Workplace Violence...Just Say No!

I have had the pleasure of spending the past two days teaching and participating in the NC State Emergency Nurses Association Annual Conference.  The first day I was a teacher in a pre-conference session, teaching in an Emergency Nursing Pediatric Instructor Course.  We now have 13 new ENPC Instructors in NC--woo-hoo!  Today was the actual conference day and what a great agenda!  All of the speakers were nationally recognized nurses who have made great contributions to emergency and trauma nursing and who had great ideas and knowledge to share with us here in NC.

One topic that was discussed was the increasing frequency of workplace violence directed at emergency department nurses and staff.  It is ironic that the public each year reports that they respect nurses and trust them, yet at the same time, nurses on the front lines are very likely to be assaulted, physically or verbally, while they are trying to perform their jobs.  Diane Gurney, the current national ENA president spoke about the work that the ENA is doing to spotlight this issue including research into the subject and highlighted the following study.

A study by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) finds that more than half of emergency nurses report experiencing physical violence on the job, including as being “spit on,” “hit,” “pushed or shoved,” “scratched,” and “kicked.”  One in four has experienced such violence more than 20 times in the past three years.  Just as alarming, one in five nurses have experienced verbal abuse more than 200 times during the same period (www.ena.org).

As a nurse working in an emergency department, these numbers are more than concerning, they are at epidemic proportions.  You, as a member of the general public (if you are not in health care) should be stunned at these numbers.  In no other workplace would this be acceptable.  This behavior would not be acceptable in a restaurant, a grocery store, a bank...  AND as importantly, this violence has implications for other patients and families in our emergency departments who might get caught in the crosshairs of a violent event caused by another patient or family member.  With violence in our emergency departments, EVERYONE is at RISK!  There should be no tolerance for workplace violence...anytime...anywhere~

So, what to do?  In many states, if they have a assault on a healthcare worker law, it is just a misdemeanor.  North Carolina had a bill to make assault of a healthcare worker a felony which just DIED IN COMMITTEE.  Our laws need to be strengthened to provide a legal deterrant and so that nurses and other healthcare workers who are assaulted by patients or family members have legal recourse.  The NC ENA advocates for this stronger legislation, and will be again trying to find a sponsor to introduce the bill again in the upcoming session.  When this happens, if a nurse asks you to contact your legislator, I hope that you will.





~DDB

Feel the joy ~

JOY [joi] ~

the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation

How many of you have experienced joy today?  Many times we are too busy to notice the simple things that bring pleasure to our lives.  I am trying to slow down and feel some joy everyday...sidebar...

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Please take some time to show your support of the many women, and men, who have battled this disease.  

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancers. The chance of developing invasive breast cancer at some time in a woman's life is a little less than 1 in 8 (12%).

The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates for breast cancer in the United States are for 2010:

• About 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.
• About 54,010 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
• About 39,840 women will die from breast cancer

So women, feel ur boobies~  And men, remind ur women to feel their boobies <she might even let you help!  This will surely cause some JOY>

OK, back on track~ JOY.  Anything that brings elation...A sense of bigger purpose to this thing we call life...Happiness...Something that is satisfying in our lives...

For me, these don't need to be big things...it is easy to find joy in the big things.  It is much harder to find joy in the small everyday things...however, if you try ur life will be much richer for it!

What things have given me joy in the past week?  The friendly nuzzle of a dog...my thighs killing me, cause I know that this came from a great run...a bit of sarcasm from a friend and then a smile from the same friend...reading my course syllabus and finding out there is not a big assignment due the first week...the feeling of a crisp fall morning <finally>...watching the sunrise over the ocean...walking on the beach...feeling at peace with decisions...drinking a cup of hot tea in solitude...

What about you?  What small thing in your life has given you some joy this week?

I would love to hear from you~

~DDB

Dancing Queen~

I spent the last night dancing the night away.  I had a blast~ I have come to find that dancing is something that I truly enjoy doing.  I enjoy the sights, sounds, and feeling my body become one with the beat~

There are a lot of benefits to dancing.  Burning calories on the dancefloor, although honestly, this one is usually canceled out by the alcohol calories...bummer.  Releasing endorphins, and who doesn't like endogenous opiates~ Letting loose and allowing your passion to flow.  Freeing your mind and escaping your daily stress, even if it is momentary and fleeting.

I did not know how much I enjoyed dancing until recently in my life.  Growing up, I was a frequent wallflower, and that was ok, but it also made me very serious, and very studious.  This bodes well for getting through high school and college, but it does make the experience, in the retrospectoscope, a little stale.  Dancing is like adding salsa to life!

Dancing is emotion in it's purest form~ one can be flirty, playful, soulful, loving, sexy, flashy, passionate~


Do you remember the last time you danced?  Tell me about it!

They say the eyes are the windows to one's soul; I would argue that dancing is the voice, the loudest, most passionate voice, of one's soul...and it really needs to be expressed in one's life...often!

Have a great day, and don't forget~ DaNcE!

~DDB

Bucket??? We don't need no bucket, we need an ARK!

