Hello, Readers!

‘Coming up for air after having finished a business plan for an interprofessional healthcare workshop for communication and team building, and I realized this is Nurses’ Week!

Considering that in an annual survey, nurses have earned the highest ranked public trust for the 11th straight year,what does that mean to you?

We  function as patient advocates and professional healthcare providers, both at the bedside and behind the scenes. Since I have the distinct privilege of playing a part in several healthcare areas, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on lessons learned, and to encourage those nurses out there, or would-be nurses, to keep up the good work!

My work on the university campus is such a blessing. What an invigorating assignment, to help shape the nurse of the future. We faculty shoulder the academic load with (mostly) grins, as we see the progress of neophyte nursing students. This is a double blessing ~ first, we see them grow; second, we know when we are old there will be competent professionals to assist us!

The work with the American Nurses Association (the professional organization, not a union) allows input into health policy on the state and national level. What an honor, and what fun! (Stay tuned, as I will post a podcast from the Washington, DC House of Delegates in June.)

So here’s a word of encouragement to all you healthcare students out there – nursing is a profession with great lateral mobility and opportunities for growth. Study, study, study. You’ll  soon be entering a rewarding profession.

    click here for Reuters article 

Hello healthcare leaders everywhere,

Attending the California Action Coalition (a group of  healthcare leaders) seminar today, the same day as the article about my healthcare speakers video series hits the press in > 2000 newspapers and media outlets! This is fortuitous and accidental timing, as the need for healthcare leaders to hone their critical speaking skills is never more paramount than now!

The California Action Coalition is the first inter professional state group (funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). The coalition serves to plan interprofessional education to meet the goals of healthcare change which is mandated to happen in this country.  Four promising areas across education drive the move to position nurses into the fore of patient care, in order to adequately serve the country’s burgeoning population and healthcare needs.

Can I hear an amen?!

Forty eight years ago today, The Beatles landed in New York (of course, they flew Pan Am).

If you are old enough to recall that occasion (and the mass hysteria that followed), where were you?

While watching them on the Ed Sullivan show, I recall being SO upset that no one could hear anything above the screaming fans! One thing’s for sure, though: They communicated a joyful, new sound to an international audience.

Yes, there was poverty, inequity, and political turmoil in many parts of the world then, as now. However, their music and optimism set the stage for people to unite. Not everyone chose to be a part of this “revolution.” but many of us did.

That’s not such a bad example, eh?

I am VERY pleased to report having spent last weekend in a Dallas hotel, just learning new things and having fun.

Hold on there, partner, don’t get the wrong idea!

Over 300 exhilarated participants from many corners of the world attended the National Speakers Association annual Winter Conference. The seminars were first-rate. Add to that, communing with old friends and new made this one of those “mountain-top” experiences. The only possible down-side was the up-side from such sumptuous food! The Marriott folks really spoiled us, and I have the extra pounds to prove it.

You have to admit: NSA  brings people with such divergent backgrounds together, all to discuss methods of increasing communication on a global scale. Personally, I am anxious to apply  some of the lessons learned in my work with healthcare teams.

I have this to say about that: WA-HOO!

Hello Friends,

Well, I have already broken my New Year’s resolution to blog twice a week. (Let’s not even mention the one about working out every day. HA!)

One resolution I did manage, was to make available a NEW video series for healthcare leaders everywhere. You can access the intro by clicking on the TV screen to the right >>

See it?

One of my motivations for making the series was my frustration when I am an attendee at a conference. Anyone in the audience will tell you, conference speakers are notoriously BORING!  There is a lot of room for improvement, right?

So,  this  brief video series of tips n’ treasures are tools you  can use to help pinpoint your presentation problems. We call it,  “The 7 Traps Speakers Fall Into.” (You scholars, please pardon the dangling participle!).  

Yes, you can download the series right NOW. Listen as often as you like!  I hope you, or someone you know, will benefit by it.

Yours for more engaging healthcare conferences,

Candy

All Business Is Show Business is the name of a favorite old book of mine. As a performer (and card-carrying actor’s union member), the book struck me as funny, when thinking of it in terms of healthcare.

Funny peculiar, that is.

When it comes to healthcare advocacy, the adage doesn’t quite seem to fit. After all, healthcare advocacy is serious business, you say, right?  We aren’t out to just play politics. We represent life and death decisions, not just politically correct ones, right?  If it’s not about patient care, we don’t care, right?

No arguments there.

