Nurses Take DC – Rally for Safe Staffing

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Nurses Take DC

Have you ever wondered what happened after all the hoopla from the Miss Colorado and The View controversy? Remember, all the nurses bonded together and we finally found our voice. It was a great time to be a nurse! A really great moment of pride. But then what? Well…. something did happen. Nurses found their voice. Nurses realized that apart we will accomplish nothing, but together, we are a million person force to be reckoned with. A few, humble nurses took that message to heart and were inspired to have a rally in Washington DC regarding the one issues we almost all agree on – staffing. On May 12, on the steps of the Capitol, Nurses Take DC!

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Top 10 posts of 2015

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Top 10 Posts

Well, 2015 is quickly coming to a close and 2016 is right on its heels. This past year was my first, full calendar year as a blogger. Considering I hated every English and writing class I ever took – not what I expected to find myself doing. But, here I am and it has been a blast! I have met so many cool and interesting people. Really tapped into a whole unrecognized source of information and resources. But, most surprising, people actually wanted to read what I had to say! Crazy! So, here is my year in review – the top 10 posts of 2015!

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Helpful Lab Tips

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Nurse Teacher, Labs

 

One of the biggest areas my students tend to struggle with (besides care plans & concept maps) are evaluating labs. So, I am always on the hunt for some helpful tips and this week a stumbled upon some great stuff on Pinterest (of course!). Here’s some helpful lab tips for students and practicing nurses too!

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Nursing’s New View

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Nursing's New View

Wowzer! What a week to be a nurse! Like what the heck just happened – the sleeping giant has arisen!! I always knew we had it in us as a profession. I just knew if we could find some common ground, we would be a force few could overcome! Little did I know it would come from such a benign place and the momentum would give nursing a new view!

So in case you have been working or live under a rock – here’s what’s been happening this week in the world of nursing…. Nursing’s New View!

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Self-Care Tips for Nursing Students

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Nursing students

Hi all! Hope your summer has gone well! It has been a fun and busy one for me, especially since I had a clinical group for a super fast summer session. Clinicals can be tough enough on a good day, but for my fundamentals nursing students, summer session is like learning via a fire hose!

As we head back into the fall session and the stress level starts to amp up again, I thought I would share some self-care tips for nursing students. Although you may have heard a few of them in the past, really take them in and consider, “how is your self-care routine?” Students are notorious for not taking care of themselves and I think this is amplified in nursing students. People entering the nursing profession tend to seek to put others first and demonstrate a high level of care to others, often at the expense of themselves.

So, here’s my tips for taking care of yourself while in nursing school and after graduation too!

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Your Next Shift – Book Review

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Your Next Shift

Your Next Shift – A Book Review

Once again I had the honor of reviewing another fantastic and super helpful book by nurse entrepreneur and wellness extraordinaire, Elizabeth Scala. A few months ago she offered us alternative self care workarounds in her book Nursing from Within: A Fresh Alternative to Putting Out Fires and Self-Care Workarounds. (You can read my review here.) It was a practical guide for nurses who were looking for a fresh alternative and perspective in how to manage in the daily grind of healthcare. With her next book, Elizabeth continues that journey in her aptly named book Your Next Shift: How to Kick Your Nursing Career into High Gear.

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Nurses Week Giveaway 2015!

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NursesWeek2015GIVEAWAYS(1)

Nurses’ Week Giveaway 2015!

The giveaway has closed – all of the winners have been contacted, however, if I do not hear from them in 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.

Thanks to everyone who entered – please support these awesome people and brands who donated these fantastic gifts!!

It’s finally here – Nurses’ Week 2015!

If you can’t tell, I love Nurses’ Week!

I love to have a week to reflect and celebrate nursing. Sure, we should celebrate nursing everyday, every week. But, being nurses, we don’t like a lot of spot light on ourselves. We take care of our patients; it’s what we do. And we do it well – the Gallup poll reports again that nurses are still the most trusted profession!

If you’d like to learn more about the history of nursing, check out this article. You might be surprised, it hasn’t been around as long as you might think…

So, in honor of Nurses Week, many of you will be getting your token gift from your employer – maybe a mug, a pen or if your lucky, a free meal in the cafeteria that you never get to go eat at because you are so busy! (And recently I heard some employers have got rid of Nurses’ Week altogether, in exchange of “Hospital Week” – whatever!)

Well, I have some good news – in exchange for being my awesome readers and super awesome nurses, I have rounded up some spectacular gifts to give you all!! They are things nurses want and some are from companies who are made by nurses! Bonus!!

So without further ado – here’s what I am going to giveaway to my awesome nurse peeps!

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Performance Scrubs – Review

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Performance scrubs

So, a few months ago, I was doing some research on nursing products made in the USA. I know, totally random and I don’t even remember what sparked the thought. I was pleasantly surprised to come upon an homegrown scrub company called Performance Scrubs. I was not only intrigued that they were made in the USA, but the incredible options for personalization and their total uniqueness in the scrubs marketplace.  I reached out to them and they graciously offered to let me give a pair a trial and here’s my review!

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The Nurses – A book Review

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The Nurses Book Review

I am SO excited to be working with other Book blogs and share this awesome book review with you all!!

I recently had the opportunity to pre-read The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital. I was told prior to reading it that it was written by award -winning author, Alexandra Robbins who explored sororities in her bestseller Pledged. I was immediately intrigued, but a little skeptical how a non-nurse would view our unique profession. Wow – did that skepticism immediately melt away. Instead, I found a book that had me from the very first chapter. I was completely intrigued and actually mystified that a non-nurse could truly capture the essence of being a nurse.

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Future Nursing Opportunities in the U.S.

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Future nursing opportunites

According to the “Nursing: Supply and Demand through 2020” analysis conducted by professors from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, the U.S economy will create over one and a half million nursing jobs by 2020. On the other side of the spectrum, hospitals and other health-care facilities will be undergoing a shortage of nearly 200,000 professional and registered nurse positions.

Nursing is a tough and demanding job, with long rotational shifts, calls to work at any time and of course, the human element of have to care for other people. The physical and emotional demands of the nursing industry are enough to deter people from wanting to enter this profession. However, there is a plus side to this. For all your pain, sacrifice and dedication, the average annual salary of a practicing nurse is about $43,000. For a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree, it is roughly $69,000 annually, which is a higher wage than that of many other fields which require longer studies.

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