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Nurses—you’ve stolen our hearts! And we’re not saying that just because it’s February. Here are some special days for you to celebrate and acknowledge each other this month, including, of course, February 14, Valentine’s Day.

Nursing factoids:
February 2, 1901: The female Nurse Corps became permanent.
February 16, 1881: Mary Breckinridge, founder of the Frontier Nursing Service, was born.
February 17, 1943: The first class of Army flight nurses graduated.
February 18, 1945: Nurse POWs were awarded the Bronze Star.
February 26, 1858: Lavinia Dock, a social activist nurse who wrote a four-volume history of nursing, was born.

Circle these dates:
February 1-7: National Patient Recognition Week
February 3: Wear Red Day (heart disease is the number one killer of women—show your support for the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement by wearing red!)
February 6-12: PeriAnesthesia Nurses Week
February 12-18: Cardiovascular Professionals Week

February is also:
American Heart Month
Wise Consumer Health Month

Sources:
aahn.org/nursinghistorycalendar.html
nasrecruitment.com/docs/calendars/2012/Healthcare-Days.pdf

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Very often, nurses find that their work seems to follow them–on vacation, to the store, at the kids’ soccer games. After awhile, we begin to accept this as par for the course.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Germany with my husband and a group of his coworkers. THEY had to work while I would get to tour the city of Cologne.

Or so I thought.

On the plane, about an hour from the coast of Scotland, a flight attendant requested a doctor to the rear of the aircraft. We were seated directly in front of the rear restroom, and the only people who seemed to be headed toward the rear were lining up to use the facility.

After a minute I got up and went back. I found a middle-aged German lady seated with oxygen on and two flight attendants present. They told me that she had made her way to the rear of the plane after “waking up, not feeling good, and having wet her pants.”

There also was a young man seated beside her who did not appear to be related. I asked if he was a doctor and he responded, “Yes ma’am.” (You know that you have been a nurse for a while when the doctors start calling you ma’am). “But I work for the CDC and haven’t done any clinicals since I was a resident.” I assured him that I was an ICU nurse and we would get through this together.

I started the usual assessment with vital signs, history and meds–fortunately she spoke English!–and ascertained that she probably had experienced a TIA (transient ischemic attack or “pinstroke”).

After ensuring that she could safely swallow and noting that her blood pressure was a bit low, I instructed the flight attendants to give her a full bottle of water every half hour for two hours, then every hour until landing.

I then explained to the patient what had happened and offered her four baby aspirin (which I have learned to carry at all times–this once happened to a priest with whom I was serving the Holy Communion in the middle of a service!).

I administered the aspirin and filled out a medical form the flight attendant gave me. (Paperwork is ALWAYS part of the job-even at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic!)

A few minutes later, I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see the flight attendant handing me a card: “Thank you for rendering medical assistance to a passenger in flight. Please accept these 5,000 Sky Miles as a token of our appreciation.”

A nice, unexpected “reward” indeed!

However, the REAL reward came just after sunrise when we landed and were getting up to leave the plane. My patient was seated in the middle of the cabin and she reached out, grabbed my hand and thanked me. She promised to see her physician and hadn’t experienced any further symptoms.

We all know that our skills and experience can be called upon at any time and any place. Sometimes it is in the one that you least expect! What’s the quirkiest reward you’ve ever received for being a nurse?

You make a living out of what you do. You make a life out of what you give (Winston Churchill).

leaf | veer

I think it’s safe to say not many nurses are 100% happy with their jobs.

There are a myriad of idiosyncrasies and challenges we face every day that make our jobs and responsibilities difficult to manage.

We encounter everything from staffing or equipment shortages to professional practice barriers and continuing education costs, just to name a few.

Nurses are notorious for ineffective complaining. The only way to effect change is to become less reactive and more proactive. It’s one thing to have a new idea or voice, but you need to have that idea and voice heard.

Here are just a few things you can do to effect change:

Practice what you preach

Be the one to set the example, and not the one being made an example of when it comes to practicing compliance and performing daily responsibilities. It can be as simple as wearing the proper uniform or following the simple “no drinks” policy at the nurse’s station.

Become a part of something bigger

This can be at the local or national level. Join a committee at your place of employment, join the local state nursing chapter, or register online for the ANA. Get involved and be heard.

