The Problem with Nursing

Any nurse can tell you that the profession is rewarding, stressful, challenging. There's always new technology to learn, or new guidelines, and always, more paperwork. Patients are sicker, the job gets tougher by the minute.

Supposedly there's a nursing shortage. I can tell you why that is, it's not that there are too few nurses out there, it's because hordes of them have left the profession, yet they keep their licenses current. Some call it a sabbatical.

I call it "Runs From Paperwork." It's atrocious. In todays litigious society, everything you do as a nurse has to be documented. A few years ago, nurses charted by exception. If for example, a patient had a fever when vital signs were checked at 7 p.m. this was noted. Other things like administering medications that were ordered, were considered the norm, and therefore not charted.

But, that's when life was sensible.

RN Tip Of The Day

The old saying, "it's all in your head" is often true! More often than is realized, symptoms and illnesses can be controlled by what you think, and how you think about it.

A positive outlook, even in the most dire of circumstances, helps tremendously with the outcome of the disease process. If the patient maintains a positive outlook, which isn't always easy, and manages to keep a sense of humor, symptoms will be greatly reduced. This in and of itself, has proven time and again to not only keep the patient focused on a good outcome, but in fact, can contribute to healing.

The mind controls the body, always. That's not to say that the mind can cure all...or can it? I don't think that health care professionals have delved into this aspect of care with nearly the vigor that it needs to be addressed.

For us average mentality folks, it is said that we only use a small portion of our brain, the rest lays there, doing little. Imagine, if we used the power of our minds, what effect that could have on our health.

Can you think your way to wellness? Yes, I do believe you can.

But it can't be done with just one thought, it has to be a focused, relentless attention to the problem. Like a tape recording on a feedback loop, keep in your mind the solution to the problem. It can be something as simple as, "I will NEVER have a cold or the flu again."

People doubt me when I tell them I did that 23 years ago, and have not had a cold or the flu since making that declaration. But it wasn't just the declaration. I focused my mind and in my head repeated that single sentence perhaps a thousand times. 23 years. No colds, no flu, and I'm around people with both almost daily.

You decide. Then do it.

To your health!