At The Pool photo by jparadisi 2013
JParadisiRN is on vacation this week. I’ll write a new post soon from a refreshed perspective. Meanwhile, if you haven’t read my oncology blog for TheONC, or latest post for AJN Off The Charts, this is a good week to catch up.
Cheers!
Here in the Pacific Northwest, Summer’s brilliant, white light has toned down to a golden hue, announcing that Fall is waiting in the wings. I’m not ready for summer to end, so David and I are outdoors as much as possible.
On Saturday, we visited one of Oregon’s several wine regions, as our exploration of the state’s Pinot Noir continues. As far as wine tasting goes, I’m surprised to find I like playing the field. I’m not ready to commit to a case of any particular wine just now.
We tried a wonderful Blanc de Blanc, a white wine, paired with a Pasta Salad with Melon, Pancetta, and Ricotta Salata. We enjoyed it so much, I made it for Sunday’s dinner, although I left out the pancetta, instead seasoning with an artisan smoked salt to compliment the melon, and substituted shaved parmesan for the ricotta salata, forgoing a trip to the grocery store. I paired the salad with a chilled Chardonnay. See what I mean about not being ready to commitment to a case of a single wine?
Besides touring around Oregon, enjoying the last remnant of summer, JParadisi RN is also flitting around the Internet in places other than this blog:
Diet As Tolerated watercolor by jparadisi 2012
In yesterday’s post A Social License III: Nursing Synchronicity I write about an impromptu discussion with a young woman in a department store while shopping for work pants. It’s common phenomenon for strangers to reach out to nurses even when we are off duty. I pair this post like a fine wine with my post this week for TheONC.org, titled, Diet As Tolerated, which describes another off duty encounter, this time at a cocktail party in a trendy restaurant.
Started in February 2012, with almost 7,000 Likes on Facebook, TheONC.org is an online social forum where oncology nurses and cancer care teams can leverage their collective knowledge, nurture professional growth and emotionally support each other in a secure environment, as registration is required.
Moderated by oncology nurses and key opinion leaders, TheONC (The Oncology Nursing Community) features discussions and commentary covering key issues ranging from symptom management and palliative care to managing ethnic and cultural diversity.
Other resources in the community include:
TheONC is like having a weekly national oncology conference conveniently online. A wide range of topics have already been discussed, including Stem Cell Transplant, pediatric oncology, survivorship, nursing while going through cancer treatment, and much more. Once you’ve registered, posts can be saved for future reference.
Follow TheONC on Twitter @The-ONC, and Like us on Facebook.
Just in time for the Summer, and with Melanoma on the Rise in the U.S., TheONC is hosting a very important webinar: “Melanoma: Beyond the Basics,” on July 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm EDT. Here is the link to the webinar.
Key highlights of “Melanoma: Beyond the Basics” include:
• Identifying common presentations of primary melanomas
• Discussion about the importance of correct staging of primary melanomas
• Learning about the current standards for treatment of early and later stage melanoma
• Discussing the novel and investigation approaches currently being explored in advanced melanoma
• A question and answer period following the presentation
When caught in its early stages, treatment of melanoma provides high rates of survival, but left to metastasize, it becomes lethal. Recognition and assessment of patients for melanoma is useful for non-oncological care providers too. Click on the link above to register for this informative webinar.
Resurrection Chair by jparadisi
It’s been a busy lately, and when it’s not, I’m out enjoying the sunshine. Nevertheless, I’m keeping up with new blog posts both here, and for The Oncology Nursing Community (TheONC).
In case you missed it, last week for TheONC, I wrote When a Partner Doesn’t Do in Sickness and In Health, about the painful reality of partners leaving cancer patients at diagnosis or during treatment.
This week, I discuss helping patients cope with cancer in Helping Patients Build a Cancer Toolbox.
TheONC.org is a new online social forum for oncology nurses and cancer care teams where they can leverage their collective knowledge, nurture professional growth and emotionally support each other in a secure environment, as registration is required.
Moderated by oncology nurses and key opinion leaders, TheONC features discussions and commentary covering key issues ranging from symptom management and palliative care to managing ethnic and cultural diversity.
Other resources in the community include:
TheONC is like having a weekly national oncology conference conveniently online. A wide range of topics have already been discussed, including Stem Cell Transplant, pediatric oncology, survivorship, nursing while going through cancer treatment, and much more. Once you’ve registered, posts can be saved for future reference.
Follow TheONC on Twitter @The-ONC, and Like us on Facebook.
This week I ask Can Looking at Art Make You Well? in my post of the same title
Girl With Pearl Earring, after Vermeer. watercolor by jparadisi 2012
for TheONC.
