We're all able to learn new knowledge, skills and attitudes, new ways of doing things, even new tricks...
At the end of 2012 I planned to add writing and workshop information to this page quite soon, but what tripped me up in that plan is something everyone needs to know about... I was asked by the Health Quality and Safety Commission if I had a few spare hours, and started a series of contracts with the the national programme, Reducing Harm from Falls, ending five years later! This work honed my skills in simplifying complex material and preparing practical resources and learning experiences for health professionals to use in what has been described as 'the everyday heroism of falls prevention'. It also meant that I worked with a talented team which took an integrated, system-wide, multidisciplinary approach, and the uptake at the frontline made a real difference.
Meanwhile, you may have found yourself here after reading 'I found myself in nursing...', a viewpoint published in the June issue of Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand.... and you're perhaps looking for my 1994 paper Careers and other commitments: some comments on wholeness.
That exactly 20 years had passed since writing the careers paper gave me a small surprise. Finding that there is nothing in it I'd wish to change raised the question of whether I should have moved on. But I have journeyed in that time through many interesting and worthwhile projects with nurses and other health professionals, and hold even more dearly to values of professional growth, adaptability and caring. These things are not possible without continued learning.
Speaking of learning, and for the record, my first upload late 2012 was a sort of combo blog/open letter of thanks (about peer review) related to the last article (talking about safe practice) in a series of six learning activities, Reading, Reflection, and application in Reality (RRR), published in Nursing Review in 2012.
Those RRR learning activities are in the archived issues of Nursing Review according to the publication dates as follows:
Jones S. 2012. In balance: The fit between work and other life commitments. Nursing Review 12(9): 15-18.
Jones S. 2012. In pursuit of evidence: Your role in making research count in everyday practice. Nursing Review 12(10): 15-18.
Jones S. 2012. Shared decision-making: Where self-management and clinical expertise meet? Nursing Review 12(11): 15-18.
Jones S. 2012. Health Literacy: Patient-centred communication is still the answer. Nursing Review 12(12): 15-18.
Jones S. 2012. Change management: A classic theory revisited. Nursing Review 12(13): 15-18.
Jones S. 2012. Talking about safe practice: A way to look after yourself, your colleagues, and your patients. Nursing Review 12(13): 15-18.
I think they're still good and fresh - enjoy!
Thank you
Shelley Jones