My husband and I went up to the Lake District
for a short break and met up with some friends during the day to do some
climbing and cycling. Even the most friendly rock routes seemed so steep and
scary! I felt like an unconfident novice, totally overwhelmed with little
recollection of how to move on rock.
The pandemic has infiltrated every part of
our lives, so it’s probably no surprise
that I was a bag of nerves. But we tried to stay relaxed and took it very easy
and gradually it started coming back to me and I was up and away.
It began to feel familiar again, and with the
fresh air filling my lungs and the sun beating down on my face (we were so
lucky to have great weather), I realised how much I had missed it. When I climb, the magic of nature
takes over and the heaviness of life lifts.
I returned home energised, feeling so
much better with the world in general, and grateful.
Covid has made so many more of us aware of how much we need nature,
and that’s why it just had to be this year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness
Week. We need nature to stay mentally well at the best of times, and
still more in the worst of times.
I have many happy outdoor places, finding so
much joy just being out in the open air, and I’ve loved seeing your posts about
how nature helps your wellbeing as part of the mental health awareness week
promotion.
Nature
soothes us, rejuvenates us, inspires us. It nourishes the soul.
You’ll
know better than me all the research showing its power in helping to
reduce anxiety and stress, improve mood, raise self-esteem, and improve
well-being.
Nature
is a thousand miracles. It's a wonderful feeling to push even a
tiny piece of the planet down beneath your feet. Just imagine if the stars appeared in the sky only one night
every decade, oh how we would marvel in awe.
Touching mountain rocks that are millions of
years old brings such perspective; they are earth’s everlasting monuments. It
can make any problems I may have suddenly seem smaller.
I felt at times during lockdown that I would
never get back to climbing, as it’s easy to think something might never happen
when it’s delayed, paused and then postponed again. It becomes a bit
unimaginable.
It has felt a bit like that with Paris, our
electronic patient record programme! We’ve been talking about it for so long,
with the go live date for the third cohort being pushed back several
times.
But it’s absolutely happening in just over a
week on 24 May. An incredible amount of preparatory work has been taking place with 142 Paris champions now in place, and
I want to thank everyone who is working tirelessly in preparation on this
significant work.
So, in the same way I dusted off my helmet
and harness and got ready for my climb, it’s essential you are all as ready as
you can be and ensure you have the training and get familiar with the system.
The big difference is that Paris isn’t a
mountain you need to metaphorically climb; it will hopefully transform your
working lives for the better, bringing a host of benefits to clinical teams and
patients. That includes being able to access up-to-date, accurate and complete
information about patients all in one place. It should give you more time to
focus on patient care, which is what all our work is ultimately about.
Its success will depend on all our clinicians
and professions using it and helping us make it better. And no more so, than
our largest staff group - nurses – you have an essential role in ensuring its
successful implementation. I know you’ll rise to the challenge, just as you
always do. And it was brilliant to have the opportunity to recognise, thank and
applaud nurses this Wednesday for International Nurses Day.
Your dedication, skill and compassion
throughout the pandemic has been truly phenomenal, from caring selflessly for
patients to delivering a successful vaccine programme to colleagues.
You have climbed your own challenging
mountain and reached the very top. We salute you.
Best wishes,
Claire
You can follow
me on Twitter @ClaireMolloy2
No comments:
Post a Comment