January 22, 2025 • 28 mins
TXT us your feedback!! <3 your fayce!
What if you could transform your nursing career by embracing mindfulness as your ally against burnout? That's exactly what we're unpacking in this episode of the Ritual Nurse Podcast. Join me as I share a pivotal moment from my nursing school days that changed the trajectory of my career. We dive into the science of mindfulness, revealing its powerful role in bolstering resilience within the nursing profession. This isn't about buzzwords; it's about the practical understanding of evidence-based practice and current research in the field; ensuring you walk away with actionable strategies to support your well-being and nurture a community of support and care.
Coffee, Crystals, Divination: This week, along with the science, we're embracing the comforting warmth of our featured healing beverage, the "medicine ball tea". As cold season looms, let this mint, lemon, and honey infusion be your soothing companion. Additionally, we seek wisdom from aquamarine, our stone of the week, guiding us toward emotional depth and serenity. And don't miss our tarot reflection with the Four of Pentacles, as we explore how to maintain balance and break free from a scarcity mindset in challenging times. With practical tips on setting boundaries and embracing gratitude, this episode is your resource for maintaining health and wellness, even when resources are stretched thin.
Hey! Make sure you subscribe to stay connected. Love a nurse? Who doesn't! Share with all the nurses you know. The more we reach, the more we help. We feel like no one deserves center stage focus more than nurses and our mission is to reach the millions of superstars out there. We'd love to hear your stories, your adventures, your wins, and especially your needs and questions! Email us at hello@ritualnurse (dot) com. Also, you can send us fan mail! Use the link at the beginning of the show notes. Resources, classes, blogs, and podcast info can be found on our home site at TCTH.org. The Ritual Nurse Podcast is part of The Code Team educational platform.
Love your FAYCES!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the Ritual Nurse, where healing meets
humor, science and a touch ofmagic.
Hi, welcome to the Ritual Nursepodcast.
My name is Reva, I am yourfriendly ritual nurse and, if
you are just joining us, this isepisode four of the Ritual
Nurse Podcast.
If you've been listening alongwith us this entire time,
(00:35):
welcome back, so excited to haveyou.
So today's focus is going to beon the science behind
mindfulness as it relates to itsimpact on resilience.
And I know mindfulness andburnout and not so much
resilience, but I think it'skind of getting there Really
(00:55):
kind of feel like buzzwordssometimes, especially if you're
on websites like LinkedIn orlike nursingcom.
And I don't necessarily thinkthat it's intentional.
I think maybe it might be justthe natural consequences of
social media kind of dilutingthe impact due to oversaturation
(01:17):
.
Maybe I'm not sure.
But today we're going to focuson the science behind it.
In episodes one, two and threewe went through a series of
skill building activities, ifyou will, to focus on building
intentional space for yourselfto begin the process of
(01:39):
debriefing with yourself, kindof like the first step of the
platform really to do somepretty deep inner work and
self-healing and increase yourpersonal resilience.
So if you haven't listened toepisodes one, two and three
already have a listen to them.
Listening to them after youlisten to this one is just fine.
(02:02):
The good thing about the RitualNurse Podcast format is that
it's short form content, so youdon't have to have a bunch of
anxiety or overwhelm in feelinglike, oh man, I have three whole
episodes to catch up on,because the podcast is only
about 30 minutes.
So it's really easy to consumethe material and the short form
(02:26):
content makes it perfect fornursing schedules.
All right, so first, somehousekeeping.
New episodes drop everyWednesday morning.
Those are the regular seriesepisodes.
There are going to be somespecial episodes that drop
intermittently and I haven'tfigured out yet what day of the
week I want to launch those.
(02:47):
So as those start coming up, Iwill let you know ahead of time,
either on our socials or thewebsite or, of course, the
podcast itself, when those aregoing to be dropping.
And definitely, definitely.
I encourage you guys to email meyour stories about your
experiences, your first year ofnursing, and which experience,
(03:14):
basically, you'll never forget,like it was such a core
experience that it reallychanged your nursing, maybe even
changed you.
I'm going to share one in alittle bit.
That happened when I was innursing school.
That actually changed thetrajectory of my nursing.
(03:34):
Yeah, it was really.
It was really impactful.
So email me your stories aboutthat to hello at ritualnursecom.
Or if it's something that youwant to fire off in text or just
have feedback that you want togive me in text, you can use the
unique link that is at the topof the show notes and it's on
(03:56):
all.
It's on Spotify, it's on Apple,wherever you get your podcasts
from, at the top of the shownotes is an included link that
you can click and send us a textmessage.
And then we use the hashtagsheal first, nurse better and
heal thrive nurse on most of ourposts.
(04:16):
So if you guys are sharingcontent or stories or just want
to be included in the communityhashtags, those are two
phenomenal ones that you can use, and also, you know, hashtag
the ritual nurse, of course, aswell.
But that's just some basichousekeeping and make sure you
subscribe and please share withall of the nurses that you know.
(04:40):
The information in thesepodcasts is designed to focus on
the nurse first and nothingelse, and there's not really
much out there content wise.
That's designed to focus on usfirst and foremost and put our
well-being first above anythingelse.
So if you know other nurses,love other nurses which I know
(05:01):
we all do then share thispodcast with them.
Other nurses which I know weall do then share this podcast
with them.
