Hello Friends,

Well, I have already broken my New Year’s resolution to blog twice a week. (Let’s not even mention the one about working out every day. HA!)

One resolution I did manage, was to make available a NEW video series for healthcare leaders everywhere. You can access the intro by clicking on the TV screen to the right >>

See it?

One of my motivations for making the series was my frustration when I am an attendee at a conference. Anyone in the audience will tell you, conference speakers are notoriously BORING!  There is a lot of room for improvement, right?

So,  this  brief video series of tips n’ treasures are tools you  can use to help pinpoint your presentation problems. We call it,  “The 7 traps Speakers Fall Into.” (You scholars, please pardon the dangling participle!).  

Yes, you can download the series right NOW. Listen as often as you like!  I hope you, or someone you know, will benefit by it.

Yours for more engaging healthcare conferences,

Candy

All Business Is Show Business is the name of a favorite old book of mine. As a performer (and card-carrying actor’s union member), the book struck me as funny, when thinking of it in terms of healthcare.

Funny peculiar, that is.

When it comes to healthcare advocacy, the adage doesn’t quite seem to fit. After all, healthcare advocacy is serious business, you say, right?  We aren’t out to just play politics. We represent life and death decisions, not just politically correct ones, right?  If it’s not about patient care, we don’t care, right?

No arguments there.

But when it comes to making a definite difference in the way healthcare is conceptualized, promoted and delivered, our task is to help convince lawmakers of the most effective ways to make our better ideas into policy. Like it or not, we live in an age of media saturation. If  nurses and other allied healthcare professionals depend on email and snail mail campaigns to get our grassroots messages across, we  miss the proverbial bedpan and are left with more of a mess.

We must craft media messages with a method. The 20-second attention span of  kindergarteners has infected the whole society. Our access to politicians needs to be short and sweet. Like a blog!

Healthcare leaders, are you FRUSTRATED with your life already, and we’re only in week #2 of the January?

Here are 5 FREE tips you can take on your New Year’s journey, based on my own 30+ years as a nurse/educator and administrator in healthcare:

1. If you’re not still  passionate about your work, find  out WHY? Are you immobilized by a coworker ? A boss? The culture of the organization?

After you finish your analysis, make a PLAN. What will you do to change your situation?

Is the irritation worth a transfer or a relocation? Even if you cannot change WHO you work with, you can change HOW you work with them. Attitude is everything. If you need to take a course in assertiveness training, by all means… If you need to alter you educational plans to get out of that a situation, there’s no better time.

2. What do you put FIRST in your life? Work or personal relationships?

If you answered, “work,” rethink this one. Perhaps it’s not possible to have a complete BALANCE to your crazy life, but you can aim for INTEGRATION of work/play to renew,  refresh, and stabilize your soul.

3. If you don’t already have a “team” of friends/ family  who support you in thick and thin, (hopefully these are NOT coworkers) FIND that group.

These should be  people you can be REAL with, celebrate with, GROW with, by telling each other the truth, however painful.  Having close confidantes who share the same moral/ethical convictions will pay dividends untold in the present as well as the future.

4. PAYBACK. what are you doing to GIVE BACK to your community?

No, I don’t mean for money. Studies show those who  volunteer gain enormous sense of well-being. Why not? It’s a universal law: “It’s better to give than receive.”  And WHY is that so? If you’ve ever volunteered, you know about this. If you will take time to give to someone else, no matter how small the deed, the universe will give back to you. TRUE? Of course, true!  You rarely ‘get’ back the same kindness you gave (i.e., despite some televangelist’s promise, if you give $ you likely won’t GET $), but in terms of peace and love, which cannot be measured, your life will be enriched.

5. DON’T compare yourself to anyone else.

No matter how tempting, you’ll just drive yourself to despair by so doing. Look at all the people in the world. Then look at your gifts. Realize there is time and a place for you to develop your talents. So WHAT if you’re not THE greatest (manager, supervisor, administrator, leader, etc.)… You’ll get there. Give yourself a break! Take a breath.

Now take one step towards your goal. And celebrate the new beginning!

Cheers!!

Candy

Happy January, all~

As we take down our holiday decorations and gear up for the next spin-around-the-globe, what are your biggest fears for the coming year? For some, it may be the lingering recession. Perhaps it’s the coming election? Or maybe you worry about the drought ?

Well, thank heavens there is no drought in ideas, right?! New ideas are as bountiful as the universe, right? There is a stream of random ideas like a meteor shower right above your head, right?

Wait. Did you say, “Wrong”?

Uh-oh.

Does your fear stem from a creative dry spell? Are you faced with the task of generating  your message in a NEW way in order to educate or achieve compliance with new or changing policies?

If you must be the presenter for a healthcare group (whether it’s a group of 1000, or a group of ONE), perhaps I can help you. Here’s a Tip of the Week you can take to the bank: Be yourself.

No, not your unwashed, “let-it-all-hang-out” weekend self. Not your monotone self, either.

