RETROSPECT

“The greatest people are ‘great’ because they’re willing to admit their greatest faults.”Craig D. Lounsbrough

Here comes the end of a very peculiar year. One that had so many unprecedented events. A year that almost brought humanity to its knees. A year where we moved from a state of denial when  Covid 19 began transversing the globe. To quickly escalating to panic-driven reactionary measures. To now being more accepting of our current realities and realizing we ought to adapt. This was also the year of the nurse and midwife. A year where we were to make bold moves as we reinforced our key roles within the healthcare provision teams. We had begun great till we forgot what our aim was but who can blame us we were dealing with something that for most of us, as long as I am ending the year alive and in good health,  it is the greatest blessing and accomplishment.

We have had to learn and unlearn a lot of things during this time and if we are keen enough this will then better our profession. Personally, it offered a great opportunity to examine what I can learn from other professionals. This has been through candid conversations and through observation of their day to day practice and behaviour patterns. What I got, out of it is that we need to work on our basics first so that we can generate one voice and only then can we all move forward.

1. Maintaining professionalism in digital media

In the current era where the internet is among our basic resources, there is now an emerging trend of developing professionalism in digital media. Read this,  Nurses and digital media Different platforms provide us with vast opportunities in supporting clinical decisions, learning new skills, documenting care, engaging patients and each other through support groups etc. Despite this, we have also witnessed several posts of inappropriate images or comments about patients, colleagues or our workplaces on social media.  Yes, the lines can be quite blurry but conversely, it doesn't excuse us from proper practice Before clicking the send button always think of this “What you post online speaks VOLUME about who you really are. POST with intention. REPOST with caution.” Germany Kent

2. Accept correction and correct lovingly

Think of a time where you made a grave error in your line of work? What was the result of it? Did learning take place? Were you made to feel inadequate by your colleagues or did they embrace you and have a good discussion with you on how to avoid repetition? Has it happened that you were on the other side of things? What was your response to things? Did you offer a solution or did you end up maligning the person? We have created such poor relationships among us that if we are honest enough we can admit that often it is easier to do the latter. Unfortunately, this helps no one. This tends to be a personal struggle and I am trying to unlearn bad habits and so should you. “Remember we are all human and can make mistakes that we should correct. However, no one should ever imagine that other people’s mistakes justify or lessen theirs.” C.A.A. Savastano

3.Team work

"We are all something, but none of us is everything." Blaise Pascal

Being a nurse in this decade is quite interesting. In the clinical areas, we are having very many cadres of nurses. We have certificate nurses, diploma nurses, undergraduate nurses, graduate nurses, general nurses to specialized nurses and also very young nurses to older generation nurses. Read this, Nurse's teamwork Honestly, you would think this matters but what is of more value is the quality of care provided to our patients and how best each member plays their part in making our workplaces more hospitable. For instance, do you seem to work better with some colleagues than others? In a clinical setup, it is often evidenced by having the same workload on different days but feeling more frustrated and fatigued on one day and feeling vibrant and ready to work on another. Of course, we are assuming other factors are constant. Teamwork is often a struggle but if we actively work on it we can derive a lot of pleasure in our workplaces and maybe just maybe our levels of burnout can be more manageable.

In summary, we have had a rough year but we should not allow ourselves to come out empty we should seek to grow into identifying our personal strengths individually and together. For "Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Carl Bard