As nurses our hands are one of the most vital parts of our body and a lot is expected of them. They work very hard for us and yet I wonder how often we acknowledge this and/or really thank them for it?
Perhaps a bit of moisturising hand cream now and then.
Maybe it’s worth getting to know our hands more intimately and appreciating how amazing they are in what they do for us. They are hugely sensitive, awesome tools. We’d be lost without them!
Though vital in nursing, hand washing can often be seen as just another mundane but necessary chore, something we generally try to get through as quickly and thoroughly as possible to move on to the next task. How often can we go into auto-pilot with it, our minds on a million other things? I know I have.
But what if we used those moments we take to wash our hands as a space to reconnect, to regather, to use as moments just for us? A great stop, giving us space to take stock of where we are at and how we are in our day.
Nurses are masters of observing others and situations, but how about ourselves?
I have been experimenting with using hand washing as part of a very conscious ‘stop and connect back to myself’ moment I take in my day. Interestingly, and I have tested this, it doesn’t take any longer.
Now instead of the rapid, abrasive rub and scrub, or the, ‘Let’s get this over with, I’ve got so much to do’ attitude I used to have, I have begun bringing my full focus to what I am doing as I do it and enjoy observing what that feels like. What I feel like with it.
And when I am done I can feel that the way I have attended to my hands has brought a completely different quality to how I then go on to the next patient or the next task. In feeling more connected, tender, gentle and caring towards myself, I have more tenderness, gentleness and care toward another, along with a feeling of connection, purpose and flow.
Whatever I next touch with my hands communicates that.
Hand washing is a seemingly small act but one which can support us to honour, appreciate and value ourselves and to value the quality of what we bring to others, through the sensitive touch of our hands.
