Twice in the past 7 days, the nursing profession has made headlines. The first was regarding a nursing student at Indiana State University. She posted a video to give her opinion surrounding the Beyoncé country music controversy. Click here to see the response from the American Nurses Association.
The second, was the story of a nursing leader being fired from Emory University Hospital after advocating on behalf of the staff after they expressed long standing acts of prejudice against black nurses.
I have never and will never understand the point of racism. I’m befuddled as to what people feel they gain from operating in that manner. It is truly a toxic complex. From a professional standpoint, the presence of these mindsets in the healthcare space are directly responsible for many of the health disparities that are present in the United States. Imagine that…people stay sick or die because we cannot show one another human decency. I just find it tragic.
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.” – Romans 13:8 NASB 2020
“But I tell you that for every careless word that people speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment.” – Matthew 12:36 NASB 2020
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40
I am always amazed with how quickly time passes when you pay it no mind. I hit the road with Zulu (my dog) and spent the past week in New Orleans for the AONL nurse leader conference. Of course, I added on a couple of days to dine and visit with family and friends. If you’ve never been to NOLA, this is the best time of year. Festivals, seafood is plentiful, and the weather isn’t your enemy yet.
I love the networking of professional conferences. I have met some pretty outstanding people from across the country, and the conference gives us time to connect in person. The keynote speakers are always amazing! I most enjoyed Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, CEO of Zipline and journalist/host John Quiñones. One thing that has stuck in the back of my brain is a question asked by Mary Beth Kingston, EVP, Chief Nursing Officer of Advocate Health. She asked the audience if they are in the role they need to be to influence healthcare. I believe many nurse leaders hold the belief they can do more and their impact may actually be stifled by their organization. I think that’s why I recognize this next move for me is critical. Honestly, I’m just not the meet expectations type. I need to be challenged and stretched. That’s something I’ll be thinking about during my job search this week.
I also had the opportunity to hang with my high school sophomore, basketball playing niece, catch up with my favorite Asian, have my favorite eggplant dish, indulge in a daily order of beignets from Cafe du Monde, and celebrate my great-nephew’s third birthday. It was a good trip. On the spiritual front, everything is chill. So, I’ll just “wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and I wait for His word.” Psalms 130:5 NASB 2020.
The plan was always to start looking for a job after Easter. Well, that time has come. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but looking for a job, IS a job! There are so many nuances to the process. Let’s talk about a few…
Application submissions – so many different portals, needing to make accounts, putting in the information that I already attached in my cv/resume because the application isn’t intuitive enough to put it in the right place.
Poor communication/updates – we are currently in a time when HR/T&A has staffing challenges of their own. I had a manager tell me candidates sat pending for over 2 months because she was not notified that they were in her queue. There is no reason for it to take that much time to disposition a candidate. All I could see on my end was In Process. What does that mean exactly anyway???
Hiring manager bias #1- for this in particular, I’m referring to the judgment of a cv/resume. Assumptions are made about who you are and where you want to go in your professional journey based on the paper. This can prevent a candidate from being interviewed or selected for hire. A hiring manager can consume themselves with a candidate’s future plans versus focusing on what the candidate can bring to the table for whatever amount of time they anticipate on being in a role. I would rather hire someone who will give me 200% for 12-24 months and exceeds expectations, than someone who will sit in a role and ALWAYS give me less than 100% and is just an average performer. That’s just me…
Hiring manager bias #2 – someone may neglect to offer you a position simply because your hustle outshines theirs and makes them insecure about their own performance. Having subordinates that perform on the same level (or even below them) means they will not have to face the issue of having to raise their level of performance. Many people get paid to be average and maintain the status quo.
Available postings for unavailable jobs – hiring managers post positions for which they have known candidates all they time. The issue I have is when they keep a position posted and open to the public during the entire process. Have your HR/T&A specialist un-post the job after the obligatory 72hrs. If your known candidate makes an unplanned declination, simply re-post the position.
