Emotions

Long day at work and still grocery shopping to do, I wandered through Publix getting more than I needed because, well, I was hungry. Cart full of the requisite fresh healthy vegetables, other perishables, and of course my gluten free honey mustard pretzels, I rolled to the checkout lane.

TIME – SPECIAL EDITION – THE SCIENCE OF EMOTIONS

It caught my eye.

Nestled in the corner rack next to Star and US magazine (fodder for gossipers everywhere) the cover was a picture of father and toddler daughter, she in midair, father’s arms outstretched, ready to catch her. I grabbed it and threw it in with my groceries. So what if I was already over budget. I rationalized it as being good ‘Nurse’ reading. We are in a profession expected to have skills coping with all ranges of patients emotions. Plus, I’ve always been intrigued…how much emotion is physiologically derived.

There is reference to Emotional Intelligence, Hedonistic adaptation (adapting to whatever we think will make us happier and taking it for granted), and the brain’s amygdala (the area responsible for emotions, survival instincts, and memory.) Little of the writing was scientifically driven, but then, it was TIME, not The American Journal of Medicine. So I read on. Here’s a summary of my favorites:

The Upside of Bad Moods by Susan David: My favorite quote: “Negative moods summon a more attentive, accommodating thinking style that leads you to really examine facts in a fresh and creative way.” Yeah! So there, I don’t have to be a Pollyanna all the time.

Natural Mood Changers/ Subtitled How Six Mainstays of Modern Life Tweak Our Neurochemistry, By Kate Rockwood: Here are the six: Alcohol, Marijuana, Caffeine, Orgasm, Sugar, and Exercise.

Essay by Jancee Dunn, Instagram Envy, Tamed: She tells you right off the bat she understands that posts are curated and edited. It still doesn’t stop her from deleting a pended post she determines not to par amongst peers posting Bermuda vacations and completed half marathons. Her life seems to ‘pale in comparison.”

“We have taken our relationships online, and with a need to present our best selves, we edit. We look to social media to validate what we want to believe about ourselves.”

When she referred to social media as a fluff fest, I guffawed. She nailed it on the head. Her advice, “Either get away from it or get behind your posts 100%. There’s more to you than pictures of the smoothies you made this morning.

So, here I go.

 

Even In Nursing??

In the March issue of Time magazine there is a small article entitled “How the Pay Gap Hurts Women’s Financial Security”. There are fourteen categories, one is Registered Nurses. According to the Census Bureau analysis (2008 to 2012) by Time, women earn less at every age range, starting at 15% and elevating up to 38%.

I’ve been a nurse for thirty years. To say it is a predominantly female profession is an understatement. Spotting a male nurse is like seeing one of those albino zebra’s in Africa. And before some of you say What about ER nurse?, they’re usually paramedics hanging around between ambulance runs to pick up patients.

Seeing this article and knowing that we women rule nursing as far as getting the job done AND that we still get less pay — it’s like rubbing salt in a raw wound.

I was grumbling the other day about being pushed into more committee work and feeling ceremonially tapped for more leadership duties, but maybe it’s time.

Time to get heard.

Thank You TIME Magazine

The Ebola First Responders aka Ebola Warriors are The TIMES magazine “Person of The Year”

This isn’t a shameless plug. I don’t have stock in the publishing giant noted above.

Check it out. They have comments from doctors, nurses, translators, ambulance drivers, and volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse. Kudos TIME ! Excellent decision!

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That’s right. Walk past  the magazine with Angelina on the cover, and the one with a bare-chested Hemsworth. They usually put this magazine on the top rack. You can do it. There you go. Reach for it. It’ll feel good.