How To Feel, And Then Do Something Just ... Extraordinary

Have you ever felt too small to make much of a difference?  Like you don’t know enough, have enough resources, are not connected enough to the right people, etc., etc.?  Most people have felt that way at one time of their lives or another.  The difference between people who feel that way and do great things, and those who don’t, is that despite feeling small they persist in taking small steps, one after another, to get where they want to go. 

All those “I’m just a ...” or “I’m only ...” statements our brains come up with are to keep us just where we are — in a familiar place.  It’s not even necessarily a safe place.  But on some level our brains make us think that ‘same’ is safer than ‘different’ — because in different lies the unknown and the unknown is to be feared.  But different is also where exploration begins, where discovery lies and where our ability to create resides.

Working in healthcare for many years both of us heard the “just the” phrase over and over, echoing in hallways, elevators, offices and hospital cafeterias.  Just the Nurse. Just the Physical Therapist, Just the Unit Clerk, Just the Housekeeper, just the other allied staff that was ‘not the Doctor’— the real decision maker — who was looked to for the next action. (Until the Medical Director or Hospital Administrator or Ethics Committee was needed beyond the Doctor, but that’s another story).  And that’s despite the fact that all the while, all kinds of important activities were taking place, advancing things that seemed to go unnoticed because the “just the” observation was being made, mimicked, sometimes said with derision and scorn, mockingly sounded by patients, doctors, even the applicable staff themselves. 

‘Just the nurse,’ or ‘just the fill-in-the-blank for whatever you are,’ is the kind of phrase that keeps you small — even as you do the seemingly small, but exceedingly important steps that literally keep things running. Yes, there is always something else, something bigger to accomplish — someone else to be should you so choose.  But just as more money or more possessions don’t buy more happiness if you don’t know what enough for you is, what is satisfyingly sufficient and makes you feel abundant and wealthy, though, becoming someone else won’t satisfy either until you truly embrace the grandness of who you are and what gifts you already bring to the party.

In light of our theme this issue, let’s look at ‘just the nurse’ for a moment and recognize a few of the seemingly endless important things a nurse might handle in a given day.  From adjusting pillows to compassionately cradling young and old alike, here are a few more examples: 

• Will you get me some pain pills the patient asks? Sure the nurse responds, and then proceeds to examine the patient’s condition for signs of stress and pain. She asks many questions in order to understand what is hurting, what is its character, if the current medication is working or if something new has gone wrong. Vital signs are taken to further evaluate. She gets the pain pill then checks the name and expiration date of the medication, the doctor’s notes to be certain it really has been ordered for this patient. She checks the dose and route of the medication then goes back to re-check the patient’s name with the ID band. She asks again if the patient is allergic to anything. Then she helps the patient sit up to take the pills and settles the patient back into a comfortable position. She returns in thirty minutes to check for adverse reactions because she knows every medication has that potential, and to see if the medicine is working. To do all this, with over eight thousand medications, she has had to learn the major classes of medications and the major adverse reactions of each class. Satisfied the patient is ok, she leaves to let the patient rest because she is, just the nurse. And then she goes on to do this with the other patients under her care and supervision for the day.  
• She holds a cool cloth to the head of a patient while they vomit into a basin. Then she adjusts the weights of a patient in traction to allow for better treatment. She cleans the pins protruding from the patient’s legs where the traction is attached. And, she brings meals to the patient and removes soiled waste pans from the bedside. Time now to assess her patients for blood clots, fevers, coughs and onto change bandages and cleanse wounds. She checks IV sites, catheters for urine and heart monitors, arterial blood pressures, cardiac output, and even brain pressure. She does all this because she is just the nurse. 
• She monitors a patient’s breathing tube and ventilator settings, skin for pressure sores, feet for foot drop or blood clots or loss of circulation, urine for infection, chest for pneumonia, surgical wounds for infection, chest tubes for air leaks, lungs for collapse, heart for fatal rhythms, wound drains and dressings for proper seal and wound healing, blood gasses for proper oxygenation of the blood, abdomen for pain or loss of normal movement. Yes ... she does this because she is, just the nurse.
• Then onto explaining to the family how all the machines work and translating the ‘medical-eze’ into plain language they can understand. She helps them fill out forms, find the bathrooms, find the cafeteria, the lounge, a hotel, a restaurant, a phone to make long distance calls, a pastor. She holds them in her arms, allowing them to cry during the worst moments of their lives. She does this because she is, just the nurse.
• She pumps on the chest of a patient needing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, changes with another nurse so she can administer life saving drugs, monitors the patient’s heartbeat, draws arterial blood gases and then helps the patient breathe.  Monitors the patient’s heart, ventilator, his life while getting the patient ready for transport to the operating room for life saving surgery. She administers blood and medication in route to keep the patient alive. She does this because she is, just the nurse. 
• She makes sure the patient is who he says he is and makes sure which surgery he is there for. She helps monitor the paperwork, marks the correct extremity for the procedure, starts the IV, explains the procedure, and helps transfer the patient to and from the surgery table. Monitors the doctor to make sure all necessary equipment and supplies are at the ready, runs to get drugs, instruments, blood, suture, sponges, and other doctors to assist. She keeps count of every thing that enters or leaves the operating room. She sends surgical samples to the lab, holds the phone to the doctor’s ear so the pathologist can tell the doctor if the tissue is cancerous or not. She recovers the patient, gets them through waking up, shaking, vomiting, breathing treatments, heart monitors, and teaching for eventual discharge to home.  Or she sits with the family while the doctor explains that nothing can be done. She stays with the family to answer questions after the doctor leaves. She holds hands, hugs, gives hope and sometimes cries with her patients. She does this because she is, just the nurse.
• She speaks quietly, comforting her 96 year old patient whose every friend and family member has already died, whose home is gone and whose life is coming to an end. She shuts out the din and chaos of the ER and with the deepest compassion, asks the patient if she is ready to die, assures her it is okay to let go. She holds her hand, prays or meditates with the elderly woman as the spirit carries her to eternal rest. She does this because she is, just the nurse.
  

