Speaker 1: Stay Calm as a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome
Speaker 1: to Stay Calm, your daily dose of calmness. I'm Bob Roth,
Speaker 1: and I've been teaching people to meditate for fifty years,
Speaker 1: helping them to stay calm under pressure, reboot and re
Speaker 1: energize their lives, and basically be a happier, healthier version
Speaker 1: of themselves. And now I want to help you do
Speaker 1: the same. Ready, sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths,
Speaker 1: and let's begin today's journey. It was a relatively slow
Speaker 1: afternoon in the intensive care unit when suddenly a rush
Speaker 1: of nurses burst through the double doors, pushing a gurney
Speaker 1: with a young kid strapped to the frame. He was unconscious,
Speaker 1: having difficulty breathing. One attending nurse told the story he
Speaker 1: had been playing football and had been hit very hard.
Speaker 1: Tests showed he would be paralyzed for the rest of
Speaker 1: his life. The I C you nurse took it all
Speaker 1: in as she ready the seventeen year old for care.
Speaker 1: The sadness Amy felt for the kid was palpable. What
Speaker 1: do you do with that sadness? Sadness that comes almost
Speaker 1: every day as part of a job you love. Amy
Speaker 1: was one of those people who knew when she was
Speaker 1: just five years old that she wanted to be a nurse.
Speaker 1: She entered nursing school right out of high school, and
Speaker 1: after graduation started working in the I c U unit,
Speaker 1: life and death situations where she could make the biggest difference.
Speaker 1: She had great mentors. She looked forward to going to
Speaker 1: work every day, taking on extra responsibilities, extra shifts. Then,
Speaker 1: after just eighteen months on the job, bam, it hit her,
Speaker 1: as it does so many nurses, Amy hit the wall.
Speaker 1: She was utterly and completely exhausted. Amy was living and
Speaker 1: working in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, looking for something to
Speaker 1: help deal with the burnout. That's when she heard about
Speaker 1: meditation and decided to give it a try. Her first
Speaker 1: experience was profound. I felt a very very deep rest,
Speaker 1: different from anything I'd ever experienced before, She says. I
Speaker 1: was awake inside and could hear everything going on around me.
Speaker 1: Since then, Amy has been meditating every day, twice a
Speaker 1: day throughout a nearly forty year career as a clinical nurse.
Speaker 1: Sometimes she would meditate at work, find a chair in
Speaker 1: an empty hospital room or even a closet, and then
Speaker 1: we'd go back to work. Twenty minutes later, feeling rested
Speaker 1: and refreshed and ready to go for another eight or
Speaker 1: nine hours. Meditation saved her career. She says, no way
Speaker 1: would she have had the energy, clarity, and focus to
Speaker 1: be a nurse without it. In two thousand nine, Amy
Speaker 1: was ready to retire, or at least she thought she was,
Speaker 1: But just two weeks into this new phase of her life,
Speaker 1: Amy surprised herself with a huge wave of energy and
Speaker 1: inspiration to get back into the fray. She decided to
Speaker 1: bring transcendental meditation to all the nurses who might want
Speaker 1: to learn anywhere in the country. Amy developed an academic
Speaker 1: curriculum and then arranged continuing nursing education credit for the
Speaker 1: nurses who learned to meditate and took the course. She
Speaker 1: helped inspire a research study at Sarasota Memorial Hospital which
Speaker 1: found significant reductions in burnout, compassion, fatigue, and traumatic stress,
Speaker 1: along with increases and resilience among meditating nurses. Today, Amy
Speaker 1: heads up to Heal the Healers Now for nurses and
Speaker 1: is working with the American Nurses Association Healthy Nurse, Healthy
Speaker 1: Nation initiative and is working with nurse wellness programs in
Speaker 1: hospitals across the country to bring meditation to these women
Speaker 1: and men who really really needed. Looking back on her career,
Speaker 1: Amy says there are two types of nurses. First, the
Speaker 1: task oriented nurse who passes out the medications, does the
Speaker 1: wound care, dressing, the tasks. And second, the nurse who
Speaker 1: does the tasks but also engages with the patients in
Speaker 1: a meaningful way. You're alert to their needs physically, psychologically, emotionally,
Speaker 1: and spiritually. That's what patients want. A nurse who will
Speaker 1: listen to them, who will anticipate their needs, who will
Speaker 1: comfort them and their family. That's what nursing is all about.
Speaker 1: I leave you with this quote from Mother Teresa that
Speaker 1: reminds me of Amy and the nurses I have known
Speaker 1: and those who have helped me during my times of need. Quote.
Speaker 1: Never worry about the numbers, help one person at a time,
Speaker 1: and always start with the person nearest you. All right,
Speaker 1: thank you for joining me today. I hope you heard
Speaker 1: something that inspires that uplifts you and that you can
Speaker 1: incorporate into your own life. This is Bob Roth. Stay calm. Hey,
Speaker 1: all of you out there, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your stories, your questions, or anything
Speaker 1: else on your mind. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: or Instagram at meditation Bob. You can also send me
Speaker 1: an email at meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: I look forward to hearing from you