I am continuing a series for our newsletter to include a leadership topic along with passing along news in the nursing community. I wanted to focus on the positive in nursing and leadership. Subscribe to receive notification when our newsletter comes out. We publish twice a month.
I admit it. I tend to focus on the negative sometimes too much. As a clinician, I am often concerned about what is NOT working and I am less focused on what IS working. I have patients that tell me that their meds are working. Depression and anxiety is gone, blood pressure has improved, and gasp, the patients are happy! I jokingly remarked to the patient that everything is boring. The patient smiled and said, “Yes.” I remarked, “Boring is sometimes good. It means we are on the right track.” I am encouraged when a patient tells me about his latest art project, her child is graduating from kindergarten, or they have just returned from a fantastic vacation. Good news is welcome. It is a relief from the day-to-day crises that our patients face and come to us to fix. Good news is powerful. Even Ice Cube had to rap about a good day.
There is a term that is being thrown around called toxic positivity. “Toxic positivity occurs when encouraging statements are expected to minimize or eliminate painful emotions, creating pressure to be unrealistically optimistic without considering the circumstances of the situation” (Anxiety and Depression Association of America). I am not talking about gaslighting patients with a platitude of “it will all get better”. I am talking about helping the patient to celebrate the win. I am in a social media group for persons with diabetes. I see it all the time. It will go something like this, “I lost 10 lbs and I am following my diet, but now I have gained 5lbs back. I didn’t change my diet. I don’t know what I did wrong.” The first thing we tend to do is to hop on and say, “You should watch your carbs, maybe you should exercise more, etc. Now the person feels down, depressed, “I can’t do anything right.” How is this response helpful? Toxic positivity says, “Hey, at least you lost weight. Just do better next time. Get over it and move forward.” A more helpful response would be, “I want to congratulate you on trying to improve your health. Your health goals are important to you. It can be frustrating to feel like you are regressing and not making any gains. Our body likes to plateau and you may have to make some minor adjustments as your body changes. What strategies are you using now and perhaps I can offer suggestions for what has helped me.” You can see how the more helpful response acknowledges the feelings of the individual, identifies the potential problems, validates the person’s experience while empowering the individual to make a change in a non-judgmental way. You start with the good news and celebrate the win while acknowledging the pain and struggle to get there.
As a leader, are you being present and fully engaged when your colleagues share their pain or celebrates their win? Are you able to focus on the good day without glossing over the pain? Can you help them find the good and embrace it authentically? Negative things happen, but so do good things. Finding the good is powerful. Good news is healing. Good news, you are closer to your goal than you were yesterday. Good news, although this project fell apart, now you have time to focus on another deal. You have the opportunity for growth. In the story about Joseph and his brothers, Joseph was sent into slavery because of his brothers’ jealously. Joseph went through a lot but in the end, he was able to forgive his brothers, and recognize the good in the situation. Finding the good is powerful because you can write your narrative. It is not pretending that the bad did not happen. It is turning that negative experience, that failure, into a triumph. It is looking for the good news in any situation. It is saying, “I survived. I am thriving, I am improving. I am getting better. I choose to be better. And that my friends, is good news.”
Nursing News
On my news commentary show, Nursing News You Can Use @5 (https://www.youtube.com/live/kXEgj5R7fiQ?si=lWnI5mLHnvKLsqQU) , I often cover stories about abuses in healthcare, staffing shortages, and practice issues. Every week, I look for a nurse or something positive in healthcare to spotlight a nurse making a difference. As we are talking about good news today, I thought I would share some positive stories in healthcare.
Julie Colen, a school nurse in England, received the Judges’ Choice Award at NHS England South West Community and Primary Care Nursing Awards, after she administered CPR saving the life of student. See the full story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqnlq4d2qpo.
Ohio University’s Nursing Program has eared the top spot among public universities in Ohio by nursing.org. Ohio University’s program boasts a 17:1 student to faculty ratio and offers programs throughout the state. To find out more about Ohio University access the article here: https://www.ohio.edu/news/2024/06/ohios-nursing-school-recognized-1-state-among-public-schools.
Dr. Laura Reed, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE has served others in Honduras and El Salvador on medical missions’ trips. She has been in nursing for almost four decades, serving as an associate professor and practicing nurse practitioner. To read her full story and help celebrate Dr. Reed, read it here: https://news.uthsc.edu/nursing-associate-professor-passionate-about-caring-for-those-in-need-here-and-abroad/#:~:text=Nursing%20Associate%20Professor%20Passionate%20About%20Caring%20for%20Those%20in%20Need%20Here%20and%20Abroad,-Written%20by%20Leigh&text=College%20of%20Nursing%20Associate%20Professor,a%20mission%20trip%20to%20Honduras.
Last thing, I have exciting news. The Nurse Shark Academy Show has been nominated for a Women in Podcasting award the business category. Would you consider voting for me?
Go here to vote between August 1st to October 1st: https://www.thenursesharkacademy.biz/podcastawards
Follow the instructions. Thank you so much for your support.
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