Debi Pasley is CHRISTUS Health’s top nurse.  She offers the following insight into delivering on the CHRISTUS mission, how to be a strong nurse and how we as a community can support nursing.

A big thank you Debi for sharing a vision and making others aware of the importance of a strong nursing profession.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has designated 2017 as the “Year of the Healthy Nurse.” It is appropriate, then, that CHRISTUS nurses and all other eligible CHRISTUS Associates are re-enrolling for our health benefits during this week.  Please take advantage of the health-supporting options offered to keep us and our families in the healthiest state possible.

The ANA’s 2017 Nurses Week theme is “Nursing: the Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit.” The balance of mind, body and spirit are supported by practicing nurses during patient encounters every day.  The bigger challenge, though, is the nurse balancing his/her own mind, body, and spirit.  Caregiving professionals may well be more focused on others’ needs than on their own.  This year’s ANA theme reminds us of the need for our nurses to make time for themselves.

If you are a CHRISTUS nurse please remember this:

It is difficult to deliver our mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ if we ourselves are out of balance. Please take the opportunity participate in The Blessing of Hands in each facility if you are available.  If you cannot attend, you can participate in spirit through reading the blessing created specifically for nurses in the CHRISTUS family.  In addition to appearing below, it is printed on the Nurses Week greeting being distributed in CHRISTUS hospitals this week.

If you support our nurses:

Please take a moment to thank our nurses for what they do and to remind them to take care of themselves.

Happy Nurses Week,
Debi

Debi Pasley, MS, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE is System Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer for CHRISTUS Health.  With over 40 years of experience in health care, she is a board-certified health care executive and nursing administrator. In her role at CHRISTUS, she is responsible for ensuring care is delivered within evidence-based practices which optimize the outcomes and safety of our patients and the communities we serve.

 

BLESSING OF THE HANDS
The vocation of nursing has long been recognized as an extension of God’s healing on earth and a visible sign of God’s loving presence in the world.  We ask God’s special blessing on our nurses, care givers and clinical leaders as well as all those who provide care and undertake their work in a spirit of service to others.

CHRISTUS Health acknowledges your sacred healing work and recognizes your commitment to respond compassionately to the physical, mental and spiritual needs of our patients, their families and our communities.

We ask God’s blessing on your hands, may that continue to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to all they touch.

Blessed be the hands that touch life.                                                                                       Blessed be the hands that soothe suffering.                                                                             Blessed be the hands that embrace others with compassion.                                                   Blessed be the hands that faithfully steward and ensure access to care.                           Blessed be the hands that clean beds, dispose of waste and create healing environments.       Blessed be the hands that brush hair, bathe the body and bring comfort.                                 Blessed be the hands that administer medicine to cure disease and ease pain.                     Blessed be the hands that hold others in prayer.                                                                         Blessed be the hands that reach out and receive the vulnerable.                                             Blessed be the hands that that comfort the dying.

 “For I was sick and you cared for me,…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  Matthew 25:36, 40

 Background:

National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6 (RN  recognition day) and ends on May 12 (Florence Nightingale’s birthday). These permanent dates enhance planning and position National Nurses Week as an established recognition event.