New Hampshire Nursing News - December 2020

Page 14 • New Hampshire Nursing News December 2020, January, February 2021
NHNA ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATES
Fortification of Superhero
Nursing Power: A user’s manual to
prevent leakage
By Christina Ferreri
How many times at work have you
said, “Yes. I can do that,” over the
past nine months? “No problem.
Let’s go. Sure. I can make those
changes, and the ones next week,
and the week after that too……”
As nurses we pride ourselves on
being practical superheroes who
fly in with gadgets and evidencebased
solutions to save the day. We
are compassionate sorts by nature,
who usually radiate confidence,
exude ingenuity, and demonstrate
superhuman endurance with aweinspiring
finesse. Have I been
mistaken for Wonder Woman,
you ask? Absolutely. Have I been
accidently asked directions to
Krypton, you wonder? All the time.
I don’t even need a flowing cape
or snazzy red boots. All I just have
to say is, “Yup, I can do that”, and
everyone at my clinical site thinks
I’m an intergalactic Rockstar.
Nurses are notoriously good at
common sense problem solving,
having been taught how to kick holes between universes back in school. We
consistently inspire clinical practice to travel into new realities by using patient
care paradigms and theories. In order to keep up with rapidly changing office
algorithms during this Covid marathon however, we are expending excessive
amounts of interstellar energy. This extra dimensional thinking drains our
super nursing strength! The Covid pandemic could not have come at a worse
time. Our jet fuel packs were already low at the end of 2019 from helping
patients battle the substance abuse war. Who thought that isolating people at
crest of a mental health crisis was a good idea? Mental health explosions are
on the front line right along with Covid hospitalizations. How much longer
can we sustain the cosmic momentum required to save the day...month…
year? Even superheroes leak radioactivity eventually. I am quite certain
however, that if we could find a soul control button within our lab coat that
could titrate the precise amount of passion we release in any given interaction,
then our power would last longer. Better yet, if we had a way to renew our
strength, the leaking cracks wouldn’t matter. Fortifying nursing strength until a
pandemic solution arrives, could empower the holistic practice that defines us
while keeping our self mentally whole at the same time.
Everywhere all over the world, new operational procedures take center stage
while last week’s ones go right or left; and others are on a dramatic pause.
Under the time constraints between their regular patient care activities, staff
are repeatedly trained to implement new time saving processes. It’s no wonder
they sometimes forget simple personal protective equipment (PPE) doffing
protocols and race through halls still wearing gowns while carrying their lab
specimens-ugh! PPE capes for everyone…hooray!
Training for PPE was excellent initially but let’s face it, it was so…yesterday.
Despite the new normal being better than it was at the height of the pandemic,
the current stress levels are so palatable that at times we forget new procedures
that were learned just a few weeks ago. Who can remember high levels of
detail when new systems commandeer valuable neuron space? If I hear one
more time, “Check your latest email for updates”, I will implode, reducing
my holistic self into its sub-atomic parts. Do they know how many unopened
emails I have? Thousands. Only Marvel’s computer superhero Vision, has the
capacity to contain all those algorithms. This would be a great time for a brain
upgrade. My iPhone is getting one soon-can I get it too?
Most of these changes honestly, make good health sense; while others
resemble a Hail Mary pass. If it were in a direction that directly benefited
our patients, the changes would have the potential to motivate and restore
our intergalactic resolve. Instead they often miss because they are reflexively
based on last week’s incompletes. Still, these frequent changes are made
with the right intentions and we are thankful because someone else is taking
the initiative to help our practice. These changes may benefit our patients
eventually but have the potential
to do otherwise if not executed…
so we persevere. Someone must
be creative with what we have,
especially given many offices have
returned to pre-pandemic patient
volumes yet remain short staffed.
With open-mindedness and respect
therefore, we watch our healthcare
managers thoughtfully implement
rotating local and federal Covid
guidelines. We understand each
other’s role-provider and manager.
There are far more procedural
fluctuations than academic ones, so
of course we reach into our reserves
to help make their strategies be
realized. After months of neglect,
we do our part and attempt to
access our patients in order to
catchup their healthcare needs. It’s
still a war out there and winter is
coming!
Let’s gets back to the point of this
exercise to determine if there is any
possible way to sustain our power
while providing compassionate
holistic practice above supernova
odds. Our Justice League friends within the Marvel Universe can hopefully
give us some inspiration. Why not think out of the box this year, after all,
we are on a Covid roll. How would our superhero legends fare after
spending nine months in a paradigm altering interstellar Armageddon? I
doubt Spiderman’s suit would fit so well after eating mess hall military chow
and it’s extremely unlikely that Captain Marvel’s perfectly quaffed hair would
survive the Covid nebula. What did Wonder Woman really look like in the
morning twilight the day after she fought all those bad guys you ask? I know
exactly how she looked as she lifted the window and breathed in the moist
wet morning air. She had crazed deer-in-the-headlight injected eyes. She
looked exhausted. That awesome red lipstick and bustier she used to wear in
the 1980’s television show-gone; it was too impractical while fighting. Do you
remember the golden truth lasso attached to her waist? Also gone. She left
it in the computer room tied to the desk to corral her kids in front of Zoom
school. And when I asked her about the well-being of the planet…let’s just say
her answer was more than a little apathic for even me to repeat.
Even superheroes can turn from Marvelous to Mercenary, and so I think it’s
okay that we don’t have a solution to our leaking strength. I also think it’s okay
that maybe we are not always perfect. I know I must stay true to our nursing
code of ethics but right now I just can’t save the world. My goal with this
article was not to inspire. No breathtaking inspiration has come from me in
many months. These ramblings were instead meant to commiserate. If any of
what I have written has struck a nerve with you today then I have succeeded.
You are not alone. No fancy degree or lofty job title can get you through this
pandemic alone or unscathed. I used to think my superpowers could change
the world. Now I am happy just to change one kid or one family have a better
day than yesterday. Yes, we all still have superpowers, but we will need the
strength of the entirety of healthcare system to get through this upcoming
winter. We are in this together and just as we have persevered all our struggles
of the past nine months, we will continue.
Christina Ferreri, DNP APRN FNP, Past-President of
New Hampshire Nurse Practitioner Association (2019-
2020), is a nurse practitioner with a primary care
pediatric practice at the Elliot Pediatric Network in
Manchester.
Christina Ferreri