Jeanne Stawiecki addressed both her accomplishments and behavior changes that led to those accomplishments. Jeanne vividly described her life at 38 years old - she was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, working three jobs, depressed and overcome with family care giving duties. One sentinel day, Jeanne was not able to complete a flight of stairs without gasping for breath. Jeanne spoke eloquently and emotionally as to how she had the sudden realization that, “This could be the rest of my life, or I can change it.” With the decision to change firmly in her sights, she began a change process that propelled her to extraordinary feats of physical endurance. These feats included Guinness World records for being the first woman in her age category to run marathons and ascend the highest peaks on all seven continents.
Jeanne spoke to the audience about how she actually changed her patterns of thinking to envision “what success looked like.” She started by consuming all of the “winner” books, such as Lance Armstrong’s “It’s Not About the Bike.” As she moved more deeply to significant change, she began to study the new concept of brain “neuroplasticity.” Jeanne described to her colleagues the physiologic process for actually rerouting and resetting neural pathways in the brain. Jeanne reset her thinking patterns from negative to positive and hence, changed her life.
Jeanne spoke with intense sincerity and emotion. She was able to connect with her audience at both a personal and scientific level. It is the hope of all concerned with the AANA Wellness Program that she has also inspired and empowered our members that they can change their own lives.
For more about Jeanne's accomplishments see Seven in 2007 and AANA Press Release: Record-Setting Nurse Anesthetist Scales Heights in Competition and the OR
David Romanelli is co-founder of At One Yoga, the innovative combination of exercise, spirituality, and great music ranging from Frank Sinatra to Diddy. David is also the Yahoo Mind and Body Expert and has appeared on multiple talk shows to deliver his message of health as "not only as working out the body but also as freeing the mind, opening the heart, awakening the spirit, and tapping into the power that resides within us all."
David currently teaches and travels the world to bring his "Livin' the Moment" message to all corners. He offers workshops with his unique Yeah David Yoga twist on yoga by incorporating chocolates and wine to the experience. Livin' the Moment focuses on reducing stress and seeking work-life balance. Romanelli delights the senses while opening the mind as the blends rock n roll, humor, and an awakening of the senses to his audiences.
David's debut book Yeah Dave's Guide to Living the Moment was published by Broadway Books/Random House in 2009. David says, "the book is a fresh approach to self-help and features funny, crazy, ridiculous stories from my life. Each story includes a touch of inspiration sparking those little shifts in perspective that make life rich, delicious, and intriguing. Think The Farrelly Brothers meets Deepak Chopra. Think Jack Handy meets Wayne Dyer. Think Cheech and Chong meets Carolyn Myss."
William Cope Moyers is Vice President of External Affairs at Hazelden Foundation and an advocate for addiction treatment and recovery. Moyers provided personal experience and insight into the humiliation and horrific consequences of addiction. The author of Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption, Moyers addressed the stigma associated with addiction, the often-devastating effects on families, and the promises and possibilities of recovery.
Stigma is one of the meanest and most difficult aspects of addiction because it makes it harder for individuals and families to deal with their problems and get the help they need. Moyers helped the audience of members to see that a big part of smashing the stigma of addiction comes with getting people to accept addiction as a disease. Moyers believes that addiction is a disease of denial, not just for people who have it and their families, but for communities all across America, and it is time to talk about addiction like we talk about breast cancer, depression, and HIV/AIDS.
Addiction is a neurobiological disease – not a lifestyle choice. Nurse anesthetists work in a highly stressful environment and have ready access to potent drugs. A reported 15% are aware of colleagues who misuse drugs. Further, many CRNAs are reluctant to seek help or take advantage of treatment because of concerns for their licensure and subsequent loss of their careers. The presentation focused on the barriers to treatment and recovery, the importance of awareness and self-discovery, and most importantly, delivers a message of hope and well-being.
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Motivational speaker, Mark Therrien encouraged us to laugh during the Jan Stewart Wellness Lecture Series. Mark Therrien’s education and background in psychology and social work make him a qualified presenter. Therrien was in private psychotherapy practice and a member of a face-to-face suicide intervention team. It was during the work with the intervention team he learned the importance of laughter in good mental health. Mark has been teaching "people skills" since he taught at the medical college at the University of Hawaii in 1975. He taught rapport-building skills to physicians so they could get better medical histories and improved patient compliance. “Laughter is Contagious” not only pointed out that laughter is a healthy and healing activity but his hilarious antics got us all laughing. Laughter has been shown to reduce blood pressure, decrease stress hormones, increase infection fighting antibodies, and get you prepare us for a healthy outlook on life.
2005 Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Michael Roizen, MD discussed Real Age: Getting Younger and Being Healthier. Each of us has a calendar age, the age we are according to the calendar, and a biologic or RealAge, which may be older or younger than our calendar age. The Real Age session will covered health behaviors that affect our rate of aging. As a result, attendees started assessing their own biological age and more importantly began to think about designing a personal plan to improve or even reverse their own aging path. Dr. Roizen is founder and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of RealAge, Inc. which includes an interactive website for health and wellness issues.
Dr. Roizen is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College and Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, medical school. He performed his residency in internal medicine at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital and completed a tour of duty in the Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health in the laboratory of Irv Kopin and Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod. He is certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Anesthesiology. He is 58 calendar years of age, but lives his RealAge paradigm and has a RealAge of 40.6.
Also an author, Dr. Roizen has written, RealAge: Are You As Young As You Can Be?; The RealAge Diet: Make Yourself Younger with What You Eat; The RealAge Makeover : Take Years Off Your Looks and Add Them To Your Life!; You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management; You the Smart Patient: An Insider's Handbook for Getting the Best Treatment. Find out your own RealAge!
Take the RealAge test through the AANA members link: AANA Members - What is Your Wellness Quotient?
Addiction is defined as any pathological relationship with any mood-altering substance or experience leading to life-damaging consequences. It is a neurobiological brain illness that is irreversible, but treatable. Substance dependence is an occupational hazard and a growing problem in nurse anesthetists. Current data suggest that misuse and diversion of prescription opioids has significantly increased over the past several years. Use of addictive drugs by nurse anesthetists usually leads to physical and psychological morbidity or death. It usually causes damage to family relationships and career. Additionally, addicted nurse anesthetists place the patients they are treating at risk for harm. There are factors we may identify that increase the risk of an individual developing addiction. Some are developmental, and others are acquired. Substance dependence may be preceded by development of a psychiatric condition. Conversely, a psychiatric condition may result from the changes in neurochemistry induced by the addiction.
Opiates and benzodiazepines are the most widely diverted substances that lead to addiction. Early and appropriate intervention can save lives, families, and careers. However, it is imperative that the suspected addict receive proper evaluation and treatment (if indicated). If the right treatment environment is selected, success rates should be expected in the 80% to 90% range. The addict must maintain a proper lifelong recovery program to reduce the chances of relapse. State professional assistance programs are in place in most states to monitor recovery and foster long-term sobriety and return the nurse anesthetist to work. We need to raise the level of awareness of the risk of this illness in medical professionals and cooperate to find ways to limit its development and spread. We must be courageous in recognizing the signs of the illness in colleagues and intervene as early as possible to limit the multiple negative sequelae as the illness progresses.
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