Digital Doorway

The Moon and The Lake

2009-11-30T20:13:00.002-05:00

Deep in the hills of southern Virginia, I stand on a small dock that rests on the still waters of a small lake adjacent to the campground where we are currently staying during this phase of our journey around the country.

The water of the lake is absolutely still, the air is chilly, and the full moon itself seems to move quickly through the sky above me, even though I know that it's the low-flying clouds that are actually moving, not the moon.

I picture the clouds as representations of the thoughts that constantly swirl through my head, and the stillness of the surface of the lake represents the nature of my mind, or how I am told my mind should be. Those clouds are simply brief interruptions of the clarity of the sky above them, and the sky remains as vast and deep and unperturbed as always, no matter how many clouds pass over its wide-eyed screen.

As the clouds pass overhead, they are very clearly reflected on the surface of the dark lake, as in the placid face of the large white moon. The reflections of the clouds are no more real than my many disturbing thoughts, but I seem unable to distinguish between the real and the unreal.

I know the reflections in the water are simply reflections, just as I should know that my thoughts are only thoughts and nothing more. Why do my thoughts so easily disturb my peace of mind? Why do the clouds that pass across the surface of my inner lake so quickly cause ripples and waves that easily throw me off course?

My undisciplined mind yearns for clarity, its surface so frequently disturbed from within and without. That lake, so calmly reflecting the moon and clouds above it, knows nothing of worry, of anxiety, of rumination. Would that my mind could learn the lesson taught by the stillness of that clear, cold lake and the vast sky above it.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T10:25:00.003-05:00

Dear Readers,

On this day of Thanksgiving, I am sending my heartfelt wishes for a wonderful day, whether you are with friends, family, at work, at play, or on the road. This is indeed a day to reflect on our blessings, and I will certainly take the opportunity to reflect on the many things for which I am personally grateful.

We are currently in southern Maryland, making our way south on our round-the-country journey. I know that Digital Doorway has been somewhat quiet of late, and I hope to bring more life here as our journey continues on.

Thank you for stopping by, and many blessings on you and yours, now and always.

Recovering From the Shock Of Suicide

2009-11-17T17:47:00.004-05:00

Losing a close friend to suicide is like having the fabric of one's life torn open without warning. It is a shocking loss, a bitter and horrific loss. What could be more disruptive to the normal trajectory of life?

Having lost a friend to homicide (by police) in 2001 and now a friend to suicide in 2009, there is a continuum of grief and mourning along which I continue to travel. Ironically, it is only quite recently that I feel I've made significant progress in accepting and coming to terms with my friend's 2001 murder, so perhaps I have been handed this newest challenge in order to further sharpen my skills of recovery.

Suicide, that most self-centered of acts, removes a person's physical presence in a sudden, unexpected and brutal way. This self-inflicted disappearance sends ripples---or perhaps shockwaves---throughout multiple communities and layers of relationships, and each individual impacted by the news must grapple with their own messy constellation of feelings, be it guilt, remorse, anger, disbelief, shock, or any number of normal reactions in reaction to an abnormal circumstance.

For myself, I question what I said or didn't say, what I did or didn't do, the invitations not offered, the times I gave up or pulled back. I used the word "brutal" in the previous paragraph for a reason, in order to more fully illustrate the painful significance of a suicide in relation to those left behind. It is indeed a brutal reality when the phone rings and the news that a close friend has taken his own life is communicated across the ethers. It is gut-wrenching and maddeningly brutal, a harsh slap in the face, an iron fist to the solar plexus. It is exhausting.

For those of us left in the wake of suicide, it is a process of recovery and acceptance, and we do what we can to make it through the days in the wake of unwelcome news that painfully and irrevocably changes our lives.

The Dance of Sudden Loss and Grief

2009-11-14T19:49:00.004-05:00

Today I am reeling from devastating news of the sudden and tragic death of a very dear friend. Death frequently seems to visit when least expected, and this lack of ability to prepare for loss is one of the factors that can make it so difficult to cope when death pays a call.

Eight years ago, another dear friend died unjustly at the hands of the police, followed by the death of my great-aunt, my beloved dog, and my step-father. Digesting this recent history, one of my personal themes for the majority of the last decade has been recovery from grief and traumatic loss.

Now with another friend suddenly gone, the list of losses suffered over this last decade has lengthened, and my personal resiliency vis-a-vis grief and loss is challenged once again. In one respect, I am at a loss for words, but on the other hand I have a deep need to reach out across the ethers and ask for support and prayers.