Be a part of the solution

It will do you no good to be a part of the problem. Finger pointing and blame placing is a passive way of redirecting focus. Take the proactive step to enrich and elevate all those around you.

Share your ideas

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. I think every nurse out there should start a blog, join Twitter and participate in any other social media outlet available. It’s absolutely amazing how empowering it is to find others who can truly empathize with your passions. Whether anonymous or not, get your words out there.

Move up the chain

Advance your education however and whenever you can. Whether that means going back for collegiate work or gaining additional nursing skills, knowledge is power. That knowledge and experience also will help you move up the chain of command. Some of the best nurse leaders started out as highly motivated charge nurses!

In the end we all want to be heard–what better way to have your wonderful voice and powerful ideas put in motion?

Jochen Sands | Digital Vision | Thinkstock

The most powerful healing tool gets lost in the background to the buzzing, beeping, clicking and shuffling. The rhythms of a nursing unit set the pace of the day. An alarm sounding, a timer beeping, and a monitor blipping. Rush, rush, rush to the next task at hand, all the while treating our patients like another piece of equipment. I too am guilty of this sin. I get caught up in the moment. I worry about time. I am mindful of the roar.

Thankfully, I had the pleasure of getting back to the basics the other day at work. Due to staffing needs / wants and census changes at the drop of a hat I was floated to a neighboring unit to function as a nurse aide.

It’s no secret how I feel about that job and the angels that perform their duties on a daily basis (here and here) , so stepping into their shoes was a great opportunity to maintain my perspective.

I was reminded how powerful the art of ‘touch’ can be. During my shift, I lost count on how many bed baths I gave. Most of the bed baths were done at light speed by the end of the morning, but the first few of bed baths I was able to take my time.

During the bed bath I was able to chat with my patients, learn about them, talk with them about any and everything that was on their mind. I was also able to help alleviate many fears and concerns they were having about their hospital stay.

I can’t say I give the greatest bed baths. Heck, I’d be willing to admit I’m actually quite horrible at it (to this day I can never hold the darn hand towel correctly!). What I AM good at is having a soft hand and light touch. It’s a dying art in the present fast-paced world. But, having the ability to move a patient correctly, safely and gently holds more value to the patient than we care to admit.

One of the greatest compliments I got that day at work was from an elderly gentlemen who was making a slow recovery from a life-changing surgery recently. As I was cleaning up my ‘mess’ of dirty linens and tidying up his room he reached out his hand gesturing me to come closer. He took hold of my forearm ever so gently with his frail but firm hand and said, “Thank you. You did a good job”.

I gotta tell ya. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled longer.

I’m not sure he realized how powerful his touch was for me.

Image: Stockbyte | Getty Images

I do not believe that any one quotation or phrase can be a complete philosophy or rule all human interactions. Still, we do tend to center our actions around small phrases which have large impacts, take “first do no harm” for physicians.

I am not a physician, but a midwife, wife and mother. In each of these aspects of my life I am extremely interested in promoting self esteem and expanding people’s idea of the limits of “I can.” I grew up in a family whose dysfunctions could have crippled anyone’s belief in themselves, but kept finding inspiration to grow. Growing beyond weakness is wonderful and I want to give it to everyone.

As a young woman I realized that every moment we spend with one another can have immeasurable effects, either good or bad. One phrase shared at the right moment can move someone forward in power and sense of self, the wrong one can hurt more than we know ( The amazing thing is that one can retrieve and take back the harmful ones but seldom the enhancing ones.)

So I try to take each moment and pause and think; How can I be gracious with this person, it is so simple to be kind and check out where someone is coming from before marching into my agenda for the meeting. Quakers say “there is that of god in everyone” I speak to others as though this were true. I use Ghandi’s maxim ” first is to be humble” and know that every moment is not all about me. But most importantly, I try to love each new person I work with genuinely. People respond to respect, and rise to the occasion when respected.

I am lucky because as a midwife I help new parents bring new people who are totally open into the world. but also as a nurse I work with aged and dying people who are learning to let go of life graciously. Life, death, newborns, the aged, I work with the most precious things on earth.

I believe that it only takes a moment to open a universe of hope, the tools are simple; graciousness, humility, and love. One never regrets an interaction where these tools are used, and why have a life filled with regret?

“A Universe of Hope,” Copyright © 2005 by Katy Maker. Part of the This I Believe Essay Collection found at www.thisibelieve.org, Copyright © 2005-2009, This I Believe, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Find out what she discovered that night.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have you ever had a moment like this?

