LABELS

Who is a nurse? Tough question to answer outright, right? Why is that? Do we have a standard way of providing a response to this question? A response that cuts across all domains i.e, we the nurses and the members of the public. Are you a nurse? How does it make you feel? Is it a decision that you are happy about?


 To be frank it is a decision that I question once in a while and upon discussing this with other colleagues, I have realized I am not alone in this. A more in-depth look into this feeling made me realize why. It is because of one thing the nurses'image.

Wondering what that is?

Nurses image is the perception that we have towards our profession. It is greatly influenced by two things
i) What we think of ourselves and
ii) What the public thinks of us.
 Is this important? Yes, it is. The nurses' image influences all aspects of our careers. Some of these aspects include our remuneration, our roles or our perceived roles, the language used towards us, the conduciveness of our work environments, etc. Still not clear. Let me further elucidate: Please follow this link to get the article that prompted this week's blogpost https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jan.12177. A lot of the concepts are borrowed heavily from it.

The image of nurses is often generated from lots of misconceptions and stereotypes. Some of the most common ones are angels of mercy, the doctor’s handmaiden, battleaxe and sexy nurse. This is often due to images propagated by the media industry through novels, films, newspaper articles etc. In addition to this the nursing image is often linked to feminity and this makes the male nurses at times to feel left out. Interested to learn more about this. There are so many journal articles available. Take the time to explore below are some links
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/23/health-warning-why-the-sexy-nurse-stereotype-is-no-laughing-matter
https://www.nursingtimes.net/roles/nurse-educators/the-image-of-nursing-the-naughty-nurse-20-10-2010/


Over the recent years primarily from the 20th century into this 21st century, there has been an ongoing evolution in the profession. More studies are being done on understanding the nursing image and what it really means to us the professionals. Such growth also needs to be felt in our continent and we need to take an active role in it.  Over the past week, I have been analyzing some literature on this topic and came across some eye-openers;

How does the public view nurses?
NB: These are sentiments among a group of people it is not a representation of the whole population

1. A mediocre profession

I am sure that every one of us has felt this/witnessed this at some point in their career. It is often either through actions or words. Some people view it as a low‐status profession that is subordinate to the work of physicians, a profession that does not require any academic qualifications and a profession that lacks professional autonomy. Is it the case? This would make for such a great debate right? Does this perception affect our work environment. In my head I can hear all of you answer with a resounding yes.

2. Feminine profession

Randomly search for images of a nurse on the world wide web. What is the ratio of female to male nurses? Go further and explore it within our continent what do you find? In our set up this is mainly due to several factors have we investigated the why?


3. We care

In essence, we are caring but from the public perspective its often in an unprofessional light. Read more on angel of mercy and soon you may comprehend why we should challenge that school of thought. I am not saying don't be caring am just saying do not let it be used against you. Please follow the link for such example,

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0103-21002007000300009&script=sci_arttext&tlng=pt

4. An invisible profession

Within our continent how frequently do we nurses make it into our daily news in a positive light? If we were truly honest with ourselves, we can be quick to acknowledge that it rarely happens. Our profession is almost always highlighted when our errors are been publicly highlighted or more often when we are holding strikes.

 Is this really helping us be taken more seriously, No!
What then can we do about it? Here are my top three thoughts. More suggestions are highly appreciated.

1. Enhance our visibility


a) We should aim to take up more active roles within our organizations and outside our organization. It is not about taking up roles blindly but rather matching gained academic knowledge with actions. Israelmore Ayivor, in a leadership forum once said “Make your education valuable. Apply what you learned. Refuse to take the back seat and watch things happen. Join the change and be part of the change.”

 For us to make great strides we need to enhance our potential to venture into unexplored territories. One such way is through education. By seeking to enhance our knowledge and skills we place ourselves at better positions to break away from our defined roles and work towards enhancing our scope of practice eg

•  Studying medical law it can help us generate better laws that can protect us as nurses
• Joining different boards and being key stakeholders in decisions that affect how organizations are run
• Aiming for top positions such as Minister of health, health PS; this can help change and adopt policies that would enhance our work environments.etc.

The opportunities are limitless we just have to stop accepting mediocrity.

b) Utilize social media

Fortunately, we have experienced great growth in our telecommunications industry and it is finally time to use it to our advantage. However, as we choose to do so we should also aim to effectively and efficiently use it to uphold beneficence and non-maleficence within our profession. This blog is one such forum, other forums include twitter pages such as https://twitter.com/WeNurses, using Whatsapp groups to actively communicate our professionalism and healthcare contribution roles, etc.