But when it comes to making a definite difference in the way healthcare is conceptualized, promoted and delivered, our task is to help convince lawmakers of the most effective ways to make our better ideas into policy. Like it or not, we live in an age of media saturation. If  nurses and other allied healthcare professionals depend on email and snail mail campaigns to get our grassroots messages across, we  miss the proverbial bedpan and are left with more of a mess.

We must craft media messages with a method. The 20-second attention span of  kindergarteners has infected the whole society. Our access to politicians needs to be short and sweet. Like a blog!

Healthcare leaders, are you FRUSTRATED with your life already, and we’re only in week #2 of the January?

Here are 5 FREE tips you can take on your New Year’s journey, based on my own 30+ years as a nurse/educator and administrator in healthcare:

1. If you’re not still  passionate about your work, find  out WHY? Are you immobilized by a coworker ? A boss? The culture of the organization?

After you finish your analysis, make a PLAN. What will you do to change your situation?

Is the irritation worth a transfer or a relocation? Even if you cannot change WHO you work with, you can change HOW you work with them. Attitude is everything. If you need to take a course in assertiveness training, by all means… If you need to alter you educational plans to get out of that a situation, there’s no better time.

2. What do you put FIRST in your life? Work or personal relationships?

If you answered, “work,” rethink this one. Perhaps it’s not possible to have a complete BALANCE to your crazy life, but you can aim for INTEGRATION of work/play to renew,  refresh, and stabilize your soul.

3. If you don’t already have a “team” of friends/ family  who support you in thick and thin, (hopefully these are NOT coworkers) FIND that group.

These should be  people you can be REAL with, celebrate with, GROW with, by telling each other the truth, however painful.  Having close confidantes who share the same moral/ethical convictions will pay dividends untold in the present as well as the future.

4. PAYBACK. what are you doing to GIVE BACK to your community?

No, I don’t mean for money. Studies show those who  volunteer gain enormous sense of well-being. Why not? It’s a universal law: “It’s better to give than receive.”  And WHY is that so? If you’ve ever volunteered, you know about this. If you will take time to give to someone else, no matter how small the deed, the universe will give back to you. TRUE? Of course, true!  You rarely ‘get’ back the same kindness you gave (i.e., despite some televangelist’s promise, if you give $ you likely won’t GET $), but in terms of peace and love, which cannot be measured, your life will be enriched.

5. DON’T compare yourself to anyone else.

No matter how tempting, you’ll just drive yourself to despair by so doing. Look at all the people in the world. Then look at your gifts. Realize there is time and a place for you to develop your talents. So WHAT if you’re not THE greatest (manager, supervisor, administrator, leader, etc.)… You’ll get there. Give yourself a break! Take a breath.

Now take one step towards your goal. And celebrate the new beginning!

Cheers!!

Candy

Happy January, all~

As we take down our holiday decorations and gear up for the next spin-around-the-globe, what are your biggest fears for the coming year? For some, it may be the lingering recession. Perhaps it’s the coming election? Or maybe you worry about the drought ?

Well, thank heavens there is no drought in ideas, right?! New ideas are as bountiful as the universe, right? There is a stream of random ideas like a meteor shower right above your head, right?

Wait. Did you say, “Wrong”?

Uh-oh.

Does your fear stem from a creative dry spell? Are you faced with the task of generating  your message in a NEW way in order to educate or achieve compliance with new or changing policies?

If you must be the presenter for a healthcare group (whether it’s a group of 1000, or a group of ONE), perhaps I can help you. Here’s a Tip of the Week you can take to the bank: Be yourself.

No, not your unwashed, “let-it-all-hang-out” weekend self. Not your monotone self, either.

Be that person who shows some interest in what you are tasked to offer up.

Be your authentic self. Believe me, no matter what size your audience, they will THANK you for it!

And if you need help sorting out the details, be sure to let me know.

Yours for bright ideas,

Candy

One of my New Year’s Resolutions (or Goals or Intentions, however you like to call it), is to blog at least twice a week about Life as a nurse/presenter/humorist, with Helpful Tips and general info on these subjects.

At my last presentation, an audience-member asked me how I could stand the stress of working with premature babies and their families.I told him it was definitely a “calling,” and that although the emotional toll is sometime a burden, the strain is far outweighed by knowing I have helped to ease the burden of someone else. Altruistic? Of course. Ask any healthcare professional, teacher, counselor, or anyone who must say uncomfortable truths to a group or one-on-one, and you’ll get a variation of this theme.

It may sound schmaltzy, but it’s true. This time of year, more than any other, we recall that the gift is not as important as the spirit of the giver.

Happy holy-days, everyone!

I welcome your comments.

Candy