If that is the case, you need to start consciously taking actions and doing things that help you feel connected to the world around you and the people in it. It may mean staying exactly as you are - but maybe, you want to be seen as compassionate and caring - as someone who gives back. Once you have made a decision as to how you want to be seen and remembered - you need to then make a plan of how to go about that. Do we want to be seen as kind and caring - or as self-absorbed and self-centered? Both are legitimate visions - but how do you want to be remembered when you are no longer in the room? So how do we overcome this apathy and inaction? Well - first and foremost, it is about looking in the mirror first and really assessing who we are as individuals - and how we want others to see us. These same individuals are often stunned, however, when something happens to them, and others stand around and do nothing and see nothing. That can leave children turning into adults who continue to believe that myopic view of the world. Unfortunately, many parents teach their children that they are the center of the universe and the star of the show, more important than anyone around them. Well, in my opinion, part of that lack of seeing is an inability to open their eyes, ears, minds, and hearts to what happens outside of their own thoughts or minds. When queried later, some will even say that they didn’t actually see anything happen. It is this same inaction that allows some people to stand by and not see, or pretend not to see when a group of people bully someone or do damage to someone, physically, emotionally, or psychologically. The problem is - as a society, we are often encouraged to stand back and not to take action - to let things happen because they are not our job or responsibility. It takes the actions of someone who wants change - who cares about changing things for the tides to change and for those actions to shift the paths into a different direction. Things go wrong - and sometimes things stay wrong for a long time. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. In fact, the tweets not only got noticed, Dr.I have chosen the following quote to consider this week: Mona to alert her that school nurses would be coming to her talk. Thanks to the power of social media, Beth Mattey, immediate Past-President of NASN, had tweeted to Dr. There was a strong contingency of school nurses represented at the lecture. Nickitas, also the Editor of Nursing Economics The Journal for Health Care Leaders, is a visionary leader who speaks the language of activism and advocacy. The new Dean of Rutgers-Camden School of Nursing, Dr. Mona’s first-hand account of her call to activism to protect children was a timely topic for my students as they are in the midst of the school nurse graduate coursework. Leadership and advocacy are tenets of NASN’s Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice, hearing Dr. When I first heard about the event, I knew that I wanted to share the experience with my Rutgers-Camden School Nurse Certificate students. Mona shared her riveting story on a book tour that stopped at the Free Library of Philadelphia on a rainy July evening. Gerald Markowitz, the co-author of Lead Wars, gave this advance praise for the book: “ What the Eyes Don’t See captures all that is wrong and right in America at this moment.”ĭr. The grassroots movement which she found herself leading came together to fight for justice, safety and the health and well-being of children. Mona’s call to activism is detailed in What the Eyes Don’t See. Lead levels were astronomical and the youngest children were being poisoned by the invisible neurotoxins found in the water supply. The water, in fact, was not fine, it was contaminated. She soon found out that listening to mothers, one of the seminal lessons taught in pediatric residency, was key to her pursuit for the truth. Mona, despite skepticism from her parents, believed that officials were being truthful when they insisted the water was fine. Profits over marginalized people set the stage for decision-makers to shift the source of water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Mona is the hero pediatrician who worked relentlessly to uncover and expose the public health disaster in Flint, Michigan because she cares so deeply about children. We have to know what we care about, and lead with our “why,” in order to make an impact.ĭr. Grappling with caring, too much or too little is worth a moment of self-reflection. Caring is something that may be in short supply during our current political climate. Mona Hanna-Attisha’s gripping book, What The Eyes Don’t See, struck me right in the heart: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.
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