Death has visited our house, and we dance the dance of grief once again.

What Next?

2009-11-11T22:02:00.004-05:00

Being on the road, not working and simply traveling, I wonder what will become of my identity as a nurse and a health care provider. While I still introduce myself as a nurse, I begin to wonder to myself just what that means exactly. Am I a nurse because I think like one? Is it the tattered license in my wallet? Or is it the fourteen years of experience that simply make it so? Is my "nurseness" still intact when on sabbatical, or does it take a back seat to my basic humanity?

These days of living on the road with my wife and dog as peripatetic travelers is beginning to challenge even my own self-perception of who I really am. An enormous part of my identity has been wrapped up in being a nurse for more than a decade now, and as we embrace the open road and all it has to offer, that very identity is shaken to the core. Still, it's a comfort to have both a vocation and a calling that serve both my sense of identity and my ability to be economically stable.

For now, we travel the highways and byways of the United States, and I will eventually christen my work as a health and wellness coach, taking my work as a nurse to a new level of novelty and service. Til then, my "nurseness" is simply a state of mind!

When Calamity Strikes

2009-11-06T18:33:00.006-05:00

Well, experience demonstrates again and again that even when one is "off duty" as a nurse or medical professional, one's training can kick into gear at any moment.

Today, I was placidly sitting in my cousin's living room with my laptop. Knowing that there were several roofers crawling around above our heads, some modicum of loud sounds was not unexpected. However, when a series of crashes occurred in a space of several seconds, I looked up to witness a body falling rapidly through space towards the ground past the window opposite the couch where I was seated.

With my wife yelling for help and my cousin calling 911, we ran to the back yard to find a roofer who had fallen from the second floor level, bouncing off of the roof of the dining room and the deck before landing on the ground.

It was quite a scene, and it was indeed gratifying to be able to quickly assess his injuries and level of consciousness, cajole him not to move a muscle, and determine that he could safely wait for the ambulance to arrive.

Luckily, he sustained no major injuries and was treated and released from the emergency room within several hours. Every time I respond to an event of this kind (like car accidents), I realize that I should really undergo a refresher course in First Aid and emergency medical response. However, my nursing assessment skills did indeed come in handy, and I was happy to be of service, however limited my abilities.

Photo by Mary Rives

Chemicals are Everywhere

2009-11-03T09:32:00.005-05:00

How does one stay healthy while living in a world saturated with chemicals, especially when one is chemically sensitive? People walk around bathed in clouds of laundry detergent and dryer sheets, and the canaries among us---myself included---suffer the consequences.

Perfumes, scented candles, deodorants, laundry products, household cleaning products, the list goes on and on.

My wife and I are working hard to heal ourselves from chemical sensitivity, but when one of the best ways to heal is avoidance of the offending substances, we are challenged to find a way to truly save ourselves from the ill effects of exposure.

Still, we do not sequester ourselves, and we strike out into the world with hopes of healing, connection and community. There are many ways in which chemical sensitivity has limited our lives and negatively impacted our social connections, but now that we are traveling and living on the road, we simply put our best foot forward, hope for the best, protect ourselves as best we can, and consider ourselves lucky to have such freedom of movement and direction, sensitivities be damned!

The Peripatetic Nurse is on the Road

2009-11-01T17:24:00.003-05:00

Dear Readers,

My wife and I are now on the road, making our way down the East Coast towards the warmer weather. Our travel blog, Mary's and Keith's Excellent Adventure, is becoming increasingly robust with photos, videos and tales from the road.

Our new lifestyle poses many exciting challenges and novel experiences, one of which is health care. While we still have health insurance from my old job until November 30th, the next step will be securing (at least) minimal catastrophic coverage from that date forward, and then making sure we take very good care of ourselves while we travel. Good nutrition, exercise, high quality supplements and a plethora of fresh air are undoubtedly part of our personal health prescription.

I will be reporting on our health challenges and successes along the way, and hope to talk to other full-time RV'ers to see how they handle health on the road (although many full-timers are retired and relatively secure with Medicare coverage).

Stay tuned, and please visit our travel blog for further updates!

A Hallowe'en Change of Shift

2009-10-30T22:59:00.001-04:00

A thrilling edition of Change of Shift is up at Reality Rounds.....Enter if you dare.....

