I read this title in a newsletter recently, and it moved me to write about my recent experiences as a nursing instructor. I am grateful for the impetus that this title has spawned for writing is something I have been unable to do in recent weeks due largely to work demands. Work – the paid employment I engage in outside of my Coaching Practice – has been all-consuming for the past 6 weeks but so too, has it been inspirational. As I worked diligently at coaching and guiding nursing students through their practice experiences, I found myself gently and calmly observing their behaviour, their growth, and their own unique blossoming into the professionals they will soon become. But it is HOW I observed that is different for me now. As a woman of growing emotional, intellectual, and spiritual maturity, I find in my way of being, a more forgiving and nurturing way of teaching. I am less punitive now than I had likely been when I first began. I believe this is a reflection of my own growth over the years and so, I savour this experience for what it represents – years of effort to know and understand myself more fully. In so doing, I too blossom as a professional as I work to I usher into practice, a new generation of nurses.
In my mid-life years, I “observe differently” now. As a result, I hope that I am cultivating the best in my students – helping them to reach for the stars as they learn to tap into the best of who they are while helping them to become compassionate caregivers.