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Tina Daniele NUR 856:Web Assignment 3/30/02 Living in a Nurse’s Shortage It is difficult to avoid our profession’s struggles. We not only hear these topics in the voices of our colleagues and nurse leaders, but the nation’s public is becoming aware of the urge for plentiful youth to enter the meaningful nursing profession. We are on the verge of an anticipated nursing shortage (Purnell,et al, 2001). The statistics reveal an aging professional nurse population. Nursing school enrollment doesn’t match the amount of care that is necessary to support our growing population (www.senate.gov/~labor/). So living with: the reality of the statistics, escalating staffing crises, lay-offs, expanding nurse to patient ratios, and a rapidly growing technologic medical system; do we ever wonder how we are going maintain the essence of our profession? First, we need to reflect on our own beliefs, attitudes and commitment about nursing. What can we do to preserve caring and healing in the nursing profession as well as ourselves? According to Watson (1999), nursing has been swept away by modern medicine and has therefore denied much of the feminine healing energy of compassion, caring, gentleness and love in our healing practice. One aspect of Watson’s model for caring-healing practice includes honoring the deeper meanings and feeling about life and inner processes and choices. So what do we do as nurses to honor our sacred feminine? And how does this effect our practice, our ability to cope with the daily stress in the field? Conceivably, we can begin by nurturing our colleagues and ourselves. According to Rogers( 1990) a unitary person is an irreducible, multidimensional energy field manifesting characteristics specific to the whole. We as nurse influences the patterns manifested in a person’s well being, which are part of ourselves and our colleague’s well being. So, to honor our sacredness, we can begin by respecting and valuing self-care. Self-care on the job can be as simple as respecting "time" for meals. Time away from the unit can clear our minds and perhaps enrich our ability to focus. Maintaining a sense for staying centered and grounded in practice can also alleviate stress. A simple way to center oneself can easily be done by simply focusing on the breath. A few seconds of slow deep diaphragmatic breaths can be as beneficial as a coffee break. It enhances the relaxation response helps us to focus ( www.mindful.com). To include mindfulness practice in the health care setting can be beneficial to all.We’ve all heard how important "attitude" is in the healing process. Attitude can be reframe, simply by including humor in our lives. Laughter gives us a sense of deep relaxation and softens interpretations in our problems. Being exposed to constant stress can be detrimental to our health. As healthcare professional we need to recognize this in each other. In order to find the essence of nursing, we much search our sacred selves and make time for nurturing and caring for all aspects of the self. Other sites of interest www.eomega.org www.naturalhealthholistic.com www.nursingworld.org
"She who is centered in the way can go where she wishes without danger. She perceives the Universal harmony even amid great pain because she has found peace in her Heart" …Toa Te Ching References Purnell, M., Hornes, Gonzalez, J., & Westmar, N. (2001). The nursing shortage: Revising the future. Journal of Nursing Administration. 31(4). 174. Watson, J. (1999). Postmodern nursing and beyond. N.Y: Churchill Livingston. Rogers, M.E. (1990). Space-age paradigm for new frontiers in nursing. In M.E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing Theories in Practice. NY: NLN.
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