By Jen Smith, RN, Australia  

I was reflecting and appreciating recently on the fact that how I work with doctors has changed over the last few years. I have nursed for over 25 years and I had never until recently really given myself the opportunity to appreciate what doctors offer and the level of care they have for their patients. I basically viewed them from the perspective of providing a function to patients and I carried out whatever it was that they prescribed.

Early in my nursing career, I struggled with what I perceived was a hierarchy in terms of whose input was valued with patients and I had opinions about what was offered in terms of treatments. As a result I reacted to most of what I saw and decided that I was going to focus my efforts on building a career in natural therapies so that I could leave nursing behind and therefore have very little to do with doctors and what I thought was a limited way of working. I also saw nursing as lesser, with no independence and subservient to medicine.

I saw natural therapies as a way out, a way to being an independent practitioner and independent regarding how I worked with people and a way to seek recognition for the work that “I” was doing. Continue reading “How I am with doctors has changed.” →

By Anonymous

Throughout my 20 plus years of experience in nursing, I have been inspired every day by the colleagues I work with – the skills and the care they demonstrate and the thoughtful way my nursing colleagues are with our patients, families and each other has always been clear…

Recently, I learnt so much from witnessing a colleague who didn’t hold back as they advocated for a patient: they significantly changed the outcome and treatment plan for that patient.

Whilst outcomes for our patients are important, what I really observed and appreciated was how this simple action created a ripple effect within the broader local nursing community.

Continue reading “The ripple effect of speaking honestly in nursing. (Inspired by a nursing colleague)” →

By Jen Smith, RN, Australia

Two years ago I participated in a research study on self-care for health professionals who work in palliative care. It was a qualitative research study where I was interviewed on what self-care was to me, how I understood it and how I applied it to my own life. This interview was a wonderful experience, which I shared in a blog at the time called ‘The Value of Qualitative Research -Understanding and Expression.’  

The research has since been published and it’s had me pondering further about what we call research.

In fact, I re-read the article that I wrote on my experience at that time. As a result of participating in that research I came to new understandings about:

• Myself, working as a nurse and how important self-care is
• How confirming it was to discuss with a researcher how my life has changed with the simple activities of self-care
• Research itself and how amazing it was to participate in a research study.

Continue reading “The Value of our Expression in Research” →

by Matthew Brown, Registered Nurse, Perth, Western Australia

Most of us have seen a GP or been to hospital at some stage, and have had our medical history taken. The usual questions cover a range of illnesses that include most parts of our body. Commonly asked questions are related to blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, heart and lungs, any previous surgery and what type of medication we are on, which may provide a clue to anything else we may have ‘forgotten’ to mention!

I call this the public medical history, the one that is carried around like a backpack, that informs all health professionals just what type of body they are dealing with. These are the problems that are often managed with medication, and the more you are on, and the higher the dose, the greater your problems are.

But there is another history we keep hidden. This secret history is the one we keep really personal and generally don’t share with anyone, or maybe only one other person. These secrets are the vital evidence and the foundation of our ill ways, ill health and poor decisions. They may at first seem irrelevant or even minor, but they are crucial to understanding the person as a whole, and hold the clues to the kinds of events, illnesses or injuries that happen to people.

Those things that we keep secret are the things that we find embarrassing or personal; that we would never share with another. They could range from anything from early childhood all the way through life. There is often a hurt of some kind that holds us back. It may prevent us from either admitting it is there, or we may find a way to completely ignore the feeling associated with it. Continue reading “Our secret medical history” →

by Jennifer Smith RN Australia.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a research study. I had completed a survey and was then asked if I would like to participate in an interview as part of a qualitative study on self-care. The research was about exploring the topic of self-care in nurses who work in palliative care and whether this may relate to compassion for self and compassion for others.

I love participating and supporting other nurses, especially when it comes to research, so I jumped at the chance.

The qualitative approach to research, is less about figures and results and more about the experiences and themes of the participants, with a view to establishing a broader understanding of what a group of people’s experiences are on a particular subject. The numbers of participants in qualitative research are often much smaller than with quantitative research and whilst this allows for a richer, in-depth analysis to be performed, there are some factions in science that do not value this and who consider quantitative research superior. Both are valid ways of performing research and are suited to address different research questions and fields of study.

The questions asked were quite broad about how I self-care, how it affects how I am at work, the strategies I use, the things that get in the way of me self-caring and whether or not I had a ‘self-care plan’ and whether a plan is beneficial (this is something that is talked about a lot in palliative care circles). The questions were open so I could really discuss and explore how self-care supports me both personally and most definitely professionally.
Continue reading “The Value of Qualitative Research – Understanding and Expression” →

by Cherise Holt, Nurse, Australia

When I was 20 years old, I graduated as a nurse and began to work in a Rehabilitation unit, in a major city hospital. On any shift I would be allocated to approximately 7 patients, all of whom were recovering from surgical procedures, injuries and various illnesses & diseases. They all varied in the amount of support they (and their carers) needed from me, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I worked shift work, usually days, afternoons and weekends and it was not uncommon to work 7 days without a break or have very irregular shifts. I frequently worked until 11pm at night and would then start another shift beginning at 6.30am the next morning. I used to think I had barely enough time to drive home and sleep, let alone take time to wind down properly or bring true quality to my relationship with me (or anyone else!).

I worked hard and I would tell anyone that I thoroughly enjoyed my job. I loved talking to the patients, although found it difficult with those that wanted more of my attention or more solutions from me than I felt I could give. I liked providing care for them, however found that the physical tasks I was doing for them, even the basics of daily care, was becoming tiring on my body.

At age 20, I was already feeling drained by my career; how could this be? Continue reading “Having ideals and beliefs – at what expense to the body?” →