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Welcome to my blog about health, nursing, caring, kindness and positive change. Our world is full of such negative influences and bad choices, today is the day to make a positive change both physically and mentally in your life.
ERNursesCare is a blog incorporating my nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare field with my passion for helping others, I want it to encourage others with injury prevention, healthy living, hard hitting choices, hot topics and various ramblings from my unique sense of humor. Come along and enjoy your journey......

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Free Compliments for Nurses or anyone else



From the fantastic Nursetopia blog I wanted to share this poster that I am taking to work with me in the morning. Going to pay back kindness and make my coworkers day!! We all need to feel appreciated and part of the team, even the guy who mops the floor is an integral part of our team.
Kindness spreads like fire, a simple smile can make the day of another nurse, doctor, family member who needs a lift.
Work is hard enough; share the love. You can download your own on the Nursetopia site and save to your computer to share with your boss and others on your team. Click the image to go there.



From the oh so even wonderful Kind over Matter blog
is even more "Kind over Matter" if you will say. 
I love this blog just as much, such positive vibes flow. 
The poster is another that you can place in your break room to  pass on
the kindness 
Click the image to go to the page and download



quoted from the KOM website, some grand stuff: 

Before I became a work-at-home mama I rocked a day job in health care. I was a nurse's aide in quite a few different settings. I worked all three shifts throughout the 7 years that I worked in the field. I worked in a handful of nursing homes, personal care homes, a rehabilitation center, an assisted living complex & then finally, in home health care. I really did love helping people but it was a SUPER stressful profession, both mentally & physically, especially when we were understaffed. What would make or break my day would be who was on with me that shift. At one point, during my first year of work, I worked with SUCH an amazing TEAM. Like, we got shit done, we didn't skimp, we all loved our residents to pieces & we worked TOGETHER to finish our tasks & raise the quality of our residents' lives. We went that extra mile to make each other smile too. It was truly a beautiful thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Another great reminder is Kate Swoboda's Love Letter to the World

 Kindness really is contagious, maybe you can get the bug to spread in your place of work by taking one of the steps below! It won't hurt, I promise!

Start Small. Most of the things I am about to mention will take you no more than 5 minutes or less to do. Say thank you, make coffee, tidy the break room, do the dishes, have a sense of humor, SMILE MORE, complain less, don't gossip, give praise freely. Be Kind, Be Kind, BE KIND. You probably spend an upwards of 2,000 or so hours with your co-workers a year. You should really try to make it a positive experience for yourself & those around you.

Bring Food. Bagels, chocolate, fruit, donuts, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, a veggie tray... chocolate! It doesn't matter what it is. Bring it. Share it. Bake something & bring it in (Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!?), a covered dish, anything will surely be a huge hit! You don't have to go all out either, stop at your local grocery store pick up some fresh or frozen bagels & a tub of cream cheese, a box of donuts, pick up some coffee on your way to work or better yet, offer to run out & pick up a coffee or food order.
Start a Gratitude Board. As I was scouring Flickr for photos to feature in this post I ran across the one above. Her company has a "Thank You Board" - whomever has the most notes each month wins Employee of the Month & is rewarded. Of course, whomever has been the employee of the month the most throughout the year becomes the employee of the year at the end of the year! Love this idea, so much.

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
William James


Show Your Appreciation. This harmonizes with the suggestion above because I feel that is extremely important & want to emphasize on it more. Maybe one of your co-workers showed you how to do something or to get more personal, shared with you a great book, song, poet or movie that you deeply enjoyed. Let them how much you appreciate them by saying Thank You, maybe you can return the favor. Show them how grateful you are by acknowledging them, you can pass along the goodness they shared with you to someone else. When you do, don't let the person that turned you on to or helped you with something out of the story. Not only is it one of the most important parts of the story but by doing so, the gift of appreciation will continue to be given to them & that my friends, is truly a beautiful thing.

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise & confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.
Author Unknown

Share Yourself & Encourage Others to Do the Same. Open up, let yourself be seen. This will make you vulnerable but it will also be the only way you will connect on a deeper level. Hang photos of your loved ones, display mementos of your interests & passions (ummm, don't go overboard though!) If you have an office, keep your door open as much as possible. When folks arrive make them feel welcomed. (Did I mention chocolate?!) Share the important things in your life. Ask about the important things in your co-workers' lives. Sometimes all anyone needs is someone to talk to.

So, if you rock a day job... commit yourself to being Kind. It really does go a long way.


On another note: Important Please Read!

Nurses live and work in such stressful environments that sometimes we tend to turn on ourselves, forget who we are and hurt each other. Lateral violence or horizontal violence among nurses is on the rise and should not be tolerated. As a victim of this kind of violence I really was not aware of it until I stepped away and looked back.
If you are suffering at work, hate your job, never get any kindness, other nurses are treating you unfairly and/or your management is also treating you unfairly. You need help. You need to think seriously about your life, your job and your happiness. How can you take care of your patients when you are not happy yourself.
Think about that a while

Leslie 



Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Jacqueline Saburido will inspire and change you



Jacqui's story of strength and courage has got to be the one story that has always
stuck in my mind as I teach kids and teens out in the community and as I work busy weekends in the ED. Every time I have shared her amazing story and pictures with others it makes such an impact, I know for sure that many kids have been touched by her courage and by the life changing outcome of the driver who was drunk. Jacqui inspires everyone who meets her now or hears her story.
I love the reactions I get with teens in a full classroom as I show the before and after pictures of Jacqui, the shudders and squeals in horror of her face right after the crash, and the condition of that car. It makes such an impact and makes them think, this is real!! drinking and driving can actually hurt someone! and a normal person can be so stupid to crawl into a car, make one poor choice............only one......drive while under the influence of a substance and totally change the life of another person.

