Guest: Artist/Poet – Alyssa Blake, BSN, RN

Host: Author, Actor, Photographer, Poet Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN

Nursing and the Arts Podcast

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Nursing and the Arts is a podcast devoted to Nurses discussing their diverse artistic passions (or endeavors) such as visual arts/photography, journaling, comedy, podcasting, storytelling, writing/poetry, crafting, cooking, dance, theatre, music, film etc.

Join us on today’s 1st episode of the Nursing and the Arts Podcast for a riveting discussion about how creative arts can be used to help with caregiver burnout and self-care. We also chat about how caregivers can use the arts for patient wellness and healing..

Whether you have a knack for crocheting, painting, or journaling, there is a creative hobby for everyone and we are encouraging you to do it! Follow along as we explore how art has helped us in our personal and professional lives and how you can incorporate it into yours. 

Tune in to our chat and share your thoughts! We would love to hear how art may have helped you during these past few trying years, especially in nursing. 

About Alyssa Blake 

Alyssa Blake, RN, BSN, is a nurse with a background in hospital care, public health, pediatrics, and research. She has a passion for helping others and spreading joy. Whether in her day job or side businesses as a visual artist and writer, Alyssa is dedicated to using creativity to impact others positively.

 In this episode, she shares her experiences using art as a nurse and personal caregiver to heal burnout and cope with a family member’s hospitalization. 

About Susan J. Farese

Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN, a native of New Jersey, is the owner/ president of  SJF Communications, San Diego, CA.

Susan has diverse health care experience including military and civilian nursing with clinical, administration/management, staff development, research and consulting roles.

SJF Communications, originally established in 2002 in San Jose, CA, provides services including Public Relations, Publicity, Marketing, Websites, Filmmaking, Acting, Social Media, Writing and Public Speaking, Photography, Mentoring, Coaching and Nurse Consulting services. 

Susan is the author of the book Poetic Expressions in Nursing…Sharing the Caring (1993 and 2021), currently teaches ‘Capturing Your Creativity with Haiku‘ workshops, and has published poetry and articles on a variety of topics.

In this podcast, Susan shares how her haiku workshops and nature photography have helped others process emotions and heal themselves. 

How to Use Creative Arts for Healing and Wellness 

Key points in this episode: 

• Alyssa shares how she used visual art and poetry during a family member’s prolonged hospitalization to process emotions and ground herself. By creating art, she tuned into her inner thoughts and practiced mindfulness. 
• Alyssa also shares how she brought paintings into her father’s hospital room that motivated him to heal from life-threatening illnesses. She encourages nurses to promote this practice and provide patients with opportunities to participate in creative activities. 
• Susan describes how her haiku workshops and nature photography have benefitted others and given them a sense of community. 
• We suggest other caregivers, especially nurses facing pandemic burnout, create art to address emotions and connect with others. Suggestions include poetry, journaling, crocheting, painting, using coloring books, and attending paint-and-sip nights with coworkers. You don’t have to be a professional artist to benefit. 
• Nursing theories such as Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory and Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring support using art in patient care. 

Mentioned Resources: 

Follow Alyssa’s art business “Smile Canvas Creations” on Instagram or visit her website. She offers custom pet portraits and paintings for loved ones. She also provides freelance writing services and can be contacted via her writing website or on Linkedin. 

Join our Facebook group Nursing & the Arts to connect with other nurses interested in the arts and listen to another fellow creative writer, Janine Kelbach, on her Savvy Scribe Podcast. 

Lastly, check out our blog post (link posted blog post) which discusses this topic more in-depth and the research behind art and healing. 

Thanks for Listening! 

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Nursing and the Arts Podcast. Don’t forget to check out the above links and the website for SJF Communications where you can book your own haiku workshop or purchase a copy of the book Poetic Expressions in Nursing: Sharing the Caring.