Our Imprisoned Splendor

2009-10-24T20:51:00.007-04:00

The following quote by Sogyal Rinpoche truly speaks to me right now:

"The quality of life in the realm of the gods may look superior to our own, yet the masters tell us that human life is infinitely more valuable. Why? Because of the very fact that we have the awareness and intelligence that are the raw materials for enlightenment, and because the very suffering that pervades this human realm is itself the spur to spiritual transformation.

"Pain, grief, loss, and ceaseless frustration of every kind are there for a very real and dramatic purpose: to wake us up, to enable, almost to force us to break out of the cycle of samsara and so release our imprisoned splendor."

What is this imprisoned splendor? Why do so many of us lose touch with it? When do we lose it and how do some regain it while others remain disconnected from it?

Life circumstance, trauma, socioeconomic hardship, immeasurable suffering---some individuals are born to lives which subject them to such hardship that they lose the wherewithal to connect with their birthright of ineffable joy. One need only consider countries littered with landmines, countries at war for generations, the disenfranchised, the destitute, the disdained. Suffering is everywhere.

So, when we personally have an opportunity to connect with our own imprisoned splendor and joy, do we jump at the chance to do so, or do we avoid the opportunity out of guilt or feelings of unworthiness? How much extra pain do we cause ourselves in the process as we deny ourselves the joy we deserve?

Yes, suffering is universal, and awakening from the grip of suffering is a privilege for which so few of us are grateful, and which even fewer of us readily embrace.

Saying "Adios" to My Hispanic Mother

2009-10-22T00:06:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I visited an elderly woman for whom I served as visiting nurse about a decade ago, and with whom I have maintained a sweet connection for years. We have kept in touch throughout the years, and although I no longer work in the city where she lives (about 45 minutes south), we talk periodically and I visit when I can. I had already explained to her that my wife and I have sold our house and are going traveling for the foreseeable future, and the need for a last visit was too strong to ignore or postpone until it was too late.

A Puerto Rican woman about the same age as my mother, she likes to joke that she is my "Hispanic Mother", and for all intents and purposes, it's true. Obese and disabled, she keeps more than a dozen birds in various cages in her small apartment, and several of them are regularly perched on her shoulder (or on top of her head), eating sunflower seeds right from her lips. Her apartment is filled with knick-knacks (some of which I am guilty of giving her, I must admit), and our visit was punctuated with screams and applause as "The Price is Right" played loudly on the TV.

Although maintaining long-term relationships with former patients can be tricky in terms of personal boundaries, this friendship has been consistently special and it has only been occasionally burdensome to maintain. Our connection is intimate and sweet, and there was just no way I could leave the area without a proper "adios".

After an hour visit, we realized that it was time to say goodbye, and we hugged and kissed each other on the cheek repeatedly. After our second hug, both of our faces were wet with tears, and she held both my hands in hers as she gave me her abundant blessings for a long life, a joyful and wonderful journey with my wife and my dog, and she thanked me from the bottom of her heart for my friendship over the years.

I left the stuffy apartment and emerged into the bright October day, stopping under a resplendent tree bedecked in autumnal yellow. My heart was filled with love, tears streaming down my face, and I gave thanks for the heartfelt and soulful connections that being a nurse has provided me over the years.

As we prepare to leave this area where we've lived for seventeen years, there will be more tearful goodbyes. My "Hispanic Mother" is one who evoked very deep and bittersweet tears, and I have no doubt there will be more to come as we draw nearer to our very imminent departure.

The Direction of Digital Doorway

2009-10-21T14:56:00.000-04:00

Since I have left my position as a Public Health Nurse and am currently not employed as a nurse, the general direction of Digital Doorway's "editorial trajectory" is now in question. Whereas I have indeed for the most part focused on health, health care, nursing, and the occasional bits of Buddhism, spirituality and frivolity, I can now foresee---at least for the immediate future---that nursing, per se, will not necessarily continue to be the focus of my writing here.

As my wife and I embark on our cross-country sojourn and North American Laughter Yoga Tour in search of community, adventure, right livelihood and peace of mind, we will be writing about our process on our travel blog and writing about our Laughter Yoga experiences on our Laughter Yoga blog.

Taking all of these changes and peregrinations into consideration, Digital Doorway, therefore, will be the place where I will process my experience from yet another perspective---that of a nurse on sabbatical from nursing who is in the throes of launching a new business as a Health and Wellness Coach, offering Laughter Yoga as a Laughter Yoga Leader, and pursuing continuing work as a writer.

