I got a brochure in the mail last week for, what I thought was a conference. It turned out to be a flyer inviting me to join a nurses’ group. The topic? On the front it read:
‘Disrespecting RNs: The New National Epidemic.
I’m all about quality patient care, safe RN-to-patient ratios and healthy work environments but we are going about this all wrong. Focusing on what’s ‘wrong’ with nursing won’t change anything. It hasn’t worked before and it won’t work today, tomorrow or any other day in the future.
Why?
It’s all about energy.
What we focus on we get more of.
I’ve seen it done in multiple workshops and seminars. The presenter will say something like ‘Don’t focus on a purple elephant.’ And then they will ask: ‘OK, what did you see in your mind’s eye?’ Most people’s response: ‘a purple elephant.’
It’s like driving past a car accident.
You can’t help but look.
Nursing is really, really good at focusing on what’s wrong. We focus on the problems and how we can solve them. We have meetings to come up with solutions. We are constantly creating workarounds in our practice environments.
It’s time to stop all of this and just focus on being a nurse.
When I receive literature or hear about a workshop focused on the negative, it just completely pisses me off. We’re not going to get anywhere doing the same old thing. In fact, we’re just going to remain stuck in the exact same place we were before.
C.G. Jung said it best: “What you resist, persists”.
He knew that what we give our attention to only grows stronger.
Instead of receiving a brochure in the mail that calls the disrespect of RNs the new national ‘epidemic’ why not something that empowers and uplifts us? Verbiage like that is only going to create more fear. Fear, worry and doubt invites more pain and discontent. Anyone receiving mail like that about their profession is sure to feel badly about themselves. It doesn’t help anything at all!
Who’s with me on creating positive language? Who’s ready to focus on the good that nurses are doing? Who wants to hear more about the uplifting things that happen in healthcare?
In one of my lessons from my universal law teacher, he states: ‘there are more good things happening in one hour of a day than all of the bad things combined.’ The problem is that we only hear ‘bad news’.
The media and news reports are filled with chaos and crisis. I don’t watch the news, but I turned on the TV the other day to find out something about the snowy weather. The woman on the screen, with a very serious face, said: ‘A man was brutally stabbed to death in a park downtown. The police report no suspects at this time.’
What does that do to us? Well, if you live in that area- surely it could freak you out that the cops have no clue and this crazed man is still out there with his knife!
Lift healthcare up by focusing on what’s going well. Empower nursing by speaking and writing about all of the positive things we do every day. Share courage, joy, love and light with each and every person you meet.
Let’s hear from you! What will you do today to invite more peace, love and joy into your work and your life? How will you empower yourself and all of those around you? Leave a comment below; I’d love to hear from you. Enjoy your health today. Thank you!
Thanks for this post. In the course I teach on Evidenced-Based Practice, I include a lesson on Appreciative Inquiry, and ask students to identify what and where in their practice environments things are being done well. I reference an article by Swenson-Britt & Reineck (2009) that reports there is no evidence that always identifying barriers to EBP does anything to increase the utilization of evidence-based practices by nurses, but barriers are often what seems to be what are focused on in studies.
If you go looking for what’s broken, you will find lots of broken stuff. Conversely, if you look for what’s working, you will find that most things are. What you focus on grows and expands.
I appreciate the conversation you have started. Let’s keep it going.
Mary,
Thank you so much for reading and sharing your comment! I appreciate it greatly and totally agree with your insights. I’ve studied appreciative inquiry, myself and find that it has totally shifted how I approach situations. I am so glad that you are sharing this with students and that more and more people will be embracing this in their nursing practice. We’re creating a powerful, upbeat revolution! I love it!!
Enjoy your health today. And thank you, again for your upbeat input.
Elizabeth
At last year’s AHNA conference in my circle sharing I suggested we start a nursing (r)evolution and suggested we start using comfort scales instead of pain scales. Asking a patient, “What can I do to make you more comfortable” is a much different energy than “What is your pain on a 1-10 scale?” If a scale had to be used for documentation it could be, “how comfortable are you on a 1-10 scale? This would not only be a better outcome for the patient, it would also greatly increase the value of nursing. Instead of our desired value being a 0 (no pain), we could be a 10 (Very comfortable!) Let’s raise the value of nursing and the comfort of patients from 0-10! 🙂
Hi Kim,
Great idea! What a better way to phrase this. And a more positive way to frame the situation. I love it. Thanks for coming by, reading and taking the time to share your comment. Enjoy your health today,
Elizabeth
As a patient (not a nurse), I really appreciate Kim’s idea. It is hard to determine how much pain I am in; I don’t ever know how to answer that at the doctor’s office. But I can easily say how comfortable I am feeling. So as someone on the receiving end of these scales, I definitely agree with Kim’s suggestion.
Hey Eileen,
Thanks so much for coming by and reading the blog! Kim’s suggestion is valuable and it’s wonderful to hear from a non-nurse perspective that this would make more sense. Now onto shifting the entire culture of how things are done in nursing… Who’s with us!?! Have a great day,
Elizabeth
Focusing on the positive does indeed manifest more positivity. While we can also give energy to the things that require change, you’re right that we don’t need to do it in a way that solely focuses on the negative. Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth!
You’re welcome, Keith. As always, thank you for stopping by, reading and sharing your input. It’s always very positive!
Elizabeth
Amen!