Nurses Self Care

The 2 hands of nurses

2007-11-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

As nurses we use our hands to;

comfort,
care for,
support, and
generally to give to others

Take some time in November to share the giving your hands provide... with yourself :)

Putting yourself first...

2007-10-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown
is the belief that one's work is terribly important"
~Bertrand Russell

Put yourself first!
What do you need to do more of today to ensure you are looking after yourself?
Now create the space in your day to do it.

What do you need to do less of?
Now replace this activity with one from your list above.

Make the reaminder of 2007 yours...

2007-09-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

100 days to go
(depending on when you read this & how accurate my maths is)
till 2007 is closed forever

where are you with what you wanted to achieve in 2007?
there is still time...
time to reflect on where you are
time to refuel
time to restart your efforts toward your goals
go for it!!
make the remainder of 2007 yours
:)

Sleep

2007-09-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Sleep
Glorious, restful, refreshing sleep
I certainly haven't had enough recently
Strange how I push the limits every so often & conduct my own social survey to see exactly how little sleep I can survive on
When will I learn!!!

August's magic moment

2007-08-24T00:40:00.001-07:00

Take your breaks !!

2007-08-22T01:45:00.000-07:00

Frequent short breaks keep you sane and
help you manage your stress levels
Do you take your breaks?

Stress and You...

2007-08-17T04:05:00.000-07:00

How's your stress levels?
Take this opportunity to check
Reached your stress tolerance level?
Do something today to put some perspective back!!
Take action to calm the stress factors in your life
Let us know how you go...

More on perfectionism

2007-08-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Fear is usually what underlies the need for perfectionism, let it go and the world opens up to you

Perfection...to be or not to be?

2007-08-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Perfection is in my opinion both unrealistic and unobtainable.
Shame then that so many people keep trying.
The impact of which is so often a tattered sense of self & frayed relationships
From a self care perspective a much better approach is that espoused by Dr David Burns:

"Aim for success, not perfection.
Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life"

The mat...

2007-08-09T01:30:00.000-07:00

In terms of self care my yoga practice sees to be having the most positive impact at the moment, no matter what is happening in my life 'taking it to the mat' seems to work for me
Makes me laugh really given that is also one of the commands for my dog 'on the mat'
Works just as well for her as for me :)
What works for you?

Lets review...

2007-07-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are well and truly in the second half of 2007
How are you going with your self care goals?
Whats working for you?
What self care practices have you nailed solidly in place?
What do you need to do more of?

July's magic moment...

2007-07-07T23:49:00.000-07:00

Stories

2007-07-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

How is your experience of your work colleagues?
Are they venters or moaners?
Love to hear your stories
Drop us a line...

PLOM's can leave a bad taste in your mouth

2007-06-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

A little more on the PLOM (poor little 'ol me) syndrome mentioned in the last post
PLOM's are great at playing the victim - and we can all do that from time to time - the trick is not to make it a habit!!
To do so means we have all care & no responsibility for anything that happens in our life
Its becomes all about what others have done to us
No responsibility is accepted for anything
Much easier from such a perspective to blame others than to reflect on our own behavior & actions
Such behavior is really challenging for others to work with,
Of course its all about an attempt to control others & our environment
Perhaps a better approach would be a little introspection & to focus on controlling or managing our own responses - which is after all the only thing we can genuinely expect to control
Don't be a PLOM - your colleagues will respect you for it & you will be a joy to be around

Vent or moan?

2007-06-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

Let me share my thoughts on a number of indicators that a vent has become a moan :

the person actually appears to flourish by being part of the problem (I say appears to be because underneath it all this is one very unhappy, unfilled person)
it is about being contemptuous and undermining of colleagues and bosses
no attempt is being made at solution finding
it is repetitive; before you left for days off the conversation filled the tea room & still fills the tea room on your return from days off
the poor little ol me (PLOM) syndrome is in evidence - you know its always about someone else & what they have supposedly done to this person - there is no evidence of reflection of the role the individual who is doing the moaning has in the situation

Venting

2007-06-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

Venting is a healthy activity
Say what you feel, get it off your chest, talk it over with a trusted friend
and then move on with your life gaining a little wisdom from the experience
What is it however that separates a healthy vent from a destructive moan?
At what point in time does a vent become toxic?

