Your First Nursing Job

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Remember that first nursing job? I know I do even though 1992 was many years ago.

From Nursing Student To Real Nurse

Nursing care plans that I labored over for eight hours in school were behind me. Those care plans would now be put into action as soon as a patient was admitted.

Nursing boards, studied for and passed, were in my rear-view mirror.

It was time for my first nursing job – that moment when school work and clinical rotations stand at your back (you're counting on them to hold you up) and you launch into the unknown.

Time to be a "real" nurse.

Grateful to no longer be a nursing student, I was nonetheless anxious about becoming a nurse on-the-unit with my own patient load and patient care responsibilities.

 
 

First Nursing Job

My first real nursing job was at Johns Hopkins Hospital working in Pediatrics. That being said, this was no ordinary pediatrics unit with the ubiquitous tonsillectomy. In fact, we did not provide care for tonsillectomy patients here.

In this large medical-surgical pediatric unit that included an eight-bed step-down unit, one example of surgery was bladder extrophy repairs that placed bladders back inside the body and required six weeks of recovery on the unit.

What a privilege to work at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Such an educational opportunity to work on this pediatric unit that cared for ages two to twelve.

Multi-discipline services were available to care for these small patients. We had specialists in areas such as Infectious Disease and Pain Management.

The pediatric phlebotomists were a god-send with their expertise to flawlessly start IV lines and get blood samples from tiny veins.

 
 

Working With Experts

We also had patients who came in for hemispherectomies that were performed by the famous, ground-breaking neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.

You can read about his life in his book: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. Get ready to be uplifted and inspired. 

The nursing staff was always a little awestruck when he arrived on the unit with his team of residents swirling around him.

As a neophyte, I remember initially thinking how barbaric it seemed to remove half the brain of a child.

But then, I saw a child lying in a bed having intractable seizures with no interactive life. This was their life, seizures, nothing more. After recovering from the surgery, children often returned to the unit to see us – walking, talking and smiling – they were living life with gusto.

That's when I realized I was no longer in Kansas. It was my first introduction to the plasticity of the young brain.

 

The Hopkins Family

I loved being part of the Hopkins family. As a proud graduate from the School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University, my work at Johns Hopkins Hospital deepened my sense of being part of the Hopkins healthcare team.

A Love For Labor And Delivery

Yet, in spite of all the joy of working at Hopkins, I couldn't stay. My heart called to me to work in Labor and Delivery, so off I headed into the world of birthing babies.

The medical-surgical experience I gained from my time at Hopkins was invaluable and prepared me for the world of Labor and Delivery (L&D). In L&D, the nursing rhythm moves from zero to 60-miles-an-hour in a moment's notice.

Working on the pediatric unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital laid a deep groundwork of experience so I could make that jump into the hyper-space speed of L&D.

What was your first nursing job?

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?

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All Our Comings And Goings

They say we're tripping the light fantastic, but maybe it's more akin to stumbling.

Our arrival on this planet is often marked with a bounce-landing.

Our Bodies Betray Us

With no lack of dysfunctional body parts, broken emotions, or minds lost along the way, we try our best to manage a slew of struggles. Betrayal awaits our bodies at every turn.

 

To add insult to injury, the flesh of this world mocks us. Hovering over us at all times is the ultimate trump card marked Death. Given that our bodies hold the upper hand, you'd think they could be a bit more gracious.

Those who are strong today can just as easily be shattered tomorrow.

No one, nothing, escapes impermanence.

This Tarot Soprafino Death Card was created by Johann Elias Ridinger and engraved by Johann Jacob Ridinger about 1760.

Impermanence Is Raw

The word "impermanence" has a soft connotation to it. What's here today will not be here tomorrow.

"Oh, impermanence," intoned a bored lady in the room where the women come and go talking of Michelangelo (hat tip to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot).

"Yes, I am quite familiar with it," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, as if impermanence were only a damp wisp of fog easily brushed away.

All Things Shall Pass

It's a cerebral topic of discussion in Buddhist philosophy. Like the sand mandala in the photo, Buddhism teaches us that all things will pass.

We get the impression that events are calm, even well-prepared, and then disappear.

In reality, impermanence is raw and visceral. It crashes down around us.

Impermanence screams in fear, whimpers in a corner, and rips our hearts out.

The serenity of a Buddha statue belies the stark reality of beginnings and endings that are violent and painful.

Perhaps You Think We Exaggerate

The National Geographic movie documentary, "Journey to the Edge of the Universe,"  catapults us into a wild and wooly cosmos.

When the ending credits roll, our eyes are wide with amazement and, if we're honest, a bit of fright. We're left with nothing to hang on to as we careen across inter-galactic space.