I guarantee that there's goingto be stuff in these podcasts
that impacts their life in justsuch an amazing, incredible way.
So, housekeeping over, I didmention that I was going to, you
know, share a personal antidote.
And so when I was a nursingstudent, you know you go through
(05:26):
your regular clinical rotationsin the different genres,
subject topics, however you wantto phrase it, and we were in
pediatrics at the time and Iactually was able to do a
rotation in the pediatricintensive care unit or PICU, and
I remember gosh, this.
It fundamentally changed thetrajectory of my nursing.
(05:48):
I remember being on the floor.
It was a.
It was a pretty smooth shift atthe time low patient census,
thank goodness.
The nurse that I was assignedto was fabulous, very personable
, compassionate.
They got a notification that atrauma was coming in and I began
(06:09):
to feel apprehensive.
I went to nursing school alittle bit later than some of my
cohort.
I was, I think, about 30, 31when I started, so a little bit
older than the traditionalstudent, I was a single mom and
I had two kids at home and Ibegan to feel a little anxious
(06:31):
knowing that this trauma wascoming in and the trauma that
arrived was an infant I willnever forget.
My mind has kind of blurred outeverything before this
particular memory and everythingafter it, which is a common
(06:52):
occurrence when somethingtraumatic is experienced.
But the memory that I havestarts with me realizing I'm
standing in the middle of thehallway facing this patient's
room.
The way the hallways were itwas kind of like a T
intersection and of course it'sthe PICU.
So the walls of the hospitalrooms are usually glass, you
(07:16):
know, for observation of thepatients, et cetera.
Most ICUs are like that.
I'm looking at this hospital bedwith an infant in the middle of
it and two healthcare providerson either side of the bed
looking down at the patient.
One of them put his hands onhis head, kind of in that body
(07:38):
language position of emotionaloverwhelm or frustration,
perhaps Just a lot of emotion.
The patient wasn't moving.
I didn't know at the time.
I know the story of the patient.
Of course I'm not going to sayanything whatsoever because that
(07:58):
would be HIPAA.
But I didn't realize until thenurse that I was precepting with
gently touched my arm andmotioned for me to you know,
come with her that tears werestreaming down my face.
And if I could share with youthe story of the patient, you
would understand why and theheartbreak behind it.
(08:23):
But that image stands out in mybrain of that little tiny body
laying in the middle of that bed, motionless at the end of that
hallway, and suddenly realizingthat I had been crying enough,
that just soundlessly apparently, that teardrops had dropped on
(08:43):
the top of my scrubs.
And the most unique thing aboutthat, I think, is that when the
nurse, kind of you know,brought me with her to the
nursing station, they also hadtears.
And there was no one, not asingle person, that shamed me,
that made fun of me, that wasirritated at me or that acted
(09:03):
like my display of emotion wasuntoward in any way.
They all felt the same emotionsand were unabashed about it.
And I thought, when I thinkback upon it, that was really
unique, because sometimes it'snot like that on nursing floors.
And the compassion that thesenurses had, not just towards the
(09:29):
patient but towards each otherand towards me as a nursing
student made such a lastingimpact on me.
Now I do have to say that I havenever worked in pediatrics or
PICU or NICU as an ICU nurse.
I've always been on the bigpeople side of it.
I know that it's because I hadthat experience and realized not
(09:52):
because anyone did anythingnegative but I realized this is
not an area that I think I'mequipped to be in.
Emotionally I'm okay with that.
So I have never worked in thelittle people side.
So when I worked in the ER Idid not work on the peds ER side
, I worked in a large enough youknow facility that they had
(10:15):
them separated and triage, wouldyou know, separate peds from
adult ER.
So I have just worked with the,with the big people for
emergency and critical care.
But that memory was a reallyfoundational, core memory and it
revolves around emotionalresponse and physiological
response to the exposure tosecondary trauma.
(10:39):
The psychomedical speak fordescribing the memory that I
just atmospherically, visually,descriptively related to you and
(11:04):
that has a lot to do with howour experience as nurses, and
like the context around us thatsurrounds us every day when we
are nursing, affects us.
I've had other experiences, youknow, of course, along the way
as a nurse that impacted me.
But part of my research, when Istarted focusing on burnout in
nurses, really took a look atthe surroundings.
(11:27):
What specifically was causingthe burnout in nurses that was
then impacting their resilienceand lowering their resilience.
It's kind of a chicken and theegg situation in terms of how
much resilience is present firstand how much resilience is
(11:48):
impacted by continuous exposureas to how the individual nurse
is able to cope with thechallenges and adversity.
So in research I said we'regoing to talk about the science
behind this.
In research, a lot of thecontemporary research that
focuses on resiliency of courseneeds a validated and verified
(12:14):
tool of measurement.
It's not enough to comparequalitative data and qualitative
data is more so the livedexperiences or subjective data
that's collected about the livedexperiences expressed by the
participants in the study.
The quantitative data is themath stuff, the statistics stuff
, that kind of thing, andneither data is more important
(12:38):
than the other.
That's not what I'm driving atand neither data is more
important than the other.
That's not what I'm driving at,it's just more so how the data
is used in an analytical senseand what the purpose of or what
the focus of the research is atthe time and a lot of their
studies on resilience use a toolcalled the Connor-Davidson
Resilience Scale.
