The Power of One...

So, I went to a class this morning. In nursing, we are always attending classes to learn new skills, new techniques, and new treatment modalities.

This one was different. For one thing, it was mandatory. That always gets my attention. I was signed up to take the class tonight but my caseload was down today, so I crashed the morning session instead.

I should have known that it would be different: there were tablecloths on the tables, a bowl of rocks in the middle of each table, peaceful music was playing, and when the class started, they dimmed the lights, too.

Two years ago, the nurses at my hospital were allowed to vote for the nursing theory that we wished to adopt at the hospital. We chose Jean Watson's Theory of Caring. If you go to her website, you see this written across the page:

Transforming Healthcare One Nurse at a Time

http://www.watsoncaringscience.org/

Yes, Nursing is a science and, as such, has many theories of nursing practice. In class today, I learned why we chose this one, and what it means to each of us. No dry rhetoric, no pat agenda, and no easy task, either.

The class was not only designed for us, it was presented by our nurses. Each caritas in the theory was illustrated by the story of one nurse, making a difference in one or more lives, in our hospital. Each story was told by the nurse who lived it. And all the stories were included in the booklet we received.

I found that, as the stories went on, I had moisture in my eyes and a lump in my throat. The simple acts performed by these caring nurses, the lives touched by their selflessness, and the enormity of the impact we can have, as nurses, in the lives of so many people....is mind-boggling.

To present Nursing Theory in such a personal way, through the use of stories and voices of our colleagues, right here in Podunk, was truly inspirational. I knew that I had the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others; that's why I chose to become a nurse. What I didn't really realize is that so many others feel what I feel and see it the way I do, too.

Before we left, we were asked to pick up one of the rocks in the bowl in the center of the table. We wrote our name on one side of it (in metallic gold ink...how cool is that?) and then, on the other side, we wrote something that we give to our patients, every day, to demonstrate our caring.

And what did I write? TIME...