Training to Become a Superhero

Every superhero starts out with basic training.  They don't just suddenly become outrageous and famous overnight, but they work very hard for their success.  There are baby steps to every giant accomplishment in life and weather its learning how to fly or giving a bed bath, superheroes with superpowers must start somewhere in their journey.  Well I am in my training process to become a superhero known as a "nurse."  Being in my very first classes and exposure to this kind of work has been extremely eye-opening and has taught me countless lessons through both trial and error as well as success and defeat.  Just like any superhero, they will experience this as well in their training and will face many villains along the way.  The villain I am facing is telling me that I am not good enough and that I can't be successful, although luckily one of my superpowers is God, and that is how I am winning this battle and will successfully complete my training to becoming a superhero of my own.

I learned many lessons through this semester, unfortunately, some had to be learned the hard way, although I am extremely thankful for everything that I have learned and how every experience has shaped me, challenged me to persevere, and realize that I am strong, and God is powerful!!

• Prioritize your life
• family, friends, relationships, studying, God, stress-relievers, hobbies or other relaxing activities are all necessities I personally believe should be fostered for a healthy lifestyle.
• Plan in advance
• Get LOTS of sleep
• Eat healthy (or you will gain 10lbs like most of us)
• Coffee is your best friend
• Have confidence
• Seek advice
• Don't be afraid to not be perfect, or ask questions
• Have a "poop" partner so you don't become "impacted" with the hard stools in life ;)
• Rely on those who love you
• Give thanks to those who love you
• Give thanks for EVERYTHING
• Look at the positives in absolutely every situation
• When things get hard, PRAY
• Allow a little time to have fun and laugh
• Look at the big picture
• Take time to relax, give your brain a break
• Keep your eyes on the prize and your purpose
• Try your best, but don't get disappointed in yourself
• Every experience is a lesson
• Use every experience to shape me into a better person
• Make a positive impact on every person, patient, and family member you encounter.
• Hard work pays off
• I CAN DO THIS!!

(One thing me and my nursing friends have definitely learned this semester is to not get bitter and rely on humor.  Looking up nursing meme pictures can make studying much more enjoyable!!)

 

Here are a few.......

 





    

 

        

 

This is just the beginning of my training and I have a long journey in front of me, although instead of it being a nightmare I must encounter, I will look at it as an adventure of life lessons and growth.  In only one semester I have learned so much and I still have so much more to learn, although it is exciting to see results and look into the future and have that goal and mindset of one day being a successful, compassionate, superhero; Nurse!

Every Superhero Needs a Sidekick!

Every superhero needs a sidekick.  In one way or another, a superhero always has a support system which enables them to be so successful.  Without their support, they would fall, be defeated, and rejected by society.  Batman and Robin, for example, work together to defend Gotham City, and together make an unbeatable team!!  Even the superheroes who fly "solo" still are motivated by teamwork that is stimulated and encouraged from support of the people in the city they are protecting.  The work that they do couldn't always be possible if the society didn't approve of them or look up to them, so the greatest superheroes all need support from even the civilians to be successful.

The same goes for nursing! If one nurse tries to be the superstar who doesn't ever need help, the likelyhood is that they will eventually be defeated and fail (at something).  This may be related to the effectiveness of their patient care, accuracy of medication administration, or even implementing correct methods of patient care in procedures.  Like any superhero, if a nurse tries to fly solo, they may be putting the civilians, or in this case, their patient at risk.  There is strength in numbers, and if nusres communicate and work together in unity and as a team, the effectiveness of their care is ampliphied to a fantastic work force.

The characteristics of an effective team increasing patient safety include:

TEAMWORK:

A team is not merely just a group of people that are put together to work towards a common goal. Rather, every member on the team needs to be on the same page and able to work with one another.  It's not about one person having specialized and greater qualities, but everyone needs to work together and put their skills together to reach the best result. 

 

COMMUNICATION:

Effective communication is imperative in anycircumstance in life.  In the healthcare system it is absolutely crucial for it to be practiced in order to save lives.  Something as simple as a 30 second conversation with a healthcare team can make a drastic difference in a procedure and in a patient's life.  Communication is key to reaching the most effective outcome in a team.

COLLABORATION:



The dynamics of situations, especially in healthcare, are always changing and a team needs to be able to respond to this change in an effective way together as a unit to come to a successful result.  To reach their absolute greatest capability, a team must come together and put all of their thoughts and ideas together in a dynamic way.

SUPPORT:

For a team to be successful it is also imperative that the members of the team each encourage and support one another fully.  If the people involved don't trust or encourage one another, there is a greater chance and risk for something to go wrong.  Support is huge in making one feel confident and competent in their skills and allow them to do a much better job than they would if they were doubtful about thier skills or capabilities.

The key to being a successful nurse or healthcare provider alike, includes incorporating each of these aspects into their practice and carrying them out consistantly to ensure greater healthcare.

 TEAMWORK....

 

 COMMUNICATION....

 

COLLABORATION....

 

  SUPPORT....   

 

SUCCESS!!!             

 

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
― Helen Keller

 

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”
― Phil Jackson

 

"Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.”

