Journal of Nursing Jocularity

The first month of 2010 has been rough, no way more so than the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. In the face of unmitigated tragedy, is there a role for humor?

“You know it is a catastrophe,” a colleague said to me, “when even the shock jocks don’t joke about it.”

The absence of crass one-liners capitalizing on other’s pain doesn’t mean that humor doesn’t have a real and vital role in helping people process and address tragedy.  It’s been fascinating to watch some of the ways nurses, emergency response workers and the public at large have been reaching for laughter in the face of all that has happened. (more…)

It’s 2010! Hooray!  It’s not a hardship to wish 2009 farewell — it was  a rough year for many of us and we’re ready for something better!

As is our wont at this time of year, we’ve indulged in a little trendspotting and future forecasting, trying to see what might be around the corner for nursing.  Some trends are easy to spot: our aging population means we’re going to see more and more need for geriatric care.  Chronic conditions will be taking center stage.  Nurses are still being asked to do more with less…and health care reform efforts will probably (and we’re going way out on a limb here prediction wise!) take at least a little bit of time to manifest. Waistlines are still increasing…or is that just mine?

Either way, there’s a lot about these trends that we don’t like.  The future holds challenges for nurses, individually and as a profession.  It’ll come as no surprise to you that we think that humor is going to be more important than ever before.  Laughter and the ability to see funny will be more than something we do for fun; they’re critical nursing skills that will sustain not only us but our patients.  A low cost, always available resource, humor will be there — and we here at JNJ are devoted to helping you make the most of it!

I can tell that Thanksgiving is nearly here…the stores are fully of jolly fat men in red suits and reindeer with bizarre sinus issues! And what is this time of year for if it’s not for gratitude and being thankful for all of the blessings in our lives?

Being a nurse means developing the ability to see blessings in the strangest places.  How many times do we spend every minute of a shift dancing just as fast as we can, answering this call light and stopping that wandering patient before they make it to the elevators, comforting that confused, frightened soul and firmly assuring another equally confused but in this case frightening patient that no, getting out of bed is not on the agenda for the evening? It’s frentic, flat-out, non-stop action — and most of it is vitally important, literally life or death. (more…)

“Whatever doesn’t kill you,” my patient quipped, “makes for a great insurance claim.”  It was late that night in the ER, and if ever a young man was trying to put a good face on a situation, he was the one.  Taking a turn too fast, he’d taken his car directly off the road — into a construction site.  Battered and bruised didn’t begin to cover his condition, but you’d never know that to listen to him.

Fear is a funny thing.  There’s been a tremendous amount of research into the power of fear as a motivator. The times when we’re scared the most, we find ourselves capable of doing the most amazing things…unless we’re frozen in place.

As nurses, we see people at the times in thier lives when they’re more scared than they’ve ever been.  Forget about roller coasters and fun houses: there’s something about that knowing look in the physician’s eye that can reduce the biggest, bravest men to trembling wrecks. (more…)

This month, we’re taking a look at humor and mental illness. I’m as thrilled as I can be to present David Granirer; he’s one of the rising stars in the field of therapeutic humor, and has wisdom we can all benefit from.

Mental illness is one of those subjects we all shy away from. When I was teaching, my student nurses worried more about that psych rotation than any other unit — but as any experienced nurse will tell you, mental illness isn’t confined to the mental health unit. Mentally ill patients break their arms, have heart attacks, get cancer and have babies just like everyone else — and they appreciate and benefit from therapeutic humor as well! (more…)

As a young nurse, I worked in a small hospital where it was easy to know the entire staff — from the docs and nurses to the dock workers and volunteers.

One morning when I was hurrying down the hallway to circulate for the next C-section, I saw a tall young man in scrubs looking somewhat lost.  “Must be the soon-to-be father,” I thought.  Out loud, I asked, “Are you looking for the C-section?” (more…)

A nurse colleague of mine was instructing a VERY nervous young single mother on how to care for her child’s tracheotomy.  The mother was scared — and who wouldn’t be, especially with a first child? — and very unsure of herself.  She had little self-esteem, no familiarity with medical procedures, and very few financial resources.

The nurse smiled and confidently proclaimed,”I’ll work with you until you’re so comfortable caring for your son’s trach that people will mistake you for a respiratory therapist!” (more…)

It’s July — a month for celebration!

Now, just about anyone knows how to celebrate Independence Day: you fire up the barbecue, pop open some cool drinks, and watch the fireworks…or, if you’re a nurse, catch a glimpse of those fireworks through the unit window while you’re running to answer yet another call light, muttering a little prayer that all the pretty colors are courtesy of a professional team and not a bunch of amateurs who are about to show up in the ER with some severely toasted fingers!

But there are other holidays — more obscure, less famous holidays, relevant only to those who have a professional interest in what’s being celebrated.  Once upon a time, the statisticians and actuaries out there deemed that what this world needed was Statistically Improbable Increase in Morbidity Day — and guess who determines when that day’s gonna be? (more…)

Shobhana Schwebke, better known as hospital clown Shobi Dobi, says that if administrators could spend ten minutes viewing their facilities through the eyes of a hospital clown, there would be a clown in every corner of every hospital.

She’s right.  There’s something magical about watching caring clowns at work: the effect they have on patients — from the youngest to the oldest — is something you have to see to believe.   Clowns have helped patients undergo painful procedures, speak after many years without saying a word, and even pass from this life to what lies beyond — equipped with nothing more than some silly makeup and the ability to be wholeheartedly there with and for their patients.

The question becomes then, why does this work? How do clowns help our patients get better? (more…)

CLOWNING AROUND!

Break out the rainbow wigs, the red rubber noses and the huge, floppy shoes: it’s time for us to CLOWN AROUND!  Clowning is one of the most visible manifestations of therapeutic humor.  The world famous Big Apple Circus has a ‘Clown Care Unit’ that visits pediatric patients, bringing smiles, giggles, and joy where ever they go.

They’re also teaching nurses how to do the same thing.  This is just fabulous!  Now, I know what you’re thinking — your facility already has enough clowns. Just look in the administration… (more…)