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The In ‘N Outpatient by Kris Harty

Posted by kbuxman on May 24, 2011

“Woo hoo! Memorial Day weekend!”

For many, it’s a three day weekend. But certainly not for all, as scores in the medical world know well.

Most would agree, though, that the holiday weekend does unofficially signal the start of a much long-awaited summer.

How far we’ve come from the holiday’s true meaning. And who would guess that if we look closely, it has a tie to Florence Nightingale?

Memorial Day was created as a day to remember military service men and women who died while protecting our country.

I have to believe that because of her background, Florence Nightingale would have been a big supporter of the day.

After all, she changed the landscape of how it looked to be a war-time soldier in a hospital setting. She changed lives by changing the sanitary direction of hospitals.

As you’re no doubt aware, she was struck by her early experience while nursing injured soldiers during the Crimean War. Soldiers died 10 times more often from conditions such as typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery than they did from battle wounds.

It wasn’t until some time after the war that Florence realized it was poor living conditions in the hospital that, once there, caused the majority of deaths.

Witnessing the sanitary, or rather unsanitary, hospital conditions pushed her to bring about a change in the hygienic history of hospitals.

We’re still indebted to her. As a patient, I can only say, “Go, Florence!”

Improving such conditions was something she campaigned for and brought attention to during the latter part of her career. She saw great improvements. It was reported that after 10 years of sanitary reform, mortality among soldiers in India declined from 69 to 18 per 1,000.

Wow. An impressive statistic no matter the century.

Her work in pioneering strict precautions to kill germs led to being asked to organize field medicine for the American Civil War. This British nurse made changes around the globe.

Imagine her amazement at the cleanliness of modern hospitals, complete with no-water-needed soap in a pump. Hand sanitizer, anyone?

Given her early work with soldiers, imagine the disappointment she might then likely feel at our collective trivializing of a day such as Memorial Day. She fought to keep soldiers alive once they made it to the hospital. We have a holiday that honors those service men and women who don’t make it off the field or out of the hospital alive.

But now, in our busy culture, instead of honoring their sacrifice, all we really long for is a day off from our stressful, tiring work days. Not saying we don’t deserve time off, especially so for those in the health care professions where you give and give and give. A day off is deserved and rightfully enjoyed. However, maybe it’s time we see this particular holiday in a different light.

Maybe we start seeing it under the light of Florence’s nightly lamp. A hundred fifty years later, it still burns brightly for those who give their lives for you and I today.

The Short Chick with the Walking Stick’s upcoming book celebrates professional caregivers as the StickSpirits they are. For four decades, they’ve helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and insightful. Part memoir, part application, Kris helps student nurses, newer nurses and not-so-newer nurses remember why they joined their amazing profession in the first place. She shares how they positively impact patients’ lives, with minimal time and effort. Little things matter. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your team toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

Tags: florence nightengale, Memorial Day

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The In ‘N Outpatient by Kris Harty

Posted by kbuxman on May 17, 2011

“Just add it to the bottomless list.”

Ever felt that way? As though the world and all its demands expects you to keep going until you’ve finished everything on your plate, so to speak. Including the Brussels sprouts.

It’s an image that reminds me of long-ago decades growing up in Fargo, North Dakota. The dinnertime rule was we had to eat at least a biteful of every food on our plate, even if we knew we didn’t like it. Logic said our taste buds might change as we grew accustomed to it.

The perennial battle of the Brussels sprouts absorbed my entire being. From the stench (as my nose remembers it) as they boiled on the stove, to glaring at them on the table, and then being scooped onto my plate. They silently waited to bring dismay and disorder to the rest of my night.

One bite would free me from the table, but my gag reflex was working overtime. I couldn’t make myself eat one microscopic bite of those dreaded, despicable, seemingly slimy Brussels sprouts.

While my mother finished washing the dishes, I waited patiently at the dining room table.

“Kristabelle, c’mon. Just one small bite. Then you can go play with your siblings.”