For those readers who are looking for pure nurse blogging here on Digital Doorway, you may be somewhat disappointed in the months to come. There are plenty of excellent nursing blogs bookmarked on the right-hand column here on DD, and I encourage you to read them regularly with great interest and enthusiasm. Meanwhile, I am interested to see how my writing unfolds as we launch our trip across the country and our worlds expand with life on the open American road.

When it comes to blogging, my "nurseness" is certainly a given, and that nursely lens does indeed inform how I see the world. However, as my wife and I begin to live full-time on the road for the foreseeable future, it remains to be seen how my non-nursely voices begin to make themselves known more strongly. I certainly hope that you, dear Reader, come along for the ride, and I welcome your comments and suggestions!

Change of Shift, Direct From BlogWorld Expo!

2009-10-19T18:27:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to the latest edition of Change of Shift, sent from the BlogWorld/NewMedia Expo in Las Vegas by none other than Change of Shift founder, Kim of Emergiblog.

Taking Leave...Again

2009-10-14T22:05:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is my last day at work. I am leaving behind the local health department, the furor over H1N1, my coworkers, my position as a Public Health Nurse, and the network of professional colleagues that I have created over the last 12 months. My work as a nurse is coming to a temporary close as my wife and I prepare to launch on a cross-country adventure with no fixed end date and the open road ahead of us.

I am so impressed with my public health colleagues, the local school department, and all of the people with whom I have been so lucky to collaborate. H1N1 has been a rallying cry for many disparate entities in towns, schools, and cities across the country and around the world, and the collaborative nature of many of these relationships underscores how professionals from very different areas of expertise and education can work together for a common cause.

I am excited and nervous about how this next stage of life will develop as my wife and I take our Laughter Yoga business on the road and I launch a new professional pursuit as a health and wellness coach. Please stay tuned for updates as I build my new website and officially begin work as a coach, while Digital Doorway continues to be a place where I share my ideas, adventures and thoughts along the way.

Finding the "View"

2009-10-13T13:18:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, amidst the rush and bustle of life, we lose our sense of humor, our perspective, our ability to float above the fray and simply witness our lives. We get caught in the river rather than simply sitting on the bank and watching the tumult. I am as guilty of this lack of consciousness as anyone on the planet, and I so very easily get pulled into the drama of my own mind, losing my perspective and forgetting to call on my "witness self" to see it all for what it is---illusion. The following quote from Sogyal Rinpoche rings very true for me today, and I hope it brings a few readers a moment of quiet self-reflection.

When the teachings “click” for you somewhere deep in your heart and mind, then you really have the View. Whatever difficulties you face, you will find you have some kind of serenity, stability, and understanding, and an internal mechanism—you could call it an “inner transformer”—that works for you, to protect you from falling prey to wrong views. In that View, you will have discovered a “wisdom guide” of your own, always on hand to advise you, support you, and remind you of the truth. Confusion will still arise, that’s only normal, but with a crucial difference: No longer will you focus on it in a blinded and obsessive way, but you will look on it with humor, perspective, and compassion.

Adventure Afoot

2009-10-08T06:20:00.005-04:00

Dear Readers,

For those of you not yet aware, my wife and I are in the midst of radical change in our lives. In six days, we will quit our jobs, leave our New England home of seventeen years, and begin traveling the country via RV in search of adventure and a new home.

This journey will take us down the East Coast via Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the DC are, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, and then across the Gulf Coast through Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. We will then proceed through the southwest US and up the West Coast and beyond.

Along the way, we will be visiting friends, family and intentional communities, always with an eye for a place that feels like home. If you have a suggestion for a place to visit, please let me know!

We will be posting about our experiences on our new travel blog, Mary and Keith's Excellent Adventure, so please consider visiting and becoming a follower of our blog (as well as this one, of course!).

On the road, we will be looking for opportunities to offer Laughter Yoga to workplaces, hospitals, senior centers, cancer centers---and group of people who would like to learn how to laugh for no reason! Our website, Laughter Incorporated, explains Laughter Yoga in detail, and also outlines the services that we offer. Your profesional referrals are welcome, and if we are coming to your town, we just might offer a Laughter Yoga session to you and your friends for a modest fee!

In addition, I will soon be launching a new business as a Health and Wellness Coach, so please stay tuned for an announcement about this exciting development in my professional life.

Thanks for tuning in, and please stay connected with us via Digital Doorway, Keith and Mary's Excellent Adventure, Laughter Incorporated, and last but not least, The Adventures of Bob the Nurse.

