concepts, my “knowing” was not threatened, it was validated and strengthened. A blog written yesterday on the lack of distinction between any sort of healer, and the rationales as to why people serendipitously are attracted to healing others morphed into an enlightening opportunity. 

Is one method necessarily right or wrong in obtaining information and developing personal realities better or worse than the other?  Hardly, for there are many paths to One Truth. 

How Divine.

Thanks, honey.


Nurse Your Spirit!