“No.”

She pleaded. I resisted. Eventually, I was let out of sprout prison.

With Brussels sprouts now making a seeming resurgence, I hear that their tastiness is all in the preparation.

I tried them recently, for the first time in decades. A friend hosted a potYuck, where each person brought their most unfavorite food. Not surprisingly, Brussels sprouts were among them. (By the way, what is one person’s food-trash is another person’s treasure. Test it with your own potYuck…)

The sprout was not as awful as I recalled. Yet I was glad to have it off my plate.

What’s on your plate that you keep putting off because there are so many other urgent, take-care-of-it-now issues that need your attention? What is the nagging issue that never leaves the bottom spot on your to-do list, that keeps getting pushed further down, waiting for you to tackle it?

Maybe it’s more schooling. Or preparing yourself to advance in your career. Or perhaps it’s a conversation you need to approach with a colleague – or a spouse.

We’ll never finish all that’s on our plate, at work or at home, no matter how much the world pushes for it. But sometimes the action we most put off, is what most weighs us down.

Whatever your Brussels sprout is, go after it. Move it to the top and check it off your to-do list. It may be the biggest sense of accomplishment you’ve had for some time. Take a first step toward it. First steps lead to second steps, and they eventually lead to walking off the to-do list entirely.

Don’t let the bad taste of it deter you. C’mon, you’ve got this one licked.

P.S. Oh, if you’ve got an irresistable Brussels sprout recipe, send it my way…

JNJ’s own fabulous Karyn Buxman has this to say about my book: “Kris Harty has the delightful ability to pull you into her world – make you laugh, bring a tear to your eye – and then deftly show you how her experience applies to your life’s work. A real shot in the arm to combat fatigue and restore your connection with why you got into this work in the first place.” Part memoir, part application, and hot off the press for Nurses Day in May: “A Shot in the Arm and A Strong Spirit: How Professional Health Care Givers Help Patients Persevere.” A perfect read on breaks or in staff meetings, contact me for ideas to get every nugget from it, including video conferencing for book clubs or speaking at your event. Pre-order or purchase in bulk for greater savings. Contact me: call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

Tags: brussel sprouts, Kris Harty

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The In ‘N Outpatient By Kris Harty

Posted by kbuxman on May 10, 2011

“Perseverance is a long word followed by a short attention span.”

While I wrote that quote for a recent weekly business column, it applies universally, especially so for patients.

If you’ve been in nursing for awhile, maybe you’ve observed what I’ve experienced firsthand – a decrease in the time patients, myself included, are willing to be patients. Attention spans for self-care shorten as our recoveries drag on from illness or surgery. Our society doesn’t do patienthood well anymore.

We want popcorn-ready recovery. Click a button, and presto – we’re done.

We live in an Instant Everything world. “Three seconds for a Web site to load??? Sheesh!” How that mentality affects recovery is a subject I touch on in my upcoming book, too.

As I note in the introduction (the ‘Check In’) to my book:

“We live in an Instant Gratification, Instant Everything world. Consequently, as patients, we might not have the skills needed to persevere while healing and recovery take their own sweet time. Perseverance is a dying art. The good news is we can regain those skills, especially when you lead the way.”

An excerpt from another chapter (complete with comment and question at end) recalls a time when I struggled with the patience to persevere. I underwent two record-book total hip revisions, six months apart. The non-weight-bearing walker I used for six months following each surgery allowed my bone grafts to heal.

“With the gracious help of lots of friends, family, and coworkers, I made it through the tumultuous post-surgical year of limited mobility. It was a trying time, even for someone ordinarily blessed with loads of patience.

The support and positive comments I received from [my surgeon] and his team at my periodic follow-up appointments encouraged me to keep going. Other patients made it through similar extended recovery times. I would, too.

I never thought I’d long to have my Walking Stick back. We don’t always know how good we have it until we don’t.

