REVIEWED BY JAMES DAVIS, RN, M.S.N.
INSPIRED NURSE
BY RICH BLUNI, RN
Fire Starter Publishing, 2009
167 pages, $26.50 (paperback)
I agreed to read and review Inspired Nurse by Rich Bluni, RN, with a bit of a bias that it might be an infomercial for the Studer Group, a consulting firm for health care organizations. I know of the Studer approach because some of our facilities use it to help manage the patient experience. Bluni is a coach for Studer, and he is certainly transparent about his work and about the positive influence his engagement with the Studer Group has had on his practice and his life. My skepticism melted away as my heart opened to the power and simplicity of the stories, the practices and the "spiritual stretches" that are organized into a journey of inspiration, a journey that helps nurses to reconnect with both the personal and the universal call of the healer.
Nursing requires a strong spirit. Being fully present, holding the space for the full range of experiences inherent in healing that engages the mind, body and spirit of the patient and the caregiver, requires self-care. Nurses must find their own path to the physical, emotional, and spiritual hardiness that support the demands of living a full personal life and the serving and self-giving they are called to that heals patients and families.
Inspired Nurse embraces the hazards of cynicism, moral distress, compassion fatigue and other forms of burnout with optimism, affirmation and inspiration. The practices are grounded in well-established contemplative and integrative exercises. Bluni draws on his own considerable nursing experience to draw the reader in and spark poignant memories that can get lost in the chaos and pace of delivering care. The exercises all point to the power of service through presence and self-giving as well as the inspiration and spiritual strengthening available through intentional remembering, storytelling, engaging the spirit and journaling. Bluni lays out powerful and practical strategies in short chapters with "spiritual stretches" and journal prompts. I found myself laughing, crying, and mostly remembering why I deeply love the profession of nursing.
Working as a nurse in Catholic health care has allowed me to align my own value structure and the philosophy and values of nursing with organizational mission and values. Reverence for the dignity of every human person, a special compassion for the sick, poor and vulnerable and especially holism in care and relationships were and are my source of inspiration and passion.
As a leader for mission, I seek orientation and ongoing formation practices for associates that allow personal, professional and organizational values to converge and inspire. Engaging a pluralistic and diverse community of nurses and caregivers in formation that supports integration of mind, body and spirit in care delivery and in relationships requires authenticity, practicality and a connection to the spirit. I believe the Inspired Nurse experience can provide this very kind of formation. The book is designed to provide individual nurses or groups of nurses with specific strategies that help them to remember and savor the experiences that have formed them so they can harvest the inspiration that comes from connection to meaning and purpose.
In Catholic health care, we search for ways to water the seeds of the spirit in all those who serve our patients and families. Inspired Nurse engages the importance of the spirit and the sacred encounters between nurse and patients and between caregivers. The author does this in a sensitive and welcoming way so that regardless of faith tradition — or no tradition — the underlying love that is the ground for the call to heal can inspire and energize.
JAMES DAVIS is senior vice president, mission integration and ethics, for the Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin, Texas.