Dear GNAO Members,
Please plan to join us to celebrate Nursing Week and each other in a virtual event presented by the Greater Hamilton Area chapter: Sometimes I’d rather be eating gelato: The cost of caring presented by Valerie Spironello MSW RSW. Thursday, May 5, 2022 7:00-8:15 pm (EST) over Zoom.
Please email greaterhamiltongnao@gmail.com to register and receive the Zoom meeting information. GNAO members, non-members, and all colleagues are welcome to take part in this wellness-restoring event.
Description of the event:
“The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet” (Remen, 1996). Having worked in the field of child welfare, domestic violence, palliative care and now private practice, Valerie knows first-hand the "cost of caring". Using her "re-discovered" sense of humour, Valerie will share how compassion fatigue snuck up on her and changed her - and how she survived to tell her story. Valerie will share in a way that allows participants to reflect on how they are doing and to begin to explore what is needed to continue to be healthy while working in the field.
Valerie's bio:
Valerie has been a social worker for over 30 years working in a variety of settings including health care (palliative care, chronic illness), child welfare, and domestic violence. She is an assistant professor (PT) with the department of family medicine at McMaster University, teaching in the faculty of health sciences. She has provided workshops and presentations to service providers on a variety of topics such as compassion fatigue, work/life balance, mindfulness and end-of-life care. Valerie is also a meditation teacher trained in the use of mindfulness in the clinical setting and a yoga teacher, which she finds incredibly healing. In her private practice “Choose Wellness”, she provides counselling, groups, workshops and retreats to assist others in living well in body, mind and spirit.