Stress management through the viewfinder

AORN Journal,  April, 2004  by Pamela Sale

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Photography has always been an enjoyable hobby for me, mostly for documenting family events, special occasions, and vacations. When my daughters played soccer, I captured live-action shots and took group and individual photographs of the teams. At some point, I felt I had reached a plateau as an amateur photographer and needed to know more, so I took a photography class at the local community college.

My next goal was to attend a travel photography workshop. I chose this kind of class because it would let me forget about the OR and concentrate on learning more about photography in a stress-free environment. Working full-time and managing family activities limited my available time and resources, however, so I had to put my workshop plans on hold. When I saw a memo to nursing staff members that said yearly bonuses were available to RNs who passed the CNOR examination, a light bulb came on in my head. That bonus was going to finance my photography workshop.

BOOSTING MY PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS

For the next six months, I studied, passed the CNOR examination, and made my workshop reservations. I was on my way. When the school canceled my workshop two months before the scheduled date, I was disappointed at first but perked up when the school offered me a generous discount to join another class. There was just one problem--all the remaining classes were advanced courses. I gulped hard and joined an advanced one-week landscape workshop in Oregon. Although I knew I was in no way prepared for an advanced course, I applied two important principles that I always have tried to live by and teach as a laparoscopic nurse--master your laparoscopy equipment, and never let laparoscopy make you look stupid. As I flew to Oregon to attend the workshop, I studied my camera manual and a photography book. I also decided that from then on I was going to shoot only in manual mode, which required me to choose the aperture and the shutter speed. If I truly was going to learn photography, I had to leave behind the camera's program mode, which automatically chose the settings, and use my brain--a scary thought.

The workshop consisted of 16 students and two instructors. Participants ranged from 20 to 70 years of age and represented a variety of vocations, experience, and camera gear. ! had never attended a class where everyone was so focused on learning, sharing, and, most importantly, expanding their own horizons.

During the workshop week, we shot our photographs in one general area for the first few days, and then moved to another location at mid-week. Each day we drove to a different site to add variety to the types of photographs we could take--mountains, trails, and beach. During the day, we switched between photography shoots and lectures. Twice during the week, the instructors sent out the students' slides for development, and each student chose five of his or her own slides for the instructors to critique. As we viewed the slides on a screen, the instructors talked briefly about each slide, giving valuable suggestions. At those sessions, I learned the changes I needed to make before the next day's shoot. The high quality of my slides took me by surprise. I had no idea I was capable of taking landscape photographs. The best part of the surprise was that not only had I taken these photographs on my own, but I also had taken them with the camera in manual mode.

Improving my photography skills every day was encouraging and satisfying. A bonus of the workshop, however, was the Oregon scenery, which was beautiful and serene. We had no television, computer, radio, or telephones--nothing but absolute peace and quiet. What a contrast to the OR. The only time I felt the need to rush was at sunrise and sunset, because you have to think and act quickly to capture the constantly changing light before the color disappears.

EASING PATIENT ANXIETY

The week passed quickly, and soon it was time to return home. In one week, I had made many new friends, one of whom became my photography buddy. I also had accomplished the goal of pushing myself beyond my known limits. As I stepped out of vacation mode and back into the hectic pace of the OR, for the first time ever, I felt conflict. I had always loved OR work, but now I also loved photography--not only taking photographs, but also enjoying the serenity and slow pace. I tried to look ahead and allow myself to work toward my next adventure. My CNOR bonus would help finance a yearly photography trip. I was already looking forward to my next location--Zion National Park, Utah.

In the weeks after my first photography trip, I made an appointment to meet with the capital analyst at the hospital where I work. I was hoping that some of my photographs could be used in remodeling projects for the coming year. The analyst said she was looking for peaceful scenes that would provide a distraction for patients. I learned a lot from the analyst's comments about my photographs and gained valuable information that I could carry into the field. At that point in my skills development, not only was I capable of capturing an image, but I also could seek out images that would provide stress reduction for patients in difficult situations. I was beginning to see a deeper purpose to my photography than merely capturing beautiful scenes.