My problem with all of this is they have no regard for a candidate’s time. As a hiring manager, I never just sat passively and twiddled my thumbs until I received a candidate. I would always follow up with my T&A rep and keep the lines of communication clear about how I was planning to proceed on requisitions. I also gave courtesy communication to any internal candidates that I chose not to interview/hire. I would never want someone to feel devalued because of my actions. I started this practice after listening to nurses talk about what they hated about the hiring process. And honestly, it’s simply disrespectful to send internal candidates generic emails as the only form of communication. Don’t schedule me for an interview to save face and make it look like you interviewed qualified candidates when you were already prepared to hire who you preselected as “the one”. I have an application right now that has been in process since the beginning of November. The hiring manager ended up resigning and never followed up on the requisition with the recruiter. I can tell you right now, if I am offered that job, I will decline 1000%. If that is an indication of how communication (doesn’t) happen in that organization, I have no desire to be employed there.
So, that’s where I am with that. I will say overall, I have my prayers for what I desire for my next position, which includes remaining patient and not anxious during this process. If you find yourself in the same boat as me, I will ask the Lord to cover all who are sharing this experience to my prayer. I will continue to remind myself that He alone is my source; Everything else is a resource. He is all I need! Other than that…
“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” – Proverbs 16:3 NIV
Happy birthday to me! It’s the beginning of chapter 45.
Today is also Good Friday. The day Jesus was crucified on the cross. I will tell you, it makes me extremely emotional. It’s not something I can even give words to…literally indescribable. I am choosing to believe that I am divinely loved, so deeply. The Son of Man gave his life for me to have the opportunity to remain in relationship with the Father, in this life and in eternal life. I have been reflecting all week on this sacrifice. There are more times than I can count that I’ve received healing, provision, grace, spiritual covering, mercy, and unconditional love. And in the end, all it boils down to is love. That’s why we sing, “Jesus went to Calvary to save a wretch like you and me. That’s love!” It inherently moves me to show love to others in the manner it was shown to me. And by others, I mean ER’BODY…believers or not!
“Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:3 NASB 2020
Happy Good Friday to all who believe! Even the centurions knew, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54 NASB 2020). We are not dismayed, because when Sunday came #HEGOTUP!
In my Gardening 101 post, I referred to a book I received as a gift. When I left my job, one of the employees gave me devotional called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It is a 365 day devotional and something I have committed to doing daily in hopes of hearing a word or being moved by the Holy Spirit to do something I need to do for each day. Today’s devotion was about gratitude.
Shabnam Mogharabi help founded the media company SoulPancake. Their videos are designed to invoke positivity of the human experience. Shabnam was a keynote speaker at the American Organization for Nursing Leadership 2022 annual conference. She spoke to us about focusing on joy and shared The Joy Toolkit: #1 Express Gratitude.
It is easy to think we might be good at expressing gratitude, but are we really? How many times a day do we take for granted that someone has to do a particular something or behave a certain way? After I heard this message, I became very intentional about expressing gratitude. This led to a genuine feeling of gratefulness. I even started telling my staff (especially on hard days), “Thank you for being here and giving great care to our patients today!” The truth is, they didn’t have to show up. And if they didn’t show up, or did a crappy job, that would be additional stress on my plate. I truly was grateful!
I have worked to cultivate an attitude of gratefulness for things seen and unseen. Expressing gratitude has moved me towards this unconditional state of gratefulness. It brings to light God’s never-ending mercies and grace towards me. It has diminished the selfish expectations I had hiding in my heart. Being intentional about gratitude allows me to see God in every circumstance; His character and His love. In this process, I have found my growth in obedience with assent for the law of love. When it comes to our relationships with others, we can underestimate the power of expressing gratitude. Who do you need to show gratitude to today? Be sure to articulate the why, so they are in the know and can potentially repeat the action/behavior for someone else.
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18
It is officially one week until my birthday. My typical birthday antics almost always include a light sand, clear blue water beach. Since I went to the Bahamas with my sister last month and will be spending some time in NOLA after my birthday, I decided I should keep it low this year. My plan is to have a nice lunch at my house with my people before heading to rehearsal. My birthday falls on Good Friday. That’s one way to keep me Near the Cross : )
All of the music ministry is heavily involved in the Easter production at church. There will be four performances. If you are in the DFW area, please join us next weekend! The Easter Sunday 11am service will be broadcast on the OCBF YouTube channel.
