Nostalgic Nursing Refections on Life

It has been an interesting week... Teaching the nuances of Medication Administration to eager Nursing Assistants interested in broadening their health care careers as Certified Medication Aides... I love teaching health care courses!!! Then it was back to my orientee role at the hospital... I have somewhere between 5 and 10 computer programs to learn... all in an effort to make sure our patients are receiving the care they need... insurance is covering the tab... and the hospital is following Medicare guidelines to the letter. Making connections... that is what I enjoy most in my career! Empowering students to connect with their learning goals... Connecting patients with the services and care they need to feel better... ...Feeling like I have made a positive difference in the world at the end of the day! I think connection making is the best medicine for anything that ails you:-) Sooo... My Title says "It's All About The Journey"....... I have come to understand certain t

Ok, so @ 40 years old... I battle a slow metabolism, fine lines/wrinkles, dry skin, brittle hair, thin fingernails and several other body changes...BUT here is something that I never expected as part of the feminine aging process... by some act of God (or maybe Lucifer)...of all body parts, my feet have grown sexier!!! How absolutely ridiculous is that! Crazy, but true. It wasn't until Autumn 2008 at a major city Amtrak Station...a complete stranger approached me and began to verbally compliment my "fine, beautiful feet".... then it happened again months later (new admirer)while bargain shopping at our local Flea Market... then yet again (3rd stranger) while getting groceries at Walmart!!! I am never quite sure what the politically correct thing is to say... outside of "thank you"...but I usually aim for a quick get away! What odd creatures people can be... foot fetishes and all:-)

NY Times Article February 24, 2009 Well The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess By TARA PARKER-POPE The best way to improve children’s performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it. New research suggests that play and down time may be as important to a child’s academic experience as reading, science and math, and that regular recess, fitness or nature time can influence behavior, concentration and even grades. A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size. The lead researcher, Dr. Romina M. Ba

Sooo in keeping up to date with my blog, I have been expressing myself visually, for the most part. Life has been pretty tough lately...it seems that this is the case for many people I know. Marriages are either struggling to survive or have succumbed to defeat. Children are surrounded by a material world that encourages a sense of entitlement and disrespect. It is a real effort to keep a marriage alive in this fast paced modern era. It is only rivaled by the difficulty in successfully parenting children that are appreciative of life's blessings and who treat others with kindness/respect. Talk to any nice man or woman 85 years old or older... ask them what they think of the world today... "medical advancements are phenomenal...technology today is amazing... but...but... the world is colder, less caring...families are separated by geography, time, careers, finances and politics....children spend more time in front of televisions/video games than they do on fresh air,family and

So rarely does life offer "smooth sailing" without investing in the work of "ironing out the wrinkles"...

Remember Speedy Gonzales and his cousin Slow Poke Gonzales???? Theoretically Speedy would be be good friends with characters like... the Tasmanian Devil, the Energizer Bunny and my boys "Thing 1 & 2" because they are the only ones who can keep up with each other! Then at the far opposite end of the spectrum you can find me quietly and gently having afternoon Tea with Slow Poke... Oh the irony of it all:-)

The adventure called, "life" sure can become "turbulent" at times... I really do try to avoid communicating the mundane, especially related to family stress & challenges... but honestly we don't live in a fantasy world. Navigating through the turbulent times has given me depth of character, insight, empathy and the motivation to assertively confront "road blocks" to quality wellness. Someone once told me that life situations are like ocean waves that swell and break continually coming in to shore in a rhythmic type pattern... the good times come and go as do the difficult times... I have been swimming against a rip-tide of difficult waves lately... some days my nerves are thread bare... then the tide calms a bit and I am able to float, to enjoy the ride, the sun on my face & the wind in my hair. What is "Family Planning"???? My family plan has missed the mark by at least 100 yards or more. Very little has turned out as I had planned..