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It
is my pleasure to serve as your President for the next two years. I
welcome your thoughts, ideas, and most of all your participation in the
activities of the Georgia Nurses Association – your professional
organization. I want to meet as many of you as possible during my
term. I already have events planned in Augusta, Statesboro, Valdosta,
and Dalton. There is room for plenty more! Please consider inviting me
to your area, facility, or chapter for a formal or informal gathering.
I am very interested in hearing from nurses at all levels and in a
variety of practice settings.
Decisions from the recent past have set the stage for us to be able to
make great strides for Registered Nurses and the state of healthcare in
Georgia. You have elected a terrific group of dedicated individuals to
serve as Board leaders in this capacity. They are open and willing to
listen to your concerns as well as engage you in creating solutions.
You can contact them directly or via the website. In mid-October, we
will be meeting for the first time as a Board and setting our priorities
for the next year, based on the work of the membership at our Centennial
convention.
For those of you who don’t know me, my background is in medical-surgical
nursing. I have been a staff nurse, an educator, a clinical faculty
instructor, a (pulmonary) clinical nurse specialist and a house
supervisor over the course of my career. I continue to work on an
as-needed basis in med-surg at St. Joseph’s/Candler in Savannah, a
Magnet facility. I have recently started with United Hospice in
Gainesville, also on an as-needed basis. Nursing has given me the
opportunity to be of service to my profession by allowing me the
flexibility to work part-time. This also gives me the chance to talk
with nurses and experience first-hand the environment of the workplace.
One of the reasons I am ready to serve as President now is because I
recently took to heart something I had often promoted to my patients.
As I mentioned in my last article, I took some time off last fall after
leaving my clinical nurse specialist job. While I did not sit idle (I
still had boxes to unpack from our move to north Georgia), I did take
the time to re-evaluate how I had been treating myself. It soon became
clear that the high expectations I placed on myself had not only
motivated me to perform but also caused me to burn out. At that point,
I knew I had to find ways to renew my previous zest for nursing and for
life in general.
In
the most recent American Nurse Today, Drs. Rushton, Roshi, and
Dossey describe “contemplative practices for compassionate end-of-life
care.” (American Nurse Today, 2(9), p 16) The basic premise for caring
for others is first caring for oneself. If we are not practicing
self-care, we lose the ability to connect with each other, with our
patients, and with our profession. We may miss opportunities because we
just can’t see them. We may lose the chance to really make a
difference.
The practice of self-care is choosing to be proactive in one’s own
development. It includes any activities that we believe support,
maintain, or improve our well-being (p 17). When was the last time you
treated yourself to something that you really love? Have you just sat
and listened to the “quiet” recently? (Have you found any “quiet”
recently?) Do you regularly practice some form of exercise? Do you
integrate art or music into your day? On a more practical note, have
you had your annual physical? Each of us has to decide what nurtures
our inner self and then take it to heart on a regular basis.
Another concept put forth by Drs. Rushton, Roshi, and Dossey is the idea
of mindfulness (p 17-18). They describe this practice as bringing
attention to what is happening in the mind and body in the present.
Mindfulness allows us to bring peace and calm into our lives. It helps
by expanding our focus from the small picture in front of us to the
broad canvas ahead. It releases our attachment to any one particular
outcome. It helps us be more proactive and less reactive. Mindfulness
ensures that our words and behaviors are in-line with our intentions.
Wow! Don’t you wish you’d discovered this years ago?
For myself, I am consciously incorporating self-care practices into my
daily routine. It’s amazing what a few minutes of meditation can do!
It’s even more amazing when you see what you really intend to see! How
many times have you said “I’ve never seen that before” but the object
has been there for days, weeks or maybe even months. Being truly
mentally and physically present does make a difference. I’m also hiking
the waterfalls of north Georgia, riding my motorcycle, spending time
with my cats, and enjoying my family more than I ever did before. I
know that it will take a concerted effort to continue self-care but the
rewards are great.
I
invite you to read the article in the American Nurse Today and
share your self-care practices with friends, colleagues, and family. As
Seth Kahan would say, tell us your story. As many of you will
remember, Seth Kahan was our keynote speaker at the Centennial
convention. Seth taught us how to inspire passion and tap into our
collective intelligence through story-telling. Did we have stories to
tell!?! Ask anyone who was present to share their experience, then
start the practice of story-telling in your workplace or other setting.
Perhaps it will become part of your self-care ritual.
Finally, once you have assurance that your self-care practices are
intact, take the opportunity to serve your profession. Don’t miss the
chance to make a difference! Success will come much easier when we work
together. One hundred thousand nurses (100,000) combined make a loud
and powerful noise. Let’s be strong in our march toward quality
healthcare for Georgia’s citizens, safe workplaces for nurses, and
regulation of nursing by nursing.
Rushton, C. H., Roshi, J. H., & Dossey, B. (2007). Being with dying:
contemplative practices for compassionate end-of-life care. American
Nurse Today, 2(9), 16-18. |
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