Nurse Campy Fancy Pants

Alright.  I get it.  I know.  Of course there are male nurses (Hi Dave!!), but this post makes total fun of female nurses who think they look really cool in scrubs.  Oh come on!  You know it as well as I do.  I sometimes think that the reason "they" became nurses, other than a karmic fulfillment or the need to be needed, for example, is that they actually like the way they look and feel in their scrubs.  Campy, foot loose and freaking fancy free in their well worn cotton. 

Ohh if only that fabric could talk, it could tell a gazillion stories about what has been splattered/sprayed/spilled/leaked/expelled/projected/ejected/squirted/spouted and spurted onto and into the very micro fibers of...those scrubs, into the cellular memory of this holy garment. Seriously, these are more than just duds one wears to work.

 

Behold the reverence.  

These leg coverings that reach to one's ankles with draw string waists are a living and walking testimony to the experiences of their hard core seasoned wearer.  They tell an incredible story, with the right attitude and accessories, of course. (More on this later).

I call these chicks Nurse Campy Fancy Pants. For now, I will refer to them as NCFP's.

Usually, in higher acuity settings such as NICU, ICU. CCU, OR, ER, Etc., the scrubs are less pretty, if you ask me.  That's how I have perceived it for the last couple of decades, anyway.  No flowers, hardly a Looney Toons Cartoon scrub to be found.  Betty Boop?  Fuggetaboutit. We are talking industrial quality- distressed - militant street-wear, the road warrior's identifier clothing.  Nothing cute about it.  This is serious, and everyone in the NCFP's vicinity will perceive it as such. 

You have your hard core cobalt blue that fades into a soft sky color, and the bright green that over a few hundred launderings  have literally "stood" witness to life, death and beyond, which then morphs into the standard tile color of the bathroom in a 1945 sanitarium. 

Not to mention the texture..WOW!  Soft..molded to the body, worn.  I'm talking practically see- through in all the "high friction areas".

Seriously, we all know what it's like to wear a new crisp pair of scrub pants.  I am sure any "normal sized" woman has experienced chafing, especially if the pants were not washed before wearing.  (Coincidentally, there is a DSM-IV code for this condition which is referred to as PDWUWSS - Premature Desire to Wear Un-Washed Scrubs Syndrome). 

Anyway, one day, NCFP wakes up, throws her hair in a bun and slips on her favorite bottoms.  Slips.  She develops a bounce in her hard core nurse campy fancy pants (NCFP) step, completes her hygeine and grooming regime, climbs in the car, and proceeds to her shift.  In terms of accessorizing, in her ears are a pair of twinkly sparkly silver dingle dangle earrings which she enjoys as a part of her whole look.  Ohhhhh!!!  She cannot wait til later.  The shoes, the revered clogs are worn.  They perfectly caress her pounding and striding tootsies like a glove and add a bit of personality to her step, as they slightly "clog" on the floor.  Did you know that?  High heels make a clicky sound, and clogs make a cloggy sound.  Get it straight.

Suddenly, it happens.  Her hair, while the majority of it remains loosely in the bun atop her pretty little fancy campy dome, begins to softly whisp from the top and the sides, a clear indication, a medal of valor, really, which sigh..gives ultimate permission to have the 'tude.  Later hath arrived.

The slipping on of the pants clearly is the reward of many intense shifts and act as the indication that, well, they are finally as well worn as she is.  The dingle dangle sparkles at the ends of her delicate lobes are the perfect juxtaposition, the perfect comparison, the perfect compliment to the whisp situation while the campy fancy pants are soft, so soft, so used, so experienced, and perfectly cover the planks that are supported by the clogging of the clog.  Herein lies, her story.  The story which is titled, "I am a Nurse.  A Nurse Campy Fancy Pants", Nurse.  Even this nurse should  Nurse Their Spirit!

Counseling for the Broken Nurse: What a Concept

Nurses are the givers and fixers, the healers and nurturers, the "go to" people.  We are the stronghold of traditional healthcare in our society.  We are the implementers of orders, the stop gap, the patient advocate.

We are the glue that keeps our shift together.  We are the care plan developers, the care coordinators, the documentors.  We are the IV starters, the medication administrators, the assessors.  We are code runners, the presence which soothes, the toe-taggers.  We are the clean up crew, the punching bag, the center of the patient's experience.  We are the bearers of bad news, the clergy, the teacher, the psychologist.  We are the ambulators, the lower extremity elevators, and safety monitors.

We are punched, hit, spat upon and subject ourselves to increasingly toxic body fluids and surroundings.  We do all this and more in a shift, and then go back for more.  We are accountable to our facility, their bottom lines, our patients. 

We become jaded.

We experience difficulty with communication, harrassment and feel underappreciated for what we do.  We encounter increasingly alarming amounts of responsibility to satisfy payor sources.  Sometimes, we don't sit down for 13 hours.  Hardly ever do we eat lunch.

We are so tired.

Our co - workers are strong and weak, experienced and green behind their ears, bitchy and soft, everyone experiencing their own phase in their career, everyone giving off and absorbing the energies of others.

We burn out.

We begin to respond to others and to circumstances through a veil of self protection.  We cry on the way to work, we cry during our shift, we cry on the way home.  We feel completely misunderstood.  We question why we "did this" to begin with, encourage nursing students to quit while they are ahead and experience panic and dread.

We are broken.

What access do you have in your facility to address nurse burnout?  Have you ever contacted your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) who then referred you to someone who half heartedly commiserated with the difficult profession that nursing is, and then they informed you to "learn how to relax"? 

Why, for the sake of all that is mighty and good would you place a 2x2 on the gaping wounds of your soul? 

Once identified, nurse burnout is entirely treatable.  Not only is nurse burnout treatable, but during your healing process, you will be able to cycle back to your past, revisit trends, then cycle forward with fresh and bountiful new perspectives.  You will actually experience joy and balance in your life.

Counseling is imperative, as it will not only save your profession, it can enhance your life, change your perceptions of your surroundings, and energetically beautify the lives of those whom are fortunate to be in your company. 

Please.  The time is now to Nurse Your Spirit.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is an outward act with enormously beautiful outcomes for yourself.  When one forgives, one energetically and automatically is given permission to detach from the negative circumstance. 

It may take a while to get to the point of forgiveness.  When we realize that holding on to the anger, shame and sadness associated with being wronged is no longer serving us a purpose, we let it go, let it fly into the ethers.

How, you may ask, is holding on to such dark feelings serving us a purpose?  Why do some people choose to stay stuck in the vortex of negativity? 

Very basically, when blame is placed on others, it provides a self serving platform on which we do not have to be responsible for ourselves, our actions, our feelings, our behaviors.  We justify our jadedness for the sake of not wanting to grow, or more likely, not feeling worthy enough to grow.  "The reason I am so miserable is because you made me feel that way.  I sort of like it this way, though, because when I am angry with you, it prevents me from having to deal with other things".

Truth be told, no one can "make" you feel any way.  You choose to feel how you feel.  Not a huge newsflash, yet it bears reiteration. 

Forgiveness can be truly frightening.  We can fear the unknown, we can fear the self accountability which is created by taking the wrong do-er off the hook. 

While this is difficult, as we tend to believe that the less we have to be responsible for makes for an easy breezy life, there is amazing self worth that occurs.  Self worth is Self love.  Self love is the energetic creation of healthy boundaries.

Forgiveness is empowering.

Have you forgiven someone today?