Tag: opinion piece
Life Lessons I Wish I Knew Earlier
Sometimes you avoid accepting the bitter truths of life. However, there comes a day or moment when you remember a piece of advice or lesson someone had shared with you. At that moment, you realize it was true. Out of all the self-help books I’ve read, the advice I got from loved ones, and lessons ...Sleep To Heal
Obtaining quality sleep is a challenge. Factor in alarms, excessive noise, artificial illumination, and people waking you up, the idea of getting any shut-eye sounds impossible. Bodies need rest and an opportunity to reset. In the hospital, it is paramount to recovery. Hindrances Hospitals hinder relaxation due to functioning as a 24-hour workforce. Patients are ...Following Through Is the Way
Humans communicate using words, actions, body language, tone, inflection, and volume. Small people may not be receptive to all these nuances. To them, spoken word is the gold standard. They are unable to appreciate sarcasm, puns, and figures of speech. What we articulate to children is what they believe. Cross Signals Youngsters receive conflicting messages ...Three Hour Tylenol
Why does it feel like it takes forever and a day to acquire pain relief while in the hospital? I have knowledge of bedside nursing in the ICU and the ER. Patients suffer from aches in each specialty area. The period between asking for alleviation and receiving oral or intravenous prescriptions varies depending on protocols, ...Judgment Free Germs
Flying with little humans can be challenging. Delays, waits, lines, quiet voices, and nowhere to go, makes my patience grow wary. Traveling adults experience anxiety and tension with getting to the airline on time, progressing through security, and keeping track of baggage. Add bothersome kids to that mix and it is chaos. Being a military ...Village of Nurses
It takes a village. A common phrase when speaking of raising kids. I believe it also applies to nursing. Nurses have many roles in healthcare. More than the departments that they work in: emergency room, ICU, home health. Hospital workers have unique personalities that join together and create a community. There is no one-size-fits-all for ...Mouth Shouts, Body Screams
When does a grown-up learn to express themselves in a manner acceptable to society? Imagine me, a 33-year-old, enters a coffee shop, and screams, “I WANT COFFEE.” I continue to shout, “I WANT COFFEE” for 15 minutes. Fellow coffee drinkers scoot further away from me, in case I am mentally insane. Others stare, mouth agape, ...Affirmations from Within
Kids seem to have a bottomless pit of questions. “Mommy, do you like it?” “Daddy, look! Is it beautiful?” “Did I do a good job?” “I made it for you.” Youngsters seek positive affirmation from their parents starting from the moment they are born. Erik Erikson, a renowned psychologist, identifies eight stages of psychosocial development ...Lessons in Censorship
One of the classes I took during undergrad was Censorship. The purpose of the seminar was to overcome the hesitation of writing about topics that each writer avoided out of fear and judgment. It influenced me so much that I took it twice. The program was taught by Don De Grazia. He wrote a book ...Calm Myself, Calm My Child
I grew up in a household with a lot of yelling. My dad shouted at me. My siblings and I screamed at each other. We were raised with loud words as our primary method of communication during conflict. Our family had no tools to maintain calm. This made us feel scared. We feared our dad ...
