Reading for your health

I recently had the pleasure of caring for a patient who encouraged his children to read, and they read to him in the hospital. It was beautiful.

Being an “essential” personnel is stressful, but it’s also what I signed up for and what I love doing. Sure I’m at risk for all of these diseases (and trust me, I’m more worried about the patient that has tuberculosis and hasn’t been on isolation for 3 days than I am about the patient with COVID), but it’s wonderful and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

The thing I love so much about right now is to see the wonderful outpouring of goodness. I’m currently on a travel nursing assignment in Tulsa, OK. It’s nothing like the majesty of the rockies that I’m used to, but it’s still my home nation, and the local outpouring for the front-line is wonderful to see and experience. Kilkenny’s here in town is offering 20% off for healthcare workers, trust me, it makes the isolation on my days off well worth it to have good food in my belly.

As I sit here contemplating bangers and mash for dinner, taking a much needed break from my novel (which will hopefully be done soon, but that’s the writer’s curse it seems), I’m grateful, and humbled by the fact that if I hadn’t made the decision to choose this career 14 years ago (I’ve been a nurse now for 10), I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to help in this way in this time of need. I also might not have thought up these ideas for my books, not to mention potentially missing out on some delicious food!

Stay safe, and stay healthy out there folks, maybe, I don’t know, get a new book and explore a new world that you haven’t visited before. But if you do get sick, especially if you’re not hospitalized, stay home. It might be the common cold, but it might also be a less severe case of COVID, and we don’t want to spread it. Oh, also- hydrate and keep moving, that goes for all of us!