I asked the question after re-reading a 1995 essay written by Lawrence Weschler for The New Yorker titled Vermeer in Bosnia. In his essay, Weschler interviews Antonio Casse, then the president of the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal, during the trial of Dusko Tadic for crimes against humanity.
Weschler asks Judge Casse how he maintained his sanity while listening day after day to grizzly accounts of torture, rape, and murder. Casse’s answer:
“Ah, you see, as often as possible I make my way over to the Mauritshuis museum, in the center of town [in the Hague], so as to spend a little time with the Vermeers.“
As do most nurses, I spend my workdays witnessing life and death among patients. At home, the evening news is full of world conflict and disaster. Can merely looking at art calm us and increase our resiliency from burnout, as Judge Casse asserted?
The Oncology Nurse Community (TheONC.org) is a new online social forum for oncology nurses and cancer care teams where they can leverage their collective knowledge, nurture professional growth and emotionally support each other in a secure environment, as registration is required.
Moderated by oncology nurses and key opinion leaders, TheONC features discussions and commentary covering key issues ranging from symptom management and palliative care to managing ethnic and cultural diversity.
Other resources in the community include:
▪ A Library of resources including patient education materials and presentations by community members
▪ Clinic Close-Up, where members can view video-based interviews with experts from large group practices, private practices, and academia covering a variety of topics
▪ News items relevant to clinical practice
▪ An interactive Quiz feature where nurses can test their diagnostic knowledge on a regular basis
▪ A Calendar of national and regional events and meetings specific for oncology nurses and cancer support team members
If you are a member of an oncology nurse or member of a cancer support team, Like TheONC on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @The_ONC.
Nurse’s Note by jparadisi
In this week’s post for TheONC, I compare the effect of witnessing life and death in nursing to journalism. Both careers bear witness to the suffering of others. Compassion fatigue is documented in journalists similarly as in nurses. I explain I’d rather be a nurse than a journalist, because nursing provides the skills and education I use as tools to give aid. If I could only watch and record the suffering of others, I do not believe I could bear it.
As a young child, I loved connect-the-dots puzzles, discovering the larger picture revealed at completion. Follow the dots in Bearing Witness: Nursing Compared to Journalism, and see if it leads you to a fresh perspective about nursing.
What tips do you have for preventing compassion fatigue and burnout? How do you keep a fresh perspective on job expectations?
TheONC is an online community for oncology care teams. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @The_ONC.
Untitled. by jparadisi 2012
By now, readers know I blog weekly for TheONC. This week I write about dual identities as nurse and artist/writer in Curbside Consultation. My colleagues, employer, and frequent patients know about my art and blogging activity. Sometimes worlds collide.
The Oncology Nurse Community (TheONC.org) is a new online social forum for oncology nurses and cancer care teams where they can leverage their collective knowledge, nurture professional growth and emotionally support each other in a secure environment, as registration is required.
Moderated by oncology nurses and key opinion leaders, TheONC features discussions and commentary covering key issues ranging from symptom management and palliative care to managing ethnic and cultural diversity.
Other resources in the community include:
TheONC is like having a weekly national oncology conference conveniently online. A wide range of topics have already been discussed, including Stem Cell Transplant, pediatric oncology, survivorship, nursing while going through cancer treatment, and much more. Once you’ve registered, posts can be saved for future reference.
Follow TheONC on Twitter @The-ONC, and Like us on Facebook.
This week for TheONC I blog about nurses helping patients stuck at anger in their grief process. These nonviolent patients are difficult to bond with because the anger is often expressed as dissatisfaction with their caregivers, sometimes disruptive of work flow. Staying engaged in their care is challenging, but not impossible.
TheONC is an online community for oncology nurses and care teams. Join the conversation. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @The_ONC.
Yes, that’s me talking about my fear of “big, hairy adult patients” while transitioning from pediatric intensive care nurse to adult oncology nurse in Theresa Brown RN’s article, Field of Dreams published in the summer 2012 issue of Scrubs Magazine. (By the way, I found I enjoy adult patients more than I ever expected!) Theresa interviewed several nurses about how they arrived in their specialties. She explains her own journey too. Scrubs is available at uniform stores, and by subscription.
In oncology, nurses are often faced with hanging chemotherapy, assisting with surgeries, or radiation treatments for grim diagnoses most likely to result in death anyway. Sometimes we wonder why treatment is offered. This week for TheONC, I ask these questions from nursing and artist perspectives in the post Gate Keepers.
TheONC is an online community for oncology professionals. Follow us on Twitter @The-ONC, and Like us on Facebook.
