Forever etched in my mind is a picture of my father sharpening his pocketknife on a small whet stone. The stone was about 1-inch wide, ½ inch high, and 6-7 inches long. It always laid in the windowsill of the kitchen. He would moisten the whet stone, sit on the couch, and pull out his pocketknife and slowly, expertly slide the knife back and forth on the stone, with the cutting edge against the stone, then flipping the knife to the opposite side as he pulled the blade toward him. Back and forth, he would sit and sharpen for 15-20 minutes whenever his knife needed it. That sharpening kept his blade ready for use at a moment’s notice and, being raised on a farm in the Great Depression, a sharp tool was important for day-to-day life. While this is not specifically iron sharpening iron, it represents the importance of the friction, resistance, and effort it takes to stay sharp and usable.
Proverbs 27:17 (new tab) says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (New International Version Bible, 197/2017). In an organization, nurses rarely work in complete isolation. Of course, you render care privately, but typically there is a cadre of other nurses just outside the door, or a colleague is a phone call away. These nurses are your iron. When a nurse has a different opinion than you, do you automatically dismiss their position, or do you listen and then share your opinion in an open dialogue? Talking things over with a friend or colleague always helps refine your thoughts. Consider gathering a group around you of those nurses interested in sharpening each other, sharpening each other with the intent of growing each other, not cutting to hurt.
You can learn from each other and sharpen your thinking. In this discussion, you will share ideas on patient care and learn from each other through discussion on medications, labs, and general nursing interventions. Through your feedback to one another, you will sharpen the iron of the other nurses in your class, and in the end, we will improve patient care by sharing and sharpening each other.
Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:
Identify the spiritual benefit of discussion with peers.
Instructions
Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
Read the Getting Started section.
Watch the following video:
Respond to the following prompt:
Share about a time when another nurse “sharpened” you or you sharpened another nurse.
Submit/Post by the end of the workshop.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+27%3A17&version=NIV