Tag Archives: healthcare

FMM 10 24 25 Galluping Away!

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ~ Unknown. My mother had a few odd sayings she would throw at me when, as a teenager, I would be obsessing about some perceived flaw (usually on my face).  ‘A blind man and (or on?)  a galloping horse…’ which was […]

FMM 8 22 2025 Stutter-stepping through Life

“To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men.” ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox. When it comes to gifts and blessings, the nurse learns early on that health has to be number one.  Even if you were not exposed to illness before entering the healthcare field, it is not long before you […]

FMM 5 23 2025 Secrets and Shame

“What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal.” ~ Friedrick Nietzsche. One of the joys of retirement is that road trips can be the way to get to far distant events.  This also means that routines are disrupted, and Friday morning messages are late! Which is the case […]

FMM 4 25 2025 Inner Vision

“When you’re through changing, you’re through.” ~ Bruce Barton. I have been fortunate that in my life, very few of my encounters with the health care system have been from the point of view of the patient.  It is easy to be the one in the uniform, in control of things, able to complete tasks […]

FMM 3 21 2025 Imaginary Engineers

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ~ Alice Walker. I was a bedside nurse in the 1980s, a time when the way the government reimbursed hospitals for patient stays was upended completely.  Prior to this time, any patient whose insurance was paid for by the […]

FMM 10 18 2024 Showdown!

“I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.” ~ Maya Angelou. One night this week I awoke from a dream that had a very clear message, so clear that I immediately texted myself (my method of […]

FMM 4 12 2024 What’s the Plan?

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” ~ Joseph Campbell. I have never been good at long-term planning.  I remember being surprised when a nephew of mine, who was maybe 21 at the time, declared that he would have to change his life plan due to an obstacle […]

FMM 2 2 2024 Community Health

‘Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on…For it won’t be long, ‘til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.’ ~ Bill Withers. My professional introduction to mental health began in nursing school.  I was assigned to an inpatient facility which was housed in a beautiful […]

FMM 10 20 2023 Take a Breath, Nurse

“I’m like a recovering perfectionist. For me it’s one day at a time.” ~ Brene Brown. I don’t know when I first heard the word ‘codependent’.  It certainly wasn’t a term when we were in nursing school.  When I did read about it, I recognized myself in the description.  Part of it was the need […]

FMM 8 16 19 Nursology

“They don’t want to see us live together.” ~ Robert Nesta Marley.  My first official job as a registered nurse in this country was at a large private hospital on Miami Beach.  In those days (and perhaps still, for all I know), non-residents had to apply for a police identification when working on the Beach.  […]