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• First, you need to flush the exposed skin with comfortable temperature running water for 30 minutes. Lather well with a mild soap several times. Rinse with alcohol (rubbing alcohol or beer work well), to cut the oil, several times, and then go back to using water.
   
• Once the flushing is done, the pain may be gone. If so, hurray! Make sure to change your clothes and launder them several times before you wear them again. And, from now on, ALWAYS wear rubber gloves when working with hot peppers!
   
• If the pain continues, proceed to Step 2. You’ll need to apply zinc or magnesium based ointment or liquid to your skin. You can soak your hands and arms in an antacid like Mylanta® or Maalox®, or you can apply a zinc oxide ointment such as Desitin® diaper rash ointment to your skin, and then wear something such as white cotton socks over your arms. You should have significant relief within an hour or so. Re-apply the topical product as needed, until the pain is completely gone.
   
• And finally, ALWAYS wear rubber gloves when working with hot peppers! 

Regardless of the “sense and non-sense” and endless interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s writings, I have always enjoyed a certain segment of the poem The Walrus and the Carpenter which is tucked away somewhere in the adventures of Alice Through The Looking Glass. The poem has been around since the 1870’s and I learned it from my grandmother and passed it on to my children. My grandchildren will not be spared. I have not done any great in-depth analysis of the poem, as many have, but often repeat these lines:
   The time has come, the Walrus said,
   To talk of many things:
   Of shoes..and ships..and sealing wax..
   Of cabbages and kings..
   And why the sea is boiling hot
   And whether pigs have wings.

We could have a great talk about sealing-wax. In my mind, I would love to see it make a comeback. However, the time has come to talk of many other things:
   Of early mornings that become endless days..
   Hallways that are racetracks..
   Opportunities, timing, choices.
   Bundles and sets
   Of Policies, Protocols, Politics & Patient Care
   Fear of falling; Fear of not falling; Fear of Failing; Fear of Succeeding; Fear of You
   Anagrams: ITYK
   Input, output, opinions, ideas, place
   Of crossroads, decisions, direction, self-evaluation
Oh, we could talk of many things! But, someone has to listen! Is that me or you?

And, we could talk of life. Of times when roads diverge and we are compelled to stop
and carefully analyze the complex maze of direction choices on the map before us. And, we could talk about what Alice really saw in the Looking Glass! Well, this is what I see: the cheese is moving, pigs are flying, the oysters are dead and after 17 years on 4-medicine, I’m moving to the Mother Ship. Why? Because the Walrus said, “The time has come”!

What is in your Looking Glass?

Sherry

Sherry Holden, BSN, RN
Associate Partner, 4South, IU Hospital

To be a registered nurse at Clarian, visit Registered Nurse Career Job Search.
 

The results are in from a June survey about moral distress... but before “the big reveal,” it’s important to highlight a few key points.

Moral distress occurs when you believe you know the correct thing to do, but something or someone restricts your ability to pursue the right course of action. It doesn’t mean you have weak morals or that you are acting unethically. It is about a sense that you are not fulfilling your moral obligations, your core values are violated and your moral integrity is at risk because your “ethical” actions are restrained.

Moral distress can affect nurses’ physical and emotional well-being, as well as have an impact on their professional practice. When nurses are affected, patient care also may be affected by nurses distancing themselves from patients, resulting in patients receiving less attentive physical care. Moral distress also contributes to nurse turnover.

More than 1,000 nurses responded to the June survey, allowing us to evaluate a new tool for moral distress called the Moral Distress Thermometer (MDT). The MDT works a lot like a pain rating scale. It’s easy to understand and takes less time to complete than a 38-item survey that until now has been the standard tool for detecting moral distress in nurses. While the MDT is sensitive to detect moral distress in nurses, it cannot identify what may be causing the distress; that data has yet to be analyzed.

Clarian nurses surveyed in June were more likely to have a Bachelor’s degree or beyond, to be certified, and to work in critical care areas. Overall, the moral distress of respondents was 3 on a 1-10 scale. Perhaps the most significant finding of the project was that nurses who answered “yes” to the question “have you considered quitting a job because of moral distress?” scored higher on the MDT. In fact, 30 of our survey respondents had scores high enough that we can say they may be at risk for leaving their current job because of moral distress.

Here’s your challenge: We know through other research and our own experience with Unit-Based Ethics Conversations that having the opportunity to discuss ethically challenging situations is helpful. If you think your moral distress score is high, talk to someone.

Vicky Lachman put it this way, “The space between knowing and acting is bridged by moral courage.” Moral courage is the willingness to take a risk to protect your core values. What are you waiting for?

Lucia Wocial, PhD, RN
Clarian Health Nurse Ethicist

To be a registered nurse at Clarian, visit Registered Nurse Career Job Search.

Julie entered nursing as a second career in search of a way to give back to the community and as a personal path to fulfillment, after having lived the glamorous but somewhat empty life as a manager in a retail jewelry store.

"Nursing has given me the opportunity to use my God given gifts to both directly help patients and their families and also to support other nurses and physicians who do. This is not a job, it is an identity and an enthusiasm for wanting to make a moment in time the best it can be for someone in need. "

Julie graduated from IUPUI, so despite the short walk to the Clarian campus, her professional path to nurse recruitment includes CV Critical Care and Manager of the Resource Pool.

To be a registered nurse at Clarian, visit Registered Nursing Position Indiana.