Please watch Jacqui's story, I know it is long, but do it for her, show it to your kids and your friends.

 

Jacqui's Commercial from Faces of Drunk Driving on Vimeo.

The Crash: September 19,1999~~
Natalia Bennett and four friends were headed home from a birthday party in West Austin. Her front seat passenger was Jacqui Saburido. It was a little past 4 in the morning on Sunday, September 19, 1999. Reggie Stephey, 18, also was on his way home. He had been drinking.

Less than a mile from his driveway, Reggie drifted across the center stripe and hit Natalia’s car head on. Natalia Bennett and Laura Guerrero died at the scene. Jacqui suffered third degree burns over 60% of her body after the car caught fire.

This is the most powerful image, that makes you think about life!
This one impacts the most teens.

The Driver » Reggie Stephey
Reggie Stephey was a senior at Lake Travis High School outside of Austin. A self-described jock, he had hopes of going to college on an athletic scholarship. But those dreams disappeared when he wound up drinking beer with friends and tried to drive home.

He drifted across the centerline and crashed his SUV into a car with 5 people. Two died on the spot, and Jacqui Saburido almost burned to death when the car caught fire.
Reggie was convicted of two counts of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in the state penitentiary.

He was released in 2008 and lives in Austin, Texas. 
Reggie was a normal high school kid, not into trouble, a football player that wanted to go to college and play football. His dreams came to a very fast halt when he chose to
get into his SUV and drive.....................after drinking...............a very poor choice! 
Read more here  http://facesofdrunkdriving.com

Visit Jacqui's page to see how you can help her http://helpjacqui.com/



Will you think twice now about driving unsafe, intoxicated or under the influence of
any substance at all, even prescription meds that are sedating can cause this! Think before you drive! Call a ride home! Save a life, might be your own! 



Wednesday, January 11, 2012

~Our Letter To Congress~




There is an alarming wave of deaths among our country’s youth; a wave that continues to go unnoticed by mainstream media. Adolescents across the nation are victims of unintentional fatalities caused by their participation in the “choking game” and though known by many names, the intent is to pass out purposely for amusement or for a “buzz”. This silent epidemic that focuses the most brutal results on our very young middle schoolers, remains hidden from public attention because currently there is no way to accurately track and report the number of cases. This lack of statistical proof also limits prevention efforts promoted by the grass-roots organization of the thousands of grieving families who have lost a child to this insidious “game”.

As your constituent, I have signed my name below to ask that you help us help our children by doing the following:

1. Call the CDC and request to be briefed on the issue of the “choking game”.

2. Support the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services by requesting that the World Health Organization add a sub code that includes the “choking game” as a cause of death.

3. Include the “choking game” among the health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth in the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), and make the YRBS affordable and accessible for all states.

4. Support the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) model of education as the means to disseminate information regarding the “choking game”.


Enduring the death of a child is heartbreaking. As my representative to Congress, I ask that you help me prevent other families from this heartache by showing your support in establishing statistical evidence of the “choking game,” Your efforts will assist us in heightening awareness among teens and their parents, teachers, and health care providers.

Thank you,

My addition to the letter as a nurse and Injury Prevention Specialist~~

As a Registered Nurse for over 24 years most of my years have been spent in Emergency Nursing and the countless deaths of children and teens that are called "suicides" may possibly actually be cause from this youth risk behavior named TCG or the choking game. We at Ed4Ed4all.com have devoted our lives to helping STOP this behavior and other risky behaviors like it that are taking our loved and cherished children away. Our Education for educators and parents is available free. Please help us to stop the choking game so more parents can actually see their kids graduate high school, walk down the aisle at their weddings and raise grandchildren that are our future.
Thank you for signing this petition!! http://www.petition2congress.com/5809/stop-choking-game/
I sign it for your kids! my kids, grand kids and the future of our country.

Leslie Block RN
Ed4Ed4all Injury Prevention Specialist.
National Social Media Manager for The Mommies Network 

Please take the time to sign the petition, email it to your Congressmen, pay the extra mere $9.00 to also have the letters printed and hand delivered to their offices on Capital Hill. We can make an impact, we are the voters!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Wash Your Nasty Hands

This is the season for bugs, all sorts of nasty germs are floating around our daily lives.
So remember the one simple thing that you can do to help the spread of these bugs.
Wash your nasty hands....please!! Thank you

Here are a couple videos to help :)




Handwashing is a global thing!!



One for the kiddos to learn



and one for the little ones :)

Enjoy and stay safe and well this winter


Monday, January 2, 2012

Just Save the Shoes!!

How are you going to make 2012 different? Have you even thought about it? You have the power to make change happen,no matter how small ,change your attitude, change your community, change your world.
I love this video, perfect for a new start, just remember there is always a lady( or man) somewhere that needs her shoes, Save the Shoes!!, Just do It! No matter how small or trivial a task may seem, there is somebody in our path daily that needs a hand, a smile, a simple hello or acknowledgement that they are important.
No matter if you are fighting fires, running rescue calls, dispatching 911 calls, enforcing our laws or taking care of patients. No matter if you are just a mom or dad struggling with daily life. We are all human, we all make a difference, we all can.

As an ER Nurse I am reminded each and every day of the reason that I do what I do. God always puts just that right patient in my path that needs something I can give back. Even if it is just saving the shoes........




Happy New year Make it a safe one!!



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