Education: Respect for Nurses

“Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self confidence is having confidence in oneself.”  Wikipedia, The free encyclopedia.

I have been confident for many years that addiction and all it’s manifestations is a health condition. In hospitals, and where ever nurses are employed, withdrawal syndromes will be present. As a nurse, in the years that I worked in general hospitals, caring for individuals in any form of substance withdrawal left me feeling inadequate and vulnerable. This is one health condition that was not then taught in nursing schools. It is my understanding that nursing education in present day schools of nursing has advanced only slightly, but still with limited emphasis on the area of addictions nursing.  My own ideas, even to me, are grand and so very big, that I have difficulty hanging on to the confidence of my own beliefs.

That is, until I see the dramatic medical, mood and behavioural changes, that occur in hours to a few days. And also til I recall the actual brain dysfunction, and sometimes structural changes, that occur with substance abuse, within substance withdrawal and early sobriety. Substance abuse that has occurred over decades, sometimes beginning in developmental stages, or substance abuse that has not begun until late adulthood. So many more details that once more they threaten to overwhelm my self confidence. The threat is overwhelmed by my belief in the need for the education of nurses about nursing care that includes substance withdrawal management, health teaching about the physiological and emotional nature of addictions, recovery and relapse.

That we, as nurses, have our hands tied by the stigma surrounding addictions and mental health, is a very unfortunate part of our education and thus our experiences. Our experiences are at the bedside, in clinics, as street nurses, anywhere nurses are employed. If our nursing care is detered by this lack, then patient care and the outcome of that care is incomplete. As a detox nurse, I still care for the medical effects of substance induced brain trauma creating acute medical, neurological and psychiatric symptoms of my client’s in crisis.  

“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

An Evening At the Symphony with Beethoven and Angela Cheng

Magnificent.  The music is still ringing in my head. Piano, my favourite instrument, is a challenging, solid and grand instrument. Beethoven is my favourite composer with crashing, complex music that can also be soft and melodious.

Angela Cheng, an award winning Canadian pianist, backed up by the Victoria Symphony orchestra played masterfully and with confidence Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1 and Concerto No. 3. Both Concertos were written for piano and orchestra. The audience was held spell bound until the standing ovation and many shout outs of Bravo and Bravissimo.

This evening is one of three held this weekend at the Royal Theatre in Victoria. Each evening  features Angela Cheng and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra playing two more of Beethoven’s Concerto each night. I have been fortunate to attend the first of the three.

“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge

 which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend”

~ Ludwig van Beethoven

Antidote for BusyWork

A sofa soft and supportive, staunch pillows beneath head and feet

Pyjamas formless and cozy

Fuzzy blanket curled around my toes

Confidence that when my eyes grow heavy, drifting through three television shows is not only restorative, but definitely the right thing to do.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”

~ Charles Schulz, Charlie Brown’s Little Book of Wisdom

Architecture of Confidence

When the voice inside
has not been heard
within it’s vessel ~
it is faint and far away

Slowly that tiny voice gains strength leaning into the
confidence that rings true from the outside world ~
a solid confidence from blue ribbons and hugs,
kindness, respect and gratitude.

Building a new confidence for continuing adventures
so fraught with stumbling blocks from 
the very pieces of pride and support of the past
requires bravery, boldness and baby steps.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. 

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

~ Johann Wofgang von Goethe

Grounding

Anxiety
Deep in my gut
Feeling like I’d eaten something bad
Confident that I should clean my fridge
And yet
Tension in my heart
Darkness in my head
Twisting in my gut
Tells me I’m only anxious
Confident that by taking a deep breath
Putting my feet flat on the ground
To truly see and feel even the tiny successes ~
‘Only anxiety’ will calm and disperse like an errant cloud.

“Get yourself grounded and you can 

navigate even the stormiest roads in peace.”
~ Steve Gooder

In From the Cold

Lights bathe the room in steady glow

from baseboards, 

heat warms and comforts

windy rain or driving snow, 

walls, doors and windows protect

roof seals in shelter, light and warmth

ticky tacky boxes, grand mansions 

or homes stacked to the sky

confident in our infrastructure or……

taking our blessings for granted…….or both?

“It’s not a bad idea to occasionally spend a little time 

thinking about things you take for granted. 

Plain everyday things.”

~ Evan Davis

Time to Turn Around

When I think
my direction is true,
a shift in focus
shifts direction 
forever circular
‘doing things over and over
expecting a different result’
'til eyes open confidence 

in a grand direction
has been forced, false and uncertain
confidence in ability and practice
hidden, ghostlike, but sure ~
time to turn around and refocus.

“Study the past if you would define the future.”

~ Confucius

Regrowth

Deepening mood swings low
saps energy, weakens confidence 

energy rises to the surface into 

the soft light of joy, gratitude and hope

confidence regrows slowly ~ warm strength returns, spreads and glows

“You don’t always get stronger on 

the days that everything comes easily to you.”

~ Nastia Liukin