Embracing Healing through Art

Podcast Transcript 

Susan J. Farese: Well hello everyone. I’m Susan J. Farese from SJF Communications and I have a guest here today. I’m just so excited to have Alyssa Blake RN. She’s going to tell us now about all her letters after her name and her qualifications and what she’s doing in nursing now and then we’ll get started with our… we’re going to talk about healing through art, a guide for caregivers and patients. So, welcome Alyssa. It’s so nice to see you today. 

Alyssa Blake: Thank you so much Susan! It’s very nice to talk with everybody and talk about this important subject. So, I have a bachelor’s degree I’m a registered nurse. Currently, I work as a research nurse, so I kind of work with different research trials that kind of stuff. I also do some freelance writing on the side and some art that I really appreciate doing which is why I’m here today. And I have some background working in hospital settings and schools and working in public health. I actually graduated during the middle of the Pandemic in 2021, so I have just kind of seen the change in nursing and in the world that and in the world from that point of time. 

Susan J. Farese: Well, congratulations!

Alyssa Blake: I’m really excited to be here. 

Susan J. Farese: Yeah, I was gonna say, you know, graduating during the Pandemic and getting started in patient care must have been an immense, I can’t even say what the word is, but profound experience for you. And it led you in some way to why we’re here today. I wanted to let you know, or let our listeners…viewers know how we connected. Can you tell us how we connected and why?

Alyssa Blake: I started doing freelance writing about a half year ago and I was listening to the podcast– it’s called Savvy Nurse Podcast with Janine Kelbach. She runs a nursing writing  agency called WriteRN.Net, and she had actually had Susan on to talk about her PR business…and kind of that so that was how I first got introduced to Susan. But then I also checked out her website and kind of what she really does. 

She does some Haiku workshops and really emphasizes the power of poetry, and that really resonated with me. In addition to my experience as a nurse, in my personal life, my dad was actually hospitalized for about 6 months in the last two years and there was a lot of ups and downs with that. Being in the ICU, being on a ventilator, he actually passed away several times and kind of came back to life. And, during that time, art was a really big crutch for me. I had always loved it since high school. I had taken a pause in nursing school, but I found myself coming back to art to help me kind of process all of the emotions that were happening during those ups and downs and to help me stay resilient during this hard time..and to help my family. So, that was one thing that really drew me towards Susan to talk about the power of art for healing, not only patients as it helped my father, but healing caregivers and others, especially with burnout and experiencing secondary trauma and that kind of stuff. 

Susan J. Farese: Absolutely, absolutely. I’m so proud of you and thank you for reaching out to me. It was…it was just such a nice surprise to have somebody appreciate what I do with the Haiku workshops as well as with my book. You know, I’ve been a poet since like 1991, and what brings me a nice, you know, memory is, well, a memory when my dad had heart surgery—this is back in the early 90s– I remember bringing my little journal, sitting with my mom and writing down poetry while he was in the OR. And just notes, and I drew a picture of what he’ll look like with the tubes coming out… you know when he came out of the recovery room and that kind of thing. So, art and poetry bind us, you know. We’re kindred spirits that way, and I really appreciate what you’ve been doing with your time, especially while you work. And doing art and poetry at the same time– it’s absolutely wonderful.

So, Alyssa, how does your poetry and or art help you cope? Like, what kind of feelings do you have once you accomplish something or while you’re working with something as far as a poem or a piece of art, visual art? 

Alyssa Blake: Yeah, um, so kind of like how Susan shared her story with her own father, specifically, with my dad, I remember there was one incident where he actually had CPR done on him, and then I met him in the ER. He wasn’t really conscious at this time. He was like on a ventilator. There was a lot of issues going on. But I remember during that time I was actually… I took out my phone and started writing in my notes app just like a poem to kind of express those emotions. And, I think for me, making poetry or creating art pieces that I then kind of brought to my dad’s room like his favorite memories, our pets, that kind of stuff. In the process of making those artworks, it’s really helpful in terms of expressing creativity and kind of unloading all those emotions and frustrations so as to not have, kind of, all those negative feelings.

