nursingforsocialjustice

The Vancouver Downtown East Side is a tough place to work right now. I think it is important to take a step back and fully embrace the reality that if we are not taking care of ourselves then we really cannot provide competent care to anyone else. I think that something that was helpful to me was taking a step back and really reflecting on the things that I have control over and the things that I do not have any control over. For example, I do not have any control over poverty, I do not have any control over how public funding is spent, I do not have control over how public services are structured. I do not have control of a lot of things that do effect the work that I do. I do have control of my knowledge, my competencies, my actions, my attitude, my job choices. There are many things that I do have control over. In a resiliency workshop that I attended about 2 years ago (when I returned to the Lower Mainland after living in Calgary for 2-ish years) I learned about the Personal Power Grid. I learned that there were many times when a lot of my efforts (much too much) was focused on things that I had no control over which indeed did lead to ceaseless striving, the feeling of endlessly trying and trying to do more and feeling no farther ahead. The workshop was really helpful, I am thanking that my nursing union offers such education. I learned that the things that I do not have control over I have to accept (sometimes radically accept) and that the things I do have control over I can act on, building my sense of accomplishment. It’s quite a blow to the ego radically accepting that I alone will not be able to solve the social problems of Western Canada. And I think I probably would not be able to do the work that I do if I did not take time to reflect each day on what I really have control over and what I can realistically do to make the world a better place.