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There are occasions when breaking the visitation rules is the right thing to do–when a soldier or sailor has just arrived from overseas to visit a very sick relative, for example, or when the patient’s condition would benefit from such a “special” visit.

In one of the ICUs where I worked, we had a patient who was so ill with cancer that we couldn’t stabilize him enough to get him home, even under hospice care. Yet his heart’s desire was to go home and sit with his dog down by the pond.

At the time, there were two agency RNs on staff. One happened to have a SMALL dog–the kind you can fit into a tote bag. In an informal nurse’s station conference, those of us who would be on duty the next weekend decided to help arrange a “special” visit.

That Saturday, our dog owner slipped in with the little dog, freshly bathed and fully vaccinated, in her tote bag. The dog was sworn to silence and never made a sound.

The rest of us closed the door, turned off the camera and shut the window blinds so that the man could enjoy his special “visitor” for an uninterrupted two hours.

He was ecstatic.

As a result, his condition improved remarkably. He WAS able to go home and spent about two weeks with his own dog under hospice care.

Sometimes it is easier to beg forgiveness than to get permission (Rear Admiral Grace N. Hopper, US Navy, Retired).

X Factor Winner Melanie Amaro

For her first place finish in the reality TV singing competition The X Factor, Melanie Amaro got a recording contract in addition to a five million dollar payout.

What she did not get, however, was discouraged in fulfilling her other big dream – to be a nurse.

The 19-year-old singer from Sunrise, Fla. was studying nursing before she went on the show, and she recently told the Associated Press that she still intends to finish her degree because she wants to help people. She said she will try to take classes while she is on the road.

Amaro currently is preparing to record her debut album. She won the The X Factor talent competition in December 2011.

What do you think? Is it possible to launch a career as a pop star and juggle nursing school at the same time? Would you be stoked to try?? Here are some songs we hope will be on Melanie’s debut album:

1. A Moment Like This (Would Be Great for a Pee Break!)
2. Breakaway (From My Books ‘Cause I Think I Still Have a Social Life?)
3. Since U Been Gone…I’ve Been Wearing A Lot of Scrubs!
4. Undo it…’Cause I Think I Got the Wrong Vein!
5. Temporary Home…In the Lounge Studying My Butt Off!

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Many of those who have walked the hallowed halls of hospitals before you have forged unique paths in nursing history.

What lessons can you take from their journeys and their experiences?

Here are five lessons from five greats.

1. Strive for change when change is warranted. (Florence Nightingale)
Born to an aristocratic family, Florence Nightingale could have lived a life of leisure. To the dismay of her parents, she rejected many wealthy suitors as a young woman and decided to follow what she considered her divine calling: nursing. For the British Army, this was a good thing because when Nightingale went to Turkey in the mid-1850s to nurse British soldiers in an army hospital there, she was appalled by the sanitation conditions and rallied for change.

The military wasn’t pleased with her “criticism” of their procedures and basically ignored her at first. Using a contact at the The Times in London, Nightingale got an editor on board her cause, and when her concerns were publicized and subsequently received some attention from the government, she was permitted to make changes to improve sanitation in the army hospital.

This reduced the death rate of soldiers. For her entire nursing career, Nightingale continued to focus on hospital reform that improved conditions for patients. Rocking the boat when it’s in the best interest of your patients is a good thing.

NEXT: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE

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Happy New Year, nurses!

Here are some special dates for you to celebrate and acknowledge in the month of January.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2012!

Nursing factoids
January 2, 1929: Anna Maxwell, known as “the American Florence Nightingale,” died.

January 7, 1975: The American Nurses Association (ANA) held formal ceremonies to honor the first certified nurses.

January 12, 1870: Adah Thoms, who cofounded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses and was one of the first nurses inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame, was born.

Circle these dates:
January 15-21: Healthy Weight Week

January 22-28: National Nurse Anesthetists Week

January 23-27: National Medical Group Practice Week

January 25: National IV Nurse Day

January is also:
Birth Defects Prevention Month

Cervical Cancer Screening Month

Glaucoma Awareness Month

National Blood Donor Month

Sources:
aahn.org/nursinghistorycalendar.html
nasrecruitment.com/docs/calendars/2011/2011-Healthcare-Calendar-of-Recognition-Days.pdf