― Patrick Lencioni

Saving Others and Saving Ourselves

Nurses are the real superheroes of our society by saving lives every day and committing their own lives to serving and helping others, and dedicating all of their energy to others well-being. This is an incredible and humbling concept, although while nurses are saving others (or in our case, training to save others) sometimes it seems that they can forget about themselves. Recently I have noticed how almost every single teacher has been fighting an illness, and every single nursing student around me has been incredibly stressed, worried, nervous, and quite frankly, not healthy or acting as themselves at times. Nurses have an incredible role in our world and we wouldn't be thriving without their service, but being so educated on how to help others achieve health, it seems that they are forgetting what they are teaching and how to lead healthy lifestyles themselves. I'm sure we have all heard the saying before, "Do as I say, not as I do," and in a sense, this can be enabled by the bad habits that nursing students or even healthcare professionals can get into.  For being educated on health, nurses or nursing students should also want to practice health!  Be proactive and take care of yourself just as if you were a patient of your own!! 

 Here are some considerations to living healthy lifestyles while teaching healthy lifestyles:

RISK FACTORS FOR NURSING STUDENTS:

• EXTREME lack of sleep
• Overexertion of the brain
• Bad eating habits
• Prone to loneliness or mild isolation
• Lack of exercise
• Lack of social life
• Becoming addicted to coffee or energy supplements
• Expecting perfection (especially first semester)
• Feeling inadequate
• Getting so consumed in academics, forgetting the true purpose and focus of nursing as God’s calling and a true compassion for helping other people.

PLAN OF ACTION, COPING IN CHAOS:

• RELAX!
• Pray, Pray, Pray!
• Take some time for yourself
• Take some time for your friends and family
• Give your brain a break
• Eat healthy and put the right foods in your system
• Practice what you preach
• Take some time to laugh!
• Make sure you are exercising periodically to keep your body functioning
• Sleep, Sleep, Sleep! It is SO important to get adequate sleep, especially when people’s lives are in your hands.  Make sure that sleep is written in your schedule as well because it will be much more advantageous being alert for your patients than getting an extra couple hours in studying and being lethargic.

I know we all feel like this but KEEP PERSISTING!!!

We are all in the same place nursing students

Eventually we will all be superheroes!!

Take care of your patients, take care of your health

BE SUPER!!





Who Do Superheroes Look Up to??

How to Keep God at the Center of Your Life

     Nurses truly are the superheroes in our community.  They take care of those in need, they save lives, and they have compassion for all those around them.  They don't care about the dirty, nasty things that the human body is capable of producing, they just want that human to be thriving; as healthy and happy as possible.  Their superpowers include extreme grace, forgiveness, understanding, compassion, care, dedication, determination, and of course, an extreme knowledge base! It is not an easy job to have, and not everybody is capable of doing it, however some are truly called to be nurses in our society to heal, help, educate, and encourage the human race.  Now if nurses are superheros in our society, who do they look up to?  Doctors, physicians, scientists, and managers may be some people that first come to mind, although to truly embrace the superhero capacity of being the best nurse possible, the true and only thing or person to look up to is God.

 

     Nursing school can be a tremendous challenge for students, especially experiencing the very first semester.  The entire course and framework of classes is entirely different and the mindset must be changed to always be "critically thinking." Now we all know that the work load and subject content can be overwhelming at times.  Very quickly nursing becomes the absolute center of our lives and focus of every moment of everyday.  While this does make us seem like a dedicated student, this will definitely lead us straight into insanity, overload, and burnout.  There needs to be a balance in life or we will become subject to fatigue, bitterness, and even coldheartedness through the stressful times that are to be encountered.  So how to avoid this?  God must be the center of our lives.  It cannot be Jarvis or Potter and Perry as our primary resource to get through life.  Now these will definitely help us pass nursing, but not enjoy or embrace it.  So God must be the absolute center of what we do as nurses.  Here are some ways to do this:

• Have devotion every single day
• At the beggining or end, or even in the middle.  Some people function better by starting off the day positively with encouragement by beginning in God's word, and give them motivation to get through the day.  Some people may need a booster in the middle of the day to let the first half of the day go, and be reenergized for the second half.  Others may find it most useful to lay down at night and get in a relaxed state, letting all the stresses of the day go by resting in the word of God.
• Make God your mindset
• In everything that you do, have the presence of God in your heart and let him rule in your mind to be the foundation of your motivations.
• Pray, pray, then pray some more
• Being in constant communication with God will keep a continual peace and hope over you.  Instead of worrying about your problems internally, praying about them will help relieve and lessen the stress and overwhelming feeling.
• Place God all around your life
• Post your favorite verses around your home as constant reminders of how to be a follower of Christ.  Meditate on different verses a week, and focus on what teachings they have to offer. Invest in spiritual mentours who will help carry your burdons and give you advice.  Choose friends wisely.  Confide in motivational and encouraging people who will help you grow in your faith and uplift you.
• Dont let the little things get to you
• There will always be obstacles to overcome and little things that put a damper in the week.  If you let the little things affect you, it will be easy to self destruct.  Brush them off with a little prayer and allow God to lead you through the day.
• Give all of your struggles to God
• Instead of taking all your burdons on your own shoulders and letting them really bring you down, use God as a resource to give your struggles to in order to find new strength.

     These are all just a few simple little ways that can truly change the way that you think, act and take on every single day.  To truly be the best superhero you can be, God must be the center of everything that you do in your long journey and training to be a spectacular nurse!!