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crazy how much your life can improve if you just Move Somewhere Else

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bell mare - david crawford

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Thanks, Anon!

-submit your poll!-

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"Even now, I could feel hope seeping and settling under my skin. Growing. What shape would it take? Wings? Like something set free. Or mushrooms? Like something birthed in decay."

— Roshani Chokshi, A Crown of Wishes

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I think when you correctly identify a trauma that is the base of a woe of yours it should just disappear. It should be like "aaahh. you got me" and vanish and leave 100 dollars behind

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Art by Vadim Koval

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“Bruised Fruit / To The Core”

chronic pain has been kicking my ass lately so uh here’s something that came from that

prints available here !

(click image for optimal quality)

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also a poem from the new, unreleased collection. very possibly my own all-time favourite.

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We are so short staffed, we currently have 5 open RN positions and another nurse leaving on Sunday. This isn’t even the worst we’ve been staffing-wise since I started, but it’s a lot.

How do you deal with burn-out, especially in the setting of no staff?

Boy, I wish I had a good answer for you. I’ve been struggling with that right now myself. It’s been a rough patch at work, and I have not been Loving My Life right now. So other people’s insight is very welcome.

I took short term disability last year because I was soon burnt out and that helped tremendously, but I know that’s not an option for everyone. I was able to get a specific schedule as a disability accommodation which has helped a LOT. I also stepped back from full time at the hospital and picked up a home health job as well—yeah, my burnout advice is “get a second job” but home health (where you are 1:1 with a patient for your whole shift) is genuinely so so much less taxing than hospital work in my experience. Pays less too, of course, but sometimes I almost feel guilty for getting paid to listen to audio books and do crossword puzzles as I watch someone sleep.

Changing stuff about your current job can help. Obviously you can quit, which I think is the biggest way you can change it. And sometimes, that’s the best. We get stuck in the familiar because at least we know what to expect. But trying out different roles can also help. Cross-training to a specialty, being a relief charge nurse, picking up shifts on a different unit, volunteering to precept if you don’t normally, or yeah just straight up switching workplaces. You can replace the dread of the same bullshit as yesterday with the terror of novelty.

Alternatively, do less. This one comes with the big caveat that some bosses suck, but I had a good outcome looping my managers and telling them that I was really burning out and needed to step back from some of the things I’d taken on like charge nursing and being on committees. And again, the schedule accommodation wouldn’t have happened if I’d kept everything to myself.

Find things to be passionate about at work. I love pain management so when I have nothing else motivating me, I can at least throw myself into bringing people’s pain down. It’s very satisfying to troubleshoot the human body, and you often get the instant payoff of people feeling better.

Don’t pick up shifts unless it is a financial emergency. No matter how fucked the floor might be without you. They’d be even more fucked if you quit, hurt a patient, or killed yourself. The stakes are high. Self-care is part of the nursing ethical code.

Talk to people. I just had a bit of a breakdown to Cyrus this morning about exactly this, and it’s crazy how quickly it makes me feel better. Plus now that they knew what I was feeling, they could offer some very concrete help with food and texts and cleaning. Find what on your to-do list you can delegate to people who care about you OR people you can pay. It’s easier to get help when you have concrete tasks to ask for. And also sometimes it’s just nice to cry a little with someone else.

Prioritize food and sleep. The lack of both will make you crazy. If you need a sick day in the middle of your work week so you can sleep for 18 hours, just do it.

Also, drawing, writing, journaling, creating, all that really does help. Get paint and smear something ugly on a sheet of paper. Make a dinky little air dried clay guy. Collect leaves and put them in the pages of a book. Write the worst sonnet you’ve ever seen. Engage yourself in creativity and play. Use your time off as much as you can to indulge in pleasure.

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my ancient mama

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I think cats are right about the zoomies. I think every once in awhile you should run around the house as fast as you can and then sleep for several hours

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has everyone here seen gustave dorés ancient mariner inspired painting "ship between the icebergs" bc i think you should

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A Mesopotamian leopard. Date: Late Uruk, Jemdet Nasr period, circa 3300-2900 BCE. Medium: inlaid limestone.