I knew I was feeling better a few months post-op when my patience with the walker was kaput. I could move so much quicker without it! It got in my way and slowed me down, and I had things to do.

While having been given strict orders to use my walker 100% of the time, and knowing the risks if I didn’t heal completely, I decided to compromise.

Using the walker in the traditional manner was too slow 100% of the time. So when I felt the need for speed, I began dragging the walker behind me. It was still with me. I was still using it.

We can justify anything, can’t we? In retrospect, it was a ridiculous move. But being the person living it at the time, it seemed a safe bet. I healed fully, in spite of myself. There are times this patient really should be fired.

UpShot:

Patients like me must be wearing for professionals like you. All the work you do to make sure I have the best chance to fully heal, and I risk it because I’m impatient. I’ve heard of doctors firing patients for not conforming to orders. I’m grateful my [health care givers] stick with me through my own occasional self-sabotaging efforts.

Stickabilities:

Stick Together ~ Who sticks by you when your actions suggest that their efforts might be better spent elsewhere?”

You provide the necessary reminders for your patients to persevere through a full and proper recovery. Your patients will short-change themselves; we look to you for the encouragement our perseverance-depleted selves crave.

Tags: instant recovery, Kris Harty, patient behavior, perserverance

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The In ‘N Outpatient by Kris Harty

Posted by kbuxman on April 12, 2011

“A what scan?”

A scanner connoisseur, this week’s appointment added a new one to my list.

The oral surgeon’s office has a newfangled scanner called a CBCT: Cone Beam Computed Tomography. I’ve had MRIs, CTs, tomography (um, regular??) and now CBCT.

It rocks.

The CBCT scanner is quick, easy and tunnel-free. It provides standing room only. The best part, it only outputs about 1/100^th of the radiation of a traditional CT scan.

“Put your chin up against this small cupped rail, stand still, and the two scanner parts will circle around your head. It’ll take about two minutes.”

The images pulled up immediately afterward. How weird to see what looked like a hologram of my lil’ ol’ skeletal head. Freaky, but cool.

My dentist recommended I see the oral surgeon and have him take x-rays of my jaw joint. You might recall a few columns ago when my left jaw bone seemed to crack, crumble and then – OUCH – get stuck, on and off, for a week or two.

Taking no chances, my dentist wanted to make sure all was mechanically ok and I wouldn’t be unexpectedly experiencing a frozen jaw anytime soon.

And for once, I heard really great news at a surgeon’s office. In fact, he went so far as to say that my jaw bones, both sides, looked really, really good. Well, ok, really, really good for someone who has had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis for four decades.

I’ll take it.

“Wow, now that’s something I seldom hear: ‘Kris, you have really good bones.’ Woo hoo!” The surgeon chuckled.

“I’m happy to say there’s no need for surgery and you should be just fine. And keep up the singing lessons. They probably are helping.”

Whaddaya know. Another payoff for my newfound fun.

I started taking singing lessons a year ago. I’ve never sung in my life, not even in a choir. But it’s been tugging at me the last few years, so I decided to give in and see if there is anything there that wouldn’t scare human or animal.

Apparently, there is – I mean, there is some ability there. Anyway, my instructor keeps after me to relax my jaw.

Four decades of arthritis taught my body to remain tense to protect it from pain. While constant pain is long gone, my body didn’t get that part of the message. So tense it remains.

Forcing my jaw muscles to relax is challenging. It’s what caused the cracking and crumbling recently. Then it went into spasm (locking and unlocking my jaw) for a few weeks while it figured out what to do with its newfound state of relaxation.

My dentist noted that I could open my jaw wider than in the last decade he’s seen me. I notice it, too. And my singing instructor happily notices more movement for singing.

I’ve found singing is good for the soul. Who knew it was good for jaw muscles, too?

Oh yea, and for opening doors to new scanners, as well. Woo hoo.