 I also think it helps me to kind of reflect on what’s happening. What am I feeling? Kind of trying to process these really distressing events that I’m experiencing and to help relax. That’s something that is so important to me. And, I think by clearing out all those negative emotions, it kind of allows hope and like inspiration to be fostered. And, it provides me… when I did put…for example, what I was saying with the artworks, I would put them in his room and he would get to look at them even when we’re not there. And, some of his care team would come and see those artworks of the beautiful sunset, his garden that he is so proud of. It kind of provides a sense of community with other people and joy and like understanding, remembering those beautiful memories. That’s something that I really love about art– Its ability to bring people together, remember amazing things, and just have a sense of community. 

 Right now, I also…I have a side business called Smile Canvas Creations where I create artworks for people–custom artworks–landscapes, pet portraits, that kind of thing and my whole aim in doing that is to help bring joy to other people like I did for my family. I think it’s so important. And, I think one last thing to say is that, as a nurse, a lot of the times, in a hospital setting, or just in nursing and medical care, it’s more of a science-oriented thing. And, an appreciation of the arts isn’t really ever talked about or used to help other people and help us as caregivers. I think that’s so underappreciated and so important to kind of incorporate. 

Susan J. Farese: Absolutely. You know, bringing that art or making it for your dad while he could appreciate it, must have meant so much to him. And to bring the community with it…also to have them appreciate it… just for it… it does… it brings community together. 

I know that when I’m writing my poetry, I sometimes write it for expressing anger, fear, values clarification, just all kinds of things. For instance, during the pandemic, I wasn’t working clinically cuz I don’t work clinically as a nurse at this time or anymore basically. But, I wanted to do something for nurses because I kept reading stories of what they were doing. They were just heroes, sheroes, and so I was fearful about what was going to happen with all of us with the Pandemic. Angry when people were doing press conferences, for instance, and everybody touching the podium and not using, you know, hand sanitizer or anything. Why aren’t you being careful not wearing the masks? 

So, expressing thoughts, fears, anger, values clarification, and then joy and happiness, for instance. I also am a nature photographer, so when I go out in nature and I have my phone or my camera, I’ll capture something, you know, either a flower or a shorebird or whatever, and sometimes I will write a Haiku based on that. And, that’s called acrostic poetry where you use visual art with, you know, combining it with a haiku or a poem. 

So, we both bring different experiences but it’s, all the same. It makes us feel better it makes people feel better. It expresses… it gets it all unloaded. I love that word unload, because if you think about it, nurses and healthcare providers of many types have so many stories within them from their experiences of working with probably thousands of people. Where does it go? It’s in there, so you release it with creative arts whether it’s visual art, as you do, poetry, journaling, even exercising can be an art, cooking, crafting.

 There’s so many types, and that led me to start a group. It’s very much in the infancy stage, but we’re on Facebook, and it’s Nursing & the Arts, so that we can focus on nurses that that provide some kind of creative art in their life either to share it with others or just keep it to themselves, you know, that kind of thing. 

Great. This is a great discussion we’re having here, Alyssa. Can you tell me about any other emotions that you have or how visual art or poetry or any creative art can help with the self-care of the caregiver— whether you’re an informal caregiver, taking care of family, or in a professional capacity as a healthcare provider or other? I’m sure you have some insight on this. 

Alyssa Blake: I mean, I think that’s really important to kind of mention that too how caregivers of all types… how it’s really important and to kind of participate in self-care and help with stress and burnout that comes with caring for a loved one or caring for a patient. I think often informal caregivers like family members… it might not be recognized that they also go through a lot of hardships. Personally, in my experience, I was at my dad’s bedside for 6-7 months…and we’ve also… when we’ve taken him home, he’s had a lot of things that have required a lot of care coordination, case management. I know it takes a really big toll on my mom, and I think it’s important to recognize that those informal caregivers kind of require self-care.

