Live an interesting life. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open. Talk to people and visit useful and interesting places, and don't forget to ask questions. To be a successful nurse you need to be aware of the world around you, pick up on where there are problems, things to learn, and find places where you can make a difference.
Read a lot - journals, newspapers, flyers, advertisements, anything. Look at places to work that you think you would like and some that you think might not be for you. You might be surprised. Keep a notebook and write your ideas and thoughts down. Carry a copy of your CV and have some business cards to hand out. Be aware of what's going on in the world around you and you'll be more open to new opportunities.
Tell your patients "Don't give up" (click on the image).
Written by stroke patient Joyce Hoffman.
People are funny, and I don't mean in a ha-ha sort of way. They could be neurotic, bi-polar, obsessive-compulsive, anxious, or agoraphobic, just to name a few types. Some of the ones who came to visit me had their own type: dysfunctional-when-meeting-a-stroke-patient.
Even though they had good intentions, in all fairness to me, some of them said and did things that were downright insulting, if I took the comments and body language personally. But I didn't ever, for those people who took the time and came to visit me.
In all fairness to them, how could they know the right responses from the wrong. What it really comes down to is this: How do you speak to a stroke patient whose had her life turned around in a 180-degree spin?
I made a list of the top ten things you should never say or do to a stroke patient, and I, too, have been guilty of most of them before having my stroke when I visited stroke patients. So having set the record straight, here goes.
1. Saying good girl, good boy, good job
Those are phrases you should say to your pets when they are being rewarded with a "Pup-Peroni" or Doritos' chips. If you say them to me, I am not really being a good "anything." I'm just sayin'. IT'S SORT OF CONDESCENDING.
2. Talking loudly
People have a habit of speaking loudly to foreigners and the sick. Just because they are from somewhere else, speaking loudly to a foreigner will not help get your point across. There is no hearing problem involved. The same thing applies to me. HOW DOES SHOUTING HELP?
3. Talking slowly
Talking slowly to a foreigner might be an asset. But talking slowly to me makes me feel mentally disabled. How would YOU like it if someone said, "How -- are -- you -- feeling -- today?" If I could, (and I wasn't able to then), I would have talked quickly in response, possibly making them change their way of speaking. I REPEAT--HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT?
4. Making faces at me
Stroke patients are difficult to understand at times, but please don't squint, or turn your mouth to one side, or wrinkle your nose at me. Just ask me to repeat my statement, and if you still can't understand, ask the question in a different way. After all, you're the one with a full brain! SO USE IT!
5. Talking over me
I mostly listen, but when I get up the courage to speak, let me do it. Don't interrupt me in the middle. In other words, LET ME FINISH!
6. Completing your sentence
Some people find the right word choice instantly, but it takes me a few seconds more. So please stop trying to fill in the blank. WAIT! I'LL GET IT!
7. Giving me lists of things to do
If you give me a list five or more things to do, I'll may miss one. My brain is going, but the parts that are dead...well, simple died and there's no hope of getting them back. Did you ever hear that heavy drinkers lose brain cells and the cells won't be replaced? Same thing. YOU HEAR THAT, HEAVY DRINKERS?
8. Ignoring me as if I'm invisible
Once in a while, at Rehab Y, I would see doctors on the outside. If I'm waiting at a new doctor's office, for example, staring right at some person who's in charge, the person invariably stares at my friend to find out what my friend wants, forcing me to shout and look like an idiot--which I am not. I shouted several times in person but even more on the phone. Some of the people just don't listen and say their "shpiel" regardless if I object. Covered in the previous post The First Phone Call, aka What Should We Do About Outsourcing?, "FOR CHRISTSAKE, I HAD A F***ING STROKE. GIMME A BREAK!" (Sorry to all in the PC crowd).
9. Saying I'm not moving fast enough
Once in a while, people will say something to the effect, "Could I get by you?" and start moving before they even hear the answer. Their rhetorical question, because that's what it really is, a few times cost me my balance. WHY ARE PEOPLE IN SUCH A HURRY IN THE NURSING HOME?
10. Hanging up on me
A lot of operators hang up on me. They are nameless and they take advantage of that fact. But it doesn't help me. WHY WON'T THEY WAIT?
Joyce Hoffman had a stroke in April 2009. In August 2010 Joyce started a blog entitled: The Tales of A Stroke Patient using only her one hand to type, since her dominant right was paralysed from the stroke.
Here are 27 quotes all about nursing and patient care that can help inspire you or maybe make you laugh and make your day a little brighter.