2. Curriculum modification


We should aim to seek the adoption of curriculums that put greater emphasis on our performance and our empowerment. This will then have a ripple effect on the areas we are involved. Debasish Mridha said, that“A true leader leads by empowering not by enslaving.”

3. Own our profession


Despite the numerous hurdles we encounter we shouldn't resign to the images castigated upon us. We should rather actively chose to always project and protect a positive image through our look, deeds, and words.

Being loud does not automatically make one an effective communicator and in the recent past, this has been an error we have made during the selection of our leaders. We need to re-educate ourselves on whom an effective leader is. Once we do that we shall be able to analyze our problems in depth and work hand in hand with these individuals bringing change to our profession. It begins with you and me.

Lastly, we can only get better, we just have to actively participate and comprehend that 2020 being the year of the nurse and midwife is a great opportunity to challenge the perceptions of nursing for a better tomorrow.

YES WE CAN

Do you desire to be a game-changer in your field? I think for me it is at the top of my bucket list. As I had highlighted in a previous blog titled Noble Truths (https://lilylovelong.blogspot.com/2019/12/noble-truths.html) I desire to explore and maximize the potential within me. As some of you may already know or guess, I work in the healthcare industry. I am a nurse by profession and  I am very proud of it. Competent nurses can offer a very unique perspective on a patient which may otherwise be missed out. As nurses, we play a key role in the collaborative management of patients. This is through our unique roles and responsibilities. It may not be notable here in Africa as per now, hence the rapid brain drain of our skills, but soon enough the lack of us, will be felt if it has not yet happened and it shall hit home hard. This is unless there are drastic changes in our systems, sooner rather than later. The moment we as nurses realize what we deserve we shall demand more from our governments, our institutions, our colleagues and most importantly ourselves. Otherwise, this may never come to pass. We should quit with the hullabaloo we often create and rather use more constructive methods to drive our core points home. This is key because;




Is the change necessary? Of course, it is.

Its time we challenge the pre-existing ideologies and seek to do things differently. Seek not to follow the set path but rather create a new one. A revolution in nursing is coming. Do you want to be a spectator or an active participant? Any form of change is uncomfortable but change is inevitable and for us to be successful or more successful we should never underestimate our capability. We are meant to do so much in this life hence we should not settle to merely roll with the punches. Sir Thomas Buxton once said that "With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.

Recently my zeal to create change was re-awakened and I now believe it is time I shift from being a talker to being a doer. I have been trying to read books on the same and it has been an empowering journey so far. One of my current reads is a book titled Attitude is Everything: Change your Attitude by Jeff Keller. I love that its concepts are well explained and it has few pages so it is a fast read, I implore all of you to read it and you can then see what it is I speak off.

(For anyone interested in books there is an app on google apps store titled Any books. You will have an unlimited supply of e-books from all genres and the best part is it uses little to no data bundles and you can access them offline. Another option is maybe investing in a kindle.)

Below is a very brief list of ways in which we can begin to effect change

1. Initiate the process and remain committed to the cause

Mary Crowley once said that "One person with a commitment is worth more than 100 people who have only an interest." Once this has registered in your mind begin learning of the process of change, and slowly start formulating a plan on how to implement it.

2. Maintain a positive attitude through it all

"You have control over the pictures that occupy your mind." Jeff Keffer
You can only create change when you unequivocally believe in the concept you are putting forward. Seek to always choose to think of that which is beneficial to your end goal.


3. Try and re-try

Do not lose hope, whenever it doesn't pan out on the first try just go back to the drawing board retrace your steps and try a second, third and a hundredth time if you have to. Eventually, it shall work out. Sounds fictitious if you have never tried it, but believe you me its the most gratifying feeling when it works out.

As I conclude, being that the World Health Organization already declared 2020 as the year of the nurse and the midwife, it is officially time to get out of our comfort zone. For we now have the world listening. Whatever struggle we encounter along this journey lets remember that  "Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit". Napoleon Hill
( For more info please follow the link and sign in https://www.pscp.tv/w/1DXxypDyBqvJM)

CHANGE MUST COME

How safe are you out of your home? Especially the place where you spend most of your time: The workplace. Do you know that data from the Harvard Business School survey 2009, shows that 94% of service professionals put in 50+ hours of work a week? This is data from about ten years ago, yet it still reigns true now.
( Please follow the link to read this article it is quite an interesting read https://hbr.org/2009/10/making-time-off-predictable-and-required.)


