Minding the Bedside

Who are you when you show up at your patient’s bedside? Where is your mind? Are you fully present and focused on the person in front of you, or are your thoughts elsewhere, mired in the myriad day-to-day distractions we all face? A distracted mind is common, and it results in our patients not getting from us what they need and deserve most and what we are inherently capable of providing: an attentive and compassionate presence based on a mind that is undistracted.

When we as caregivers approach our patients with a presence based upon mindfulness, awareness, and compassion, that presence helps our patients to find peace within their own mind and confidence in us as their caretakers. In lively discussions on meditation, work environment, and mind-body research, and by presenting simple techniques on thoughts and feelings, this book is a guide to changing how we work with our mind and thereby becoming a more focused and compassionate human being, freeing ourselves from distraction and becoming present in a way we’ve never known before!