I really think that negativity among the nursing profession is an epidemic. It's not just Nursing Assistants and Home Care Aides. It runs rampant among nurses and doctors as well. There is a reason this happens.
It is our Left Brain. Our left brain HATES stress and wants everything to be comfortable and normal. It's the Right Brain that encourages us to be weird and wonderful.
So when someone around us complains, we have a tendency to go with the complaint because commonality in peer groups is peaceful and comfortable. If we were to disagree, that enters us into conflict (mild to severe) and conflict is uncomfortable.
So we have to be mindful in order to be true to ourselves. We have to tell our Left Brain to SHUT UP and allow our Right Brain do what it does best. Our Right Brain is just aching to debate and discuss and come up with amazing solutions to problems, but we have to shut up the very loud brain and allow our right brains to work.
Right now, I am getting ready to run 42.5 miles in the next 3 days and this is the biggest part of training I have done. I have learned that when I become a bit uncomfortable and stress my body, my Left Brain starts to come up with fake pains and reasons to give up and just starts a whining. I have learned how to shut that off by using a mantra (mine is a bible verse "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". Yours might be "Shut it Left Brain" or "It's time to get to work Right Brain") and conscientiously switching gears and then switching your behavior.
This is the 1st of a 5 post series on negativity. I want to talk about and change negativity in 4 main areas:
Negativity towards ourselves
Negativity towards others
Negativity towards your employer
Negativity towards our profession.
I hope you'll come along with me on this ride. If you want more information on how to change your negative thinking, I suggest the following books (The running book will help you in anything because it explains so well why we think the way we do):
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
Mental Training for Runners: How to Stay Motivated by Jeff Galloway
The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews
Look forward to a Book Club worth 4 hours of DSHS Approved Continuing Education in February
Take the Stairs by Rory Vaden
Look forward to a Book Club worth 4 hours of DSHS Approved Continuing Education in April