 I would say in addition to kind of what I discussed earlier about unloading emotions, I think that participating in art, creating art, is really helpful in mindfulness and kind of grounding yourself and understanding what you’re feeling emotionally. Even if it’s not creating poetry or writing kind of haikus or anything like that or creating visual art, just journaling and being cognizant of that–like I have a five-minute journal I do in the morning where you express gratitude, you recognize your wins– that can be helpful.

 I will also say, when my dad was inpatient they had—it wasn’t a chapel—but it was like a meditation prayer room and people… even if you’re not religious…I’m not religious… but, I remember I would go down there while I was visiting my dad inpatient to take a breath, have a calm space to recognize the emotions I was feeling. But, not let that affect his care and my interaction with caregivers cuz there was a lot of frustrating things honestly that happened in his care. But, it was a moment to ground myself. 

And, they also had like a writing book for people to leave to write messages to their loved ones even if they’re loved ones wouldn’t see it or write whatever they want. I feel like that was kind of a way of like loose expressive writing that was helpful for, again,  just mindfulness, kind of understanding internally what’s going on, and trying to process that because I think a lot of the time we just try to slog through really traumatic experiences. Understandably, cuz that’s how you survive it in the moment. But, there has to be some time where you kind of process and understand what’s going on inside you. So, I think it can help with mindfulness and self-care in that way.

Susan J. Farese: Absolutely. I just did a workshop last week with my Haiku, and there was a woman who was in the front of the room. And, I usually show my nature photography prompts to get people writing…sometimes… most of the time… they write from my prompt. So, they’ll take a picture of flowers or, you know, photography, sometimes they use that as a like an initial “it’s okay you can let go” and start writing. So, they don’t write about what they see with my photos cuz I show about 20 or so photos. 

Well, this woman’s mom passed away recently. She was a  101 or 102 years old and her haiku was four pages. I mean she… and she was crying right in front of me as I’m teaching the other people. And, when I read it, I saw how her Haiku was really talking to her mom like “Were there Pearly Gates? Did you see my brother that passed away when he was 2 years old?” … things like that. And, it was just letting her release all this pent-up grief that didn’t have a place to go until she came to my class.

 It made me feel so wonderful. And, she… she… we didn’t share it with the rest of the class. Sometimes we do that through the whole class if they share it with me and then I compile it and we take pictures and we put it on my blog. But, we kind of kept it between us. And, then another woman was a bird watcher and she said my photos of the birds, you know, gave her that capacity to start writing in the room. And, she wrote about one particular bird, and then her dog. So, you never know what it’s going to lead to. And, there was a man in the room that did not want to show any of his work, but he says, “oh this is great” like he was going and writing and writing and writing. So, I kept it open with him that if he has any questions or wants to share it later, just email me. 

The process of what I get from people in the community is just amazing. It fills my heart when someone gets it out there and either wants to share it or doesn’t want to share it with the world or can throw it away. It’s a release, so that was that’s a good point with the unloading. I just love that you said the word unloading because we have so much that we carry. 

Alyssa Blake: I think it’s very cathartic. And I think, like you were saying, it’s really important to give ourselves permission to kind of experience those emotions. And, even if it isn’t a cathartic release of grief, it can be a way to express gratitude and, like you were saying, for just your haikus that focus more on like… and nature photography just like really just appreciating the beautiful world we live in it can be a way to do that, too. So, I just think it’s very kind of… there’s a lot of variety in… a lot of different things you can do with art. And I think as nurses, it’s very underutilized.

 So, we can definitely use it to help ourselves. We can use it to help our patients like I used. We can encourage like family members to kind of bring in things… memories that their family members would really appreciate that would provide them comfort in rooms… to encourage their family members to have coloring books, have kind of paintings in their room that remind them of home or journaling, books to read, crocheting that kind of stuff. 

