As I entered my school the other day to get a jump on some work before the school year starts, I noticed the polished floors and freshly painted walls just waiting for our students to arrive. I glanced into one of our 5
th grade classroom and noticed all the new tennis balls that were carefully placed on the legs of the chairs to protect the newly waxed floors. All at once, the words of my friend and colleague, Robin the Relentless School Nurse, came to mind, “When you identify that ‘thing’, I promise time will magically appear. The work is in choosing, consciously deciding that our work is beyond the tasks that can overwhelm us… first, you do need to choose your focus, identify your passion that is the real work.”
Robin is calling on school nurses to make the time for a New School Year Resolution; however, we know how some of those resolutions can set us up for failure. As far as resolutions go, I have been thinking about how I was going to inspire nurses in our school district to take on a new adventure. In the past, I have asked nurse leaders to find their passion and what drives them, comparable to what drives a dog to obsessively chase a tennis ball. Meet the Ball Obsessed Rex
https://youtu.be/eB6WGoqVEzo I ask you now, to look into your childhood to remember the feeling of great accomplishment and endless fun when you succeeded at something new. Some of the school nurses’ responses were things like learning how to swing by themselves, learning to dive into a pool or ski down a hill. To identify their “thing”, school nurses need to feel that same sense of joyful accomplishment that comes with it even if it is after many unsuccessful attempts remain obsessed with your passion.