Recently, there have been increased reports of incidences of workplace-related violence than ever. It may either be linked to greater awareness and identification of such acts or increased occurrences of the same.

 So what is workplace-related violence?
 According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of the USA, workplace violence is defined as " any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the worksite. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse, to physical assaults and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers and visitors. It is unfortunate that in most African countries our constitutions do not adequately highlight this. Kenya is no different for instance, "in the present constitution the issues on occupational safety and health are not directly addressed. However, it states that no person should be held in slavery or servitude or required to perform forced labor.

 We should not accept this we need to propagate for it to change. Steve  Maraboli once said, "The victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them."

( Please follow the links to read more on the OSH acts in Kenya)
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_protect/@protrav/@safework/documents/policy/wcms_187632.pdf,  http://labour.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/National-OSH-Policy.pdf.

It is important to know all this because,

• It aids to prevents illness and injury to the employees when effectively implemented. Which has a ripple effect by enabling them to maintain or seek their economic empowerment.
• It reduces health and safety hazards to employees, therefore, promoting greater job satisfaction greatly improving their productivity.
•  It avoids serious consequences to the employers such as fines or having their businesses temporarily or permanently shut down. With global trends of recession this is a chance we shouldn't be willing to take.

Workplace violence can be categorized in many ways but the simplest is often based on the parties involved. Below is an example of such categorization;

1.  Criminal Intent-Criminal intent workplace violence incidents are when the perpetrator has no relationship with the targeted establishment and the primary motive is theft.
2. Customer/Client- In this type, the perpetrator is a customer or client of the employer and the violence often occurs in conjunction with the worker’s normal duties.
3. Worker-to-Worker- This is generally perpetrated by a current or former employee, and the motivating factor is often interpersonal or work-related conflicts, or losses and traumas.
4. Domestic Violence- Often perpetrated by someone who is not an employee or a former employee. eg by a spouse who is familiar with their partners' work schedule.
5. Ideological Violence -This type of violence is directed at an organization, its people, and/or property for ideological, religious or political reasons eg by extremists.

For a more in-depth look please follow the link https://www.everbridge.com/blog/five-types-workplace-violence/

As employers or employees in any organization, we have to put measures in place to curb such acts. Below I have briefly highlighted some of them, but a lot more needs to be done.


( All information is derived from https://www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/employer-responsibility.html




Role of the employer

• Provide a workplace free from serious recognized hazards and comply with standards, rules and regulations issued under the OSH Act.
• Examine workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable OSHA standards.
• Make sure employees have and use safe tools and equipment and properly maintain this equipment.
• Use color codes, posters, labels or signs to warn employees of potential hazards.
• Establish or update operating procedures and communicate them so that employees follow safety and health requirements.
• Employers must provide safety training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.
• Employers with hazardous chemicals in the workplace must develop and implement a written hazard communication program and train employees on the hazards they are exposed to and proper precautions (and a copy of safety data sheets must be readily available).
• Provide medical examinations and training when required by OSHA standards.
• Post, at a prominent location within the workplace, the OSHA poster (or the state-plan equivalent) informing employees of their rights and responsibilities.
• Keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses. (Note: Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain low-hazard industries are exempt from this requirement.
• Provide employees, former employees and their representatives access to the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses 
• Provide access to employee medical records and exposure records to employees or their authorized representatives.
• Provide to the OSHA compliance officer the names of authorized employee representatives who may be asked to accompany the compliance officer during an inspection.
• Not discriminate against employees who exercise their rights under the Act. 
• Post OSHA citations at or near the work area involved. Each citation must remain posted until the violation has been corrected, or for three working days, whichever is longer. Post abatement verification documents or tags.
• Correct cited violations by the deadline set in the OSHA citation and submit required abatement verification documentation.
• OSHA encourages all employers to adopt a safety and health program.

Role of employees

• Take reasonable care for your health and safety in the workplace. You must also take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may be affected by what you do or don’t do.
• Cooperate with your employer about any action they take to comply with the OHS Act or Regulations. For example, use equipment properly, follow safe work policies and procedures and attend training.
• Don’t intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything at the workplace to support health, safety, and welfare.

In conclusion, we may find this is to be such a sombre way to start the year but I believe that as we continue with our wellness journey we must take care of ourselves holistically for better outcomes. For