Now, the Connor-DavidsonResilience Scale was developed
(12:59):
by Dr Catherine Connor and DrJonathan Davidson.
Dr Connor is a psychiatrist andresearcher at Duke University
Medical Center in North Carolina.
Her research heavily involveslooking at stress, social
anxiety, broad anxiety andresilience itself.
Dr Davidson is a professoremeritus of psychiatry and
(13:23):
behavioral science, also at DukeUniversity, and his studies
focused heavily on PTSD as wellas a host of other psychiatric
topics.
However, right now we aregetting close to our 15 minute
break point.
So when we come back from breakwe are gonna talk about what
the data actually showed in theresearch from using that tool
(13:45):
and more of the science behindwhat we're doing and why it
works.
So if you, as a nurse, are onthe clock and you are headed
back from a break, have a greatrest of your shift and if you're
on lunch, then continuelistening with us and enjoying
the rest of the podcast.
Otherwise, we will see you whenyou get back or on the commute.
(14:09):
All right, welcome back.
So what did the data show inthe research?
Well, when they looked at theConnor Davidson resilience
scales before and after, thenurses did the mindfulness
techniques and develop the skillsets, they found an absolute
(14:33):
increase and I don't meanabsolute as in a mathematical
sense, but I mean a legitimatedata bump and increase in
resilience in the nurses thatwere participating in the
program.
Now, there's a reason for this,because there's science behind
why things like the break roombreath work, which is what we're
calling the two differentbreath methods that we went over
(14:55):
in episodes two and three, orlike the 30 second body scan
there's reasons why that works.
So when we are exposed totrauma, our body kicks into our
sympathetic nervous system,which will release
catecholamines like epinephrineand norepinephrine, raises our
heart rates, raises our cortisollevels, and doing breath work
(15:18):
and doing mindful, likeintentional 30 second body scans
, actually activates theparasympathetic nervous system
intentionally and in doing sothat lowers the amount of
catecholamines, lowers thecortisol levels, it can
stimulate the vagus nerve andthat will slow down our heart
(15:41):
rate.
We are oxygenating better.
There's something interestingabout the breath work.
You'll notice that in thebreath work there's different
periods of holding your breath.
Now the increase in carbondioxide actually lowers the
heart rate also, so you'rereally creating kind of a
positive feedback loop in acalming sense instead of a
(16:04):
stimulating sense.
So there's medical sciencebehind why these techniques work
, and research shows thatthere's absolutely improvement
in using these techniques.
On resilience itself, now, someof the components that make up
resilience are really unique,and if you understand the
(16:27):
components, I think you'll beable to understand why having
increased resilience is reallyimportant.
So some of the components thatmake up our resiliency are our
ability to adapt, to change, ourability to deal with adversity
that comes along or unexpectedchanges that come along, our
(16:47):
ability to cope with stress, ourability to stay focused and
think clearly, our ability tonot get discouraged in the face
of failure, our ability tohandle unpleasant feelings like
anger, pain, sadness, even fear.
And, of course, when we'retalking about the ability to
adapt or cope or handle or tostay focused, we're talking
(17:09):
about utilizing these abilitieswithin the context of exposure
to trauma, or secondary traumaor stress, and so, or secondary
trauma or stress, and soresilience, when you think about
all these components, is reallya life skill, and for nurses,
for healthcare providers, reallyacross the board.
(17:30):
Our jobs involve a consistentand pretty constant application
of stressful, sometimestraumatic, sometimes constant
exposure to secondary trauma incontext of our surroundings.
So having resilience is verynecessary, both on a
(17:51):
psychological and aphysiological level, to thrive
in your chosen profession andnot have it negatively affect
your health, negatively affectyour psyche, your emotional
state, your mental health.
So increased resilience isdefinitely something that I hope
(18:12):
research continues to develop.
I hope research continues tofind more useful methods and
tangible methods for people inall types of situations to
utilize the skill sets andpractice.
But until then, we're going touse what evidence-based practice
(18:32):
has shown us works very well.
If you haven't listened to theother episodes, I encourage you
to go do so, because thefoundational building of skill
sets that we did in those threeepisodes really set a great
framework for creatingintentional space for learning
how to do breath work and forlearning how to do that body
(18:55):
scan.
You become more self-aware andit becomes muscle memory for you
to be able to do theseexercises and figure out your
emotional and physiologicalresponse in the context of the
events surrounding you, of thescience behind why these things
(19:24):
work and the science onresilience showing that
implementing these things work.
If you have more questions,feedback, especially stories of
using, like the break room,breath work or maybe a 30 second
body scan and how did it changeyour response to the event that
you were facing.
Send them to me.
I am not going to use them inresearch, I just want to hear
(19:44):
your experiences and how wellit's working for you.
If there's things that youwould add or take away from you,
can send those to hello atritualnursecom.
Now we're going to get into, ofcourse, our favorite segment and
I have to grab the cards overhere.
So our featured beverage iskind of a well, I mean, I think
(20:06):
it's kind of funny and aproposfor the moment.
I'm sure many of you have beendealing with a lot of upper
respiratory infections lately.
I know one hit our householdpretty hard.
So featured beverage forepisode four is going to be
(20:28):
let's say, it's a certain kindof tea made by a company that
has mint and honey and steamedlemonade and two different kinds
of tea.
So there's a mint tea and whatused to be kind of like a peach
or fruit based tea.
