So
you guys don’t know me well yet, but you will. As a precursor, I’ll tell you
that I’m a Scorpio….a full BLOWN Scorpio-and I was born on “The Day of
Conflicting Karma”, whatever that means. One day I’ll have time to tell you
about my…vivid personality. So, I just celebrated my 33rd birthday
and I feel like I’ve been in full Scorpio mode ever since. A week after my
birthday, my car was backed into by a lady who was applying lipstick while
driving. I was obviously upset but then my “think-like-a-nurse” light clicked
on and instead of losing my temper, I just maintained a cool demeanor and went
through the motions with the police and insurance and such.
What
does that have to do with you becoming a nurse, you may ask? Well, let me tell
you! As I mentioned before, I had a temper problem that caused me to lose my
CNA license before. Since then, I have of course matured, but every now and
then, I encounter situations where I can just feel myself about to fly off the
handle. I do try my VERY best to always think first, so the angry me is rarely
seen these days. But in the middle of this accident situation, I kept looking
at my car, and looking at this lady with the red lipstick smudged all around
her eye and nose, and back again to my car thinking I deserve to lose
my cool a little bit. But what if this was a patient who will not follow
imperative doctor’s orders? Or what if it was a family member who is upset
about their family’s treatment, or what if it was a staff member who is losing
it for whatever reason? Would it be appropriate for me to lose my mind and go completely off? Heck no!
It’s
always necessary to remain calm enough to think your situation through. The
incident that caused me to have to surrender my first CNA license was a difficult situation,
but it could have been handled in a different way. Taking time to catch your
breath can make a world of difference and not doing so can surely make or break
your career. If you read nothing else on this blog, please read, reread, and
remember that. A moment of mishandled frustration could
potentially end your career. The
best way to handle it is to prevent it, so I thought that I’d give you a few
ways to find your inner calm.
1. Meditate. I swear some moons ago when people would tell me that
they meditate, I would automatically assume that they were children of hippies.
It seemed so weird and unnecessary to me until I tried it. It took me a while to get myself
into it, but I quickly found that when done correctly, it really centered my
mood and made me feel a little better. Now, it took me a little longer to get
focused because I’m distracted by every.little.thing! I started at 5 minutes
and gradually worked my way up to 30 minutes. Now I find that I need my
quiet time. For me, as soon as I wake up is best. I can start my day with a
clear mind and I find that I can handle situations much smoother. Breathe
in…breathe out…listen to the breath come into and leave your body. It works.
2. Pray. Personally, I believe in God, so this is a necessity
for me. I don’t take an hour to pray but I do say a silent prayer as soon as I
realize that I’m awake. A quick thank you, Lord; or please give me the strength
to put my feet on the floor, Lord. I often pray en route to work or class…just
to let God know that I’m thankful to be tired because I asked to be a nurse and
it’s happening for me. I need prayer to get through my day. I pray when I’m
getting good news, or when something works out in my favor. And for those times
when things are SO bad, I pray because it is all I know how to do.
3. Find a
hobby. I love, love, LOVE to craft and write. When I break
out my Cricut or my laptop, just know it’s about to go down. I love creating
things and piecing things together to make something beautiful. I love
decorating my home with Pinterest DIY’s and decorating baby showers or birthday
parties. It makes me happy and makes me leave the nursing hoopla behind for a
moment or two. Find what you enjoy, whether it’s crafting, hiking, or whatever.
All work and no play is boring, and you’ll end up hating the career you worked
so hard to get into.
4. Enjoy
family and friends. Well
obviously this list is in no particular order, because I revel in the love of
my family. I have to go find my nieces and nephews a couple time a week just to
love on them and play with blocks or do tummy time….anything! I adore them. I
also love talking to my parents and granny just to see how their day is going.
I have to let them know that even though I’m knee deep in A & P, I’m still
thinking about them. Plus, my family has the most awesome gatherings. Too much
fun. Period.
5. Find something to be grateful for. True
story-this morning, I got up to get a bottle of water out of the fridge and I
was truly, honestly thankful that I had a refrigerator to open and something
inside to take out of it. You see, in this field, you come across so many
people who are in unfortunate situations. Some are hospital bound and have a
slim chance of returning to their home to live their normal life. Some are
grateful to be in a hospital where they know that someone will be there to
check on them-to ask them if they need anything. I am often taking inventory of
my life, and sometimes I get so frustrated because something does not go my
way, but I make myself snap out of it because all things considered, I'm
blessed! I can get warm if I'm cold. I can go to the store if I run out of
laundry detergent or eggs. I can still pick up the phone and call both of my
parents. I have so much to be appreciative of. If you think about it, I KNOW
that you can list at least 50
things that you're grateful for.
6.Be
aware in the moment. This is so important! When your in the thick of
clinicals and finals and just life in general, it's so easy for your days to
start to run together. Is it Saturday or Wednesday?! What was I supposed to
study this week and what will this test cover? STOP. Take a breath and look up. Look out
the window at the kids riding their bikes- they look so happy and care free!
Look at yourself in the mirror. Notice something you like about yourself today,
or take a moment to try on that new lipstick or hair accessory. Pick up the
phone and call a friend that you haven't had a chance to catch up with. Live in
the moment. Realize the things actively going on around you! The life of a
nurse (or nursing student) can get hectic and sometimes it gets hard to stop
and take a breath. But you have to. Use your senses to take in all that is
going around you.
7. Never forget to SMILE! The simplest and most effective
thing you can do when you need to find some inner peace is to smile! Smiling
costs nothing and requires almost no effort! It is a small gesture that can put
someone at ease and can change a tense situation into peace. If you can do
nothing else, you can do this..try it now!
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