Be that person who shows some interest in what you are tasked to offer up.

Be your authentic self. Believe me, no matter what size your audience, they will THANK you for it!

And if you need help sorting out the details, be sure to let me know.

Yours for bright ideas,

Candy

One of my New Year’s Resolutions (or Goals or Intentions, however you like to call it), is to blog at least twice a week about Life as a nurse/presenter/humorist, with Helpful Tips and general info on these subjects.

At my last presentation, an audience-member asked me how I could stand the stress of working with premature babies and their families.I told him it was definitely a “calling,” and that although the emotional toll is sometime a burden, the strain is far outweighed by knowing I have helped to ease the burden of someone else. Altruistic? Of course. Ask any healthcare professional, teacher, counselor, or anyone who must say uncomfortable truths to a group or one-on-one, and you’ll get a variation of this theme.

It may sound schmaltzy, but it’s true. This time of year, more than any other, we recall that the gift is not as important as the spirit of the giver.

Happy holy-days, everyone!

I welcome your comments.

Candy

Breastfeeding Advice For Moms of Premature Infants

NICU fallout: It’s not about radiation

Are you the mom of a preemie who dreads pumping milk at night while the baby is in the NICU? You are not alone. Who can blame you? It’s inconvenient. It interrupts your sleep. It also interrupts your sleep! (If you noticed that repetition, you are probably NOT pumping at night.) Unfortunately, even though you are pumping every 2-3 hours during the day, your milk supply is also down…or dwindling.

But why?

Research shows there are five simple prerequisites for making milk: increased nutrition (500 calories a day is recommended, and we’re not talking just banana cream pie), increased fluid intake (10-12 glasses of water or other non-caffeinated and non-sugary drinks are best), decreased stress (I know how ridiculous that sounds with a baby in the NICU, but that’s what the experts say), lots of sleep (another laugh, since I’m telling you to get up in the middle of the night!) and pump every 2-4 hours round the clock.

While there is no solution to the fact that your milk supply follows the simple principle of supply and demand (ie, if the demand exists, the supply will follow), here is a suggestion for making the process more efficient and effective.

Set up a ‘pumping station.’ This would be ideally placed in a comfortable, well-lit area away from your partner (no need for you both to lose sleep). Before you retire for the evening, cover a plate of healthy snacks, (ie, celery and PNB, apples and cheese, or any protein/fruit/veggie combo which won’t require refrigeration overnight) and place it at your cozy spot where the breast pump is connected and RTG. Add a pitcher of iced water (or water + juice), a photo of your newborn, headphone access to soothing music, and you’ll be GTG when the alarm clock buzzes you awake.

Economy of movement

Your pumping cycle should take no more than 30 minutes. Here’s how:

1. Rise, empty your bladder & wash your hands. (In your haste, you may be tempted to skip this step , but omit it at your peril—breast infection, or mastitis— may be the painful result.)

2. Sit comfortably upright at your prepared place (good lung expansion increases milk flow), attach the pump on both sides simultaneously (find a device to facilitate this move online or at your local maternity shop), and start snacking.

3. Pump for 20 minutes, rinse your equipment, and back to bed, my pretty!

The additional early am snack will help keep your blood sugar level in a more even state, which in turn serves to increase estrogen and prolactin levels, which help elevate both your mood and your lactation supply. You should see results in a day or two.

Happy pumping!

Jenn, Reece, Nick Hall of Graham's Foundation

Dear Readers,

The following podcast is one of our most emotional interviews of 2010. The story of Nick and Jenn Hall’s journey, and Jenn’s delivering micropreemie twins, is all too common these days. “The well-meaning things people say that hurt” may sound familiar to anyone who has gone through the chaos of the time; for others, this may be an enlightening bit of news.

Listen how one family channeled their grief into a bit of comfort for other parents. The Graham Foundation “care packages” bless those who must navigate the treacherous waters of the NICU, with practical items, and wearable signs of hope.

If you or your corporation would like information on how to request a care package or donate to the Graham’s Foundation 501(c)3, please visit the website: www.grahamsfoundation.org

Nick + Jenn Hall Part 1 - Their story

Nick+Jenn Hall pt 2-about the Foundation

First, a study published by the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
discussed qualitative research with 59 parents who participated in a read-aloud-to-your-preemie-in-the-NICU program. The follow-up telephone survey showed that this activity resulted in parental feelings of increased closeness to their infants.

Nothing new there.

The second item, from the journal, Cerebral Cortex, states preemies who hear their mother’s voice are able to distinguish mom’s voice from other voices, plus stimulate an emotional response. Furthermore, when preemies hear a nurse or other voice, researchers saw an entirely different ECG response, i.e., no stimulation to the emotional brain centers.

Again, this is intuitive.

Any parent, and those of us who have worked in the field of neonatology, could attest to the validity of this research… for free. Nevertheless, research is important to build an evidence-base with which to more closely plan our interventions.

Since the economy is tight, I’m glad at least some folks found work as researchers!