Finding mindfullness in ... bedmaking?

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I'm sure you've heard it before: nursing is a tough gig. You haven't? What rock have you been living under, and does it have good NBN speeds? I work on a general medical ward, and can have up to five patients at any one time of various levels of acuity. From dementia to sepsis to mental health overflow, it all comes in. The pressure ramps up and having to juggle patients needs and treatments it can all get a bit overwhelming at times. Especially for a "baby" nurse such as myself. Throw in a sometimes unpredictable mood cycle and once in a while I have to make a trip to my special place to let it out.

Orientating the new Grad nurse to the ward

One of the things I've attempted to incorporate in to my shifts is a moment or two of mindfulness - times to take a step back and reflect on my day to that point and to reset for the time to come. These can be hard to snatch on a busy ward, but I think I've cracked the code: bed making.  Hear me out.


It's quite a simple task. Fitted sheet, folded sheet, blanket and cover. A pillowcase or two (I'll save the patient to pillow acuity ratio theory for another time) and you're sorted. Strip the old linen and start fresh. I just find that it's something of a zen moment in smoothing out creases and tucking in corners. It lets me breath, just for a moment or two; to pause and assess what's going on; to re-plan my day as inevitably what I put together at the start of the shift is completely irrelevant at that point.


It's not perfect. I can't switch off the gears that tell me three lots of intravenous antibiotics are due in ten minutes and Fred in Room x is still on the toilet and can't walk without his frame and the old duck who has abdominal pain is fasting for a CT at whatever time radiology decides to call. But dammit, I can at least smooth the top cover out. And that's what helps get me through.

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