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Shifting the Image , Heart and Soul of Nursing- Onward and Upward
National Nurse’s Week
is the perfect time to think about the new shift in nursing, a shift involving
increased respect, self-care, excellence and autonomy for nurses and the nursing
profession alike. We have long since surpassed the auspicious days of Florence
Nightingale. Nurses are asked for far more than bedside nursing and we must
create and sustain nurses that can rise to the level of excellence required of
this profession in today’s world and have them “keep on keepin on” once they get
there!
The nursing profession is experiencing a shortage in crisis proportions. A
crisis doesn’t apply to every dire situation. A crisis is a turning point, a
moment that calls for action. In literature, a crisis is “when a conflict
reaches its highest tension and must be resolved,” according to the American
Heritage Dictionary. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary says, in
medicine, a crisis is “to the point in a serious disease at which a decisive
change occurs.”
There is an expression, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This
can be no more true than when applied to the nursing profession. The new shift
simply changes this to deleting the currently implied after phrase, “at the
nurse’s expense.” We no longer can afford nurses working “at their expense”.
Disillusioned and burned out nurses are the ones working in a 2nd profession
rather than nursing. Their talent, training, dreams and years devoted to
becoming and working as a nurse are gone. The profession is left short staffed.
The remaining nurses are all the more overtaxed.
Let us wake up and want more for these nurses, our nursing schools, places of
employment and patients. Are you worried about a “bottom line”? Hiring nurses
into a specialty where they will stay and keeping them in the profession
drastically decreases overhead and hugely increases quality of patient care,
which in turn positively impacts facility liability. Worried about transitioning
nursing students into the “real world” of nursing? Give them the life and
professional skills to get through school, make the transition and sustain a
rewarding, fulfilling and long career in nursing.
Learn the 6 keys to nursing success: Shifting from the “one-up” position (as
expert, mentor, caretaker) to equal partnership, Shifting from selflessness
(being last on the list) to self-care, Creating work/life balance, Establishing
boundaries, Identifying and learning to live your passion, Discovering and
integrating personal values into your life.
Subsequent newsletter issues will highlight each of the six keys to nursing
success in more detail. Don’t miss them!
Best regards,
Merrily Sable, RN, BSN and Betsy Smith, PhD
 
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