Another Business Card Sculpture new design -
Made with cards  you send.

By Mary Jo Kreitzer

Since 2005, more than 80% of Americans have rated nurses on a Gallup poll as having “high” or “very high” honesty and ethical standards. In fact, nurses have topped the list since 1999, the first year Gallup asked about them with the exception of 2001. (That year, Gallup included firefighters on a one-time basis, given their prominent role in 9/11 rescue efforts.) What many people don’t understand is that their nurse’s level of education is a life or death matter. In a study just published in Health Affairs, a nurse researcher found that a 10-point increase in the percentage of nurses holding a 4-year BSN degree within a hospital was associated with an average reduction of 2.12 deaths for every 1,000 patients. For more seriously ill patients, the average reduction in deaths was 7.47 per 1,000 patients.

For anybody who has experienced health care, these statistics aren’t surprising. Nurses are the glue that holds much of health care together. Nurse practitioners can effectively manage 80% of primary care with outcomes that equal or exceed physician care. Nurse anesthetists manage care during surgical procedures, nurse midwives deliver babies, and nurses provide care in homes, clinics, senior living centers, schools, and hospitals.

One of the things that excites me these days is that in all of these settings, more and more nurses are practicing integrative nursing – care that focuses on the whole person and uses integrative therapies and healing practices to manage symptoms, ease suffering, and improve quality of life. What does this mean? If you’re experiencing nausea because of your illness or the effects of treatments such as chemotherapy, you might be offered aromatherapy or acupressure before resorting to a drug that’s more expensive, may be less effective, and may cause side effects. If you’re anxious or having difficulty sleeping, you may be taught ways to breathe and relax or be encouraged to practice mindfulness meditation. Nurses practicing from an integrative perspective are eager to help you learn how to better manage your own health and wellbeing, not just deal with the crisis or problem you’re facing at the moment.

Integrative nursing is good for nurses as well as patients. I’ve observed that care settings that embrace integrative nursing are finding that nurses are attracted to work in their organizations, find their practice more fulfilling, and are more engaged and less likely to leave. For the past five years, I have co-led a new educational program at the University of Minnesota – a doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) program in integrative health and healing. This program prepares nurse leaders who work in clinical — as well as in community and corporate — settings. As the first program of its kind, it’s attracting students from around the United States.

Mary Jo Kreitzer is the Director of the Center for Spirituality & Healing, and a Professor for the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota. She is also a co-editor of Integrative Nursing, a title from the Weil Integrative Medicine Library.

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Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eddie Harrison, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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Abe’s Lucky Day

 Warren, Jill. (2011) Abe’s Lucky Day. Outskirts Press Inc. ISBN 978-1-4327-7305-2. Age 8 and under.

 Publisher’s description:  Any day can be a lucky day.  Abe is a homeless man who lives in the alley behind a bakery and winter is coming. What will happen on his lucky day that will change his life? 

Our thoughts:

 Introducing us to the varied faces of distress and homelessness, Abe’s Lucky Day reminds us that , while food, warm clothes and dry beds feel great, helping others feels even better. Illustrations permit the child to imagine themselves in the story, and so can feel the heartwarming rewards of selflessness…definitely good for your Litland.com family book club or a preschool classroom. Part luck and lots of kindness, Abe’s Lucky Day infuses a desire for kindness and generosity into its reader’s mind and heart, and is sure to strengthen bonds within the family reading it as well :>) Great for gift-giving, pick up your copy in our Litland.com Bookstore!

            You go to the hospital, lets say the emergency room they have you laying on a narrow bed, your barely dressed and afraid to move; and people are coming in and out like it is the local supermarket. You have the right for privacy and you should demand it.

Image via Wikipedia

The worst is when they are not too sure why your have hives and a fever, they seem to bring in several medical students and now they are discussing your situation. WHY!

After they leave the curtained area, you ask the person with you, or the nurse why is it necessary that so many people have to come parading around you. If told that this is a teaching hospital, inform them that you don’t recall signing anything that said you could be put on display. You want to be diagnosed, cured and sent home!

            How about the pregnant woman, who goes into labor and constantly being checked on, by a different person every hour; or they look in through the little square glass window. Where is your right to privacy? The longer your labor the more faces you will see.

            So the next time you find yourself staying in a hospital, let them know how you feel; it is your right to have privacy. It does not matter if you’re in the Emergency Room, Recovery Room, or you have been admitted and people just wonder in and out. If after speaking the staff, ask for a supervisor; and voice how you feel.