They don't use that tea anymore.
However, if you're going toduplicate this beverage at home
(20:50):
and actually now that I thinkabout it, it's not even on their
menu, so I can just say thewords but if you're going to
make medicine ball tea at home,you're going to want to take
your favorite lemon, citrus orstone fruit tea and you're going
to want to take your favoritelemon, citrus or stone fruit tea
and you're going to want tocombine it with a really strong
mint tea.
So I'd say two of the mint andone of the fruit and brew a good
16 ounces of hot water.
(21:11):
You're not going to use thatfull amount.
You're going to use about eightounces of hot water and about
eight ounces of steamed orheated lemonade.
Or you could use the 16 ouncesof hot water mix in a good two
tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.
And then you're going to wantto add a pretty hefty serving of
either honey or agave forsoothing the bronchial tract in
(21:33):
your throat.
But this tea is a go-to for meanytime that I sense I have any
kind of upper respiratoryinfection, head cold, stuffy
nose or I start feeling one comeon.
The combination of the mint andthe sweet and the citrus and
the fruit just seems to do thetrick.
I'm not sure why, but that isdefinitely the featured beverage
(21:55):
for this episode.
For the crystal of the week,again, I'm going to use the
crystal oracle deck calledCrystal Portal from Moonstruck
Crystals.
If you look at our socialsyou'll see pictures of the deck
itself and I, like I mentionedlast week, tag the creator, but
this is the perfect way tofigure out what our crystal is
(22:17):
for the week.
So let's see what we come upwith for this week.
It's going to be interestingbecause this topic and one came
flying out, and it is aquamarine.
Oh gosh, this image isbeautiful for serenity.
So let's see what aquamarinehas to cover the cards, and the
(22:41):
foiling on the cards is justgorgeous.
So the aquamarine card calledserenity is calmness and wisdom.
So this card invites you toembody tranquility and find
solace in moments of stillness.
There is a whale on the cardand it symbolizes emotional
(23:03):
depth and wisdom and the powerof introspection.
So embrace this moment ofserenity to release stress, find
inner peace and reconnect withyour inner wisdom.
Allow the gentle energy ofaquamarine and the soothing
presence of the whale to guideyou towards a state of deep
relaxation and emotional balance.
So it's again reminding you todive deep within yourself to
find the serenity that residesat your core.
(23:24):
Love it.
So, aquamarine, those areabsolutely beautiful stones.
I do believe that they are abirthstone.
Heck, it might even actually bemy birthstone as a March Aries
and for our tarot poll.
Let's see what we have for ourtarot poll.
(23:46):
I have so much fun doing thissegment.
I may have to do like a specialsegment on a full reading.
I don't know if I don't know,you guys are going to have to
let me know in the show feedbackor the show comments.
People have been commenting onSpotify and Apple podcasts.
You guys are gonna have to letme know if you would want just a
(24:07):
standalone segment.
Occasionally that is just afull read of some kind.
But let's see what our tarotcard, our divination, is for
this week.
Nothing is jumping out at themoment.
So we have the four of pentaclesand the crystal is actually
(24:31):
hidden knight.
And hidden knight is not atypical crystal that I am
familiar with.
Actually, I know people thatknow me.
It looks like I have all of thecrystals, like all and every
single one of them, but Ipromise I don't possible
challenge accepted.
I don't know.
(24:51):
We'll have to see, uh, how manyare out there and how many I
don't have and just how manybookshelves I need to build to
get them.
So, hidden knight, this isabout control.
So balance and gratitude andhealing.
The four of pentacles usuallyindicates having a scarcity
(25:11):
mindset.
You may be clinging on to everysingle penny in fear that you
may lose it all, or you may bestruggling with your finances.
Focus on finding a healthybalance of spending and saving
and remember to practicegratitude.
A scarcity mindset is actuallysomething that is heavily
connected to stress and anxietyand trauma.
Go figure, a scarcity mindsetis based on the thinking that
(25:37):
people focus on the scarcity ofsomething and it causes fear or
anxiety and when it comes tonursing, a lot of times, one
thing that can cause us a lot offear and anxiety is the focus
on the lack of resources or thelack of staffing.
Now, I do know, you know thedivinatory meaning did say you
(25:59):
know, remember to practicegratitude.
I'm not here to tell you to begrateful for pizza or whatever
else might be provided.
What I am here to do is to tellyou to focus on the resources
that you have for maintainingyour own health and wellness and
(26:21):
well-being and the boundariesthat you have that are included
in those resources when it comesto, perhaps, the scarcity of
staffing or the scarcity ofresources, and not be not afraid
to set those limits andmaintain those boundaries and
focus on the things that you cancontrol and not so much the
(26:45):
things that you can't control.
That will just increase stressand anxiety.
But that is our coffee crystalsand divination segment for the
week.
Very interesting one.
Really.
Like the reminder in terms ofbringing up the scarcity mindset
.
If you guys have any feedbackregarding a scarcity mindset in
(27:08):
nursing and how that may or maynot have affected you, I'd love
to hear it.
Don't forget to subscribe,follow, definitely, definitely,
share with any and all nursesthat you know.
I was super excited, speakingof which, when I looked at my
(27:28):
podcast statistics and realizedthat we are now we're
approaching 200 downloads injust like the first what?
