Nursing expert impresses UCQ students, faculty and Qatar residents
The woman, who literally, wrote the book on family nursing, has acquired a new group of fans and supporters and believers following a visit to Doha. Dr. Lorraine Wright is a proponent of involving entire families in the treatment of individuals to "soften suffering in order for healing to occur." Wright stated her case in a public lecture and 2 workshops staged at the University of Calgary - Qatar. Wright has written "Nurses and Families: A Guide to Family Assessment and Intervention" a text book that is used in universities around the world including UCQ. Wright believes that the key to healing patients is care, compassion and loving. She offered her ideas of spiritual care practices and conversations that soften suffering and invite healing. |
|
Lorraine Wright signs her books following lectureHere are some of the reactions to Wrights lecture and workshops from those who attended:
Lois Thornton, UCQ Nursing Instructor
"It's really a powerful concept. From my perspective, she's right on. We need to acknowledge the suffering that a patient and their families are experiencing so that they know someone understands. It is so obvious but is often overlooked. In fact, these days' nurses are told to play down the caring and promote their competence; when in fact, it's the caring that we do best." "Compassion is the powerful part of nursing. It is the essence of what we are trained to do."
Charlotte al-Haider, Senior Nurse Educator, nursing education and research HMC
"I'm really impressed. Many of our nurses have had their eyes opened." "It's one of the things we don't deal with. We concentrate on the illness and our skills but we don't spend time on the emotional parts of treating a patient." "I'm glad Lorraine has made the distinction between religion and spirituality. It's a very taboo subject in this part of the world. People equate spirituality with religion. Religion is a very private matter to people here. But spirituality is about compassion and caring and that is what our nurses need to focus on."
Dionald Orencio, nurse with Qatar Armed Forces
"Lorraine gave us an important reminder that we should consider the family every time we are caring for someone. The family is the basic unit of our society."
Cecilia Castro, Spanish interpreter from Peru. A non-health care professional.
"It is productive to realize that not only nurses but families can overcome any health hardship if they support one another in these times of pain and suffering. The key is to have happy, healthy and committed relationships."