            Some people are afraid to complain, but you should not; others will wait until they are home to complain, as not to be treated rudely during your stay. If it is your intention to file a complaint after you are discharged, make sure you take down names, along with the date and shift that they worked.

            Service is very important, and if your feel that your personal privacy was invaded; you have the right to let the Board of Directors and supervisor know!

The last couple weeks have been EXTREMELY hectic as I've had a surprising amount of product design work coming in, as well as a few other time intensive things. I'm expecting stuff to die down a bit over the next couple of weeks, which is good because I can use the extra time to get some work done on some other projects I have going. I'm actually working on a submission to zuda comics believe it or not (I'll post some scans on Friday maybe) and hopefully I can get some of that done this week.

This week I put threw up a couple zombie t-shirt designs I kind of did on a whim over at redbubble.com and I've gotten a surprising response.

Someone (who apparently has even less sense in style than I do) even bought the hippie one.

Anyway, I already have three more in the sketch phase and I think all three of them completely blow away the two I've done so far.

I'm digging drawing dead people.

Maybe a job in the morgue is in my future?

Steve~

As you know, last weekend I attended the Savannah Children's Book Festival put on by the Live Oak Public Library, along with several corporate sponsors. What makes this event so special is that participating authors don't pay a cent! Well, other than transportation and lodging. Since it's a 4 1/2 hour drive for us, my husband and I usually arrive on Friday and leave Sunday morning.

The library also sponsors a crab boil on Friday night for all the authors and spouses or friends. Shrimp, sausage, potatoes, chicken (okay, so I'm not sure how chicken fits into a crab boil, or the fact that I didn't see crab-one on the buffet table!), steamed veggies, brownies, and cheesecake are catered. I spent part of the evening looking for a "fellow" author, Shannon, who was also attending the festival. No luck. My only complaint was returning to the hotel on a "brownie high!"

Saturday, the weather was perfect! A little cool in the morning, but, by 10:00AM, I shed my light jacket and was comfortable the rest of the day. I was told by one of the organizers that there were almost double the authors this year as last.

We arrived around 9:00AM for setup. Most of the tables were already taken but I managed to find an empty one. Book boxes were on the table next to me under a shared umbrella, but no author in site, so I began setting up my "goodies" hoping the person next to me would be nice and friendly.

I was just getting ready to set out my books when my "neighbor" walked up and introduced herself. "Hi. I'm Shannon Greenland." I'm sure she was shocked when I gave her a big hug before she realized the unlikely scenario. Strange...out of 48 authors, fellow Quake authors would end up side-by-side. It made the day even more enjoyable.

The only downer was the absence of the third "Cynthia's Attic" book, "Curse of the Bayou." Because of a problem with the printer, they didn't arrive in time for the festival. Since the festival had advertised I'd be signing all three books, several young readers were disappointed. One father/daughter sticks in my mind. They had come specifically to buy "Curse." I could see the disappointment on her face when she turned away. In spite of that, her dad gave me the ultimate compliment. "She not only loves your books," he said, "she loves the way you write."

Can a writer hear anything better than that?

Discover the Magic in Cynthia's Attic!

My heart was broken over the weekend. Oh, I know I SAID I was going to Savannah for the Children's Book Festival but I was REALLY going for cafe au lait and beignets at Hueys. So, after a semi-successful day at the festival, we rush to the riverwalk and spot the welcoming "Huey's" sign among all the other restaurants, bars, candy shops, gift shops. We decide to explore later. Coffee, like we haven't had since leaving Louisiana, beckoned.

Deciding to eat dinner before dessert (like our mothers taught us), my husband ordered a shimp Po' Boy and red beans and rice, and I ordered catfish, red beans and rice and sweet potato bread (yummy!) "Sorry. We're out of sweet potato bread," the waiter announced. Okay. I'm disappointed, but I'll live, although I still remembered how good that bread was from our trip last year. But, beignets and cafe au lait await, so just get over it, Mary!

Dinner was good. Not great, but good. Now...for dessert and coffee! "Would you care for dessert?" our waiter asked.

"Yup," my husband answered. No, he's not from Texas, and I don't know why he decided to channel a cowboy at that moment, but he went on, "we'd like an order of beignets and two cups of cafe au lait."

"The beignets I can do," the waiter said ominously, "but our coffee machine is broken, so we have no..."

I'm sure he went on to say they had 'no cafe au lait,' but my life flashed before my eyes and I got very lightheaded. The last thing I heard, before my husband helped me out of the restaurant was, "then forget the beignets!"

It's Monday, and I've recovered...almost.