18 or so days, actually noteven that 16 days of being
launched.
It's super exciting because weare currently in I'm looking
right now, let's see.
So we are in 43 differentcities around the world, and we
(27:51):
are in 43 different citiesaround the world, and we are in
10 different countries andterritories around the world as
well.
I cannot begin to tell you howexcited I am about that and to
encourage you to keep sharingwith as many nurses as you know.
Thank you so much for listeningto this podcast.
(28:13):
Take care of yourselves.
Take care of yourselves first.
Don't be afraid to putyourselves first, because you
deserve it and I love your faces.
This is your Ritual Nurse, reva.
Thanks for tuning in to theRitual Nurse podcast.
You can find us wherever youlisten to podcasts, so don't
forget to subscribe and stayconnected For all our social
(28:36):
links free education classes,blogs and podcast notes with
resources.
Head over to tcthorg.
Until next time, love yourfaces.
Welcome to the Ritual Nurse, where healing meets
humor, science and a touch ofmagic.
Hi, welcome to the Ritual Nursepodcast.
My name is Reva, I am yourfriendly ritual nurse and, if
you are just joining us, this isepisode four of the Ritual
Nurse Podcast.
If you've been listening alongwith us this entire time,
(00:35):
welcome back, so excited to haveyou.
So today's focus is going to beon the science behind
mindfulness as it relates to itsimpact on resilience.
And I know mindfulness andburnout and not so much
resilience, but I think it'skind of getting there Really
(00:55):
kind of feel like buzzwordssometimes, especially if you're
on websites like LinkedIn orlike nursingcom.
And I don't necessarily thinkthat it's intentional.
I think maybe it might be justthe natural consequences of
social media kind of dilutingthe impact due to oversaturation
(01:17):
.
Maybe I'm not sure.
But today we're going to focuson the science behind it.
In episodes one, two and threewe went through a series of
skill building activities, ifyou will, to focus on building
intentional space for yourselfto begin the process of
(01:39):
debriefing with yourself, kindof like the first step of the
platform really to do somepretty deep inner work and
self-healing and increase yourpersonal resilience.
So if you haven't listened toepisodes one, two and three
already have a listen to them.
Listening to them after youlisten to this one is just fine.
(02:02):
The good thing about the RitualNurse Podcast format is that
it's short form content, so youdon't have to have a bunch of
anxiety or overwhelm in feelinglike, oh man, I have three whole
episodes to catch up on,because the podcast is only
about 30 minutes.
So it's really easy to consumethe material and the short form
(02:26):
content makes it perfect fornursing schedules.
All right, so first, somehousekeeping.
New episodes drop everyWednesday morning.
Those are the regular seriesepisodes.
There are going to be somespecial episodes that drop
intermittently and I haven'tfigured out yet what day of the
week I want to launch those.
(02:47):
So as those start coming up, Iwill let you know ahead of time,
either on our socials or thewebsite or, of course, the
podcast itself, when those aregoing to be dropping.
And definitely, definitely.
I encourage you guys to email meyour stories about your
experiences, your first year ofnursing, and which experience,
(03:14):
basically, you'll never forget,like it was such a core
experience that it reallychanged your nursing, maybe even
changed you.
I'm going to share one in alittle bit.
That happened when I was innursing school.
That actually changed thetrajectory of my nursing.
(03:34):
Yeah, it was really.
It was really impactful.
So email me your stories aboutthat to hello at ritualnursecom.
Or if it's something that youwant to fire off in text or just
have feedback that you want togive me in text, you can use the
unique link that is at the topof the show notes and it's on
(03:56):
all.
It's on Spotify, it's on Apple,wherever you get your podcasts
from, at the top of the shownotes is an included link that
you can click and send us a textmessage.
And then we use the hashtagsheal first, nurse better and
heal thrive nurse on most of ourposts.
(04:16):
So if you guys are sharingcontent or stories or just want
to be included in the communityhashtags, those are two
phenomenal ones that you can use, and also, you know, hashtag
the ritual nurse, of course, aswell.
But that's just some basichousekeeping and make sure you
subscribe and please share withall of the nurses that you know.
(04:40):
The information in thesepodcasts is designed to focus on
the nurse first and nothingelse, and there's not really
much out there content wise.
That's designed to focus on usfirst and foremost and put our
well-being first above anythingelse.
So if you know other nurses,love other nurses which I know
(05:01):
we all do then share thispodcast with them.
Other nurses which I know weall do then share this podcast
with them.
I guarantee that there's goingto be stuff in these podcasts
that impacts their life in justsuch an amazing, incredible way.
So, housekeeping over, I didmention that I was going to, you
know, share a personal antidote.
And so when I was a nursingstudent, you know you go through
(05:26):
your regular clinical rotationsin the different genres,
subject topics, however you wantto phrase it, and we were in
pediatrics at the time and Iactually was able to do a
rotation in the pediatricintensive care unit or PICU, and
I remember gosh, this.
It fundamentally changed thetrajectory of my nursing.
(05:48):
I remember being on the floor.
It was a.
It was a pretty smooth shift atthe time low patient census,
thank goodness.
The nurse that I was assignedto was fabulous, very personable
, compassionate.
They got a notification that atrauma was coming in and I began
(06:09):
to feel apprehensive.
I went to nursing school alittle bit later than some of my
cohort.
