CANADIAN HEALTH CARE AND OUR NURSES

As Nursing Week is ending in Canada, I thought about some considerations of the ideas and events of the last week. One nursing speaker asked the audience what made a good day at work. My response as I was one of 3 people that actually put up my hand and answered the question was the chance to work in a health care setting with so many wonderful staff and many of them are nurses. As a Social Worker, my role is a secondary, supportive one to the team. Primary medical and nursing care are the norm in a hospital setting. Counselling, bereavement, resources, team support, discharge planning and many miscellaneous tasks and processes are the standard requirements for many social workers in health care settings. So what makes a good work day for me- when I am challenged by complex cases and situations, when I am able to console and counsel a patient/family in a difficult situation and when I witness the appreciation that many of our families show for the staff. The hospital setting is complex with many different programs and services. It hums! But it saves lives or gives compassionate care at the end of life and everything in between! I am hoping I will be able to end my career in this hospital setting. I work at York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. It is an amazing thriving setting. As for our Nurses, I hope they enjoyed their special week! Do you have a favourite hospital? Have you had an experience with a nurse that was memorable? Are we the best health care system in the world? Perhaps,but it is the one I know and I try to work every day to put it on the road to being the best. If you work in health care, what are you doing to ensure Canada ranks the best in the world? What do you bring to your job? If you are not a nurse, congratulate the nurses in your area for the fine work they do!

YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR

Are you a knight in shining armour? Do you try to rescue people when needed? It's not just in fairy tales or the Middle Ages long epic poems that find people that rescue us- our doctors, teachers, nurses, police and fire people, military personnel, parents and even the odd social worker or 2 can be our modern heros. They get paid anyway. There are so many ordinary people in our lives and world that make a difference for the good. It does not have to be anything too special or over the top. Kind words to the store clerk, a good morning when encountering someone near your home, holding the door for that gentleman with his arms full, well you get the picture! Make sure you are a good Knight and not a Black Knight! Do good more often because you don't want the armour to get rusty!

HOW NOT TO BE PRETENTIOUS

Simple- get down to the person's level without being patronizing. I was thinking about this topic after I was babysitting my two grandsons the other night. For the little guy- 10 months- I just sat on the floor with him- at his level. We were seeing eye to eye. As a professional, how can we see eye to eye with the clients, patients, children? In any therapeutic relationship, there is always a power imbalance. As the authority, big words, big ideas and well concepts that need a dictionary abound. In social situations, the person with the most money can look down his/her nose and be the most important- well pretentious! " I am richer than You!" Or I am prettier than you! I am slimmer than you! If we want to be superior, very easy in many circumstances. For example, watch the way many people treat the cashier at any checkout line! Or the waitress/waiter in the restaurant business! Sometimes pretentiousness is just a defense for real underlying insecurities. But sometimes there are real people who do believe they are owed more! More of what- that is the question? I love it when I witness someone getting down to a person's level of understanding. We have some doctors who will draw a crude, simple diagram for a patient to explain the diagnosis or illness. The patient understands without a lot of big words or having to research 6 sites on the Internet. Can take the paper and drawing away with a new respect for their physician. Regardless of the job we have, there is a team around us that provide work and service. Back to the little guy, I'm on the floor with him but when needed, I can stand up again and tower over him or just pick him up to be at my level again. Perhaps that is the trick, reaching out and picking someone up to our level. Then on other occasions, we may be the one needing picking up! Are you pretentious? Do you know people who are pretentious? How do you deal with such people? Do you avoid pretentious people? I know I do!