Jonathan Townend
Bio
I love writing articles & fictional stories. They give me scope to express myself and free my mind. After working as a mental health nurse for 30 years, writing allows an effective emotional release, one which I hope you will join me on.
Stories (105)
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Time To Let Go
I can comfortably write about this topic now after so many years have passed me by. It was the summer of 1980 when this happened and it is now 2021 (41 years have gone by) I really did not believe that I have not been able to open up earlier than this, or maybe it was that I have just not been mentally equipped until this moment in time actually arrived to deeply think about. It was so very long ago. I am 51 now, and after working within the field of mental health nursing and having to leave this career after 30+ years after contracting Covid-19 in 2020, and recognizing how lucky I had been to recover after requiring hospital care & Oxygen therapy - being able to safely come home alive to my loving wife has suddenly switch on a 'light' within my heart.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Psyche
Oh my god - Have I really done that for Nothing!!
AS THE PAST NO.1 former professional American tennis player John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) used to shout out in exasperation whilst playing tennis 'I cannot believe this!', as he bashed his tennis racket on the lawn then subsequently threw it across the ground at the professional Wimbledon tennis club, London, so too is exactly what I feel like doing at this very moment... well that was me yesterday to be precise; although I do not exactly have a tennis racket but instead a computer - that I think simply decide that it hated me there and then.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Psyche
Habit Forming - Writing
In an attempt to bring this article to the focus of its readers, who (I hope, are varied, far & wide), I love chocolate! Ok, so I hear you all asking the question - what!? - well you see, writing can very quickly become an enjoyable, engrossing, and much-liked habit. As with a large number of activities that you fill out your life with these days, writing is a very positive tool. It allows you to escape from the reality around you. Reducing stress & anxiety that habitually plagues you throughout your lifetime. I have spent much of my working life working 12-hour night & day shifts as a mental health nurse, which, as I imagine readers coming to this article can very easily relate with - particularly if they have been a nurse in the past or are involved in this field of work now. Everyone that I have known in the past, or still today, understands that there are copious emotions that you go through when you spend such long periods looking after others when they are unwell and vulnerable. You can easily become very susceptible to fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, sorrow, guilt, and complete and utter exhaustion; the list can go on and is certainly not exhaustive.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Journal
The Employers Discrimination (Not Today - Thankyou)
Ok from the start, it is important that everyone knows just what this is all about. The subject of Dyscalculia is not as widely out there as it should be. particularly not out there with employers (given the advancements in technological leaps) and the support that these technologies can provide in ways of supporting people with this disability. This disability can actively intrude upon all aspects of a sufferer's daily life involving anything to do with the cognitive functioning surrounding mathematically-based concepts – such as 'telling the time', 'counting money', & whilst 'performing mental calculations.' (The latter one causing the most destructive feature) An everyday working example of this is 'knowing how much change to expect from the shopkeeper when paying with cash.' A person with this disability can easily be short-changed; either accidentally or on purpose.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Psyche
Forgotten Family
Remember the days of the old United Kingdom British Telecom television advert from back in 1995? Well, I understand the benefits of how the assistance & support that the advances made in technology overall have made to our society today. Giving light to the most recent worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 & its Lockdown protocols placed, as a result, have demoralized just how going about our daily lives and talking face-to-face with friends and family have been negatively affected in such a huge way.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Families
Garden Therapy
After having not really taken any notice of our gardens front, side, or back, over the past ten years of living within Bournemouth, it came as a disturbing shock to note that, over the time we had been in our home, it was beginning to resemble the forest that this area used to be much akin to looking many hundreds of years earlier in time. Nature indeed did seem to be chucking out a great big 'Hi there, I'm still here, are you, what about coming to see me at some point, you know, if you are not too busy huh?'
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Psyche
Here's my tongue!
Now, I have never been in the habit of going up to other people and sticking my tongue out at them. Do you do it, would you do it? Well, the answer to this question would probably (and most likely) be a resounding NO! I mean, it is not the most appropriate or acceptable activity to show off - certainly not a 'skill' to show all your friends!
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Humans
Therapy Benefits of CBD use
After a Road Traffic Accident in 2017, I sustained injuries which at the time, I thought to myself, 'oh well it will go away in a few weeks, and I can get back to my normal work & life pattern.' It's now 2021 and over those years in between, the pain levels have simply intensified, to include mobility issues which, to this day, have never diminished. Earlier this year I gave up working as a mental health nurse after having contracted Covid-19 in 2021 and required intensive hospitalization & oxygen therapy. Prior to discharge, the hospital discharge planning team had adaptations made to my home to support me with my worsened mobility. 7 months after discharge I made attempts at phased returns to my hospital nursing post but after three attempts of trying to walk/run around the ward, provide personal care and necessary/proportionate/justified restraint, care-planned for safety, I found I was struggling and at times (at the end of the 12-hour shift) was experiencing severe problems with driving back from work to our home just a mere 17 miles away.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Potent
Long Covid & The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010, as most readers of this article will already know well is an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom during the time of Gordon Brown’s leadership with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating, and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in mostly England, Scotland, and Wales, relating more specifically at those people with disability and/or religious, moral, or ethnic background. An Act to ensure that none of these so-called ‘conditions’ would initiate a negative impact upon the past, present, or future opportunities for employment prospects. Ensuring that everyone wanting to gain work could do so, without fear of the narrow-minded attitudes adopted by some employers used for the screening of job applications. A report carried out by the London School of Economics discovered that:
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Journal
