Static

I can't imagine how it must be to be told I have cancer. I just can't even begin to imagine it. I suspect I would hear white noise immediately after the word. The world might freeze. And yet my patients can still function. They still shower, get dressed, put on their make up, and the choice few do their yoga on the bed. They amaze me. And I am honored to care for them. And relieved that I can walk away from it at 7. It is good to be me. My patients reflect that, and for that I am grateful.

Say something nice.

I am starting a self-motivated project on my floor at work that I will be "implementing" for Nurses Week. By the way, Nurses Week is May 6th through May 12th. (Not so subtle ***hint hint***...if you know a nurse, that would be the week to let them know how great they are, and how much you appreciate them. And if you can't think of anything you appreciate, just ask a nurse....she/he will be able to give you ideas of things to be greatful that a nurse does for you.... examples include, to be p.c., dealing with human excrements. Enough said.)
Anyhow, back to what I was saying. I am putting together a project to let the nurses on our floor how much we are appreciated and build morale, so to speak. Of course, during the process, everyone is getting a little sick of me.
It is a month or so long project of gathering up "something nice" about each person. I pick a name from a bag which contains every person on the units name, and then ask them to "say something nice about that person."
The point being that before nurses week, I will be compiling all the "nice things" about each person, and then somehow (in a manner I have yet to determine) present each person with all the nice things said about them. Nice, right?
What's killing me is how often the person I am asking to say something nice does not know the person whose name I picked out. Shocking! We are a fairly small unit, we only have about 40 people all together. And we spend 12 whole hours with each person! I can almost understand a day shifter not knowing a night shifter and vice versa, but when it is someone who is working with them TODAY, on the same shift, well, I just don't get it.
And what really kills me is how many times people will respond, "I can't think of anything nice to say." Sometimes it is from lack of creativity, but how hard is it to say "they are always on time," or "they have a nice smile" or just ANYTHING!!! Even if is just "they are very persistant and get things done" for the person who we cringe having to give report to because they are one of those anal-retentive types. "Thorough." was that so hard?
Every once in a while, people will even say nasty and mean things. Sad.
Maybe I am just an eternal optimist, but I doubt it!
Maybe I should do a "something mean" list too! Yin and yang, right? But I couldn't do that. I'm just not that mean.
My last day here at this hospital will be the week right before Nurses Week. I want it to leave a lasting (meaning for a week or two) impression. I hope to create more comradery and build a stronger team. It is always nicer to work with happy people who are working together.
So my ideas for presenting each person their "niceness" are as follows:
Put them all into an envelope with their name and just stick it up on the board so it is more private.
Print them out and put them all up decorated on the board so everyone can read them all.
Put them into those easter egg plastic things with their names on it.
Who knows. I have a few weeks to figure it out. Any ideas?
And, may I just add how amusing it is to have people state out loud "I'm sick of saying nice things!"
I love my job anyways. It's good to be me.