Every year on the West Coast of Florida they hold a Grand Prix event in St. Petersburg. On the East Coast of Florida, they hold the Daytona 500. Now, I will admit, this hasn’t been a sport I get excited about.
To be honest, when my husband was watching the Daytona 500 on TV, I thought there must be better ways to spend your time than watching cars go around, and around, and around in an endless circle. I thought, well, this is as exciting as watching paint dry, only a lot noisier!
But since I now live in Florida, I wanted to learn about these endurance racing events. I was surprised to learn that unlike endurance running/racing events, that with cars, winning isn’t exactly dependent on how fast your car is, or how experienced the driver is, or how cool the color of the car is!
It turns out pit stops are one of the most intense and exciting features of a Grand Prix or endurance race. In fact, races are won and lost because of the pit stops and the pit crews, as a stop that takes a precious few extra seconds can give the competition a lead. In other words, the pit stop time during a race is essential to winning and that is all due to the crew.
So, let me ask: How good is your crew? Have you built a solid team (crew) or are there just a bunch of individuals plotting their course around your facility? Have you ever paired two nursing assistants to one larger assignment and seen how much more efficiently and timely the tasks got done? (It may blow your mind.)
Have you taken the time to create a bonded crew, a team that has each other’s backs or is everybody just out for themselves? I am sure you have heard the expression that it is easy to break a strand of thread but twine a few of those threads together, and it’s many more times harder to break. Well, it’s the same with a strong crew.
So, yeah, no solo endurance. Your crew is what makes the difference between thriving or crashing and burning. See, my husband would be proud, I did learn something from this sport. Though I still don’t know how the race car drivers pee (and I don’t think I want to!).
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.