Be well and happy!

Arousing Compassion

2009-10-06T05:40:00.000-04:00

One technique for arousing compassion for a person who is suffering is to imagine one of your dearest friends, or someone you really love, in that person’s place.

Imagine your brother or daughter or parent or best friend in the same kind of painful situation. Quite naturally your heart will open, and compassion will awaken in you: What more would you want than to free your loved one from his or her torment? Now take this compassion released in your heart and transfer it to the person who needs your help: You will find that your help is inspired more naturally and that you can direct it more easily.

---Sogyal Rinpoche

Being Present

2009-10-05T20:27:00.003-04:00

This weekend, I spent time with an old friend from my days in Philadelphia (as a young art student in the early 80's). In our time together, we got to talking about the old days, about our lives, our loves, and about what it's like to become middle-aged parents and professionals.

Reflecting on what it means to be successful, talented, and fulfilled, my friend remarked that, for him, at forty-five, it's all about being present. He's a successful artist and cartoonist, a very gifted person, and his statement about being present for life, about noticing and witnessing life, really hit home for me.

How much time do we spend not even being aware of our surroundings? How often do we engage in conversations while simultaneously thinking about the next thing that we need to do or accomplish, the next thing to cross off of our list? We careen through life without even noticing what's in front of our noses.

I'm guilty. I'm the worst. So many moments just pass me by. But as I prepare to jettison my current lifestyle and leap into the void of travel and embracing the unknown, I feel an opening within me, an opening of spontaneity and the embracing of being present, of really savoring the moments that so often slip by.

I am so thankful to my friend for framing this notion of presence so keenly and succinctly. And being present is going to become my modus operandi for the next iteration of my life on the road.

H1N1: Here for the Duration

2009-10-02T19:04:00.007-04:00

As the flu season heats up and the weather cools down, the media are beginning to more frequently report deaths from H1N1 influenza. Although overall influenza-related deaths are still within the expected range for this time of year, there have been 60 pediatric deaths from H1N1 reported to the CDC since April, including 11 this week, and hospitalization rates are indeed higher than normal.

In the public health arena, many of us are wondering just how the public will react to these reports and the growing numbers of children who are ill or dead. While it's true that an average of 36,000 Americans die every year from the flu, the majority of these individuals are usually elderly or otherwise compromised, and if the number of children who die continues to climb, anxiety and fear will rise proportionately.

The government claims that the H1N1 vaccine is safe, and they are urging every pregnant woman and individual between the ages of 6 months and 24 years to be immunized, among others. I have heard projections that only 20% of eligible Americans may actually elect to receive the new vaccine, but I am not certain how accurate that estimate is. When the vaccine begins rolling out to local health departments, schools, medical providers and municipalities next week, it remains to be seen how the public will respond to well-publicized offers of mass vaccination against a novel disease.

Of course, at times like these, the public can react in many ways. A small percentage feel that the government has overreacted, blowing the risks of H1N1 out of proportion. While this could potentially be the case when the book is finally closed on H1N1, there would be even greater consternation if the government underreacted and millions needlessly died. Hurricane Katrina taught a mean lesson when it comes to government negligence, and it appears that the Obama Administration does not want to repeat such a disastrous mistake at a time when the stakes are so high.

Meanwhile, other segments of the population worry and fret over every sneeze and cough, while others simply wait to be told what to do. Most, I feel, are simply watching the headlines, testing the winds with a tentative finger, and biding their time as the situation develops and changes.

So, the reports of deaths continue to roll in, cases are diagnosed daily, and the entire infrastructure of the global community itself is potentially at risk. You can wager any amount of money that massive contingency plans have been made by most every government on earth, contingency plans that focus on how crucial infrastructures can continue to function in the face of widespread illness.

Plans for continuity of operations are now being drafted by hospitals, newspapers, factories, schools, and many companies and organizations that realize the potential for massive disruption if widespread illness should visit their particular organization. Just imagine if you run a high school. What would you do if 50% of your teachers were ill, or 75% of food workers, custodians or bus drivers called in sick? Woe to those who leave their plans undrafted.

The wave of H1N1 is indeed beginning to swell, and just how powerful and far-reaching that swell will become remains to be seen. To be sure, it will be a historic flu season in many ways. Whole economies may be impacted greatly by the disease, schools may be closed, factories may lay idle, and governmental and non-governmental organizations may be crippled by absenteeism and illness. And when it comes to the children, we can only hope that the number of deaths is kept to a bare minimum in the larger scheme of things.

