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Written by Francine Baffa, LICSW, BCBA-D Edited by Joe DeNoon   “Enlightenment, joy, and peace can never be given to you by another. The well is inside you.” Thich Nhat Hanh Anxiety and all its symptoms are friendly alarms letting us know when we’re innocently misusing the beautiful gift of peace. When we see that … Continue reading “To be Fully Alive: Helping Ourselves Live in the Moment”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon You have seen this title before, but we will talk about it again because of the sheer importance of this topic. Mental health check-ins are essential when working in a stressful job. They can help us from going over the edge where we will need a … Continue reading “Mental Health Check-Ins Pt. 2”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon In the last blog, I discussed what OCD is and how it relates to nursing. As a reminder, the cycle of OCD starts with a trigger, which turns to the obsession, leads to an increase in anxiety, and then the compulsions/strategies used to cope with the … Continue reading “OCD Tendencies Part 2: How to Address and Combat the Cycle”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon Most people experience unwanted and intrusive thoughts, images, or urges from time to time. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder related to anxiety where these unwanted, intrusive thoughts, as well as images and urges, occur so frequently that they are categorized as an obsession that … Continue reading “OCD Tendencies Part 1: What is OCD and How Does It Relate to Nursing?”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon The death and dying process is a process nurses see more than the average population of workers, whether it is seeing a patient die from their sickness or injury or having to talk to the family/friends of the patient who has died or is dying. Death … Continue reading “How to Cope with the Death and Dying Process”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon   *Trigger Warning: Death of patients is brought up in this blog.  Making mistakes—as humans we all make mistakes, but when nurses go to work, mistakes can mean life or death. With how much goes on in a hospital and how many people are there to … Continue reading “How to Cope with Making Mistakes at Work”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon If I had to guess, mental health struggles among healthcare professionals are one of the reasons you read my blog. There is no doubt that healthcare professionals see and work in distressing and possibly traumatizing environments every time they put on their scrubs, and this takes … Continue reading “Mental Health Checks for Healthcare Professionals”

*Trigger Warning: Suicide is a topic that is brought up in this blog.    Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon We are now in the third calendar year of a global pandemic. Wow, when I say that, it makes me think about life before the pandemic. I remember not wearing a mask, … Continue reading “PTSD and the Pandemic”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon Trauma and PTSD are mental health concerns that anyone can experience. We all experience stressors, and, while not all traumatic experiences lead to a diagnosis like PTSD, anyone who has experienced a traumatic, life-threatening, or life-changing event can be diagnosed with PTSD. Another factor to keep … Continue reading “Recognizing PTSD in Yourself and Others”

Written by Samantha Wall, LCSW Edited by Joe DeNoon The below video talks about boundaries you can set with your family during the holidays. Please watch the video before you read this blog post.   In my last blog, we talked about how to take care of yourself if you are grieving during this holiday … Continue reading “Setting Boundaries With Family Around the Holidays”