Back from Summer break!

Hey everyone! Hope you have had a great summer; and for some of us, I hope you managed to stay cool! It's been an eventful past few months, since my last entry in June. Of course one of the prevailing topics was the national budget, and the threat of defaulting on US debt. Well, as I had expected, an "eleventh-hour" deal was made and the US avoided default...but it earned a downgrade of it's AAA credit rating. Most recently, news of stock market instability has many in a state of panic, not only locally but globally. You can't hardly listen to the radio or watch the news without hearing about these issues...budgets are beingcut everywhere, at all levels. A lot of speculation an finger-pointing is taking place, with blame being passed around like a game of "hot potato". Well, I, for one, am trying to remain focused on the task-at-hand, and that is healthcare: the other huge mess....

Change in healthcare is common, and occurrs very frequently, whether you are monitoring vital signs, disease progression, technological innovation, or policies and regulations. I think there are certain instances when we must act urgently, such as when responding to a cardiac arrest, new findings of malignancy, or when our practice is threatened by policy changes. These instances require rapid, timely and skilled responses in order to achieve maximum benefit. However, there are some situations that may, at first, seem "urgent", but, in fact, may allow for more planning, thought and consideration before acting. When I hear about the stock market variability and the "knee jerk" reactions some have, it seems to apply to my job as a nurse. Although I do not deal in stocks and securities, I do deal with the greatest asset anyone can have: life. It's times like these when I am reminded that sometimes it is best to take a step back, gain broader perspective, and look at a situation from a "continuum", rather than an "episodic" standpoint.

Economic "health" is not episodic, and neither is that of human beings. We are constantly sliding along the spectrum of health, some moreso than others. Sometimes there are brief, but rapid shifts in the state of a person's health, and each situation should be viewed independently, as there are many factors that contribute to wellness and illness. For instance, if a relatively healthy individual falls and breaks an arm, the repair process is usually straightforward and uneventful. This represents a rapid shift among the spectrum, but overall the outcome is usually a trend back to a state of health. Now, take the same scenario, but make the person elderly, with osteoporosis, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure. Of course we would expect this situation to be worse than the previous due to the comorbidities present. This person is at much higher risk for major complications as compared to the first example. Additionally, this person may have been at his/her "usual" state of health prior to this incident, but it is doubtful the two individuals mentioned here shared the same position on the wellness spectrum. So, the person with multiple comorbidities would most likey drop further into illness, and recoup slower, and may not have the same likelihood of ever regaining his/her previous level of wellness. I am sure this is pretty basic knowledge to most of you. And my point is this: we must stop to look at the bigger picture sometimes, try to understand what we are looking at and begin to make sense of it, and move forward with interventions to change what can be changed, and make adjustments for what cannot.

The moment you stop seeing past your front door...or even the tip of your own nose, you have truly become impaired and must recognize an entire world exists beyond your field of vision.

You don't have to like what you see, you don't have to agree with what you see, and you don't have to act upon what you see. However, you should acknowledge what is in front of and all around you, and understand that everything is connected in some way, and whether you feel the effects of these connections now or later can only be determined by time...but it will happen. We should all be agents of change within our immediate environment, that of those we serve every day, and never become complacent with the seemingly complex situations we face. Remember, it only takes one. I hope you can be that "one".

Hope your summer was restful, and I look forward to blogging more frequently!!

Thank you.
Steve