Homeopath

Story captured while on a gondola ride up the mountain in Whisler, BC.


Gondola and chairlift lines at major ski resorts typically have a singles line, which is a line that moves faster than the line with people standing in groups. By standing in this line, you get placed in a lift that is filled with people you don't know. On one particular ride up the mountain, I found myself listening in on a conversation with a lady sitting across the gondola from me. Typically I would respect her privacy, but we were in a very tight enclosure for a decent period of time and she was talking about remedies, which to me sounded interesting. She was talking on the phone to a friend whose son had come down with a fever. She was recommending that her friend give the son two remedies to cure his illness, before trying Tylenol. The remedies were meant to be given once every hour. Her friend had a lot of questions it seemed since the lady across from me was having to re-explain over and over again the instructions.

She later informed me that she was a homeopath, which I had never heard of before. It is an alternative medicine that is made of diluted substances usually found in a healthy person's body. More information on homeopathy can be found on Wikipedia. I found it interesting to hear this conversation considering the different language and medications I am used to in the modern medicine world. I'm interested to read more about this form of medicine, although it is highly controversial to modern day scientists.

Nursing in Canada

Written from an airplane on route to Baltimore, returning from British Columbia.


While visiting my dad in British Columbia over the long weekend, I ran into (quite blatantly) a possible topic of interest. We were driving through downtown Vancouver when we heard an ambulance in the distance, quickly approaching. While pulling to the side of the road to allow it to pass, we realized we were stopped directly across from a hospital. St. Paul's, a hospital that is housed in an old stone building built in 1894 (the hospital has since expanded). It made me curious to research what life is like for Canadian nurses. Since Canada has a completely different healthcare system, nurses hold a government position, and all citizens are given public insurance rather than privatized individual plans. So, here is a brief summary of statistics I discovered after further research (all done on British Columbia, in particular, since each province holds separate rules and regulations):

• The salary is generally higher than most average nursing wages in the United States. For British Columbia, the set salary for New Grad Nurses is Canadian $30.79/ hour with a $0.70/hourly evening differential, $3.50/hourly night differential, and $2.00/hourly weekend differential. For every 1879.2 hours worked, you increase a step until the final ninth step which leads to Canadian $40.42/hourly.
• You are required to have a bachelors degree for nursing entry-to-practice (usually 4 years in Canada as well, although they do offer 2 year condensed programs in some places), although it is different in Quebec, where diplomas are still offered in some locations.
• You are given the option of 19 specialty areas and must take a focused/ individualized test for that focused area of study.
• Nurses are given more independence than in many other countries. Nurses are expected to fulfill the role of educator, manager (of disease processes), appropriateness of research implementation on patients, and much more. In fact, in Northern Canada, Community Centers are led by RN's.
• There is currently a nursing shortage in Canada and is prospected to remain that way for the next few years (especially in focused areas like the ER, OR, or Critical Care).
• Licensing for nursing is not done nationally in Canada, but rather in the a certain province or territory.
• To become a registered nurse, you must pass the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination (except in Quebec which has it's own exam)
• In order to work in Canada with a Bachelor's degree in America, one must first get a working Canadian Visa, whose application usually requires an offer of employment prior to submission.
• It is highly valued for a nurse applying for a job in Canada (especially Quebec) to speak both French and English, at the conversational levels. 
• Hours are similar to the hours of nurses in the US, although, working for a union allows less flexibility with certain hours worked and does not allow the nurse to create her own schedule necessarily.
• The ration of practicing RN's to the Canadian population is 1 nurse for ever 136 Canadians.

Wages
CNA
Canadian Nurse Complaints (however keep in mind this article was written in 2002).

Sometimes It Takes Getting Above the Clouds

Written from a plane en route to Vancouver from Baltimore.


"Mindfulness" is a concept and ritual that is important to practice. I'm reading a book titled Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This book talks a lot about the Buddhist mindset of being in the present and fully embracing each moment. In the fast paced world we live in today it can be difficult to appreciate each present happening, and easy to forget to notice what is going on and the good in it. It is not necessarily a religious concept, and nor is it being forced, by any means, upon anyone as a religious coercion. It is simply a means of appreciating life. We are often in a bustling fog, with our focus on what has happened before and what we are looking forward to. The question the book challenges us to avoid asking ourselves is the "now what" and instead seeing the importance and significance of what is now.

I am by no means the master of this, but rather passing on the knowledge that I am learning to work with. I think "mindfulness" can be used often to help nurses excel at their profession. I was speaking with a nurse on my floor last week about how easy it can be to lose sight of the good nursing provides, for both the patients and the nurses. The rewards aren't always visible or present. One thing one of the nurses shared with me that stuck came shortly after we had exited a patients room. This particular patient had just shared his graciousness by thanking us in advance for "all the help he is confident he will receive for the duration of the day. You two are very sweet for checking on me."

We had, before entering, just visited with a patient who was very demanding and unhappy with their care. The nurse turned to me and said "see the difference. You have to hold on to the moments like these, to remember all the good we are capable of giving," referring to the second visit. And she is right. The few jobs that provide the employees to nurture their clients, and to heal them, are the few jobs that allow us to pause in certain moments to simply appreciate the good in human nature.

So, I would consider giving mindfulness a portion of your every day routine or ritual. Without it you may not notice the difference you make in someone's day, or the difference they make in yours. It is important to have a grasp on your importance in the world and to be satisfied with that role.




Good is a term I am using to describe any act done by somebody for the benefit of someone else, or just out of kindness.