Dominic Limpin: The Singing Travelling Nurse

In a time when Filipino nurses are stereotyped and under appreciated, one Filipino stands out in his profession through his own unique way.

Dominic Limpin, a Filipino nurse who have been working in New York City on the 9/11 bombing of the world trade center is helping himself heal from post traumatic syndrome by traveling the US and singing to his patients while performing his duties as a dialysis nurse.

Dominic Limpin signed on with a company that sends him around the U.S. As a traveling nurses, he helps hospitals fill in empty shifts while using his voice to ease the suffering of his patients while attending to them.

“I never encounter any patient, no matter how sick they are or grouchy, who doesn't like singing.” says Dominic.

Dominic may be a little modest about his musical abilities. He performed with a choir that sang with the Philharmonic in New York City. He says he’ll do anything to get patients’ minds off their ailments.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Reasons Why Nurses Burnout

Every time a nurse goes to the hospital to work, the accumulated stress from many factors can burn her or him out. If you are a nurse, watch out if any of these factors are taking a toll on you.

1. Too Much Work
      The work place for most nurses can be very toxic. They perform very detailed activities on schedule, and missing a schedule could mean the death of an individual. Everything on the to-do-list must be done and must be done precisely on time. There are times when one nurse must carry the workload that is meant for two nurses. In addition to that they must maintain a high level of focus for at least eight hours. Together with the other factors to be mentioned, being a nurse can be pretty taxing.

2. Schedule
      Being a nurse in a hospital means having very irregular schedule pattern. Unlike other professions which follow the normal biorhythm of the body(work in the day and rest at night), a nurse's schedule have interchanging night shifts and day shifts. The schedule can be changed every month or week depending on the workplace system. Nursing duties continue even on holidays so spending Christmas and new year's eve in the hospital emergency room must be something future nurses must be accustomed to.

3. Patients and Visitors from Hell
      Because it deals with life and death situations every day, the hospital can be a very stressful place. Each person can be at his or her boiling point and the nurses, who are the ones at the front lines, can be at the receiving end of a buffet of complaints with a bit(or lot) of profanity at the side. This happens more often than everybody thinks and the best part is, it's not always the nurse's fault. A nurses could just be at the wrong place at the wrong time to be singled out by a patient's rant but as a good nurse(please note that not every nurse you meet is a good nurse and may act differently), he or she must let the worst part pass through his or her ears and continue being proactive.

4. Dealing with Sickness and Death on a Regular Basis
      Have you ever had a dying patient in your home? If you have, you may have a small hint of the emotional aspects of a nurse's job. Now imagine dealing with that day after day for the rest of your professional life. Not fun at all. Some may say they've grown accustomed to dealing with this but not everybody's a rock. Nurses must find a way to cope with this and all the other factors mentioned if they are to be effective at what they do best: provide care.