And, then on the nurses’ end, it’s really important we take care of ourselves so we can take care of others. And, not just nurses, but like we’re saying, informal caregivers. So, on our end, we can also participate in those activities at work whether it be like a bulletin board with coloring pages in a break room, whether it be a paint and sip night that you have with coworkers afterward. I think it’s important to take the time for yourself to reflect on your emotions and participate in something that’s creative. Again, as nurses it’s very like scientific… nursing is a science, so a lot of the time that creative component sometimes gets left out. But, again, so integral to nursing practice which focuses on the holistic wellness of people and understanding there are so many different things that go into somebody being well.

Arts are really underappreciated and very important, so that’s amazing that you shared those people got that benefit from your workshop. I think that’s awesome.

Susan J. Farese: Right. And every time I do a workshop it’s totally different. It’s all new people, all new strangers that we’re bringing each other together with that. 

So, Alyssa, in terms of nursing theory, do you practice or utilize any of the nursing theorists in your work, either with your poetry, or your art?

Alyssa Blake: Yeah, so I think one important thing to note as different nursing theorists… there’s many different kind of theories that we use and that we learn when we’re in school. I think one thing that really sticks out to me is Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory. For anybody that’s not in the nursing world, she’s basically like our Messiah like she is like considered the founder of modern nursing and she has a very popular theory that discusses the importance of environmental factors on people’s well-being and healing.

 I have worked as a public health nurse and public health really takes this concept and emphasizes that not only are our genetics or personal health choices contributing to our health, but also the environment we live in. We need to make sure that it’s calming, that it’s clean, that kind of stuff. So, I think that art really comes into that portion as well, even though it might not traditionally be seen…not interpreted… that art could be a part of that. I think that it is an unorthodox way of looking at it, but it makes sense that kind of incorporating art into your surroundings can really improve your well-being. And incorporating hobbies into your activities during the day can help you feel healed and also help you feel well. So, I think that’s important.

 I know there’s some other theorists, but that’s really what I take my main inspiration from– the importance of kind of art and our environment and healing in that way and improving your mindset.

Susan J. Farese: Absolutely. There’s another theory– Jean Watson’s Human Caring Theory and I use caring… and also there’s a Theory of Knowing by Carper, so there are different theorists in nursing that I incorporate kind of just extemporaneously. I’m not even thinking. But, according to Watson, “Care is the core of nursing and includes interpersonal attempts to enhance and maintain health, humanity, and well-being.” 

 And, remember that nurses and healthcare people in all fields need to take care of themselves as well because they have so much that they’re dealing with with all the folks they care for. So, that’s very interesting between these three that we mentioned that we are still utilizing the science of nursing theory as well as the art of nursing… because one of my poems or one of the phrases in one of my poems says, 

“When it’s all said and done there’s no profession as diverse as the art and the science of being a nurse.”  

There’s definitely an art to being a nurse. You know, you have to use your spirits when you walk into the room and greet someone, and assess them, and care for them, and coordinate for them, and look out for any dangers or risks for them, and that kind of thing. So, yeah theory is quite important to keep. And, the nursing process, I know when I work, even in my workshops or when I work with clients and PR, I still use the nursing process of assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating, reevaluating, etc. Great point, great point.  

So, Alyssa, when you’re creating your art or your poetry, what happens emotionally to you? I mean, and are you structured when you start working on something, or is it something that just inspires you at a whim?

 With me, I need to be inspired when I write or when I take a photo. I don’t just (gestures taking a photo with a camera) take photos. I have to look and use my senses and mindfulness and all that. Then, I capture a moment in time either with my photography or my poetry and write about it, and I reflect and I re-work it. 

How about yourself? What is your process? Are you structured… or otherwise?

Alyssa Blake: I mean I will say I’ve tried to structure out time blocks in the past so that it’s more consistent. Like I was saying I really enjoyed it when I was in high school and I actually did like AP Art, but then, in nursing school, I took a break cuz it just wasn’t sustainable. And, I’m like wow, “I really should do art more often,” and then my dad was hospitalized and I started doing it more often.

