Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Caring Moment

The Caring Moment
by Dr. Jean Watson

Often we hear about burnout, but increasingly we learn that the burnout is not because we care too much. It’s because we wall ourselves off and close off our heart, and close off our very source of love, and the human connectedness that gives us the life-generating force for that work.

Why are we in this field, when it often seems that we are just there to fix the body, to give physical diagnoses and treatment?

But what if I and you and we realized that healing is much more than that, and that much more of what healing is about comes down to us through the ages, from our ancestors and the wisdom traditions that call us into this work, and that’s about honoring our very presence, our very being, our connectedness with another person in a given moment.

And it is that caring moment that actually can be a critical turning point in my life, in your life, and in another person’s life, as we touch another person’s humanity?

What if we revisited the very foundation of our work, and began to honor the deep rich beauty of our humanity, that must again flourish, because this is what healing is about?

And what if we realized that we are teachers for each other, that this is sacred work, and it’s sacred because we’re working with the life force of another person as well as ourselves on this shared journey?

What if we began to pause and to realize that maybe this one moment with this one person, is the very reason we’re here on earth at this time?

Any health practitioner today is struggling to return to the very human depths of our work, and we know that when we’re connecting with another person in this deep way, even if it's for a brief a moment in time, that we have much more purpose in our life and in our work, and we know that when that’s missing there’s an empty void, and we’re dispirited.

And we also know the same thing happens with patients. When we hold them in their wholeness, we’re holding their healing for them, and we are helping to sustain them when they are most vulnerable. And as we sustain another person, we’re also sustaining ourselves.

Healing is a spiritual practice. When we touch another person physically, we’re touching more than just their body. We’re touching their mind, we’re touching their heart, we’re touching their very soul.

And when we look into the face of another person, we look into the infinity and the mystery of the human soul, and when we look into the mystery and the infinity of the human soul, it mirrors the infinity and the mystery back into our soul, and that’s what connects us with this infinite field of universal love, that we draw upon in our caring and healing practices.

So I offer this as a blessing for you in your work in the world, and in your heart, as you open to the love that you have to give and to the purpose of your calling into this noble and ancient profession.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Healthcare-Associated Infection? Not on my watch!

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) or formerly known as nosocomial infections are illnesses acquired in the hospital inpatient environment not resulting from the reasons the patient was admitted. Healthcare-associated infections are one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States and it costs the health care system $5-10 Billion annually. The funny thing is HAI is easily preventable: hand washing or the use of antimicrobial gels could save patients from unnecessary stays in the hospital and additional expenses.

Kimberly-Clark has launched an effort to promote awareness and prevention of HAI. Kimberly-Clark has created the HAI Watchdog Community where health care providers are provided a venue to discuss best programs to prevent HAI and a venue to gather resources and information about HAI.

A contest has also been held where health care facilities are able to submit their prevention initiatives; this contest is called the HAI Watchdog Award. Any health care facility from the US or Canada are invited to submit their programs to reduce the occurrence of HAI. Winning facilities would receive an educational grant, a commemorative plaque, and a chance to be recognized in the health care community for their efforts to combat HAI.

Please help raise awareness about HAI by joining the HAI Watchdog Community and invite other colleagues as well. Remember, prevention is better than cure.

***
References:
http://www.idph.state.ia.us/patient_safety/glossary.asp
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/healthDis.html
https://dicon.mc.duke.edu/wysiwyg/downloads/HAI_cost_abstract-shea_FINAL_by_Dev.pdf

Monday, September 6, 2010

Stop Hate

I've been blog hopping these past few days when I ran into this awesome post by a friend of mine.

I won't summarize what he posted and instead I'll encourage each and everyone of you to visit his website and read the entire post. Just for the record, I completely agree with what he wrote.

I think everyone is familiar to what cyber bullying is. We have seen this occurring everywhere on the internet: YouTube, forums, even on our Facebook pages. 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Grilling the Perfect Steak

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This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of henderson bas. All opinions are 100% mine.

Summer has always been the best season to go out and enjoy the sun. Many would agree with me that summer is also the best time of the year to do some serious grilling. I love barbecues, especially steaks that are juicy and tender. Unfortunately, I’m not gifted with any culinary skills and my dad… well he can grill but the steak tends to be burnt to a crisp.

One Word: Grammar

Holy Cow! I've been reading my older blog entries and I wasn't happy with what I saw. It brings me great shame to read my past entries as they were littered with so many grammatical mistakes, mistakes that would force the Grammar Police to lock me up and throw away the keys.

In my defense, I never proofread when I blog and I do not use the spell check on Microsoft Word like other people. Whenever I make posts, they are always a spur of the moment, so I never pause to organize my thoughts. If I did stop to think, I tend to lose my interest in writing the entire entry and my creativity goes to a standstill. Of course, just writing down whatever pops in my head has resulted to my numerous sentence fragments and run-on sentences.