Reflections on Salt Water

May is national walking month and with several bank holidays and more hours of daylight it is a lovely time of year to get out and about. The hedgerows are full of blues, pinks and shades of white at the moment having gone through the yellows of spring. I enjoy walking whatever the weather and find that the space can often help with studying especially if I have been struggling with the phrasing of a paragraph or how to lay out an idea clearly. I have had to find ways to stop and record my idea (I usually dictate an email to myself - until I find a better option) so that I can then use it later. Long distance trails are getting lots of attention at the moment as The salt path is due to be released at the end of this month. This is a film of a book about a couple who, at their lowest point in life felt they had no choices left and started walking on the South West Coast Path, when the book was released in 2017 it won many accolades. Raynor Wynn has now written three books  document...

Happy New Year Last year was another 12 months of books and stories. Looking back at the top 9 from Instagram (@sarahwteaches) shows old books, new books, celebrations and information. The small red one in the centre was a lovely surprise that arrived along with a Christmas card from a family member. It belonged to my nan and is dated 1926. It is well thumbed and a nice bit of nursing history. Whilst I admire people who set - and keep to! - new years resolutions, I prefer to make a list of things that I hope to do or achieve over the year ahead. On it this year will be significant time spent on a piece of research. This seems like the perfect time to dust off an old blog which  appeared previously in my blog of a different name. I have edited it to freshen it up a bit and make it more relevant for this blog. In 1747 Dr James Lind performed the first ever clinical trail. He took a group of sailors suffering from scurvy, which at that time was a major problem for the fleet, and divid...

I was recently reminded of a time back in secondary school, many years ago doing cross country. For a while I had been in front of one of the sporty girls who then overtook me as we got to the end. For no reason at all she came to find me at the end, took the time to speak to me and explain how she had used me as a pacemaker giving me a few tips for running.  There was no need for her to do that and I don't know why she did. Hopefully I thanked her at the time though because those few words made a difference and changed the way I approached cross country. I went on over the next few years to do a lot of competitive running, visited some interesting places and really enjoyed it. The point of this story is that we rarely know how a tiny bit of advice or support will affect someone. What a difference it may make to someone's life. In healthcare we are interacting with people all the time, sometimes for only a very short time. I have had the privilege of hearing  Tommy Whitelaw ...

There is immense power in the sharing of stories and nursing is a profession that thrives on stories. We talk all day and sometimes all night to people and their families, sharing stories of lives well lived, people well loved and hopes for the future.  It is important that we share these tales to find out what makes people tick and how we can best help them. Talking things through also helps some to share the burden of caring. It is possible to hear amazing stories, there is something in everyone's life that is special or unusual or amazing. Some stories involve travel... Lived patient experience tells us what we are actually achieving compared to what we hope to achieve. Books such as Michael Rosen's Many different kinds of love shines a light on what we do and how it looks from the other side. One of the bits that stopped me in my tracks was when he says about 'whatever it is they do when they look at you for half a minute then write something down'. (Respiratory ra...