Indeed, nurses are exceptional people who provide remarkable care during their work, and we’re pleased to pay tribute her to only a small part of that. 

This list exemplifies that there are so are many other folks, in a multitude of professions and work settings, who are likewise extraordinary. One of them is you, depending on how you choose to recognize and apply your gifts. When have you said “I’m just a mechanic, just an artist, just a lawyer, just a cook, just a woman, just a ‘small cog in a big machine’...?” 

How many times have you recounted or even just noticed on a typical day, ALL the many important things you do — even the seemingly small ones — that add up to amazing results particularly in collaboration with others?  All these things, including the ability to collaborate, are important and transferrable skills.  They are among the gifts you may bring to other endeavors and projects outside your immediate work place. 

Think about shifting that ‘just’ to ‘just extraordinary’ by acknowledging to yourself all the things you truly are as a clear and powerful designer-creator in life.  How might you apply that to a magnificent legacy project?  Read on to see what one nurse did.

We’re here to partner with you and help with what you'd truly like to create, and would love to hear what you’re thinking! (EBC & DMG)

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Take A Pivotal First Step

Faith Coleman is a nurse practitioner in Flagler County, Florida — a mother of six with a great education in an important field, an advanced degree and a good job.  But she worked on contract for several doctors, didn’t participate in a health insurance plan through any of them and didn’t get her own individual policy. In July 2003, she discovered how important that can be when she learned she had a malignant tumor growing on her right kidney. It taught her an expensive lesson.  Her treatment cost about $35,000, and to pay for it she had to take out a mortgage on her house.  But she was able to swing that at least, while many simply couldn’t afford health insurance when it meant making a choice between paying rent or a mortgage or to feed and clothe a family.

Fortunately the treatment worked and Coleman's in remission now, but the experience gave her some insight — and the determination to make a difference for others in similar situations who needed access to appropriate medical treatment.  So she took action. 

In 2004, after her recovery, Coleman mustered up her courage and took one pivotal step.  She approached Dr. John Canakaris, a local physician with 60 years of experience who had also been treating the indigent population for years.  In an interview Coleman said she just walked into his office one day and proposed developing a free clinic.  Much to her surprise he said yes. 

Coleman’s idea, determination, courage and first step turned into the Flagler County Free Clinic in Bunnell, Florida, which opened in February of 2005.  It started with eight volunteers treating eight patients.

Now, about 120 volunteers see about 80 patients every other weekend.  The clinic serves uninsured people who meet federal poverty guidelines, providing basic primary care services for people with chronic illnesses.  It is not intended to provide permanent primary medical care, but rather basic, acute, a few emergency services and diagnostic testing for patients without another source of care — and help to find a permanent medical home, whenever possible.  And in the clinic, they’ve uncovered life-threatening illnesses like hers, and have saved lives.

Dr. Canakaris and other physicians donated the building that houses the clinic for use on the weekends and it is free-standing, not affiliated with any of the local hospitals. And as a result of the founders’ efforts, others have showed up to lend a hand.  Private contributions from individuals, churches and the local Rotary Club help support it.  Community physicians have also volunteered their time and services, seeing patients referred by the clinic when needed.  An imaging center contributes by donating two X-rays and two CAT scans per month.  And Coleman asks everyone who has been helped in some way by the clinic to volunteer and give something back — knowing that passing on something of value for the gifts they’ve been given, in any way they can, makes a big difference.

Faith Coleman didn’t know how she was going to do any of this when she started.  She didn’t let being “just a nurse,” or “just one person,” or “just someone with few resources,” or even “just someone with a life-threatening illness” stop her.  Faith Coleman had a passion to make a difference for others, and figured out a way to do it where she was, with what she had.  She knew it was something she truly wanted to do to create a positive impact in an area that meant a lot to her, using the knowledge, talents and community she had. Ultimately, CNN recognized Faith as one of their named Heroes (see their video on her story here), but that’s only icing on the cake and some great publicity.  It’s not what moved her to do it.

What moves you to want to make a difference, and to take one step in that direction. It may be a very pivotal step that leads to many others ... and great things. (DMG)

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Send us an email about someone you know who is living or building a legacy. We’d love to feature their story. Maybe it’s you?!

 

Water Story Made Legacy Waves!

We appreciate the following input about our April 13, 2010 issue.  We love hearing about readers being moved to action because we know how satisfying that can be, and the sorts of legacy level contributions even small actions, first steps, can lead to:

"The [last] Legacy Journal was great timing for me.  Have been interested in the water problem for sometime and recently located the Water For People group in Houston. I want to be a part of bringing people the water they need. Will study the email and perhaps order the book you referenced.  But, most important for me is to take some action.  Thanks.  Your work is inspirational."  (KC, Houston, TX)

If you have feedback, please share it.  And keep us posted on what happens with your involvements!

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