Clinic programs address opioid use disorder during pregnancy

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The trend was a steady increase in the number of newborns experiencing symptoms such as diarrhea, shaking, breathing problems and excessive fussiness.

The infants were suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, or withdrawal from drugs they had been exposed to in the womb from opioid use disorder.

Women in the program have access to prenatal care, individual counseling with a social worker, recovery support groups and a provider who can prescribe medication like buprenorphine, a medication-assisted treatment to help patients reduce or quit using heroin or other opiates.

The program is helping many pregnant women overcome addictions that started after physicians prescribed opioids to treat pain.

In some cases, women start buying heroin off the street after prescriptions run out.

Catholic Medical Center is among a growing number of hospitals launching programs specifically geared to help pregnant women who are struggling with opioid use disorder. The number of these women more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers found the national prevalence of opioid use disorder increased from 1.5 per 1,000 hospital deliveries in 1999 to 6.5 in 2014. The annual rate increases were highest in Maine, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia.

Innovative approaches to treating withdrawal from opioid use disorder

New patients initially meet with a social worker, who gather information about the patient’s history and collect a urine sample to screen for drugs.

Then patients meet with a nurse practitioner, who can prescribe medication-assisted treatment. The staff completed a four-month training to learn about motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care and how to provide care to newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

One common misconception the providers address with patients is the belief that women should stop using illegal opioids during pregnancy.

Stopping abruptly could cause withdrawal and potentially put the pregnancy at risk, instead, they encourage women to come in and get the support they need to start taking prescribed medication that can help with the cravings.

The Roots for Recovery staff also have been trained to use the eat, sleep, console approach for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome. In this model of care, these babies can stay with mothers rather than transferring to the neonatal intensive care unit, where they often receive morphine to treat withdrawal symptoms.

Instead, nurses encourage breastfeeding, skin-on-skin contact, supplemental feeds and other comfort measures to help the babies through the withdrawal period.

The model has been so successful that 86% of babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome did not require medication in 2018 — compared to 18% seven years ago. The length of stay for the infants also has dropped from 15 days to six days in the hospital.

Creating a safe place for pregnant moms with opioid use disorder

It is critical to be aware of the shame many women experience.

They feel an immense amount of guilt, and many who come into the healthcare setting feel so much judgement. It was important to break down the barriers between moms and the healthcare team.

To facilitate trust with patients, nurses emphasize that moms play an essential role in caring for their babies, and nurses are partners in supporting the babies.

“A lot of the women have been beaten down for years, and they do not think they are worth anything.

Many did not have loving parent models, and they do not know what to do. Brayton shows patients how babies react differently to moms than to healthcare providers, and she affirms their decisions to keep their babies safe by getting help.

By participating in the program, women have access to:

  • Medication-assisted treatment
  • An intensive outpatient program
  • Group therapy with other moms and pregnant women
  • Individual counseling
  • Support to find housing, transportation, insurance and employment resources

The patients also meet pediatricians who are trained to work with moms in recovery once the babies are discharged from the hospital.

How to reach more women facing opioid use disorder

Although hospitals are increasingly developing programs to help pregnant women with opioid use disorder, researchers are finding evidence that many of these women are not accessing programs to get help.

More than two-thirds of women in state prisons enter the system with drug dependence or abuse, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Mothers who enter the correctional system earlier deliver healthier babies because these women receive the food, shelter and safety they may not have access to in the community. It’s shameful that our society is not reaching these women. Many of the pregnant women have multiple children who are in foster care or living with family members.

The class in prison is often the first time they’ve had any type of prenatal education. If they were using, they want to know if the drugs will hurt their babies. This is an opportunity to be a healthcare provider who can give them hope.

 

 

 

 

Alexa in hospital rooms to improve care

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Having the device in hospital rooms allows patients to make hands-free requests for medications, help using the restroom, their favorite music, television programming, information about what’s on the menu and more.

Nurses say they like having Alexa in hospital rooms, and so do patients.

Aiva, a patient-centered voice assistant platform for hospitals, includes Amazon Echo devices that are placed in patient rooms. Much like consumers would ask Alexa to do things in their homes, patients ask the device for help and assistance in the hospital.

Alexa in hospital rooms maintains patient privacy

It is not just like adding an Alexa device into the room, it actually works through the Aiva program, a company that worked with Google on configuration to make sure this is something we can use. It works with our devices, like our call-light system.”

And having Alexa in hospital rooms is HIPAA compliant.

There’s nothing stored on it that has patient information.

The hospital is gathering data, including if and how patients use it and if it helps nurses, to determine whether it will offer Alexa in rooms hospital-wide.

Patients simply tell Alexa what they need. If it’s a request to play a type of music, get an update on the weather, watch something specific on TV, etc., Alexa handles the task.

If it’s a request for care, Alexa routes that directly to a pocket phone of a nurse, nursing assistant, administrator or the kitchen, if it has to do with food service.

A pain medicine request would be routed to a registered nurse, for example, while a bathroom request would be routed to a clinical partner,” according to a Cedars-Sinai press release. “If the request is not answered in a timely manner, the Aiva platform sends it up the chain of command.

It really cuts the times for our responses because the patient is able to say, ‘Alexa, ask the nurse for pain medication. And then it alerts the nurses on their phones. It bypasses the whole system and goes directly to them.