”You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” – John 12:8 NIV
It’s the first day of spring! I love springtime for sooooo many reasons…
my birthday
Resurrection Sunday
crawfish season
best travel weather
tulip blooms
the arboretum comes alive
festivals, festivals, festivals!
sno-balls
sandals
sunshine makes colored hair brighter
Nurses Week!
dip in the electric bill
I think that hits the highlights. I’ve always felt the kickoff for spring is the perfect time to really get in and sow the seeds we want to grow. What are you planting in the garden of your heart this spring? What type of fruit/harvest are you expecting? Be intentional! After we are done, “He will open the flood gates of heaven and let it rain,” making the harvest exceeding, abundantly more than we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20 NASB 2020).
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” – Galatians 5:22-23 NASB 2020
Sure as the sky is blue, a Monday morning always held some level of drama for me as a nurse manager. Whether it was something left over from Friday evening, the weekend, or first thing that morning, Mondays were never without issue. Needless to say, I did not hold enthusiasm for Monday mornings. This morning, after thanking God for another day and completing the YouVersion verse of the day, I flipped through my socials. A picture caught my attention on LinkedIn. It said, “You don’t need a NEW YEAR to make a change, all you need is MONDAY.” Not sure who the original credit belongs to, but I took it as the person posting was attempting to turn Monday into something positive. I can dig it.
A word landed on my heart. “The LORD’s acts of mercy indeed do not end, for His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” – Lamentations 3:22-23 NASB 2020. We don’t need to wait until Monday to start anew. This passage is a reminder that His love is steadfast and neverending. We can be assured that no matter what we have done or will do, our God is merciful and withholds the punishment we often deserve because of the love He has for us.
Do you think you need a fresh start? Is your life in limbo? Would you like to forget about the past and start with a clean slate? Whether or not you feel worthy of one, it can be yours. The bible tells us that we can become new through Jesus Christ. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT. As resurrection Sunday is coming upon us, I have been reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Honestly, ask yourself, how many people do you love enough to willingly give your body, allowing it to be ravaged, as an offering to save their soul? And on the flip side, how could they ever repay you?
We can never repay Jesus for the spiritual debt He took on for us and paid in full with His life. However, we can honor Him by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, living our lives according to His covenant in the New Testament. Through Him is the only path to God, the Father. When we say, “in Jesus name”, it is not meant as a slang or colloquialism. It is to acknowledge that He is our High Priest and intercedes for us daily, pleading our case before the Father. Jesus is the ONLY one who mediates between God and man. Learning to surrender to Him and making Him a part of every facet of my life has given me great peace…especially in times when I don’t understand the why. The truth is, life is much more simple when we are obedient and learn to abide in Him. If you have tried a lot of things and still feel out of sorts, maybe you should try Jesus…and you don’t have to wait until Monday. That’s the GOOD NEWS!
At the beginning of the year, I made a list of 10 books I would like to complete before the year is out. Some on the list I have started and never finished. Some are new. I barely read everything I’m supposed to for my classes, let alone fit anything in for pleasure or personal growth. I just finished The Garden Within by Dr. Anita Phillips. I did not know much about Dr. Anita. I knew she was a trauma therapist and a woman of faith. Binging on social media around Thanksgiving, I came across a YouTube video of Oprah’s Super Soul Podcast where Dr. Anita was the guest. During the episode, the pair explores some of the content from The Garden Within. I had not yet heard of the book, but I am a science nerd and trying to become a Jesus junkie, so this was right up my alley. I knew I would not have time to read it just then, but it made me think of a friend. I purchased her a copy and wrote a nice note on the inside cover and gifted it to her for Christmas. (Little did I know someone else had the thought to do the same thing for me, different book, as a parting gift…that’s a-whole-nother post).
I downloaded the audiobook version (read by the author) for myself, but it’s just something about the feel of a book…taking notes in the margin, chocolate fingerprint smears, wrinkly spots where the drink of the day or silent tears fell. I purchased a hard copy for myself and finally started reading the end of February. I know you may be thinking, it’s the middle of March AND you ain’t got no job, why did it take you so long to finish the book??? BECAUSE, I read through it once while listening to the audio version and marking the spots I needed to pay closer attention to. The second read through, I made notes and highlights of things I wanted to expand my thoughts on. The third time, I took a section of a notebook and hand wrote answers to all the questions that moved me and wrote extensive notes on some of the topics I felt were applicable to my life. That’s just how I do things. I guess it’s the academic in me.
