IS ANYONE LISTENING?!

photo by Damon Hall Have you noticed all of the “noise” in your life lately? The constant chatter on emails, texting, Face Book, Twitter, political debates, talk radio and talking head news, it is endless. It seems everyone is talking but is anyone really listening? Social media offers so many options to “connect” with anyone, …

3 Tips to Coping, Even With Mother Nature

Has your summer flown by? School’s in session already, Gator football has begun, and Hurricane season is in full swing. The big Labor Day arrival of Hurricane Dorian in my home state Florida has everyone on edge. With Floridian’s anxiety meters shifting from low gear to high, it’s easy to begin to dread what this …

When We Give a Little Too Much

“It’s better to give than receive”: As noble an ideal as that is, there’s a limit to giving that too many of us involved in caregiving choose to ignore. Where does it lead us? Those of us in healthcare and other service fields have been taught that giving is honorable and receiving is selfish. So, …

Unintentional Teachers

“People facing death can be our greatest teachers. Their lessons may not come with lightning speed or in conventional ways. But they often come straight from the heart, and are more lasting than any other lessons we can learn” Patti Moore, APRN, RN This quote is from my book No Mission No Margin: Creating A …

The Hidden Value of Vacations

My husband and I recently took a trip of a lifetime to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my company The Watershed Group and our 37th wedding anniversary. Starting in a small alpine village in the Austrian Alps, then journeying to north of the Arctic circle to the Lofoten Islands off the coast of northern Norway. …

HAPPY SUMMER!

Summer is in full swing! Martha’s Vineyard 2018 I hope you all have fun plans for the big July 4th Birthday Celebration! Since I LOVE American History, I usually try to watch parts of the beautiful HBO mini-series on John Adams which describes the first 50 years of our young country. Then the evening of …

The View From The Exam Table

When was the last time you found yourself on the patient end of a healthcare interaction? While I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s certainly an educational experience, and one every one of us in healthcare could probably benefit from. A minor procedure recently renewed my perspective on what the view is like from the other side …

Our Endangered Nurses And Doctors: Depression, Denial, And Ptsd

As a nurse myself, I’ve been following with interest the ongoing conversation about a critical issue that has gone too long unaddressed; the crisis-level suicide rates of our nurses (and doctors, too). A recent article on the MedPage website, Nurse Suicide: Under the Radar, used as an example the suicide of Dana, a bright, energetic …

Reflections on 20 years of The Watershed Group

Today is the 20th anniversary of The Watershed Group. As I look back 20 years I am reminded of the fear and exhilaration I had when I stepped away from my conventional job as the executive director of the Hospice of North Central Florida (now Haven Hospice), to go out on my own. I loved …

Nurses Rock!

It’s National Nurses Week! I say, let’s pause to offer up a “thank you” to a nurse who made a difference in our lives – like the night nurse in the ICU who cared for my father and took time out to call me when he took a turn for the worse; “I just wanted …