Newly redesigned Care Journal

You spoke and we listened! We have redesigned the 30 day Care Journal so that hospitals and healthcare institutions can make it theirs by placing their logo/branding/messaging front and center on the cover of the Care Journal. This is about YOUR message to YOUR patients. The Josie King Foundation is here to help you make that message more meaningful.

The Care Journal mini is the newest Journal release. Recognizing that hospital stays are often short, but still chaotic and stressful, we re-crafted the 30-Day Care Journal into a seven (7) day mini journal.

The Care Journal mini is a tool to help patients and their loved ones record the details of the medical care and/or hospital stay. Hospitalization can be an overwhelming experience; in addition to the stress of being faced with health challenges, there is also the added stress of having to keep track of new and important information. The Care Journal mini was designed to help patients manage this information.

The Caregiver’s Journal is a “spinoff” of our popular Nurse’s Journal. Over the years, the Josie King Foundation has received requests for a journal that could be used by all types of caregivers within various organizations. As in the Nurse’s Journal, the Caregiver’s Journal contains exercises that help caregivers reflect on, and write about, work-related stress, and personal issues that can affect their lives. It also includes before and after stress evaluation charts that enable caregivers to assess their stress levels and note any changes after completing the journal exercises. This can help raise awareness of stress symptoms so they can be addressed in a timely manner. There are additional journal pages for free writing where caregivers can write about whatever is on their minds.

Thanks to there being so many amazing Josie King heroes in hospitals around the country the first, second, and third limited editions of the Josie King Hero Award artwork have sold out. We are pleased to announce the launch of the fourth limited edition of the Josie King Hero Award. We hope you like this new layout with its soft, pale teal color. We chose teal because it blends blue’s tranquil stability with green’s optimism and healing properties. Teal also represents open communication and clarity of thought.  Just like the previous editions, each giclee watercolor print is set in a simple clear block frame. Abstract copy flows across the washed background – and a thank you message from the Josie King Foundation to the hero recipient is beautifully printed on the back.

The Nurse’s Journal is a therapeutic writing tool originally based on the research project Care for the Caregiver. In 2004, JKF created the Nurse’s Journal in response to the growing awareness of the challenges in the nursing profession that can lead to stress and burnout. These journals have been distributed to over 15,000 nurses from around the country. The Journal contains exercises that help nurses reflect on, and write about, work-related stress and personal issues that can affect their lives. It also includes before- and after- stress evaluation charts that enable nurses to assess their stress levels and note any changes after completing the journal exercises. This can help raise awareness of stress symptoms so they can be addressed in a timely manner. There are additional journal pages for free writing where nurses can write about whatever is on their minds.

The Josie King Foundation recognizes that along with experiencing the many joys of healing, nurses are also faced with issues such as death and dying, pain and suffering, complicated work environments related to new technologies, medical errors and near misses. All of these issues combined with the pressures of everyday life often can lead to stress and burnout.In an effort to help reduce stress and burnout that nurses may feel, we partnered with Nancy Morgan, MA, writing clinician and director of the Arts and Humanities Program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Hospital and Diane Reukauf, Ph.D., counselor, and expressive writing facilitator to create the Nurse’s Journal Guidebook.

Newly redesigned Care Journal

Published in 2009,  the book Josie’s Story has gained widespread popularity in medical and nursing schools along with hospitals around the country as a tool to not only educate future caregivers, but to inspire them as well.

As the powerful message of this story and its impact on readers became clear the Josie King Foundation reached out to a team of educators from the Duke University Health System who shared the same fundamental understanding:

Facts provide us with knowledge – stories provide us with wisdom

The power of a story

The Josie King Story DVD is used to inspire caregivers, educators, and students around the world to create a culture of safety.

The Josie King Foundation has created a Patient Journal app. Patients and families can use this app to easily record vital medical information, stay organized, keep a permanent medical record, and share the notes with doctors or anybody else via email.

I decided that the Josie King Foundation should design a special graphic specifically for all of the wonderful healthcare providers who have come to know and be inspired by Josie over the years. Thank you to the pharmacist (I wish I knew your name) whose idea this was. This is for you and the rest of the healthcare industry to remind you of the important patient safety work you do each day.