Oh Maslow.

I find as the summer goes on, I typically lose much of my motivation to sit down and unpack events of the previous week(s). The last two and a half weeks at snowbird have been great, and the more time I spend here, the more confident that I am exactly where I need to be for the next six weeks. This summer is flying by, which brings a weird mix of sadness and excitement. I have gotten to do a surprising amount of nursing things, really just to the extent of ACE bandaging about every body part possible and answering questions about things I really know little of.

I have attempted to write this post a couple times (on my phone, I might add) and my Blogger app keeps erasing it. Dumb. So here is take three:
One thing that has been on my mind a lot over the last few days is the difference between nursing school and snowbird, and the conflicting views of interaction and the hierarchy of needs. Last semester I took an entire course on therapeutic communication, learning what to and not to say in an instance of counsel. While we did discuss spiritual concepts, the primary focus was on physical and emotional needs - how to talk through various situations, placate chaotic circumstances, and basically just make people feel better. It has been a challenge to reconcile what I have been taught and tested on this year with the camp mentality, where regardless of the original motive for conversation, the end topic is always the student's spiritual condition. This year, I have grown unaccustomed to that intentional steering of conversation. Don't get me wrong: I fully believe that examining each situation through the lens of one's faith and salvation is imperative, and the most important factor in any conversation. I am simply stating that, after taking Psychosocial nursing, it is hard when a camper comes to talk to me about a situation at home, with friends and family, and various other struggles, to not automatically approach it from the nursing perspective I have become so familiar with.

I think it boils down to simply remembering that Maslow's hierarchy of needs is crap from a Christian perspective. It's the same concept as mission trips: what good is meeting physical and emotional needs if you are not sharing Jesus? I think that is a perspective that, in a lot of ways, I lost with nursing. Camp is a good reminder to explore that balance, and to remember that ultimately, the only thing that will ever hold eternal value is where that kid stands with Christ. Giving them encouragement on how to cope with their parents' divorce is secondary to that, although nursing school teaches a completely different philosophy.

Also. Send me mail.