Change of Shift Emerges on Emergiblog

2009-10-01T10:05:00.001-04:00

Change of Shift, the blog carnival where nursing meets the web, has emerged once again on Emergiblog. Stop on over!

Facing the Unknown

2009-09-30T22:19:00.006-04:00

The health care debate seems to be full of unknowns these days. As the arguments over health care reform heat up to the boiling point, the notion of a government-run program raises the hackles of so many people across the spectrum, and cries of socialism are heard across the land. Will our care be rationed? Will grandma be left to die when a bureaucrat decides that she has reached her life expectancy and her surgery is not cost effective based on her age? Misrepresentation and misinformation abounds.

Meanwhile, H1N1 challenges the public health infrastructure, and the availability and distribution of the vaccine poses questions that still cannot be fully answered. And as the manufacturing of that new vaccine is ramped up, seasonal flu vaccine distribution has been slowed to a veritable trickle, confounding the plans of even the most earnest local health department.

Speaking of H1N1, studies now show that many pregnant women and others eligible for the H1N1 vaccine will refuse to receive it, leaving public health officials wondering just who will want it, anyway? In our local circles, many of us are asking the following question: "If we throw an H1N1 party, will anyone come?"

A Replacement Cometh

2009-09-23T19:43:00.003-04:00

Today was the day when we interviewed the four top candidates to replace me in my position as Public Health Nurse. Without disclosing anything specific about the interviews or the interviewees themselves, it was a relief to realize that, yes, there are a number of qualified candidates who are interested in taking my place and assuming all of my responsibilities. Even more encouraging, our #1 choice is available to start on October 1st, which would afford a two-week overlap before I gracefully exit, stage left.

In prior blog posts (see "Stirrings of Nursely Guilt"), I have discussed the feeling of being indispensable as a nurse, carrying my nursing positions like crosses that I alone can bear. That's complete hogwash, of course, and I continue to process the emotions that lay beneath the nursely guilt complex.

Leaving my current position---at a time when the public health infrastructure is facing its greatest challenge in a generation---is truly a test of my personal resolve, and the guilt underscores for me the fact that I truly want to leave my position in qualified and well-prepared hands.

Today, it seems that the capable and qualified hands for which I have been waiting may well be ready to relieve me of my occupational burden (and guilt!), and I am only now beginning to see glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel.

Personally, these are exciting times as my wife and I ready ourselves for the cross-country trip of a lifetime. Wresting ourselves from our occupational shackles is one of the final acts that we must mindfully commit prior to stepping off of the precipice into the Great Unknown. And knowing that we may very well have found the person to whom I can pass the public health torch is a feeling of relief beyond measure. Now, as I wait to hear that the offer of employment has been accepted, I dare not to hold my breath........

Most Famous Nurses in History

2009-09-21T20:57:00.003-04:00

Dear Readers,

Here is a link to a very interesting and informative post on the 25 most famous nurses in history, including a separate section on famous fictional nurses. Of course, they have not yet included Bob the Nurse on such lists, but I intend to make sure that Bob does indeed go down in nursing history!

Finding a Successor

2009-09-20T22:29:00.002-04:00

This week, we will interview four potential successors, intrepid nurses who are willing (and hopefully able) to pick up where I leave off on October 15th. The one who is chosen to take my place will inherit my office, my files, my newly written Public Health Nurse training manual, my many responsibilities, and the certainty that this flu season will be a doozy.

In preparation for my departure, I will continue to write the training manual, purge and organize files, order supplies, and administer as many flu shots as I can before my successor takes over. Now, the problem is that production and distribution of the seasonal flu vaccine is now slowing to a trickle as manufacturers try to cope with the ramped up need for H1N1 vaccine. So, plan as we may, how can we hold successful and far-reaching flu clinics if the flu vaccine is in short supply? Woe to the public health nurse who wants to be ahead of the 8-ball for a change.

So, we prepare, we strategize, and we hope---with multiple fingers crossed---that one of the interviewees is indeed intrepid, ready, willing, and able to pick up the torch and run with it into the crashing waves of flu season.

Change of Shift at Medic 999

2009-09-18T18:07:00.001-04:00

The newest edition of Change of Shift, the famous nursing blog carnival, is up and ready for visiting at Medic 999. Pay a visit!