Marie Manthey’s Nursing Salon

Last nights Salon was another wonderful experience.    We touched on a variety of subjects from unhealthy work groups -to the challenges of ethnic differences in end-of-life care-to age disparities in nursing practice and their effect on workplace dynamics.

For example, that last item….old-timers complaining that  new nurses spend too much time on the computer and not enough with patients …..and new nurses complaining about seasoned nurses being too judgmental about patient behaviors and values that are different than the nurses.   These comments yielded a rich and meaningful conversation that ended with a strong appreciation of connection between the older and younger nurses in the room.

Another rich theme of the night was how do nurses handle the stresses and strong feelings that occur on the job (ie death of a beloved patient, family disputes re. end of life that result in patient suffering, etc ) off duty?   Do our families really want to know about these issues?    Consensus was “No”….and the problem of no one to talk to about this and no time at work to process emotions was a really good and helpful conversation.

Actually for most people here, these Salons are providing this kind of an opportunity to process their work experiences in a supportive and healthy way.    The check-out always yields comments about hope for the future, pride in the profession, and  personal validation of experiences.