[RxForSanityeNews]

A few tips here on more valuable ways to capture those computer boot-up minutes...a Real Reader Dilemma and more!

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Get Off Your "But's...."

One hour of casual exercise a day. That's what the National Academies' Institute of Medicine says is necessary to be fit and enjoy health benefits. Twenty to sixty minutes of cardio 3-5 days a week, plus weight and flexibility training 2-3 days a week...that's what the American College of Sports Medicine insists.

But nobody says that the best way to live long and feel good is to take your stressed out, weary HCP body from which all the "juice" has been squeezed and settle onto your couch for 4 hours of TV every night.

It's clear that exercise gives us a better quality of life. At least it decreases heart disease and improves arthritis, obesity, and our breathing. It tightens our belts and lets us feel a little better about ourselves. These are some of the physical benefits.

But what about the mental? Being a HCP is never easy. It's a life of long hours trapped indoors. It involves dealing with an overload of patients whose fears are often masked in belligerence. With no outlet, the stress builds, eating away at us.

And let's face it. The biggest danger to HCP's is stress. Exercise gives our body the chance to dump its toxic tensions. It lets our body unload its anxiety. It gives us time alone, free of our demanding worries and thoughts. But, who has the time?

But, but, but...just get off your "but's" and do it!

No time at all? Let's find some. First, try the "Boot Up Sit Up".

If you're like me, you sit and stare like a carp at the computer screen as it boots. You know, from "bum boots", that if you get going too fast and fiddle with your mouse, you disrupt the boot and have to start afresh...

How 'bout after you hit the power button, you hit the floor and do sit-ups? I bet most of us watch the computer boot about 5 minutes each day, and we've all heard of five-minute abs. Just think, flatter abs AND a computer that's ready to roll when you arise from the floor.

Look for even more time wasted by technology to recycle for yourself. Just get off your "but's"!

Last month we spoke about "Car College". If you have suggestions on recycling other 'technology interludes' to make time for yourself, your family or your patients, share them!

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Now, this month's Sanity Tip from contributor Collin Jones MD, a reader from North Carolina, who puts a different spin altogether on how best to use snippets of time....

"There is too little time in every day to be patient with the minor delays that occur. To avoid increasing anger and frustration as I wait for the computer log in or for screens to change, muttering to myself that there's got to be a more efficient way...I relax by using the time to pray for patients, friends or family that are of concern at the moment. Then the time is a gift of healing for me and these folks. Short times for prayer can also come out of traffic delays, check-out lines, etc."

Thanks, Collin!
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Best Practice of the Month:

When praising staff, be as specific as possible. "I liked the way you handled that patient's daughter on the phone, you sounded caring and concerned", means more than just a "nice work" or "way to go".
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This Dilemma Of The Month comes to us requesting anonymity...and believe me it's been edited for PC-ness and length:

"We have a physician that we'll bet money has Tourette Syndrome. We speculate as to whether or not he took his meds depending on his level of control on any given day. My personal close encounter with this "Sybil" was during a procedure in which he claims to be an expert. His only expertise, however, is in the area of hurling expletives:

"Do you want to kill the f***ing patient?"
"Some sedation might be nice in this lifetime" sarcastically under his breath.
"When I say, 'imagine the abdomen as a clock', what don't you understand? Do we need a #$@* first grader to teach time to you?"
"Take this !@&*# thing (throwing instrument across the room) and get me one that works! Is this a cost saving initiative?"

Following this lovely display, he praised, "Thanks for all your help! That went well." He even wrote a note to our director saying what a 'great team we have here, with expert certified specialty nurses'!

Yikes! ~ submitted anonymously by Nurse 'Nancy'

Yikes, indeed! Anyone out there have any experience, good or bad, with dealing with this degree of loss of professionalism? What worked? What didn't? Physicians...how would YOU advise a nurse to handle this rampage? We'll publish your answers, anonymously if you wish, in an upcoming issue. Help her out; we need answers other than "a big syringe filled with Thorazine"!
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Crack U Up for August:

A nurse completing a patient assessment on a pirate notes that he has a peg leg, a hook and 1 eye patch. The nurse asks, "What happened to your leg?"

The pirate replies, "We were in a storm at sea. I was swept overboard into a school of sharks, and a shark bit my leg off."

"Wow," said the nurse. "What about your hook?"

"Well, we were boarding an enemy ship and battling the other sailors with swords, and one of the enemy cut my hand off."

"Incredible, how did you get the eye patch?" asked the nurse.

"Seagull droppings fell in my eye," replied the pirate.

"You lost your eye to seagull droppings??" the nurse asked incredulously.

"Well," said the pirate..."it was my first day with the hook."

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WIN WIN WIN Free Stuff!!

Win a free copy of Dr. Raymonds' newest publication, "Don't Jettison Medicine. Resuscitate Your Passion For The Career You Loved". Send us a copy of your posting to a medical or nursing bulletin board or user group where you recommend readers to the Sanity eNews. Forward your posting to eNewsContest@rxforsanity.com

We'll enter your name in a drawing for a free, autographed edition of the book. Enter as often as you'd like (for referrals to different bulletin boards only, please) and no purchase of anything is necessary!!

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Catch what Dr. Raymond has to say about the importance of professional certifications in the new August/September issue of EndoNurse, and watch for her in future EndoNurse editorials. Link up at www.endonurse.com/articles/381scope.html

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