Happy Nurses Week!

I hope you’ve been having the best Nurses’ Week ever. It’s been great to see a really healthy amount of humor as part of Nurses Week celebrations this year. Some of the best stuff I’ve seen has been on SomeeCards – go check it out, and if you see one that would make your favorite nurse laugh right out loud, send it to them. It’s free, and the gift of humor is one that will make your friend happier and healthier.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I have to admit to liking, “Happy Nurses Week to all the nurses with friends too cheap to go to the doctor!” Raise your hand if you know more about your closest friend’s gastrointestinal system than you ever hoped to. And people are really willing to stretch the definition of friend when they need medical advice…if they went to the same high school you did, t(*cough*) years ago and haven’t seen each other since, that’s a close enough connection to solicit your opinion of their small bowel resection!

As nurses, using humor is one of the best things we can do to help each other – and ourselves – be happier, healthier people. Laughter is an all-natural way to control stress, keep blood pressure low, and improve your energy levels. Whether you’re the air traffic control in a world of frequent fliers or facing another day with Dr. Crankypants, laughter provides the emotional resiliency nurses need to hang in there.

Learn more by reading What’s So Funny About… Nursing?: A Creative Approach to Celebrating Your Profession. It makes a great Nurses Day gift for the nurses you work with everyday – or for yourself!

If you’ve ever cleared out an entire Pizza Hut just by talking shop with your co-workers, this week is for you!

If you’ve ever complimented a stranger on their lovely veins (or merely ogled from afar!) this week is for you!

If you’ve ever proven your ability C-diff at a distance, using only your nose, this week is for you!

If you’ve ever defined ‘medication error’ as “I should have taken the Ativan myself!” this week is for you!

If you’ve ever had your scrubs seized by the CDC as the most terrifying thing they’ve ever seen, this week is for you!

Nurses are amazing people, and this is the week we celebrate our profession. Whether you’re a nurse in the hospital setting, health clinic, school, nursing home or long term care setting, corrections facility, military, or beyond, the fact is that you’re the front lines of health care in this country. You are the number one source of caring, compassionate patient care. The work you do makes a real difference in the lives of your patients every single day.

Go you! Being a nurse isn’t for everyone. Did you know some people get upset when they get puked on? Or that they expect to have weekends and holidays off? Or that no one, ever, asks their advice about embarrassing chronic constipation problems? It’s true – but you do it.

You’re there with support and encouragement as babies come into this world, and you’re there with compassion and grace when it’s time to go. And in between, for all the scrapes and bumps and bruises and “Hey, y’all watch this now!” you’re there to help put the pieces back together, letting patients know that they don’t have to worry – all bleeding stops eventually!

You are amazing! This week is to celebrate everything you do – and this book is to provide you with the applied humor tools, tips, and strategies that will make it much easier to keep doing it. A great gift for yourself or the nurses you work with. Nurses who laugh are happier, healthier people – and they’re better nurses too!

Nurses who laugh are healthier people.

Nurses who laugh are better nurses.

But what’s so funny about nursing?

This year, Nurse’s Week is May 6-12. Just in the nick of time, Karyn Buxman has released the latest volume in the side-splitting What’s So Funny book series: What’s So Funny About… Nursing?: A Creative Approach to Celebrating Your Profession.

Here’s an excerpt, discussing how humor can make you healthier:

When was the last time you heard that watching TV could actually make you healthier?! Another way you
can really give your heart a boost is by playing the ICU Game: Any time you see an error on a medical TV show (Nurse Jackie and Grey’s Anatomy are GREAT for this!) that would result in the patient spending the rest of his short, short life in the ICU, get up and do 25 jumping jacks. You could have the heart of an Olympian in less than one season!

Fun, funny, and packed with practical information to bring the healing power of humor into everyday nursing, What’s So Funny About… Nursing?: A Creative Approach to Celebrating Your Profession is now available at a special discount price for Nurse’s Week. Order now and save! It’s a great gift for the nurses in your life – and don’t forget to include yourself!

OR Nurses: this bookis for you! I count the years I spent as an OR nurse as some of the finest (and funniest!) of my career. Talk about the tight bond between nurses! I learned true caring, compassion, and grace-under-pressure from my colleagues behind those double doors.

There were also lots of laughs – and thank goodness for that. Laughter provides the emotional resiliency we need to operate at the top of our game in the high-stress, high-pressure OR environment. Nurses who laugh regularly enjoy considerable physical and mental health benefits. They also tend to have stronger, more positive relationships with their colleagues than their more serious counterparts, and report higher levels of career satisfaction.

Now Available: What’s So Funny About… OR Nursing?: A Creative Approach to Celebrating Your Profession

In my new book, In my new book, What’s So Funny About… OR Nursing?: A Creative Approach to Celebrating Your Profession you’ll find the latest psychoneuroimmunological research that explains why this is true, as well as practical, easy to implement strategies to add more humor to your life. Who doesn’t want to have more fun on an everyday basis?

Using funny stories and real-life examples from health care’s front lines, What’s So Funny About… OR Nursing?teaches you how to recognize, incorporate, and benefit from the presence of humor in your practice. It’s a fun read that will make a real difference in your everyday work life. Best of all, it’s available on Amazon right now!

So don’t delay: this is your chance to be the first nurse in your hospital to have a copy!

Banned from the petting zoo!

A Pachydermatologist!

A fingernail!