May 2009 News from CHNA
Hello members and friends of CHNA,
Welcome to those who have recently signed up for the email updates.
First of all I would like to invite you all to review the web site as there have been some recent new posts. Especially important is the June AGM and the submission of articles for the next newsletter. Go to chna.ca
I would also like to talk with you briefly about how CHNA differs from some other organizations.
Some of you are members of a professional organization related to the particular modality that you practice. For example you may be pursuing Therapeutic Touch or Healing Touch or Reiki. You likely attended some of the course training and may be on your way to becoming expert in that modality. At CHNA we fully support this and encourage this kind of development.
You see CHNA is not about any specific complementary therapy but rather it is about how you incorporate any of them into a nursing practice. For example, when you study the CHNA Specialization program, you learn to develop your work with energy as it fits within a nursing framework. You will work with the client and together decide which of the modalities best suits the situation. In other words, a person does not come to you for Therapeutic Touch or Healing Touch or Reiki or meditation. Rather they come to you for a healing session and together you decide which type of work will be best. It could also be working with colour, or sound/music, or guided imagery or EFT or a variety of other techniques that you have learned in a variety of ways.
CHNA is about how to incorporate energy work into nursing.
If you have not already done so, please go to the Standards of Practice for Holistic Nurses on the web site. Read them over. I think you will be impressed.
Many Ontario Registered Nurses interested in Holistic Nursing are members of the Complementary Therapies Nurse Interest Group (CTNIG) of RNAO. This is an excellent organization. I am also a member of CTNIG and have found it valuable in learning more about different modalities that I had not previously encountered. It serves that purpose well. As you can see, CTNIG and CHNA have different purposes. It makes sense for Ontario RNs to be members of both CTNIG and CHNA.
Why be a CHNA member?
Well there are numerous reasons in terms of your own personal development of holistic nursing. And there is another very important reason. You see, it is through a growing membership that we are able to show the Canadian Nurses Association and the leaders in the provinces and territories that , yes, in fact there is a growing acceptance and interest in holistic nursing (energy nursing) in Canada. This is how we have a stronger voice and gain more acceptance in a wider variety of locations and practice areas.
With that in mind, we hope that members will pay attention to the renewal notices you receive in August. Those who are interested in energy nursing and who are not members, please consider joining us now.
Thank you for connecting with us. If members would like to send information for publishing on the blog, please submit to me at marieknapp@rogers.com, for editing and possible publication.
Marie Knapp
CHNA President.
Your Body Speaks Your Mind: Book Review
Your Body Speaks Your Mind- Decoding the Emotional, Psychological, and Spiritual Messages that Underlie Illness. Deb Shapiro (2006) Boulder CO, Sounds True Inc.
What do our symptoms and physical problems tell us about ourselves? In this book you will learn how the body speaks to us. Deb Shapiro helps us learn the language that the body speaks. She provides a thorough discussion about some common physical symptoms and illnesses and suggests general and specific underlying psyco-emotional and spiritual issues. She explains how knowing the body’s language can help increase our potential for healing. ” By learning the body’s language of symptoms you will soon discover that there is an extraordinarily intimate two-way communication going on that affects both your physical state and your mental and emotional health.” Deb Shapiro.
In this book, Deb Shapiro helps us initiate this communication, decode and understand the information the body is constantly sending out. The book is well organized and easy to read with straight forward explanations about the etiology of the illness and brief reviews of the anatomy and physiology of the physical body systems involved. A CD with guided visualization practices is also included. I highly recommend this book particularly if you work with clients who suffer from chronic illnesses.
Michele Bourgeois R.N. M.Ed. BHSP
CHNA Secretary
Submit articles for newsletter by June 30th
Members: The deadline for submission of your articles to Wendy is June 30th. The theme for this issue will be Reaching Out: connecting holistic nurses across Canada.
Please send your articles to Wendy Snefjella at wsnefjella@yahoo.ca
We ask that all articles be original work sent in Word format. Wendy is generally pleased with the articles she receives and we all want to thank those members who sent in articles for the last issue.
Just a reminder that all works will be edited. Some may be returned with suggestions for reworking.
Wendy looks forward to hearing from you.
AGM Teleconference June 9, 2009
All members are welcome to join this teleconference. For details on how and when to connect, please contact our Secretary Michele Bourgeois at michelebo@shaw.ca.
Marie Knapp, President
