They say April is the cruelest month. I’m not sure why, really…it may have to do with the fact that April 15 is the dreaded Tax Day. It may have to do with the fact that soon, bathing suits will be considered reasonable, even required, attire for some events. Earth Day is this month, which always leaves our editor feeling inadequate about her recycling habits. There’s a lot to stress over…but why should we?
It’s National Humor Month, after all! That’s something we should be feeling great about!
National Humor Month was founded in 1976 by best-selling humorist Larry Wilde, Director of The Carmel Institute of Humor. It is designed to heighten public awareness on how the joy and therapeutic value of laughter can improve health, boost morale, increase communication skills and enrich the quality of one’s life.
April 2010 marks the 34th consecutive National Humor Month. This is a great opportunity for us, as a community of nurses and health care professionals, to really focus on what we can do to more fully integrate the use of therapeutic humor into our scope of practice. Each and every day though out the month, we’ll all be presented with opportunities to use laughter to help our patients, help ourselves, and help our colleagues.
We all need the boost, frankly! Our patients aren’t having the best day they’ve ever had (well, maybe that drug seeker who finally wore down the ER staff and left with A Script of Joy is, or will be shortly) and the use of humor can help them achieve the peace, calm, and serenity necessary to deal with the health care system.
Humor is a great tool for self-care: even if we’re just laughing to amuse ourselves, we can lower stress levels, improve our circulation, enjoy other health benefits, and most importantly, achieve or regain perspective to the point where re-purposing square ended syringes into projectile weapons no longer seems like a great idea, we’ve done a good thing.
And humor can help our colleagues. I know what you’re thinking, but actually, yes, there is help for your colleagues. Using humor to boost morale, help people feel recognized, validated, and valued, or even just simply to provoke a smile is a good thing to do. Your joke or soft-shoe dance could be the bright point in a code brown type of day — and wouldn’t you want someone to do that for you?
With that in mind, we’re introducing the 30 smile challenge. It’s like a 30 mile marathon, except there will be none of this running nonsense. (Marathons are great, but they stopped letting us participate after we showed up ready to drive the whole course!) April has 30 days: can you provoke 30 smiles — in your patients, in yourself, or in your colleagues? Try it. It has the potential to change your life — and the lives of the people around you. This National Humor Month can be the National Humor Month you always remember.
