Happy Heart Month,

This is one of my favorite months of the year. Winter is still here but some bulbs are starting to sprout through the ground preparing us for the spring that is to come. Love is in the air. It just seems like people are a little more friendly and happy around the middle of the month. And, every 4 years we get an extra day.

February is also called Heart month for another reason. The American Heart Association has chosen February to focus on heart disease. In recent years they have gone a step further by designating the first Friday of February to put emphasis on heart health for women. Heart disease continues to be the number one killer of men and women worldwide. This is a great time to flood your staff with information that can help them make healthier choices in their lives.

In addition to letting your staff know what they can do to be healthier, I challenge you to become a healthier you. Think about when you either teach or take a CPR class. The first thing you are supposed to do is make sure the scene is safe. We do this because we can’t help the victim if we end up injured or needing assistance. This is the same with your everyday life. If you don’t take care of yourself first you won’t be able to take care of others. Below is one of my favorite quotes, and one I have to remind myself about frequently.

“Go above and beyond for yourself! You do it for family, friends, and colleagues, but don’t forget about YOU. It’s important to include yourself… You are worthy of your own kindness, too!”
― Stephanie Lahart

Like Dr. Sulak said at conference “We need to live WELL Aware”. We need to incorporate the World Health Organization five aspects of wellness: physical, emotional, social, financial, and spiritual. There are more aspects than physical health that go into making us a healthy person. Try to pick at least one and focus on it this month.

Don’t forget to check out the NASN website for the candidates up for election in March. Our very own Lisa Sicilio is running for Vice President. You can go to www.nasn.org and read about all the candidates. Let’s show them the voice of Texas when time to vote rolls around.

Have a great month and take care of yourself,

Lisa

To learn more visit https://www.nbcsn.org/

“After working since 2014 in the Houston med center at MD Anderson on a step down telemetry and pulmonary/cardiovascular unit, I switched gears and went into school nursing for Klein ISD. This is my third year as a school nurse and each year has held its own adventures and learning opportunities. One of my most loved projects was creating an annual cross grade level and community collaborative effort to educate our 5th grade students on the lifesaving skill of CPR. We teamed up with two other Klein ISD nurses named Emily Berry and Jaqueline Angelino, along with twenty CPR certified high school student volunteers to assist in the teaching of our education classes. Also, we are collaborated with Northwest Alliance EMS service who assisted in leading the classes as well. The state of Texas requires that high school student have the opportunity to become CPR certified; we are taking that to the next level by exposing our 5th graders to this life saving skill and also allowing our district’s high school students to hone their skills by essentially becoming the teacher. My hope is that our young and older students will take this life saving exposure out into the community and possibly be inspired to go into a health care or first responder career path.”

From Brandy:

Elizabeth is the kind of nurse who, even new to school nursing, is a trailblazer. She goes above and beyond routinely, starting new programs and initiatives that get even the most experienced nurses challenged and trying new things in their own schools! She was the first in our district to obtain Project Adam certification on her elementary campus, and because she was brave enough to go first, I went second! Thank you for setting the bar so high!

Elizabeth was nominated by Brandy Bowlen.

Thank you for your leadership!

http://www.txsno.org/membership/jointsno

This is just one example of how membership pays for itself! Stay tuned for more examples!