I was, I think, about 30, 31when I started, so a little bit
older than the traditionalstudent, I was a single mom and
I had two kids at home and Ibegan to feel a little anxious
(06:31):
knowing that this trauma wascoming in and the trauma that
arrived was an infant I willnever forget.
My mind has kind of blurred outeverything before this
particular memory and everythingafter it, which is a common
(06:52):
occurrence when somethingtraumatic is experienced.
But the memory that I havestarts with me realizing I'm
standing in the middle of thehallway facing this patient's
room.
The way the hallways were itwas kind of like a T
intersection and of course it'sthe PICU.
So the walls of the hospitalrooms are usually glass, you
(07:16):
know, for observation of thepatients, et cetera.
Most ICUs are like that.
I'm looking at this hospital bedwith an infant in the middle of
it and two healthcare providerson either side of the bed
looking down at the patient.
One of them put his hands onhis head, kind of in that body
(07:38):
language position of emotionaloverwhelm or frustration,
perhaps Just a lot of emotion.
The patient wasn't moving.
I didn't know at the time.
I know the story of the patient.
Of course I'm not going to sayanything whatsoever because that
(07:58):
would be HIPAA.
But I didn't realize until thenurse that I was precepting with
gently touched my arm andmotioned for me to you know,
come with her that tears werestreaming down my face.
And if I could share with youthe story of the patient, you
would understand why and theheartbreak behind it.
(08:23):
But that image stands out in mybrain of that little tiny body
laying in the middle of that bed, motionless at the end of that
hallway, and suddenly realizingthat I had been crying enough,
that just soundlessly apparently, that teardrops had dropped on
(08:43):
the top of my scrubs.
And the most unique thing aboutthat, I think, is that when the
nurse, kind of you know,brought me with her to the
nursing station, they also hadtears.
And there was no one, not asingle person, that shamed me,
that made fun of me, that wasirritated at me or that acted
(09:03):
like my display of emotion wasuntoward in any way.
They all felt the same emotionsand were unabashed about it.
And I thought, when I thinkback upon it, that was really
unique, because sometimes it'snot like that on nursing floors.
And the compassion that thesenurses had, not just towards the
(09:29):
patient but towards each otherand towards me as a nursing
student made such a lastingimpact on me.
Now I do have to say that I havenever worked in pediatrics or
PICU or NICU as an ICU nurse.
I've always been on the bigpeople side of it.
I know that it's because I hadthat experience and realized not
(09:52):
because anyone did anythingnegative but I realized this is
not an area that I think I'mequipped to be in.
Emotionally I'm okay with that.
So I have never worked in thelittle people side.
So when I worked in the ER Idid not work on the peds ER side
, I worked in a large enough youknow facility that they had
(10:15):
them separated and triage, wouldyou know, separate peds from
adult ER.
So I have just worked with the,with the big people for
emergency and critical care.
But that memory was a reallyfoundational, core memory and it
revolves around emotionalresponse and physiological
response to the exposure tosecondary trauma.
(10:39):
The psychomedical speak fordescribing the memory that I
just atmospherically, visually,descriptively related to you and
(11:04):
that has a lot to do with howour experience as nurses, and
like the context around us thatsurrounds us every day when we
are nursing, affects us.
I've had other experiences, youknow, of course, along the way
as a nurse that impacted me.
But part of my research, when Istarted focusing on burnout in
nurses, really took a look atthe surroundings.
(11:27):
What specifically was causingthe burnout in nurses that was
then impacting their resilienceand lowering their resilience.
It's kind of a chicken and theegg situation in terms of how
much resilience is present firstand how much resilience is
(11:48):
impacted by continuous exposureas to how the individual nurse
is able to cope with thechallenges and adversity.
So in research I said we'regoing to talk about the science
behind this.
In research, a lot of thecontemporary research that
focuses on resiliency of courseneeds a validated and verified
(12:14):
tool of measurement.
It's not enough to comparequalitative data and qualitative
data is more so the livedexperiences or subjective data
that's collected about the livedexperiences expressed by the
participants in the study.
The quantitative data is themath stuff, the statistics stuff
, that kind of thing, andneither data is more important
(12:38):
than the other.
That's not what I'm driving atand neither data is more
important than the other.
That's not what I'm driving at,it's just more so how the data
is used in an analytical senseand what the purpose of or what
the focus of the research is atthe time and a lot of their
studies on resilience use a toolcalled the Connor-Davidson
Resilience Scale.
Now, the Connor-DavidsonResilience Scale was developed
(12:59):
by Dr Catherine Connor and DrJonathan Davidson.
Dr Connor is a psychiatrist andresearcher at Duke University
Medical Center in North Carolina.
Her research heavily involveslooking at stress, social
anxiety, broad anxiety andresilience itself.
Dr Davidson is a professoremeritus of psychiatry and
(13:23):
behavioral science, also at DukeUniversity, and his studies
focused heavily on PTSD as wellas a host of other psychiatric
topics.
However, right now we aregetting close to our 15 minute
break point.
So when we come back from breakwe are gonna talk about what
the data actually showed in theresearch from using that tool
(13:45):
and more of the science behindwhat we're doing and why it
works.
So if you, as a nurse, are onthe clock and you are headed
back from a break, have a greatrest of your shift and if you're
on lunch, then continuelistening with us and enjoying
the rest of the podcast.