Nuclear Fusion And Black Holes

Nuclear fusion reactions are common and explode across space. Galactic energies collide and then coalesce. Deadly quasars of breath-taking beauty blast out jets of radiation from their cores.

Entire galaxies are destroyed. Vast universes are reborn. 

The hypernova reigns supreme in lawlessness and destruction as the most violent star-death of all. Its core becomes a black hole that destroys and consumes everything, even light, that enters it.

All rules of physics collapse within the vortex of a black hole.

What exists when there is no matter, no time, no space?

Are we destined to become emptiness and nothingness?

At The Edge Of The Universe

Where do we go from here?

When we reach the edge of our known universe – what or where, is our consciousness?

In humans, hope springs eternal. We stubbornly cling to a shard of light. We clutch our chests even as the universe flings us into the far reaches of the cosmos.

In stillness and meditation, we sit, willing our hearts to beat even within the dark matter of the galaxy.

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?

Meanwhile, back on Earth. 

A great roar of noise is taking place all around us.

Do we hear it?

  • A bullet sears through flesh.

  • Bones are splintered in a car crash.

  • Trapped in a sudden cardiac arrest, a heart slams to a halt.

Every last dying breath of all-that-is calls out to – what?

 

But, do we hear it?

T.S. Eliot continues in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:

“When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through half-deserted streets...”
 

We move through our lives as if we, too, were etherized. We're aware of only a fraction of existence. We're smothered under multiple layers of veils. This numbed state keeps us blind and deaf.

It's Time To Lift The Veils

It's time to see again. Time to hear the many vibrations swirling around us.

We'll lift the veils, slowly and surely, with our meditation.

Eliot poses the question: Do I dare disturb the universe?

In one word... Yes.

The Unseen Hand Of God

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Clunking While Geese Are Soaring

A cold evening spilled out across the darkening land as I dutifully dragged myself along in my requisite exercise-jog.

I was distracted from my discomfort when I spied a flock of Canadian geese in an open field. Finished with their eventide grazing, they lifted en masse into a pale wintery sky.

Strong wings beat up and down as they rose higher and higher. The strokes of their wings were audible as their feathers pushed against the cold night air. They gathered together across the icy blue expanse and eventually became a single line.

One goose dropped lower, slowed down a bit and then, rose back up into the line to take its place behind another.

Who would know why?

Held By The Unseen Hand Of God

My heart ached as I watched their flight. Joy and pain tumbled within me.

It looked like so much work to flap those wings over and over to keep them skimming across the wide expanse of atmosphere. Nothing else holding them up except, perhaps, the unseen hand of God.

From my awkward and earthbound state, I was reminded how brutish and dull I am in comparison to their lightness of being.

Watching their skyward journey, I held them in my heart as they traveled their sky-path.

An Overgrown, Wild Place

The honking call from their white-slashed throats resonated to an overgrown, wild place tucked inside my heart.

Like my fellow humans across the centuries, I found myself wishing that I could fly, free of metal or mechanics.

With all our technology, there is nothing we do that comes close to their level of mastery, grace, and elevated simplicity.

 

New Year Resolutions

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It's That Time Of Year For New Year Resolutions

The New Year is upon us and with it comes new resolutions.

Are you someone who makes resolutions for the New Year?

Do you make one, two or lots of them?

Three New Year Resolutions

This year I've decided to make three New Year Resolutions. 

I have a rule in my life, if any list surpasses three items, I write them down. After more than three, it's impossible to keep track of them.

Therefore, to avoid a written list, I'll limit myself to three resolutions.

Because, let's face it – If I write a list, it will only be a short matter of time that I won't be able to find it.

And then, honestly, after another bit of time, I won't want to find it.

With only three resolutions, it should be easy to remember them throughout the entire year.

Categories For Resolutions: Heart, Body, And Fun

  1. Heart – Always begin with the Heart, it's a great place to start. What activity warms your heart?
     

  2. Body – Get in touch with a positive health habit that you'd like to emphasize during the new year. It can be big or little. Add more fruit to your diet? A little more exercise?
     

  3. Fun – For the playful part of you, something that appeals to your whimsical side that will keep your spirits light throughout the year. How about taking time to read a book? See a movie series?

With or without resolutions, wishing you a Happy New Year!

 

Sailing Through The Holidays

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The Festive Season – Holidays Are Here

The fun and joy of the holidays are upon us. But, uh oh, along with that comes more stress that is associated with the many activities.

Family expectations, travel plans, budget limits, menus and holiday treats to prepare, all of these activities can be demanding.

Managing Your Time During The Holidays

Here are some good tips from the Cleveland Clinic for helping you to manage stress:

  • Set priorities and let go of impossible goals

  • Stop to enjoy the fruits of your labor

  • Don't spend all of your time planning activities for your family. You might end up feeling drained and unappreciated

  • Take the time you need to finish tasks that are important to you. Don't try to complete everything at once

  • Ask others, including the kids, to help you complete chores

  • Rest when your body tells you to.

