Editor's
Note
Looking
back
Nurses
should reflect on year of special relationships
Carol Bradley, MSN,
RN, California Editor
November
20, 2000
Happy
Thanksgiving. Growing up in the Midwest, I always had a
special feeling about Thanksgiving, what with the annual
traditions of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and Nebraska
Cornhusker football on television. Most importantly, it
was an opportunity to share a holiday celebration with my
family. If we were really lucky we might even have a snow
flurry or two.
I grew
up and began creating holiday traditions for my own children,
albeit in California without the snow flurries. So while
my children are in front of the television watching the
parade or a football game and I am in the kitchen preparing
Thanksgiving dinner, I perform my own little private ritual
of mentally revisiting the year that is nearing its end.
I use
this time to think about the many special events of the
year and, more importantly, the special people with whom
my path has crossed and and who I am thankful to have called
friends. This process always results in at least a couple
of phone calls or letters being sent by the end of the weekend,
to reconnect with those who are important to me and have
made a difference for me, thereby holding a special and
lasting place in my life.
As nurses,
with all that confronts us in our work, we need to step
back and appraise all that is right with us, our work and
our life. At times like these, it can provide some valuable
and needed perspective.
Many
times, today’s culture of complaint and conflict denies
us the opportunity to appreciate all the good that surrounds
us. We focus on the negative. Many times, we do not have
the opportunity to return and say thanks to those who have
meant something to us. It is true what they say – it is all
about relationships.
So let
me offer a suggestion: Take a careful look today at those
around you. You know who I’m talking about: siblings, the
co-workers who know you, the physicians with whom you share
that special level of mutual professional respect, the teacher/mentor
who keeps you growing and developing far beyond what you
thought yourself capable of, the new graduate who is in
awe of the expertise you hold in your head, or the manager
who took a risk for you.
It’s
time to say thanks to them for what they bring to your work
life, the added value that they represent. Try to imagine
what it would be like without them in your work world. It’s
not a pretty picture, is it?
Take
a look at your patients, too. They are the ones who make
this profession worthwhile. They (or their families) have
entrusted you with their care. They feel like strangers
in a strange land, a land that you know so well. You are
the expert; you have the power to make their experience
a positive one. You can give them the confidence that all
will be well. After all, that is just one of the things
that nurses do best.