Caring is the essence of nursing. ~Jean Watson Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon. ~Dag Hammarskjold When you're a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours. ~Author Unknown Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts. ~ Florence Nightingale Nursing encompasses an art, a humanistic orientation, a feeling for the value of the individual, and an intuitive sense of ethics, and of the appropriateness of action taken. ~ Myrtle Aydelotte Nurses are angels in comfortable shoes. ~Author Unknown Nurses can take the pressure. ~Author Unknown Unless we are making progress in our nursing every year, every month, every week, take my word for it we are going back. ~ Florence Nightingale We often think of nursing as giving meds on time, checking an X-ray to see if the doctor needs to be called, or taking an admission at 2:00 a.m. with a smile on our faces. Too often, we forget all the other things that make our job what it truly is: caring and having a desire to make a difference. ~ Erin Pettengill Our job as nurses is to cushion the sorrow and celebrate the joy, every day, while we are "just doing our jobs.” ~Christine Belle Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription. ~Val Saintsbury Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital. ~Carrie Latet
Nurses are the heart of healthcare. ~Donna Wilk Cardillo
My experience as a school nurse taught me that we need to make a concerted effort, all of us, to increase physical fitness activity among our children and to encourage all Americans to adopt a healthier diet that includes fruits and vegetables, but there is more. ~Lois Capps
Bound by paperwork, short on hands, sleep, and energy... nurses are rarely short on caring. ~Sharon Hudacek
Nurses are I.V. leaguers. ~Author Unknown
When I think about all the patients and their loved ones that I have worked with over the years, I know most of them don't remember me nor I them. But I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them and they to me and those threads make up the beautiful tapestry in my mind that is my career in nursing. ~Donna Wilk Cardillo
After two days in the hospital, I took a turn for the nurse. ~W.C. Fields
Panic plays no part in the training of a nurse. ~Elizabeth Kenny
Nurses are patient people. ~Author Unknown
Nurses - one of the few blessings of being ill. ~Sara Moss-Wolfe
Nursing is not for everyone. It takes a very strong, intelligent, and compassionate person to take on the ills of the world with passion and purpose and work to maintain the health and well-being of the planet. No wonder we're exhausted at the end of the day! ~Donna Wilk Cardillo
If love can't cure it, nurses can. ~Author Unknown
Nurses don't wait until October to celebrate Make a Difference Day - they make a difference every day! ~Author Unknown
Nursing care comes in many forms. Sometimes it is the ability to make someone feel physically comfortable by various means. Other times it is the ability to improve the body's ability to achieve or maintain health. But often it is an uncanny yet well honed knack to see beyond the obvious and address, in some way, the deeper needs of the human soul. ~Donna Wilk Cardillo
We'd all be worse without a nurse. ~Author Unknown
During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. ~Joann C. Jones
It is now time for the interview and you need to get your interview approach right. By preparing carefully and well in advance, all details are taken care of in an organised manner
So you have prepared for all kinds of commonly asked questions, practiced your answers, got your industry and company information ready, your questions ready, you are dressed out well for the interview and now here it is – the big hour.
You are nervous. Despite all your preparation the interviewer could ask you the one thing that you might not have prepared for or the one thing that you might forget. You conjure up images of all that could go wrong, you are sweaty in the palms and nervous as you anticipate the interviewers tearing you apart. What if they find someone else before your turn comes? How come everyone else looks more relaxed and knowledgeable? What if you cannot answer a single question?
Here is where your interview approach comes in. Relax. Close your eyes and take a deep breath into your abdomen. Feel your abdomen rise and fall. Do it a couple of times until you feel your nerves steadying a bit. The first thing you need to do as you approach the interview is to relax.
Remember that you have prepared as hard as you could. There is nothing you can do now except put your best foot forward. Enjoy the scenery, read a book or a magazine. Stop looking at everyone else around wondering if you should be cramming for some more information.
Think of the nice times. Think of your victories. Of all your achievements. Your accomplishments. The moments that made you feel good about yourself. Feel your inner confidence boost you up.
Think positive thoughts. Stop all negative thoughts about what might happen if they ask tough questions etc. Think positively and fill your head with positive thoughts of how you would be a success at the interview, at the job and at your career.
Visualize an easy and successful interview. Visualize yourself answering questions with ease. Visualize a friendly and amicable interviewer or a panel. It helps to alleviate your mood and in turn will make a favorable impression on the interviewers.
Think of the interview as an animated conversation. Stop thinking of the interview as a stress filled interrogation and more in terms of an animated conversation you will be having with people in the same area of business. That will alter your approach from being defensive to being participative and show qualities of team work and receptivity in you.
Think of your strengths. Focus on your strengths. Forget about the weaknesses. There is not much you can do about them. If you have to think of your weaknesses, think of them as strengths turned inside out and word them accordingly instead of flaying yourself with them. Use them to your advantage.
Be punctual. Be early at the venue because that helps in acclimatizing to the environment and in learning or clarifying any bits of information that you may need to before your interview.
Try to use everything to your advantage. Remain courteous, unruffled, energetic and enthusiastic. This is an opportunity to show them the best side that you have, the side that will come out when there are challenges on the job. There is no point hiding your energy and enthusiasm for later. Put it up there during the interview. Be the best you can.
Now. Are you feeling better?
Yulin Peng is a recruiting researcher and the owner of http://www.job- employment-guide.com. Please visit his site for more free employment tips. Article source: www.impactfactory.com.
One of the best types of listening to do is listening to feedback - and being able to respond appropriately.
Even positive feedback can make some people squirm. Some people just don't know how to take a compliment.
Even if you don't think that your presentation, for example, didn't go very well, if someone compliments you on your work, instead of saying "Oh no, it was awful", just smile and say thank you. If you can't accept compliments eventually people will stop giving them.
