"May this be a house of courage, Where healing and growth are loved, Where dignity and forgiveness prevail; A home where patience of spirit is prized, And the sight of the destination is never lost Though the journey be difficult and slow." ~ Adapted from John O'Donahue, To Bless the Space Between Us This…
Credit: National Academy of Medicine (2017) As a family nursing scholar, my greatest desire is to shift the emphasis of health care from the individual to the FAMILY and from tasks and technology to RELATIONSHIPS. I am delighted there are many organizations and individuals around the world who share my mission, including the International Family…
I read an interesting blog post recently by Harold Jarche, a Canadian teacher and consultant to individuals and organizations who focuses on "workplace transformation for the network era." He challenges individuals and leaders in social networks to be MORE THAN passive users of knowledge but learn how to become a "knowledge catalyst"--someone who goes beyond…
Family Systems Care: Special Presentation to an audience of health care professionals interested in improving their knowledge and skills in working with families: Winterthur, Switzerland, May 2018 Lorraine Wright and I are very excited to offer our 4-day signature workshop, the Advanced Family Externship, and share our ideas with you about advanced practice with families. We've…
Photo credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398076054549131026/ There are a number of voices across several disciplines who are actively participating in the growing scholarly conversation about family focused health care in North America and beyond (Bell, 2017). In a Journal of Family Nursing Special Focus Issue on Social Media and Family Nursing, February 2017, Isaacson and Looman (2017) discuss…
Dr. Fabie Duhamel Dear Fabie: I am thinking about you today with love and admiration as your colleagues gather in Montreal to celebrate and honor your distinguished academic career at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, Canada. I am so proud of your efforts to make family nursing a priority in your work and…
Family Nursing Unit, University of Calgary: A research and education unit for advanced practice with families experiencing serious illness. Photo donated to the "Family Nursing In Action" Photo Collection, International Family Nursing Association: http://internationalfamilynursing.org/2015/04/12/family-nursing-in-action-request-for-photos/. In this photo, a faculty member and graduate students are watching from behind a one-way mirror a therapeutic conversation between…
International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. Here is my favourite photo of two precious family members who were my earliest mentors in the profession of Nursing. I happen to be named after one of them.
"Arthritis, The Silent Family Member", my personal illness narrative, was first published in 1996 in a co-authored book: Beliefs: The Heart of Healing in Families and Illness by Lorraine M. Wright, Wendy L. Watson, and Janice M. Bell. New York, NY: Basic Books. I was 5, almost 6 years old, when the reality of illness entered my…
Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland Some of the Members of the Steering Committee, Landspitali University Hospital Family Implementation ProjectIceland is a small country with a population of just over 300,000 and my Icelandic friends are among the most patriotic people I have ever met. They share a strong belief about the collective responsibility of Icelandic…