Every Compliment is Precious

A friend of my Mom's just posted the following:

My mom has been a nurse more than 35 years. She's worked mostly in populations that don't come with a lot of "Thanks". I've seen her AMAZING work and then get yelled at because of something completely out of control. 

She's a LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse). This is the 1st nursing degree after being a nursing assistant. Many MANY RN's look down on LPNs because they have 1 less year of education. What many people don't know is that she has a 4 year education and had to drop out of her last quarter of college when her father passed away unexpectedly. She's smarter than most every nurse I know, but never flaunts it. My mom is the very definition of a classy nurse.

Am I shocked that she saved a life? Nope! She's done it hundreds of times before. I was surprised by the compliment.

My sister works in media. She is gorgeous and chatty and has an Emmy! When we get together she gets to chat all day about her very exciting and adventurous job. I stand there and say nothing. Why? Because legally, I can't say anything.

Those of us in the nursing profession (HCAs, NA-Cs, LPNs, RNs, etc) are not allowed to talk about what we do. We don't get to share the incredible and amazing work we do. We don't get to show off and our managers often use our mistakes as "learning experiences", but don't mention the amazing number of things we do right. It's really hard. 

Thank you Trisha for the compliment!! My mom is AWESOME! And she saves lives everyday. And the lives she can't save, she brings peace and comfort to. 

Thank someone giving care today. Compliments are few and far between and desperately needed. Thanks, Mom!

Some Things Need to Change

I've been thinking a lot lately. I've had some experiences that really upset me. Some things have hurt my feelings. I've been astonished at how others are treated. I really think it's time to shake up the nursing profession. I'm not convinced that those of us in nursing are quite the angels that the public makes us out to be. There is definitely some room for improvement. Here are some things rattling around in my head that I plan to start unpacking in the weeks to come:

The Nursing Hierarchy
I've had it with hearing about how "we" are "above" "them". We all have our roles to play. There are not a bazillion different kinds of nurses so we can pit one against another. Respect is where we need to start.

A Lack of Humility
I was sitting in a consultation and I heard about how another nurse told this family that the patient had pressure ulcers and how another nurse disagreed and thought it was just a rash. In this same day I heard a NA-C discuss how he was sure about a Bladder Infection and how a family member just did not understand Dementia. First: nurses don't diagnose. Second: The family usually knows more than us. Third: when we draw these snap conclusions, we totally shut our minds off to a myriad of other possibilities...including the possibility that we may be wrong.

A Lack of Kindness
We are not only unkind to other professionals, but to each other, other coworkers, families and often patients. This is so ridiculous. My boss asked me to clarify a mistake I made with another nurse (yes, nurses...good nurses even...make mistakes). That nurse not only did no clarifying, but spent 5 minutes telling me how I'd made her job so difficult (making me cry non-stop as I had agreed to cover a shift at the last minute and ended up working 12 hours straight). She didn't say "hello". She didn't say "goodbye." She just blamed. Who wants to work like that?

Begging to be Right
We spend way too much time trying to be right. Not solving problems. Not listening to what others have to say. Just determined to be right. I get migraines whenever I go into meetings. Meetings with the state, meetings with my job, meetings with family. I despise them. All people do is try to be right. We spend 20 minutes talking about how one solution or another won't work. There's little focus on the solution.

What I have written today and what I will write in the next few weeks will rumple a lot of feathers. I'm about to criticize a profession that adores it's angel image. But some things need to change. They need to change for sake of the patients, families and for, quite frankly, for ourselves. Nurses are burning out of this profession so much faster that we can keep up with. There is a Nursing Shortage with no solution coming anytime soon. If we don't figure out how to be solution-oriented-kind-humble-team-players. Nursing will die and lose it's angel image we've worked so hard to obtain.

Seahawks Giveaway!

Hey folks!

It's been awhile since I blogged, but that's going to change. I have a new book coming out soon and I have some things to talk about. Some things, you are going to be all "RIGHT ON!" and some things you are going to be "you have lost your mind" but I'm gonna throw it all out there because there are some things that we need to start discussing. Some things that have been getting under my skin & I am now on a mission to bring some change to.

In order to butter you up a little bit, I'm going to do a give-away. The Seahawks are headed to the Super Bowl, so we need to give away some Seahawks gear.

Our pastor's wife & her friend are these amazing gorgeous women. They have this small business called Bestie Bows. They make these hair bows that are just freaking adorable. They have been making Bestie Bows that are Seahawks bows. AWESOME!!!!

I'm giving away 10 of these suckers.
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Sorry guys. This one is mine. :)