We need to ask why...

2007-06-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

Why is it that massive amounts of money are being spent on recruiting nurses - yet the monetary compensation for working overtime, night shifts and weekends remains the same and is cited by nurses as a reason why they are leaving the profession.

Music

2007-06-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Music has amazing ability to influence our moods
When was the last time you used music to relax and sooth?

Enjoy...some magic moments

2007-06-20T02:58:00.001-07:00

The inner outer awareness dilemma

2007-06-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

Seems nursing poses a risk for inner awareness
so much of what we do in nursing is observing others
monitoring physical status and behavior while we try and do 10 things at once as well as keep an eye out for the pool nurse who has come to lend a hand
The dilemma is how to be aware of ourselves, our breathing, our stress levels, our thoughts and feelings; while managing the multiple demands posed by nursing day after day - not enough staff, more and more of our colleagues leaving and an endless array of tasks to be down and ever increasing responsibilities and sicker and more complex patients to care for

Try being fully engaged in the moment, slow down, let go of yesterdays nasties, override negative mental chatter, be prepared but not so focused on the next moment that you forget to engage with the here and now

and above all remember to breathe...

Awareness

2007-06-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

In retrospect I should have known the minute I squirted toothpaste on my black shirt it would be one of those days. However coming from an approach of your day is what you make it I continued on unsuspecting despite a twenty minute search for the car keys which were where I left them (if only I could have remembered where that was twenty minutes earlier). A nanosecond after closing the front door on my way into work I had tripped down the front steps (well OK step as there is only one) and without a drop of alcohol past my taste buds. The ‘trip’ proved quite spectacular not the least that it was in full view of several neighbors and on a day when I had given up my preference for wearing trousers and gone all girlie with a skirt. A skirt that made me look the epitome of a professional woman when worn vertically, when worn horizontally well that was a different matter. All this was before 7am. I’ll let your imagination wander through what the rest of my day looked like as I try and explain where I am heading with all this. Perhaps if I backtrack a little and share some pearls of wisdom Carol a friend and mentor of mine gave me many years ago. Her view was that there are no accidents. Carol’s view was that it was about loss of awareness. The busier we become the less aware we are. We hurry through life, ‘wired’ for speed, like a headless chook packing as much as possible into our day; weighed down by the multiple responsibilities of life, family and work. We become less aware of our feelings and less aware of what is going on around us. As a consequence we often don’t pick up on our stress levels as we push onward. This can result in what we commonly refer to as ‘accidents’. Using Carol’s perspective however the cause is more about loss of awareness and certainly for me when I start having days like I describe above it is past time for me to slow down.

According to Henry Miller ‘the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware’.

Where is your awareness?

Focused on the million things you think you have to accomplish by noon?

If this is so for you….focus your attention inward, take a deep slow breath and slow what you are doing.

Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings.

Center yourself and proceed with a slow steady speed with increased awareness of yourself and the world around you.

You will feel and be better for it…

Take your breaks !!

2007-06-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

Frequent short breaks keep you sane and
help you manage your stress levels
Do you take your breaks?

Put the brakes on

2007-06-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

Stopping

Not something we usually consider doing

Particularly as nurses

We get consumed by busyness

And work, and more work and then more work

Long shifts, extra shifts and so on

We could live our lives better if we introduce a stop sign or two

Siestas, down time, doing nothing…

Its OK to slow down and put the brakes on your busyness,

you'll feel better for it

Check it out

2007-06-14T02:40:00.000-07:00

We came across a wonderful web site today

Great ideas, advice and support blended with the right amount of humor.

Check it out www.impactednurse.com

Point of difference

2007-06-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted something different in your life?

Funny thing is unless we take action and do something different things remain the same

John Dryden stated that the definition of insanity is ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’

What do you want to change in your life?

What one tiny little baby step can you take today to make this happen?