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Nursing Education: Humor and Healing

Posted by kbuxman on June 8, 2011

Steve Wilson, psychologist, author, speaker, and great friend of JNJ, recently spoke to the National Institute of Health’s Staff Training in Extramural Research.

The name of his presentation is “ARE WE LAUGHING ENOUGH?” PERSPECTIVES, REFLECTIONS AND A FRAMEWORK FOR HUMOR, LAUGHTER, AND HEALING VIS-À-VIS THE WORLD LAUGHTER TOUR, INC. It’s a great read and contains much useful information for the nurse who wants to integrate humor into their own practice.

Steve has been gracious enough to share the presentation with all of the JNJ readership. To download your copy of this insightful, informative report, just click here! (PS: Click regular download to get the file free and fast!)

Tags: National institute of health, nurse downloads, nurse education, Steve Wilson

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Rivisiting the Land of Mirth and Funny by Steve Sultanoff, PhD

Posted by kbuxman on April 13, 2009

This article is an update to my original article “Exploring the Land of Mirth and Funny” (1994) and my detailed chapter “Integrating Humor into Psychotherapy” (Play Therapy with Adults, 2002). In this article, I have added a brief discussion about the universal triggers that activate one’s sense of humor.
This article also reflects updated thinking on the therapeutic experience of humor.

In the original article, I discussed laughter as a physiological reaction to humor, mirth as an emotional reaction, and wit as cognitive reaction. Over the years my thinking has shifted. Since the emotional experience of mirth and the cognitive experience of wit also activate biochemical/physiological changes, I have revised the model to present laughter as a physical experience rather than physiological, and based on the research on emotion and cognition, now present laughter, mirth and wit as all activating physiological changes. It is these physiological changes that are primarily cited as the therapeutic benefits of humor. (more…)

Tags: humor research, Integrating Humor, laughter, mirth, Steve Sultanoff, the science of humor, wit

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e-Musement Versus A-musement: Sharing High-Tech and High-Touch Humor by Steven M. Sultanoff, Ph.D.

Posted by kbuxman on March 9, 2009

steve-good-shot With email, texting, the Internet, and other electronic modes of communication, humorous materials (such as cartoons, jokes, pictures, anecdotes, sounds bytes, videos, etc.) are being transmitted throughout our reality and virtual reality in astronomical proportions! With the insurgence of high-tech devices creating new communication technology, we have the capacity to electronically transmit large quantities and varieties of “funny” material. Through electronic pathways we can share amusing “tid-bytes” with great speed and efficiency. (more…)

Tags: Administration, bringing humor to work, Humor at work, managment, Steven M. Sultanoff

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The Eyes Have It by Deb Gauldin, RN

Posted by kbuxman on February 23, 2009

photo by Benjamin Earwicker

Some of the most important work we do as perinatal educators and nurses is to help women recognize their own strengths and abilities. With just a few hours of interaction, getting a true reading of our client’s emotional status and confidence level can be challenging.

A recent revelation in my own life brought back memories of a patient I cared for many years ago. The expectant mother, who was married, well educated, and in her thirties, attended all six prenatal classes with a smile on her face. Following the final class she pulled me aside and spoke of how frightened she was about the pain she would feel during childbirth. The youngest of five siblings, she had always been called the “cry baby” of her family. Apparently the running joke throughout her pregnancy was the family’s concern about her ability to tolerate a labor contraction, given the terror she displayed over removing a simple splinter during her childhood.

Her uncomfortable laughter was no disguise for the self doubt she was revealing. Ultimately, she decided to speak in greater depth with professional counselor and kept in touch.

I hadn’t thought of “Cry Baby” in years until Cheryl and Colleen, two of my best girlfriends from back in junior high school, visited a few weeks ago. We were enjoying breakfast on the sun porch when something was said about my eyes. Suddenly I was transported back in time. (more…)

Tags: Deb Gauldin, eyes too far apart, internalized messages, nurses, Pigs, supporting nurses

Posted in: Integrating Humor, PRN: Experts Examine Humor

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Humor in Healthcare by Matt Weinstein

Posted by kbuxman on February 9, 2009

The Healing Power of Laughter and Play

When I work with doctors and nurses, I caution them that while they may be convinced of the healing powers of laughter and play, the concept may not be so easy to communicate to their patients. I tell them that they should go back to the hospital and say to their patients, “You’re going to need to play more in order to hasten your recovery.” And I tell them their patients will probably look at them in disbelief and say, “Play? I can’t play now. Wait until I feel better!”

Healthcare workers, like workers everywhere, are more productive when they have a chance to have some fun at work, and blow off some stress in a productive way. Here are four creative ways healthcare executives have found to help their people have fun at work.

Charleton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts asked its employees to bring in pictures of their pets. Everyone had a lot of laughs trying to guess which pet belonged to which owner, and in some cases it wasn’t that difficult, since the two of them practically looked identical! One of the nurses brought in a picture of his thumb and forefinger squeezed together. He put it up on the bulletin board along with all the other pet pictures, and when puzzled colleagues asked him what the photo was all about, he replied, “That’s a picture of my pet flea!”

Linda Sims, Associate Hospital Director at Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, had a gumball machine installed in her office for use by her visitors. She also put a pile of pennies next to the machine, so the treat was free to anyone who wanted one. “Most importantly,” reports Linda, “It gives anybody who needs it a good excuse to drop in on the boss and have a little informal chat.”

Linda Koliber of the Wellness department at Chrysler Motors found “a low tech answer to a high tech stress problem.” Linda put an inflatable punching bag in her office, and soon had a steady stream of visitors who wanted to take out their frustrations on it. “Sometimes the security people will walk into my office,” says Linda, “head right for the punching bag, thump it around wildly, head back for the door, and all they’ll say to me is ‘thanks’ on their way out.”

Ron Hoffman, a pharmacist in Los Angeles, found a unique way to schedule breaks into his everyday work routine. Ron has an “Invisible Goldfish” tank in his store, next to which he posts daily feeding times for his non-existent pets. At “feeding time” he invariably draws a high-spirited crowd of customers and employees from other parts of the store who come to witness the invisible feeding frenzy. It takes a little imagination, but for them it works.

Matt Weinstein is the founding president of Playfair, Inc., an international team building organization that pioneered the study of fun at work. Matt is the author of the international best-seller Managing To Have Fun. His latest book is Gently Down The Stream: Four Unforgettable Keys To Success. He can be contacted at www.Playfair.com.

Ever since the publication of Norman Cousins’ influential book Anatomy Of An Illness As Perceived By The Patient, there has been renewed public interest in the healing powers of laughter and play. In his book, Cousins describes how prolonged laughter helped him recover from a debilitating disease of the nervous system. If stress and negative emotions can make us ill, Cousins reasons, why can’t laughter, love, and positivity help us heal?

Cousins devoted many years to studying laughter and the mind-body connection. Cousins (among others) believed that endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, are produced during laughter. That endorphin release would account for the pain relief, and the feeling of being naturally “high” that most people experience after a period of prolonged laughter. Although Cousins’ contention— that endorphins are released during laughter— has never been conclusively proved, there is incontrovertible evidence that hearty laughter can affect cellular development. Dr. Lee Berk at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California has proven that spontaneous lymphocyte blastogenesis occurs during laughter and play, which means that during times of prolonged laughter, t-cells, an important part of your immune system, are produced in much greater numbers.

But that’s not the way it works. You don’t play when you feel better. You feel better when you play!

Having Fun In Healthcare

Tags: Administration, Charge Nurse, corporate culture, Humor in Healthcare, management, Matt Weinstein, Normal Cousins

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