Well, I decided to come down to the beach as planned on Monday.  When I arrived in Wilmington, it was raining...and I mean raining.  The HIGH WATER sign on College Rd. did little to describe the amount of water that was in the roadway.  I trudged through (not very safe, I know, but one cannot just 'turn around, don't drown' in afternoon traffic) and made it safely to the beach place.  Little did I know how much it was going to rain!

Monday evening I took a walk on the beach.  This is my typical relaxing activity, as well as my exercise, when I am here.  I usually walk 3 miles, but it was looking rough over toward the mainland, so I decided to just walk a couple miles, and unfortunately for me, it started raining (again) when I was only about halfway into my 2 mile trek.  Needless to say, I got soaked.  Came back and undressed in the shower, where I had to wring the water out of my clothes!

Walking in the rain is good, though.  I don't remember the last time that I did that.  Usually in the rain, we are hurriedly dashing from place to place, under an umbrella or raincoat, trying to stay dry.  In this case, I knew that I was going to get soaked, so I just took my time, bare feet and all, and laughed at my predicament!

Little did I know, that the rain had just begun.  Today, Thursday, 4 days later, the area has had over TWENTY-TWO inches of rain.  It has finally stopped this evening, and gracious as God is, he left his calling card of hope to this area that is now gone from drought to floodstage in many areas.

Many times, I find myself walking through the proverbial rain, hurriedly trying to find the rainbow that I know must be there, even though I cannot see it.  I think there is a lesson here for me (and maybe for you too).  Slow down, walk, don't run, and enjoy the rain instead of trying to find a way to quickly get out of it.  Savor the feeling of the rivulets dripping into your face, tasting the rain on your tongue.  The rain will one day end.  The answer will come in time, and it will be beautiful, just like the rainbow.

Wandering is hard for someone who usually has goals....

So the other night while sleeping I had a dream.  I was wandering around one of the local college campuses, in the dark, searching for a building.  I kept wandering and wandering, asked people that I saw for directions, and kept on wandering, until finally I woke up, without finding my destination.

I went back to sleep, but when I woke up later I still remembered this dream.

I have been in grad school now for several years.  Going part-time on a dual degree- Masters in Health Administration and Masters in Nursing.  I started on this journey without a real goal in mind (which is really out of character for me), except to learn some new stuff, and of course, to get the degrees in the end.  People have asked me along the way, "So, what are you going to do when you get done?"  And I have replied "Well, I am not sure that I am going to do anything differently, because I love my job, but I think it will open doors if I choose to do something different."

At heart, I am a very goal-directed, concrete, analytical person.  I like to go from point A to point B (and as quickly as possible), so to not have an end game here has really been out there for me (could it have something to do with 40, quite possibly?).

I think I had the dream because I am getting close to finishing.  I have one more class and to complete my masters' project, and then I am DONE!  I have, I don't think, ever done anything in life like this that has left me wandering around, without knowing what, if anything, I am going to do with this not-so-cheap investment.  Can you put a price tag on gaining knowledge?  I have learned so much about my profession and so much about how health care works (or doesn't--that might be an interesting blog post!).  I have also met so many different and interesting people in my courses.  And I have learned that I may want to teach one day in an online environment such as the one that I am learning in now.  But, I don't have that answer that people seem to want to have "What are you going to do when you get done?"  And I am near done, and it kinda gnaws at my sense of purpose.

So, I guess I will just continue to have anxiety-fueled dreams, wandering around lost for a while.  I think that this may be good for me, to do something, just to say I have done it, without having to have a future goal in mind.  It takes me off of my beaten path of being driven.

So what about you?  Have you ever done something just to say you've done it, or learned something just for the sake of learning?

Me??? Blogging???

So, today I saw an article about the new book from the blog, Secret Regrets, and I thought, how interesting, a blog about regrets, but once I clicked on the link and was taken to the blog, I realized, how sad.  So many YOUNG people with SOOOOO many regrets!

Turning 40 recently, I had a change in perspective on life.  You realize that, quite possibly, half of your life is gone.  It makes you think, what have I not done that I need to do before...well...the deal is done~

I do have a few regrets, but those are for the younger set.  Reaching 40, I want to now not think about those, but instead, think about what I can do TO LIVE.  Deciding what dreams I need to put in my bucket.  To work toward positive things, happy things, make your heart race fast, wind in your face dreams!  So here you have it...me...blogging~

I would also like you to share your dreams with me.  What dreams do you have in your bucket?  Share your dreams with others on this blog~ Help them to fill up their bucket!

I will start us off on this journey.  One of my dreams is to live at the beach.  I love the beach and find it so soul-filling and peaceful.  The warm sun on my face, wind in my hair, the sound of the ocean roaring...each of my senses are fulfilled at the beach.  This dream is still in my bucket part-time, but when I pull it out, and spend time at the beach, I become a daydream believer!  So until I find a way to reach this dream, I travel to the beach as much as I can.  At least once a month, my dream comes out of the bucket, and I fill the bucket up with SAND!

So that will get the discussion started.  What dreams do you have in your bucket?  I cannot wait to hear them...maybe you will give me some ideas =D