Otherwise, we will see you whenyou get back or on the commute.
(14:09):
All right, welcome back.
So what did the data show inthe research?
Well, when they looked at theConnor Davidson resilience
scales before and after, thenurses did the mindfulness
techniques and develop the skillsets, they found an absolute
(14:33):
increase and I don't meanabsolute as in a mathematical
sense, but I mean a legitimatedata bump and increase in
resilience in the nurses thatwere participating in the
program.
Now, there's a reason for this,because there's science behind
why things like the break roombreath work, which is what we're
calling the two differentbreath methods that we went over
(14:55):
in episodes two and three, orlike the 30 second body scan
there's reasons why that works.
So when we are exposed totrauma, our body kicks into our
sympathetic nervous system,which will release
catecholamines like epinephrineand norepinephrine, raises our
heart rates, raises our cortisollevels, and doing breath work
(15:18):
and doing mindful, likeintentional 30 second body scans
, actually activates theparasympathetic nervous system
intentionally and in doing sothat lowers the amount of
catecholamines, lowers thecortisol levels, it can
stimulate the vagus nerve andthat will slow down our heart
(15:41):
rate.
We are oxygenating better.
There's something interestingabout the breath work.
You'll notice that in thebreath work there's different
periods of holding your breath.
Now the increase in carbondioxide actually lowers the
heart rate also, so you'rereally creating kind of a
positive feedback loop in acalming sense instead of a
(16:04):
stimulating sense.
So there's medical sciencebehind why these techniques work
, and research shows thatthere's absolutely improvement
in using these techniques.
On resilience itself, now, someof the components that make up
resilience are really unique,and if you understand the
(16:27):
components, I think you'll beable to understand why having
increased resilience is reallyimportant.
So some of the components thatmake up our resiliency are our
ability to adapt, to change, ourability to deal with adversity
that comes along or unexpectedchanges that come along, our
(16:47):
ability to cope with stress, ourability to stay focused and
think clearly, our ability tonot get discouraged in the face
of failure, our ability tohandle unpleasant feelings like
anger, pain, sadness, even fear.
And, of course, when we'retalking about the ability to
adapt or cope or handle or tostay focused, we're talking
(17:09):
about utilizing these abilitieswithin the context of exposure
to trauma, or secondary traumaor stress, and so, or secondary
trauma or stress, and soresilience, when you think about
all these components, is reallya life skill, and for nurses,
for healthcare providers, reallyacross the board.
(17:30):
Our jobs involve a consistentand pretty constant application
of stressful, sometimestraumatic, sometimes constant
exposure to secondary trauma incontext of our surroundings.
So having resilience is verynecessary, both on a
(17:51):
psychological and aphysiological level, to thrive
in your chosen profession andnot have it negatively affect
your health, negatively affectyour psyche, your emotional
state, your mental health.
So increased resilience isdefinitely something that I hope
(18:12):
research continues to develop.
I hope research continues tofind more useful methods and
tangible methods for people inall types of situations to
utilize the skill sets andpractice.
But until then, we're going touse what evidence-based practice
(18:32):
has shown us works very well.
If you haven't listened to theother episodes, I encourage you
to go do so, because thefoundational building of skill
sets that we did in those threeepisodes really set a great
framework for creatingintentional space for learning
how to do breath work and forlearning how to do that body
(18:55):
scan.
You become more self-aware andit becomes muscle memory for you
to be able to do theseexercises and figure out your
emotional and physiologicalresponse in the context of the
events surrounding you, of thescience behind why these things
(19:24):
work and the science onresilience showing that
implementing these things work.
If you have more questions,feedback, especially stories of
using, like the break room,breath work or maybe a 30 second
body scan and how did it changeyour response to the event that
you were facing.
Send them to me.
I am not going to use them inresearch, I just want to hear
(19:44):
your experiences and how wellit's working for you.
If there's things that youwould add or take away from you,
can send those to hello atritualnursecom.
Now we're going to get into, ofcourse, our favorite segment and
I have to grab the cards overhere.
So our featured beverage iskind of a well, I mean, I think
(20:06):
it's kind of funny and aproposfor the moment.
I'm sure many of you have beendealing with a lot of upper
respiratory infections lately.
I know one hit our householdpretty hard.
So featured beverage forepisode four is going to be
(20:28):
let's say, it's a certain kindof tea made by a company that
has mint and honey and steamedlemonade and two different kinds
of tea.
So there's a mint tea and whatused to be kind of like a peach
or fruit based tea.
They don't use that tea anymore.
However, if you're going toduplicate this beverage at home
(20:50):
and actually now that I thinkabout it, it's not even on their
menu, so I can just say thewords but if you're going to
make medicine ball tea at home,you're going to want to take
your favorite lemon, citrus orstone fruit tea and you're going
to want to take your favoritelemon, citrus or stone fruit tea
and you're going to want tocombine it with a really strong
mint tea.
So I'd say two of the mint andone of the fruit and brew a good
16 ounces of hot water.
(21:11):
You're not going to use thatfull amount.
You're going to use about eightounces of hot water and about
eight ounces of steamed orheated lemonade.
Or you could use the 16 ouncesof hot water mix in a good two
tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.
And then you're going to wantto add a pretty hefty serving of
either honey or agave forsoothing the bronchial tract in
(21:33):
your throat.
