I'M Live:)

Hello everyone, Today I am very excited. Why you may ask? Because Tina Lanciault over at Exploring Alternative Nursing Careers gave me the opportunity of a lifetime; guest posting with the blog entitled Today You Are a Nurse!You can imagine how excited I was when yesterday night I received the email that my first guest post was live!!!!!! Can't thank her enough :) With new year excitement weaning I figured this post about what makes you a nurse could serve as some inspiration to you as well as me. Don't give up! Your clients are depending on you. Hope you enjoy it! While you're there check out Tina's amazing resources and posts about alternative nursing careers...I know it helped me!Also look out for a new series  on New Beginnings called Take Care!

Taking Care

Hello,

I have been meaning to write this post for awhile.. Taking care of yourself so that others can be taken care of. Throughout my career.. all 34 months of it. No one lesson has been more prevalent then taking care of yourself. We all know what we do is stressful and chaotic at times but even in the chaos we must preserve or we will go down with the ship. It is not helpful or even noble to sacrifice yourself for the good of the cause. I have seen and experienced too many tragedies, senseless mistakes, and overall mayhem ensue when caregivers overlook themselves. To be affective we must take care of ourselves; our loved ones, families, friends, and clients are depending on it. Even God  rested on the seventh day.

Tips I have learned:

• Arrive early so you do not leave late
• Always double the amount of time you think it is going to take to complete a task so then if you finish early you can tackle one of those 5 to 10 minute tasks.
• Under promise and over deliver
• Drink lots of fluids...Carry water at all times, once dehydrated your brain is not fully functioning. If you're thirsty it's already too late.
•  Rest and sleep.. go to bed early so you are well rested. When your brain is tired you make silly mistakes.
•  Eat! Do not skip lunch to catch up on work.. When you are hungry your brain is not getting the glucose you need to function optimally; so the work you are catching up on is going to take longer anyways. I know this one is hard, especially in the acute care setting, but trust me you will wish you had taken a few minutes to recharge instead of making that medication error.
• At lunch shut your mind off from work, tasks, and try not to talk about work at lunch. This is  your time to recuperate.
• Move.. walk..run.. jump. Move a little each day it is a  great way to stay healthy and relieve stress. Also gives you endorphins.
• Prep beforehand ; as much prep work as you can get done is helpful.
•  Be honest with your coworkers and yourself about what you need. Speak up! People treat you how you teach them to.
• The most important thing is to be proactive. No one cares about your well being as much as you do.

Submerge

So a lot has happened since I last wrote as usually does, but I would like to point out this blog is titled perfectly. Although I did not know it at the time of my first writing God did. You see I have started a new career adventure in my life one I never thought was coming this quick. You see I planned to work 3 to 5 at my former employer and then see where life ... and by that I mean God was taking me. Well it seems there is a new plan the plan that involves me making plans and God laughing at them and saying honey what I have for you is so much better than you can imagine.

With that said the weeks leading up to this submerging event have been wrought at times with me waking up in the middle of the night with mild anxiety. That is because I am traveling into the unknown... yet I feel at peace and that's how I know I am right where God placed me.

So today's lesson is submerge yourselves. It is like the Robert Frost poem The Road not taken..that is how I try to live my life . Predictability is boring. It all started when I was born and has become more prevalent since I have been and graduated college. First I was denied from USF so when others might have given up ... I did the opposite and applied for the summer program.. I mean what would I be doing at home besides sitting at home watching TV.. then I applied for the USF College of Nursing.. denied the first time..I reevaluated my life plan and came to the same conclusion... I was still to become a Registered Nurse.. the likes of which the world never saw coming :) So I reapplied and was wait listed #7 to be exact...I have to laugh here because it seems the odds were stacked against me but God is in my corner. Anyways most people did not know what to say or how to react when I told them about me being wait listed I heard "what are you going to do" and " oh your #7" " will you apply again".. No I will not because God gave me the desire to be a RN and so He will honor His word and see that I get the training I need at the time I need. Instead of listening to negativity I prayed and sang all the worship songs you can imagine ...at the time I was doing work study at the main USF library but you would have thought I was having church as I stacked the books the way I was carrying on. And guess what the 6 people ahead of me either accepted but the majority for whatever reason declined and #7 got in!. Then there is the 2 years of nursing school in which in the final lap of the game near graduation they tried to keep me from graduating until the next semester because they thought they could strong arm me but I fought back and had truth on my side and graduated with honors 12/2009. Which leads me to today while my other buddies went the traditional way I followed my passion which happens to be community and public health and I have been blessed and thanking God ever since.

So for me taking this road less traveled and submerging myself in something new is exciting and as the Frost poem concludes" I took the one[road] less traveled by , And that has made all the difference" - Robert Frost

It has been awhile

So it has been a long while since I have last written a lot has happened I mostly grew up a lot more. My friend DJ said I should start writing here again so here we go.
On my mind/ heart which are for the most part connected...is people liking you. I know we go through life and everyone does not like us but it makes working situations more difficult when  people are on the fence you feel as if your on an island....Why can't we all get along in the work environment. We do not have to be best friends but let's work together for the good of the clients..

Enough of that I have to let go and let GOD.

So some tips for all you RN's out there on today nurses day:

1.Be strong
2. Be of integrity
3. Stand for truth
4. Know the players and how they play the game. Each person you work with has a distinct personality and once you know it, it can make the working environment more cooperative.
5. Smile
6. Allow God to shine through
7. Be you .. because at the end of the day rather they love you or hate you all you have is the beautiful RN God made you and that's what makes sense.