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Another Woo Hoo! Want a unique and meaningful way to celebrate National Nurses Day in May? I created a thank you book for you and your staff. As a forty-year patient, I see the need to give back to professional health care givers who give so much, while receiving little in return. Those you generously give to aren’t especially up to showing gratitude. My book speaks for silently grateful patients everywhere. Hot off the press for Nurses Day, “A Shot in the Arm and A Strong Spirit: How Professional Health Care Givers Help Patients Persevere” is part memoir, part application. It’s a perfect read on breaks or for discussion points in staff meetings. Other options are additionally available: video conferencing in for group book discussions or speaking at your event. Pre-order or purchase in bulk for greater savings. Contact me, Kris Harty, by calling 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

Tags: dentist, Kris Harty, singing lessons

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The In ‘N Outpatient by Kris Harty

Posted by kbuxman on April 4, 2011

“I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.” Harry Truman, 1884-1972

President ‘Harry’ was a smart parent.

When any of us ask for advice, aren’t we really asking for someone to encourage us in what we want to do? And sometimes, that’s a really good thing.

Take, for instance, the case of Anthony Hollander.

As a kid, Anthony had a sneaking suspicion he had a gift to heal people. He didn’t say it quite in those terms. In the words of his nine-year-old self, “I think I no how to make people or animals alive.”

If his grammar or spelling was any indication, adults might have begged to differ.

Fortunately, they didn’t.

Fortunately, in fact, some kind adults at a children’s TV show in 1973 merry old England recognized a certain passion in their young viewer. While they responded to Anthony’s note with a note of their own, they couldn’t supply him with his requested items:

1. Diagram of how evreything works. [inside youre body.]
2. Model of a heart split in half. [both halvs.]
3. The sort of sering they yous for cleaning ears. [Tsering must be very very clean.]
4. Tools for cutting people open.
5. Tools for stiches.
6. Fiberglass box, 8 foot tall, 3 foot width.

What they did provide Anthony was far more impactful.

They responded with a letter, acknowledging and applauding his enthusiasm.

It was the encouragement from that one letter that made a difference to not only Anthony, but consequently, to the world.

The TV show folks couldn’t possibly have known the future. But without their support, the world might not have benefited from Anthony’s dream to heal people, to make them alive, as he put it.

Anthony Hollander grew up to be a professor of rheumatology and tissue engineering at the University of Bristol in England. His work played a pivotal role in a 2008 ground breaking surgery. He helped grow the cells for the first successful implantation of an artificially grown windpipe into a 30-year-old Columbian mother.

The news about the windpipe itself was of extra special interest to this patient-author who has some issues with her own.

Anthony has this to say about the encouraging note he received decades ago:

“If [the] letter had shown any hint of ridicule or disbelief I might perhaps never have trained to become a medical scientist or been driven to achieve the impossible dream, and really make a difference to a human being’s life. I remember being thrilled at the time to have been taken seriously. Actually, even nowadays I am thrilled when people take my ideas seriously.”

Think you can’t, or don’t, change the world? You do with your own actions, and maybe with words you say to someone who fosters them for decades to come.

P.S. For more of the story, visit: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/03/i-think-i-no-how-to-make-people-or.html

Psst…wondering, like me, what a sering is? A syringe, of course!

——————————————————————————————————————

Looking for a unique and meaningful way to celebrate National Nurses Day in May? I created a thank you book just for you and your staff. As a forty-year patient, I see the need to give back to professional health care givers who give so much, while receiving little in return. Those you generously give to aren’t especially up to showing gratitude. My book speaks for silently grateful patients everywhere. Hot off the press for Nurses Day, “A Shot in the Arm and A Strong Spirit: How Professional Health Care Givers Help Patients Persevere” is part memoir, part application. It’s a perfect read on breaks or for discussion points in staff meetings. Bonus options are additionally available: video conferencing in for group book discussions or speaking at your event. Pre-order or purchase in bulk for greater savings. Contact me, Kris Harty, by calling 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

Tags: great minds, inspiration, Kris Harty

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