But this tea is a go-to for meanytime that I sense I have any
kind of upper respiratoryinfection, head cold, stuffy
nose or I start feeling one comeon.
The combination of the mint andthe sweet and the citrus and
the fruit just seems to do thetrick.
I'm not sure why, but that isdefinitely the featured beverage
(21:55):
for this episode.
For the crystal of the week,again, I'm going to use the
crystal oracle deck calledCrystal Portal from Moonstruck
Crystals.
If you look at our socialsyou'll see pictures of the deck
itself and I, like I mentionedlast week, tag the creator, but
this is the perfect way tofigure out what our crystal is
(22:17):
for the week.
So let's see what we come upwith for this week.
It's going to be interestingbecause this topic and one came
flying out, and it is aquamarine.
Oh gosh, this image isbeautiful for serenity.
So let's see what aquamarinehas to cover the cards, and the
(22:41):
foiling on the cards is justgorgeous.
So the aquamarine card calledserenity is calmness and wisdom.
So this card invites you toembody tranquility and find
solace in moments of stillness.
There is a whale on the cardand it symbolizes emotional
(23:03):
depth and wisdom and the powerof introspection.
So embrace this moment ofserenity to release stress, find
inner peace and reconnect withyour inner wisdom.
Allow the gentle energy ofaquamarine and the soothing
presence of the whale to guideyou towards a state of deep
relaxation and emotional balance.
So it's again reminding you todive deep within yourself to
find the serenity that residesat your core.
(23:24):
Love it.
So, aquamarine, those areabsolutely beautiful stones.
I do believe that they are abirthstone.
Heck, it might even actually bemy birthstone as a March Aries
and for our tarot poll.
Let's see what we have for ourtarot poll.
(23:46):
I have so much fun doing thissegment.
I may have to do like a specialsegment on a full reading.
I don't know if I don't know,you guys are going to have to
let me know in the show feedbackor the show comments.
People have been commenting onSpotify and Apple podcasts.
You guys are gonna have to letme know if you would want just a
(24:07):
standalone segment.
Occasionally that is just afull read of some kind.
But let's see what our tarotcard, our divination, is for
this week.
Nothing is jumping out at themoment.
So we have the four of pentaclesand the crystal is actually
(24:31):
hidden knight.
And hidden knight is not atypical crystal that I am
familiar with.
Actually, I know people thatknow me.
It looks like I have all of thecrystals, like all and every
single one of them, but Ipromise I don't possible
challenge accepted.
I don't know.
(24:51):
We'll have to see, uh, how manyare out there and how many I
don't have and just how manybookshelves I need to build to
get them.
So, hidden knight, this isabout control.
So balance and gratitude andhealing.
The four of pentacles usuallyindicates having a scarcity
(25:11):
mindset.
You may be clinging on to everysingle penny in fear that you
may lose it all, or you may bestruggling with your finances.
Focus on finding a healthybalance of spending and saving
and remember to practicegratitude.
A scarcity mindset is actuallysomething that is heavily
connected to stress and anxietyand trauma.
Go figure, a scarcity mindsetis based on the thinking that
(25:37):
people focus on the scarcity ofsomething and it causes fear or
anxiety and when it comes tonursing, a lot of times, one
thing that can cause us a lot offear and anxiety is the focus
on the lack of resources or thelack of staffing.
Now, I do know, you know thedivinatory meaning did say you
(25:59):
know, remember to practicegratitude.
I'm not here to tell you to begrateful for pizza or whatever
else might be provided.
What I am here to do is to tellyou to focus on the resources
that you have for maintainingyour own health and wellness and
(26:21):
well-being and the boundariesthat you have that are included
in those resources when it comesto, perhaps, the scarcity of
staffing or the scarcity ofresources, and not be not afraid
to set those limits andmaintain those boundaries and
focus on the things that you cancontrol and not so much the
(26:45):
things that you can't control.
That will just increase stressand anxiety.
But that is our coffee crystalsand divination segment for the
week.
Very interesting one.
Really.
Like the reminder in terms ofbringing up the scarcity mindset
.
If you guys have any feedbackregarding a scarcity mindset in
(27:08):
nursing and how that may or maynot have affected you, I'd love
to hear it.
Don't forget to subscribe,follow, definitely, definitely,
share with any and all nursesthat you know.
I was super excited, speakingof which, when I looked at my
(27:28):
podcast statistics and realizedthat we are now we're
approaching 200 downloads injust like the first what?
18 or so days, actually noteven that 16 days of being
launched.
It's super exciting because weare currently in I'm looking
right now, let's see.
So we are in 43 differentcities around the world, and we
(27:51):
are in 43 different citiesaround the world, and we are in
10 different countries andterritories around the world as
well.
I cannot begin to tell you howexcited I am about that and to
encourage you to keep sharingwith as many nurses as you know.
Thank you so much for listeningto this podcast.
(28:13):
Take care of yourselves.
Take care of yourselves first.
Don't be afraid to putyourselves first, because you
deserve it and I love your faces.
This is your Ritual Nurse, reva.
Thanks for tuning in to theRitual Nurse podcast.
You can find us wherever youlisten to podcasts, so don't
forget to subscribe and stayconnected For all our social
(28:36):
links free education classes,blogs and podcast notes with
resources.
Head over to tcthorg.
Until next time, love yourfaces.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!