The other day I was in a funk. I guess my head was just full of things like how the public perceives long-term care, the new enhanced barrier precautions, public reporting of our retention and staffing and its effect on our 5-Star ratings, enhanced enforcements, the ROP3, and the myriad things that pressure our spectrum of healthcare like no other area.
So, when I got home from work, I reached for a snack I enjoy, yogurt. Now apparently, I was completely unaware that this particular yogurt company was having a contest. So, when I pulled off the lid and licked it clean (because that’s what we all do right?), I saw these words: “Try again.”
At first, I thought maybe I somehow opened the yogurt wrong? But that’s kind of impossible. But then I considered that the yogurt was trying to motivate me, ala “Try again Jackie, tomorrow is another day.” Wow, inspiration in yogurt! “It’s OK, Jackie, just try again.”
So, yeah, I’m looking for inspiration and motivation in places we don’t necessarily think of. I mean, I can’t tell you how motivated and blown away I have been by all the DONs and administrators in our company who had to push medication carts and yet somehow managed to keep up with their administrative duties. Like, wow! My superheroes for sure.
Words have power. They can empower those who hear them to live their best lives. While it’s important to be thoughtful about the words you put out into the world, it is also important to be thoughtful about the words you take in. When you find a quote that inspires you, it isn’t cheesy to place it on a post-it-note on your mirror so you see it each morning and evening. One of my favorites is this one: “People will forget what you said, people may forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I think that’s what so special about our profession. Every day we have an incredible opportunity to make our residents and our coworkers feel special, cared for, and then we can feel good about ourselves because we are doing something amazing with our lives.
Never forget that feeling when something motivates you. Put it in your “inspiration bank” in your head. You’ll need to pull it out now and then, like: “Try again Jackie, try again!”
Just keeping it real,
Nurse Jackie
The Real Nurse Jackie is written by Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC, Senior Director of Clinical Innovation and Education for Mission Health Communities, LLC and an APEX Award of Excellence winner for Blog Writing. Vance is a real-life long-term care nurse. A nationally respected nurse educator and past national LTC Nurse Administrator of the Year, she also is an accomplished stand-up comedienne. The opinions supplied here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or her professional affiliates.
The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.
