MASSACHUSETTS REPORT ON NURSING Quarterly Circulation 57,400 Volume 18 Number 1 March 2020 The Official Publication of ANA Massachusetts • PO Box 285 • Milton, MA 02186 • 617.990.2856 • [email protected] Who is this nurse? The small difference In this issue: Robert Stetson that nurses will be there for them. Some might say the goal is to minimize the use of the call bell but rounding President’s message 2 Nursing and health also encourages them to use it if they need help. When care have changed rapidly a patient calls you into their room, some respond with Guest editorial 3 throughout the years and are “What do you need? Can I help you? Are you okay?” ever evolving. The focus of Sometimes those phrases can be interpreted negatively. care has become more patient The phrase I’ve come to love and use is “How can I Introductions 4 and family centered. The help?” I feel that frequent rounding on patients and challenge is delivering high being present with them can help minimize call light quality care while keeping up interruptions because their needs are assessed and taken Massachusetts Student Nurses’ with increasing organizational care of before they put on their call lights. Association 5 and regulatory requirements. Another word that comes to mind when I think Despite the changes in health about my workday is prioritization, something nurses care, nurses have to make do every single day. We have many tasks we need to Welcome Grace Oh, RN: Newest our patients feel comfortable do throughout our shift, and we delegate what can be Robert Stetson at their weakest and most delegated. Multitasking, organization, and prioritization member of the BOD 5 vulnerable time. While there come across as some of my specialties. Sometimes we are plenty of resources and scholarly articles you can forget that patient’s needs and comfort need to be part LGBT inclusive nursing care 6 search for to teach you how to make patient satisfaction of the priority list—not just medications and treatments. scores go up, I want to share my personal philosophy. Nurses are sometimes so task oriented that sometimes Recently my manager gave me positive feedback from we forget that patients are the primary focus of our work. Letter to the editor 11 patients commenting about my care. She asked me, Among the new orders, new types of documentation, “What do you do that makes a difference for our patients new protocols, we drown in all these tasks that our in your everyday practice?” In all honesty, I really did not organizations and regulatory bodies require. We must Clio’s corner 12 think I did anything differently from my colleagues, more remember that patients are humans in their vulnerable than half of whom have been nurses longer than I’ve moments. Treat them as humans. Make yourself present. st been on this earth! This got me thinking about my nursing And surely, patient outcomes will improve, patient 1 Lt. Helen Berman Abrahams 1921- practice. satisfaction will improve, and overall wellness will 2019 14 I think that presence is so very important. Every improve. workday, I do everything in my power to round as Maybe this is the answer to my manager’s question. frequently as possible. Even something as simple as Faith community nursing - Start it up! asking “How is breakfast? Is there anything else you Robert Stetson cares for patients on a Medical/Surgical 15 need? Anything I can do for you?” may remind patients unit at the Steward Carney Hospital, in Dorchester. The educational planning process in brief 15 Reflections on the lessons from My journey to health policy 16 our patients in the year of the ANAMASS Legislative Agenda 16 nurse and midwife prevented, reversed and improved through simple lifestyle habits inclusive The making of the Massachusetts Aurelie C Cormier, RN, MS, ANP-BC Founder/Chief Wellness Officer of nutrient rich colorful Report on Nursing 18 W.E.L.L.N.E.S.S.© Parenting fruits and veggies, legumes, beans and healthy oils, a consistent As Nurses and Nurse Practitioners, we work intimately aerobic exercise routine Bulletin board 19 with patients and their personal stories. This also of at least 20-30 minutes a day, incorporating stress provides a unique window into the meaningful lessons management techniques like Mindfulness Meditation, that life teaches us. Among the lessons that one of my Yoga and Qigong into our daily habits, and in an age when wealthiest patients shared with me is that the three most our world is comprised of over 85,000 chemicals, being important things in life are Health, Family and aware of our environment (Cormier, 2019). Friends; and beyond that, he told me, little else Presort Standard Nursing is physically, emotionally