As a nurse coach and Reiki Nurse, working part-time at the hospital, I have lots of interactions with nurses, healthcare providers, and even students studying to enter the professional fields. Now there is a LOT going on in healthcare today. I don’t have to tell you that… but just as a quick illustration, here we go:

• Healthcare reform, public policy, economic crisis;
• Natural disasters, violent tragedies, criminal acts;
• Death, drugs, disease, poverty;
• Unemployment, hospital policy, nursing shortages;
• The list could go on and on… and on.

It’s no wonder we bully each other. I’m really not surprised that there is horizontal, lateral, intra-professional violence. Quite frankly, I don’t see any of this leaving the scene- until we change the internal landscapes.

Working as a healthcare provider you witness disease, poverty, death, and trauma. You respond first in horrific situations. You have to even help the criminals and take care of the violent offenders!

Well, all of this that we hear, see, feel, and experience doesn’t just go into some vibrational abyss. What we see, hear, engage in, and experience ALL affects us on so many levels. Cellular levels, energetic levels, relational levels, and physical levels.

When we are unable to (whether because we are unwilling, not allowed, or not afforded the opportunity to) release some of these negative experiences they can build up and create havoc.

So nurses, do you internalize your work?

Are you bringing the scenes, conversations, and issues home with you? Even if you think “No, I don’t talk about work at home…” do you think about it? Dwell on it? Dream about it?

Our thoughts are powerful, powerful things. One might argue the most powerful blessings (or curses) we are bestowed.

Change your thoughts = change your world.

Positive thoughts = positive world = positive health.

You know when you hold those negativities inside they create blocks. Energy is blocked. When energy becomes blocked cells are not nourished. Inflammation builds up. Stress creates disease. Physical illness is the symptom of our experiences.

While there are many, many things that go into physical health- one thing we have total control over.

Our thoughts.

Now our brains are going NON-STOP. It can be exhausting to even attempt to witness and observe our minds at all times. The mental chatter doesn’t ever stop. Even as I write this article, there are moments (when I take a pause to get a sip of water or think of my next sentence) that my mind starts to wander… even as I am focused solely on this task, heavily concentrating, I am aware of the fact that from time-to-time my mind is astray.

So- first, just be aware of your mind. Practice meditation, breathing, mantras, Reiki, whatever you like- to be able to witness and observe your thoughts more and more. It takes practice. People do this for YEARS. Be gentle if you are just starting out.

Observe your thoughts and notice- are they positive? Or not? Are they thinking, worrying, remembering, and obsessing over your work, the media, the disaster, the world? I’ve got to be honest with you; I don’t even watch the news. My husband, thankfully, clues me in on the ‘big events’. But why watch the news? It’s all a Debbie-downer!

Where are your thoughts right now? Have you tried to observe them before and if so, what do you notice? What do you do with your work? Are you bringing it home? Are you focusing on the negative? How can you bring more positivity into your thinking? Let’s hear it!