Sail Through Your Holidays

Don't just survive the holidays. Sail through them.

Make use of these tips to help you navigate through this busy time of year.

 

Where Is The Edge Of An Infinite Heart?

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An Infinite Heart Has No Edge

Questions abound.

Can we love to the ends of the Universe?

Can our hearts soar wide enough?

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
To hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.”
— William Blake
 

What Is The Infinite Heart Of Love?

Can we see every drop of existence and find the hidden passageway to its heart of love?

Can we fully know, beyond the limits of the mind, the exquisite light and healing love within every nano-molecule of existence?

Is this heart of love even within a grain of sand?

Let’s answer this with a resounding yes. These photos show the wonders that Dr. Gary Greenberg* discovered at the microscopic level in the sand on our beaches.

Flight Within The Inner Realms

Flying on this planet is so three-dimensional.

Flight within the realms of the inner planes is multi-dimensional. An inner journey is so vast and incomprehensible at our small human level, that it compels us to plop down right where we stand.

Our feet are whisked right out from under us in the wonder of it all.

Can we break these surly bonds without the aid of a flying machine?

Surly Bonds Will Not Contain Us

Off we go on your path of discovery into the infinite heart.

Let's meet each other there.

 

*photos by Dr. Greenberg used with permission

 

Halloween – A Magical Night Beckons

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History Of Halloween

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, as far back as 2,000 years ago. Samhain, (pronounced say-win or sow-in) means summer's end, and it was the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.

For people who survived on crops that grew in the fields and animals that were pastured, it was a significant cycle. 

Samhain started at sunset on 31 October and ran until sunset on 01 November.

All Saints Day, All Hallows Eve And Souling

All Hallows Eve is also the night before All Saints Day on 01 November which is celebrated by Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church.

All Saints Day is a time to honor all the saints and to offer prayers for the souls of the dead.

“In England, from the medieval period, up until the 1930s, people practiced the Christian custom of “souling” on Halloween.

This involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic, going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.”
 

You could hear soulers singing: "a soul cake, a soul cake, have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake."

Or, how about this little refrain:

“Soul, soul, an apple or two,
If you haven’t an apple, a pear will do,
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for the Man Who made us all”
 

This is part of the history behind the custom we now have of trick-or-treating. Children go from door to door with the phrase "trick or treat" in hopes of a reward of candy.

Halloween In The United States

Halloween traditions in the United States include pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating and costume parties. Traditional colors are orange and black and link to the Samhain holiday. Orange symbolizes the colors of the crops and turning leaves, while black marks the 'death' of summer.

Decorations feature skulls, witches and bats, black cats, tombstones and ghosts. Candy corn is a not-to-be-missed Halloween candy. Costumes are to be as creative as possible.

It's a secular, but not a federal holiday which means we don't get the day off from work. Given all the activity around Halloween, it seems like we should have it off.

Artist, Robert Ingpen

What Are Your Plans For This Magical Night?

October 31 will be here in the blink of a black cat's eye.

Do you have children? Perhaps you are already head-to-toe in costume fabrics and materials, busy making outfits for your little ones. What's the costume flavor of the year?

Maybe you're picking out a costume for yourself – for your own Halloween festivities.

“In Scotland and Ireland, guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins – is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.

The practice of guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going “guising” around the neighborhood.”
 

Organizing a party for Halloween?

Pumpkins need carving, decorations need to be hung and caramel apples await a sticky demise.

Do your plans include a visit to a haunted house?  

Spooky delights are lurking in the cobwebs and hallways of darkness.

Veils Disappear Between Worlds On Halloween

As the warmth of summer fades away, darkness and cold prevail. Winter is a time of year often associated with human death as the earth also "dies" before the rebirth in spring. Druids believed that the spirits of those who died the preceding year roamed the earth during the night of Samhain.

“The Druids celebrated this holiday with a great fire festival to encourage the dimming Sun not to completely vanish. People danced around bonfires to keep evil spirits away. Doors were left open in hopes that the kind spirits of loved ones might join them at the hearth.

Spirits from the other side were either entertained by the living or they found a body to possess for the incoming year.

Dressing up like witches, ghosts and goblins protected the living from being possessed.”
 

Halloween is still considered to be a magical night when the veils between our worlds of the dead and the living become transparent. As the veils disappear, spirits who have passed to the other side can cross back over; the dead walk among the living.

The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year has ancient origins. It's found in many cultures throughout the world.

Even the most skeptical among us become just a little superstitious on this night of shadows and spirits.

Are you organizing little ones as they tap dance through Princess, Dinosaur, and Spider-Man costumes? Be sure to take a little time for yourself, too.

Happy Halloween.