The Nurse Power Project

2013…

The year begins with reflection, re-evaluation and setting new year’s resolutions…perhaps with a sigh…with a small voice quietly whispering, ‘lets hope you can stick to them this year’.

Stop!  Let’s take a moment and check out all the hype over new year resolutions.

I believe a new year brings anticipation, excitement and planning for what the new year holds.  At Nurse Power, we talk about revolutions and evolutions of what can be, rather than that old theme of resolutions.

This year, something new is on the way – The Nurse Power Project.

This year I am pledging to reach for the stars and make 2013 the best year yet!  Nursing is what it is and I pledge to embrace the changes I can make, and accept the things I cannot change – and I would like you to join me in this collaborative project, through a month by month project of twelve hot topics within the nursing profession.

Week by week, we will be working towards making 2013 our best year yet, and I would love you to join our collaborative project to create…well…whatever you truly want.

If you have not checked out the Nurse Power Facebook page, please do so.

http://www.facebook.com/nursepower.with.bron#!/nursepower.with.bron

Otherwise, watch this space.

Until then,

Bron 🙂

Nurse Power http://www.nursepower.com.au/

When your day goes smoothly…

Imagine if you will.  You are on an early, you get up feeling not too dusty, you drag on your nurses uniform, put on your comfortable shoes and head to work.

In recent days, the unit in which you work has been a bit like a volcano…little eruptions when you least expect it.  As you walk in the door, that feeling of dread hits you right in the belly, you mutter to yourself, ‘oh well…here we go again’.

To your surprise, the day goes smoothly, no unexpected surprises, you actually get a decent break…ahh nice.  As you head home, there is a spring in your step, your patients are settled well.

This time, the words running through your head go something like this…’this is more like it, this is why I keep turning up and why I am a nurse’.

Ok, hit the pause button.  Stop for a second and close your eyes, capture this moment of positive thoughts, the spring in your step and the feeling of a good job well done. Bottle it for a rainy day.

This is a time for being grateful. Grateful for being you, grateful for having the gift of caring and yep, even for your comfortable shoes.

This is a time to take a moment and acknowledge a time of self-care. When the going gets rough (you know it will come, it is only a matter of time), close your eyes and come back to this moment of being grateful, bring back those feelings of empowerment. Crack open the “bottle you’ve saved” and breath in the contents.

I heard it said this week…”debrief, go for a walk and move on” Make the choice, it is 100% up to you.

Acknowledge the not so good days, and enjoy every moment of the great ones.

Until then,

Bron 🙂

Image: http://images.free-extras.com/pics/s/smiley_face-1612.jpg

Is it possible to believe the unbelievable…

Busy, busy, busy…that is the catch phrase right now.  At work, at home, kids at school, is it just me, or is life even more frantic these days?

When you are in that whirl wind kind of state, the ‘to do’ list, the memory and energy is stretched to capacity.

Some function at their best when the wind is blowing up their back….others on the hand, do not.

It is times like these, when it is critical for you to believe the unbelievable….the belief that individuals in nursing, and allied health can have choice…be completely satisfied with a job well done, know the feeling of appreciation and believe they are worth it and more.

How do I know this…because I too have been a non-believer…the thing is, if you take a moment, reflect on where you place yourself in the priority list, you may be in for a little surprise.

As a nurse, you care for everyone you touch, not only in the workplace, but also in your downtime…are you really ever off duty…probably not.

You may know the value of wellness and self-care, you have good intentions to go for a nice walk or read the latest best seller, it is the actual valuing yourself and giving yourself some ‘me’ time that does not happen as often as it should.

Nurses get tired, shift work does that to you.  Perhaps it is the lack of motivation, due to many things that stops the small self-care moments to take place.

This week is the week to take a breath, and be aware it is a choice to not do something for you.

We are running a free monthly online session series at Nurse Power on this very topic, pencil October 3 in your diary, we are holding a one hour session on the topic of self-care for nurses covering motivation and why it gets hard at times.

Click the link below to go to our website to register for this free session.

http:/nursepower.com.au

Wishing you a week filled with possibility, if things take longer than you want, or you think it is not happening, become a believer, it will happen…eventually.

Little by little, we will make a difference.

Until then,

Bron 🙂

If I were you…

In nursing and many others professions; across the country we hear the words – ‘If I were you’…

The other day, I was talking to a student, he was telling me about how he goes into overwhelm and gets stuck, procrastinates and ends up burning the midnight candle to get an assignment done.

This person does not enjoy this study routine and was complaining about how it seems to happen time and time again.

After listening to his story, I said those magical words…’if I were you’…now that is just grand… because obviously I am not!  Where did I get off telling another person what to do, or think, or say.

What was really required  here was good old fashioned empathy. Empathy is the powerful (and rare) ability to imagine what motivates someone else to act.

You dont have to experience what another person does, or work where they do, or have the same journey ‘to have empathy.

Take a moment to think about what is really happening before you offer those four little words.

What is required,  is a persistent effort to understand how other people see the world, and to care about it.

I trust you enjoy the powerful feeling of empathy, no doubt your patients, colleagues and significant others will love it.