and spiritually taxing matters. His words resonated with me and I would US Postage and we give a lot to our patients. It is natural for many of guess that they probably resonate with you too! PAID us to take care of others and to care deeply. Sometimes Permit #14 We know on an intellectual level how it is easier to think about caring for others - our kids, Princeton, MN important our health and our patient’s health is 55371 our spouse, our parents, our patients - than it is to care in this lifetime. On a day to day basis, however for ourselves. It is a profession that puts many at risk of current resident or we can take it for granted. We may assume that burnout. If there is one thing burnout teaches us it is that disease happens to our patients or others, but not unless we are caring for ourselves, we will not have the to us and may even feel immune to the challenges resilience to care for our patients. of those we care for. On a deeper level, we know 2020 is the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife! that our chances for good health can be improved Maybe collectively we can set an intention to reset our when we take good care of ourselves through basic healthy lifestyle habits and be the Champions for healthier lifestyle habits. There are solid research studies now that show that diseases can be Reflections on the lessons...continued on page 2 2 • Massachusetts Report on Nursing March 2020 president’s message Receiving this newsletter does not mean that you are an Year of the nurse ANAMASS member. Please join ANA Massachusetts today and help promote the nursing profession. Julie Cronin, DNP, RN, OCN and comfort in the lives of patients forever. And NO ONE does it better than nurses. Board of Directors The start of a new year The designation of the Year of the Nurse is a perfect always brings the feeling of time for reflection as it is also in honor of the 200th President Julie Cronin, DNP, RN, OCN opportunity; opportunities anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Many of to reflect, to grow, to change us have read Notes on Nursing and may be surprised in President-Elect and to make an impact. A new one respect at how far our profession has come and yet Vacant decade brings that feeling how some things have not changed much at all. As we Past-President: even stronger. For many of think back 200 years, some of the same tenets apply. Donna Glynn, PhD, RN, ANP-BC us, the start of the year 2020 Patients require meticulous care, light, clean air, sanitary Secretary: was a distinctive one for many conditions, warmth, food and water, ventilation, sterility Jim Kernan, RN, MPIA reasons. This year will bring all with dressing changes and constant, careful supervision. the usual prospects. I believe Treasurer: This is the “science” piece of the art and science of Christina Saraf, RN, MSN it will also bring recognition nursing. This will never change. And like Florence, many and celebration of the nursing of us experienced a similar call to help the sick. The art Directors profession on a scale unlike the world has have ever seen of nursing cannot be taught. It is inherent within us: Myra F Cacace, GNP-BC before. compassion, empathy, ethics. This year, the world will Grace Oh, BSN, RN What a better way to recognize and celebrate the see why nurses have been the most honored and trusted Kate Duckworth, BSN, RN contributions of nurses than through naming 2020 The profession since the days of Nightingale. Lynne Hancock, MSN, RN, NE-BC Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The designation was Florence Nightingale was a leader and pioneer in the Silda Melo, BS, RN (New Graduate Director) Janet Monagle, PhD, RN, CNE provided by The World Health Assembly, the governing nursing profession. She was an educator and trainer and Janet E. Ross, MS, RN, PMHCNS body of the World Health Organization (WHO) to used a systematic approach to patient care. She became Deniece Waruinge, RN, BSN (New Graduate Director) recognize the vital position of nurses in transforming an icon, known for her steadfast yet innovative approach healthcare on a global scale. to provision of care. For hundreds of years, nurses have I, like so many of us, have extreme pride in being a been leading and innovating the way Nightingale did. Committee Chairs nurse. However, it is often glaringly obvious that family, Now more than ever, nurses are uniquely positioned and Awards and Living Legends Committee friends, those not working in healthcare, political figures can change healthcare for the better. Maura Fitzgerald, RNC, MS and others, do not fully understand what nurses “do,” This year, I couldn’t be prouder to be a nurse.