Sometimes you’re just not having a good day. You really need to get started on that new design, tackle that difficult text or prepare for that nerve-racking presentation. You’re buried under a hundred little tasks, emails and a long to-do list. But really, all you want to do is create, write and have interesting conversations. Something seems to be missing. The inspiration is nowhere to be found. That one special shape, that great quote or the perfect opening slide. Once you have it, everything will probably fall into place. But when you really need it, it’s often nowhere to be found… until you stop focusing on it so much. And then, suddenly, you find it!

 

The Importance of Inspiration

I often find inspiration in conversations with colleagues and friends, and in everyday life. Looking at a situation from a different perspective is sometimes exactly what I need to move forward myself. I also love visual inspiration. There’s a reason people often say that a picture is worth a thousand words. The combination of certain colours, shapes or someone else’s design can sometimes provide just the little push I need to solve a problem I’m working on.

Yet inspiration remains an intangible phenomenon. Sometimes I look for facts about the subject and read research in which psychologists examine what inspiration does to us. It has even been scientifically established that there is a connection between inspiration and creativity. Well, duh — of course I already knew that. It’s essentially how I create as a maker.

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Wall of Nursing

Inspiring people is exactly the purpose of a recently completed project by &lotte. The Wall of Nursing at Nij Smellinghe Hospital is a wall created by, for and about nurses. It shows how the nursing profession has developed over the years, while making the impact of healthcare tangible. When I was approached for this project, the question was clear: how can we create a physical space within the hospital where (future) nurses can be inspired by their own profession and by nursing leadership?

 

This inspiration wall celebrates the pride and passion of nursing. It provides a stage for important healthcare professionals from the past and present. You can, for example, learn about Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), also known as the Lady with the Lamp. By collecting and analysing statistical data, she improved healthcare and became one of the founders of modern nursing. You can also get to know Tommie Niessen (1991). Through his platform Tommie in de zorg, he puts healthcare on the map in a positive and realistic way. The Wall of Nursing tells a story: by combining a deeper look into history, objects that were once used in healthcare and contemporary developments, the growth of the profession becomes visible.

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The Wall of Nursing also leaves plenty of room for appreciation. Part of the wall is magnetic, allowing notes, messages and thank-yous from visitors and patients to be displayed. This makes gratitude for healthcare visible to everyone. To keep the Wall of Nursing inspiring and relevant, the hospital can change its content every few months. Different healthcare professionals can be put in the spotlight, there is room for both old and new objects, and the articles about nursing leadership and messages from patients can be replaced. This creates a sense of connection with the profession and with one another. Nurses can be proud of their profession, a profession that continues to evolve!

 

Lotte de Jong

 

P.S. I don’t want to keep this beautiful text, written by Maurice van Dinther (WAFL), from you. It is the introductory text for the Wall of Nursing and inspires both the current and next generation of nurses:

 

Healthcare in Motion

Nurses. They come in all shapes and sizes.
With different specialisations and areas of expertise.
What do they all have in common?
Together, they are at the heart of healthcare.
And every one of them wants the best for their patients.
Providing good care is second nature to them.
That is why nursing is always evolving.
And nurses continuously influence healthcare.
Through their individual contributions and nursing leadership, healthcare gets better every day.
They are not the ones to boast about it.
They don’t provide good care for recognition.
They do it for the patient.
By developing our profession, we increase our impact on the world.
Nursing Leadership. That is what sets healthcare in motion.