There are two things in this book that changed my perspective and will help me lead a mentally/emotionally healthier life. The first is the idea of legacy. All of my life, I have heard people speak of legacy as what you leave behind (to be inherited by your future generations). Even the most intelligent, well-intended speakers say this. Every time I hear it, I cringe. You can imagine how that definition is problematic and has a certain level of sensitivity for someone who is single and does not have children. There are some people that choose not to have children, so does that mean their life will be void of legacy? Dr. Anita says no, “Legacy is anything that leaves the world a better place” (p. 41). I put the emphasis on anything because I remember a time when I felt the only things that mattered were things that had a tremendous amount of impact (things that are clearly seen). As I have matured in thought and being, I realize it is “all the things” (like my beloved Texans say), seen and unseen. Even the smallest things can plant a seed that has the potential to bear fruit beyond our expectations and our lifetime.
The second thing is the idea of purpose. Generally perceived as the ONE thing you were made to do. Many of us spend over half of our lives trying to figure out what that is. And when we don’t figure it out, it can make us feel as if we have failed at life. Consider this…what if it’s not just one thing (the noun)? What if we see it from the action/verb stance? Dr. Anita describes purpose as the why (p. 38).
Purpose:
Meets a need
Is productive
Is relational
From this viewpoint, we can find purpose in so many things! The best part is that you will find that when you live on purpose, it is usually through the gifts and talents God has gifted to you. If you are struggling with anxiety, where you fit in life, not ready for a therapist…try reading or listening to The Garden Within. It is an influential work designed to cultivate and flourish the garden of our hearts. Thank you, Dr. Anita Phillips.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” – Ephesians 2:10 NASB 2020
Every now and again I like to experience new things. I usually drift towards the arts because I’m kinda clumsy and not really in the mood to injure myself by being physically adventurous. This past Saturday evening I attended my very first live orchestra event at The Meyerson, home of the Dallas Symphony. There was a link on Facebook to see Sphinx Virtuosi. The 18 member group is a self-conducted, chamber orchestra comprised of Black and Latinx professional artists. I have a whole new appreciation for anyone who plays a string instrument. I tried to teach myself guitar in high school but my metacarpals revolted. Anywho, solo date night is one of the ways I love on myself. It gives me the opportunity to get cute and go out into the world. A little girl (no more than 6) gave me goo-goo eyes and said she loved my jacket. I’ve been to a couple of nice events suggested by Facebook. The candlelight string quartet concert playing Beyonce was probably my fave. It was a vibe. So, if something comes across your timeline, don’t be afraid to try it out!
On Sunday, I went to church quite early before service. I wanted to get a good seat. Usually in the 30 minutes prior to service, prayer warriors are positioned at the front of the sanctuary for anyone needing prayer. Although I had been praying for discernment regarding the future of my career, I decided it was time for me to engage the community of people I’ve been blessed to fellowship with. One of the ladies in the church had introduced herself to me a few Sundays ago, so when she became available, I headed her way. I gave her a very brief rundown of my prayer request. She asked what area of the hospital I had been working in. I told her. She asked one more question, and after I answered her, she shared she was a retired nurse executive, and said, “I got you.” When I tell you God is always on time…He knows exactly when and how to give you what you need. That woman prayed over all the emotions and circumstances I had been dealing with AND requested for me all the things I had secretly been praying for myself. This was without me going into any detail about why I left my job or what I was hopeful for in the future.
I believe I have shared before that I am an introvert. Too much “peopl-ing” can drain me. There have been days where I would get home, and I did not have the energy to gather my own thoughts because I was so exhausted. That being said, I am aware of the power of community. I think the key is to be intentional about the people whom you connect with. If there is value added, it makes you less likely to disengage. To all my fellow introverts out there, or even if you are just someone stuck in a social rut, give thought to what type of social/community scenarios give back to you in a way that makes your energy expenditure worthwhile.
“and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” – Hebrews 10:24-25 NASB 2020
