| 2009 ~ Triage First Newsletter ~ Issue 1 | |
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Triage Specialist Course
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Message from the President Mercy in the Mirror Many years ago, my husband created a fictional character for a book - a southern country figure of a man who went by the name of Falkie Dooles. It seemed that every time a problem developed, Falkie had a ready answer. Falkie was a simple old man who had gone through many difficult experiences in his life. Based on those experiences, he thought he could know about others' and would tell them just so. The difficulty for Falkie, however, was that the more he moved from his own experience into the experiences of others, the more he realized he understood less than he thought he did. He grew uncertain - and his uncertainty led him into cynicism. It's a rather long story. Falkie's mistake was to look at other's experiences of suffering as if they were the same as his own. He didn't understand until it was almost too late that no two lives are the same. He was a very old man before he could focus on the various contexts that brought suffering to others - to get the story right about someone else's pain and suffering. He nearly missed being able to see the larger picture. Near life's end, Falkie realized that the pain and suffering that he had endured in his life was his alone, but he also began to understand that he had received a gift to share in the pain and suffering of others - through the empathy that feels what it means to suffer as a human being. Falkie finally learned how when empathy is expressed in the light of others' pain, even silence can speak authoritatively. He finally learned that he didn't need to solve the riddle for anyone else; he didn't need to have the answers for their pain and suffering. Everyone hurts differently. He only needed to feel that suffering in others and let them know. By understanding how to act out of empathy, he learned to show mercy - giving others around him more than they deserved or could ask for. Falkie died a very old man, and a very happy one. He died surrounded by a community that loved him because he had learned to love everyone. The little town of Crushed Wood erected a plaque in his honor on the outskirts of town, so that if you could drive today to this fictional world, you would see that "Crushed Wood Welcomes You to Share in This Community!" and how it is "Dedicated to Falkie Everett Dooles - we nicknamed him Mercy. He seemed to understand it so well. We hope you do, too." We would be able to recognize Falkie Dooles anywhere, and in any nurse. We hope you would, too, most of all - in the mirror.
In each issue we feature a patient presentation that has significance for the nurse at triage. Ready to test your triage skills? Check out this issue's case presentation. Read more...
 Ask the Experts This column provides answers to questions we receive from emergency nurses regarding both the clinical and practical aspects of triage and emergency nursing. Read more...
Featured Personality We will share a visit with someone we've met who we believe embodies the heart of nursing, someone who has made an impact on us and our faculty. Read more... You'll Never Make It Featured here is an innovative program that is changing the culture in the Emergency Department Read more...
The goal of this column is to keep you up to date with the latest literature and research relevant to emergency nursing. Read more...
What's New at Triage First
A group of Triage Specialist Course participants solve X process and throughput issues, considering the physical layout of a "challenging" facility. "Milestones" This month represents a couple of milestones for us here at Triage First. We are on the verge of breaking the 90 mark for the number of graduates from our Triage Specialist Course. These educators are spread throughout the United States and involved in teaching Triage First's Comprehensive Emergency Department Triage Course. Every month has numerous workshops, from Maine to Southern California, and every day seems to bring even more surprises our way. One of these surprises is an upcoming article in a professional journal written by two of our graduates. (We were not actually surprised by those two, though!) We are thrilled that our desire to create more than educators is coming to fruition as we see our graduates expand their professional ground. We are sure that they are proud, as we certainly are, that they have completed and graduated a very long week of training and a full day of testing! Simply put, these nurses rock and they are no doubt the cream of crop in triage nursing. We hope to put their experience, knowledge, and expertise to work these next couple of years by extending an invitation to each graduate to participate with us in new issues of our CONTACTS (CONtinuing Triage And Competency Training Series). These are nine clinical presentation scenarios (one issue of CONTACTS is nine presentations and one multiple case scenario) designed for continuous competency in the triage arena. New issues of CONTACTS are delivered four times a year and are available online through Triage First and available on HealthStream. As a new way to compile scenarios, we are paying $300 for each clinical presentation scenario we accept for release in CONTACTS! The invitations have been sent and only our Triage Specialist Course graduates are invited. Here's a link about what we are doing with our online courses: http://www.triagefirst.com/TriageFirstOnlineSolutions/player.html. That's what's new with us, and that's where we are going. If you haven't already done so, you may consider joining us in the next Triage Specialist Course, scheduled for the week of August 23rd. Note: The price for the week-long Triage Specialist Course is $5450.00 per person, and we pay for the lodging and the meals during the course. Upon graduation, nurses receive all the materials to teach our two day live Comprehensive Emergency Department Triage Course, including the rights to all course materials and accompanying online modules for each participant for two years. All materials are updated annually and graduates are able to participate in the online Triage Specialist Course graduate's forum where additional resources, educational aids, and "conversations" take place daily. Michael S. McNair, Director of Marketing and Sales
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