 I have tried to structure it in the past. I feel like that’s not very helpful for me because I also work the same way that I have to be inspired by something. It’s like there’s a lot of like… there will be dry times that I don’t produce anything for months and then I’ll produce like three or four artworks in one month when I feel really inspired and I have lots of free time. So, to answer your question, yeah, I would say that it goes based off of inspiration. I will also will say, if I’m experiencing lots of intense emotions like during a stressful time…even though I might have less free time, I usually try to make the time to do the art. I feel like I need to unload my emotions by doing it, so those are the times that I usually produce art. 

When I’m creating it, again, it helps me be mindful and feel grounded and kind of unload all those hard emotions cathartically kind of just really release everything and feel better. After I’m done making it…and if I’m able to put it up somewhere…if it reminds somebody of something beautiful like a nice memory…if  I’m able to help out anybody in that way, I feel proud and it makes me feel happy that I brought… I’ve made other people feel something with my art whether it’s inspired to do something with it or remembering like I said like a wonderful memory…it makes me happy to kind of to know that my art affects other people.

For example, with my business that I have for art I’ve created several pet portraits of pets that have passed away. There was one dog named Buddy who I did a colored pencil drawing of in the leaves and he actually passed away like a month after I created that drawing, unfortunately. The people I gave it to were so grateful that they had that memory, and it’s something they put on their mantle and they always look to. So, it’s just something that I feel proud of after I created it. During the time when I am creating them sometimes there’s like some turmoil going on and it’s a way to like sometimes relax or kind of unload those hard emotions. 

After, I feel proud, I usually feel inspired to create more, I feel a sense of community with other people. Those are all things that I really really enjoy. 

Susan J. Farese: And, these are trends in our talk today. You know, the connection to other people, feeling relaxed, feeling mindful. Question: When you do your pet portraits, do you take a photo of the pet first and then go from the photo? Is that how that works? Or, do you do it while they’re sitting there live?

Alyssa Blake: I usually use reference photos and we’ll look at a few before we choose a couple. I can change backgrounds or kind of reimagine different things in the portrait, but it’s based off of like a reference photo usually.

Susan J. Farese: During or after this, I will put this in a blog post along with your website and how to find you and you know where you are on social media and such. But, it’s fascinating that we’re connected and it was from a podcast, and a podcast is another creative outlet for nurses to do, or people to do, right, to get their stress out.

Hopefully, we can add some resources to our blog post as well and maybe some articles on the nature of art and caring in healthcare and poetry as well. Is there anything else that you want to bring up? Any last thoughts?

Alyssa Blake: I think for people that might not feel like they’re an artist and so they might not want… for example…to do like Visual Arts or they might not feel like a poet… they might not want to kind of write in that way… I think that’s okay that you are not a professional. That’s not the point of like participating in these creative expressions– it’s just to help yourself.

 So, I would say, don’t be afraid. You don’t have to be Bob Ross. You can… as long as it helps you to relax, have a cute little date night with painting, or a Paint N’ Sip night like I was saying with coworkers. Just journaling 5-minute journal, you can pick them up at a lot of different stores, expressive writing, that kind of stuff. You don’t have to be a professional for it to work for you, so, I would definitely encourage you to participate in that and explore your creative side even if you haven’t done in the past. 

Susan J. Farese: I think it’s great. If you’re a nurse and you’re on Facebook, please join the Nursing & the Arts Group that we have and I’ll put the link for that as well. I just think it’s… this is a fascinating beginning conversation. 

I just hope that, you know, people, whether you’re a caregiver, or a potential caregiver which we all might be, or a healthcare provider, or a nurse, whoever… we hope that you value the arts like we do and use the creative arts for self-expression, self-care, stress management, mindfulness, unloading, all these keywords that we’ve been using today, because we care about you.

And, we just want the world to heal with art, whether it’s visual, creative, literary, whatever way. Thank you so much for joining us, Alyssa. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you. We’re all across the country, too. You’re in Massachusetts. I’m in California, and here we go! We’re starting a movement I hope. 

Alyssa Blake: Thank you for having me. 

Susan J. Farese: Thank you so much. Take care. 

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