Hi, and welcome to my blog! I'm Susan E. Mazer -- a knowledge expert and thought leader on how the environment of care impacts the patient experience. Topics I write about include safety, satisfaction, hospital noise, nursing, care at the bedside, and much more. Subscribe below to get email notices so you won't miss any great content.
Choosing to ease the stress of Election Day earlier this week, the Weather Channel broadcast 9 hours of stunning sunset and ocean video. To soothe us. What an idea!
For me, however, the drama that went on during coverage of the election this year was not unlike watching the recent Cubs vs. Reds World Series or Hurricane Matthew barreling up the East Coast. It was hard to pull away.
Nonetheless, what about all the other days in our lives when we have to deal with the stress of work, an unexpected illness, or other troubles?
Americans are addicted to high drama, high action, fast paced stories with heroes and villains. Still, what do we do on the days when none of that soothes our deepest fears and anxieties when the world we once knew is to be no more and our future is uncertain?
First, we need a sense of hope. Something that tells us that all is not lost and whatever we see from where we sit is not all there is.
Then, we need to reclaim our sense of wonder, the sense of mystery that whatever we know, there is more to the story to be both revealed and discovered. How better to do that than through nature?
Nature Video & Music
Nature is the best representation of perfection that is continually threatened from the inside: storms, lightning, floods, earthquakes, spontaneous fires, and, of course, from human intervention. And, yet, nature continues to evolve, adapt, and outlive all of us.
When we started developing The C.A.R.E. Channel, my husband Dallas and I wanted every patient in the hospital to have access to music and nature, to give them respite from the scary thoughts, the “what-ifs,” the “how will we get through this,” and the real fears that illness inspires.
We were not off the mark in developing this programming that has cared for thousands of patients, families, infants, and kids in their most frightening hours.
We all need a break from the stress of our lives and the world around us. However, how we handle it, how long it takes for us to realize that no day is like another, determines how we live through it and into the future.
The 2016 election is over. Now Americans are in the midst of changes that we cannot predict.
Take care of yourself. Download the C.A.R.E. at Home app to access beautiful nature videos and soothing music on your mobile device where ever you might be. Take 15 minutes to realize that, as Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The sun also rises,” and the future is here.
Reclaim your own sense of wonder, of possibility, of personal power to live your own values.
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