Happy National Nurses Day! First I want to personally say thank you to all the nurses out there. I value you as a person and I value your profession.
At World Wise Beauty I spend a lot of time exploring wellness culture and specifically in the area of Lifestyle as Medicine. At WWB, we look at prevention, self-care and how to manifest wellness in all aspects of our lives. Often, we don’t think of Nurses and the people working in the healing professions until we get sick. Nursing is a profession truly undervalued and most certainly taken for granted. They are there when you are giving birth, and they are there when a loved one is sick and dying. They will be there for you when you are dying. They are with you in your most vulnerable of moments, whether you are preparing for a colonoscopy or throwing up all over yourself in the middle of a painful biopsy.
Now I wouldn’t be honest, if I didn’t recognize that some nurses ( like some doctors) don’t have a ‘bedside manner’. I personally have been fortunate to have experienced more angels, than individuals who are not meant for nursing. I also know many healing professions have been compromised by the current medical system we have had in place the last 40 years. Enduring long shifts and assigned too many patients can rattle the best nurse. This can go for the teaching profession too by the way. I am speaking of a culture, very specifically a profit driven culture that has permeated our healthcare system for far too long. Culture matters, and our nurses are the closest thing you get to angels, considering the pressure they are under and the culture they work in. This doesn’t have to be, if we change how we look at ‘healthcare and wellness’ and RAISE our expectations. Not by demanding more of nurses, but by demanding more of our institutions, organizations and culture.
Wellness has to be an individual commitment, but we cannot have true personal wellness without a healthy culture to work and live in. There are many books out there today written by doctors who are now talking about the futility of working in a culture called ‘healthcare’ that’s truly not dedicated to healing patients. I will be talking with one soon in my WWB Q&A section. It’s a subject we must talk about if we are to strive for wellness culture. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t good medical professionals out there. There are many, but they are working in a system designed first for a ‘ profitable business’ and this compromises healing outcomes. Can we do both? I think we can, but we have to start with the ‘values’ at the heart of the health organization. Most importantly the wellness values at the center of our culture and hearts.
Nurses are on the front lines of heathcare and will be there for you. Let’s make their work culture a healthy place for them to work in, so they can take good care of us. It is all interdependent. They are human beings, who also need to be healthy. I myself would feel better knowing my nurse got a good night’s sleep and had a healthy breakfast to start her day. I would hope she took much needed breaks when working double shifts, and she had time to feed her soul when she clocked out of her work day. She is a human being, a very special human being, who deserves to be well too. The next time you see a nurse, think of her day, and let her know how much you appreciate her dedication and vocation. This grateful ‘mindset’ is one of the important pillars of wellness culture, and your nurse is the heart of wellness culture. Let’s live life well…
P.S I invite you to follow WWB for Q&A’s with experts, authors and visionaries dedicated to true wellness culture, and your individual well-being. New website is coming in June, and you will be able to explore ideals for wellness culture and self-care in a newly updated platform designed to help you cultivate your own healthy lifestyle!