Patients can opt not to have Alexa turned on in their rooms but few do.

What has been found in the initial few months that Alexa has been used it is the patients who do use it are very happy with it. Sometimes when patients are confused and they listen to music in their language or from their generation, it helps calm them down.

Other benefits of making Alexa available to patients

With time, nurses and others are finding new uses for Alexa.

For example, when a patient is admitted, we ask all patients to watch the fall prevention video,” she said. “In the past, patients would have to turn on the TV, find the channel, look for the program, and then play it. In this case, they’re able to say ‘Alexa, turn on the TV. Alexa, play the fall prevention video.’”

It is relatively easy to educate patients about how to use the technology. Sometimes nurses or nursing assistants do the educating. Volunteers or secretaries also go around to patient rooms each day to point out features of the technology or help patients use it.

In some hospitals, there are large three-dimensional cards on patient tables that remind patients that they have Alexa in the room.

Even intensive care unit and operating room staff might benefit from the technology. For example, ICU nurses can request help from another nurse using Alexa in hospital rooms.

In the operating room, you can say ‘Alexa tell the technician to bring me a sterile set’.

The Aiva platform is evolving, including looking to add more languages.

Alexa isn’t the only smart hospital room device. The staff also offer hospitalized patients iPads on which they can access their medical records.

While the data is still out on whether Alexa in hospital rooms improves the patient experience and saves nurses time, having the technology frees nurses to do what they need to do.

 

 

 

 

Scholarships can help you offset nursing education costs

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As costs for a nursing education have continued to rise, future nurses and those seeking advanced degrees are looking for creative ways to finance their schooling.

Scholarships aren’t always based primarily on grade-point averages. Some schools look more at a student’s circumstances and how it’s monetary investment could impact an applicant’s life.

For example, Independence University’s online nursing program offers the “Your Future” scholarship, which provides scholarships starting at $3,000.

Alan Hansen, PhD, vice president of online and the executive director for Independence University in Salt Lake City, said, “We’re looking more at your letters of recommendation and how the education will change your life.”

The university also offers half-price tuition for an advanced degree if a qualifying nurse completes a BSN from Independence. That reduction would cut the cost for a master’s degree from just more than $29,000 to $14,500, Hansen said.

“We always tell our students who are working through their bachelor’s degree that this isn’t the time to stop,” he added.

Here are other sources that can help.

The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program

This program is available to qualifying RNs, APRNs and nurse faculty. It pays up to 85% of unpaid nursing education debt. In exchange for the debt reduction, nurses work a minimum two to three years in approved underserved sites across the country.

To receive funding, RN and APRN candidates must work full time at an eligible critical shortage facility in an underserved area or an accredited school of nursing as faculty for at least two years. Nurses accepted into the two-year program get 60% off their total outstanding qualifying educational loan balance while pursuing an education. If participants choose to work a third year they can get an additional 25% off their original loan balance for a total of 85%.

Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program

Health professionals can get help repaying their loans — up to $40,000 — in exchange for a minimum two-year service commitment to practice in facilities serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities with this loan repayment program.

In-facility programs such as Grow Your Own

As hospitals face nursing shortages, some health systems are paying for nurses who have an associate degree, and are already employed in the health system, to become RNs in exchange for a promise to work at the sponsoring hospital after graduation. Covered costs can include tuition, books and supplies.

One example is found in Dallas where Hospital Corporation of America and Methodist Health System have partnered with El Centro College Center for Allied Health and Nursing to help build the RN staff. This Grow Your Own Nursing Program is a partnership to train and educate their existing hospital staff to become registered nurses.

Military scholarships

The U.S. Army can help pay for a psychiatric nurse practitioner degree. The F. Edward Hébert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program may cover tuition, books and fees and include a sign-on bonus and monthly stipend for qualified applicants who have an active duty status in the army.

The U.S. Navy has a Nurse Candidate Program that focuses on specialized programs that offer an initial grant of $10,000, then a monthly stipend of $1,000 per month for up to 24 months. The service obligation begins at graduation.

The Air Force Nurse Corps Health Professions Scholarship Program offers two- and three-year scholarships for nurse corps specialties. The scholarships cover tuition, fees, books and supplies. Recipients also get a monthly allowance for living expenses. While on scholarship, recipients spend 45 days on active duty. After graduation they serve one year of active duty for each year of scholarship support, for a minimum of three years.

Federal loans

The Federal Student Loan Program can help nursing students pay for college with a combination of grants, work-study program and low-interest loans. To apply, students must fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form.

 

Nurses should practice pressure ulcer prevention

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Pressure ulcer or injury prevention remains one of the most common and significant tasks in healthcare for decreasing harm.

Ethically, we want to do no harm. We not only don’t want to cause harm, but we also want to avoid harm by preventing conditions like pressure ulcers in the first place. Benjamin Franklin’s adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” resonates in the healthcare community where we see the outcomes of preventable and unpreventable injuries.

We would much rather prevent injury than watch a patient live through preventable pain, wounds or diagnoses. A paradigm shift is in progress toward education efforts in communities to help people maintain or achieve healthy lifestyles so preventable conditions are avoided.

However, in acute, subacute and chronic environments, we care for patients/clients who have one or many healthcare conditions that put them at risk for injury – skin injury in particular.

How you can help prevent pressure ulcers

Is there a way we can involve healthcare teams through interprofessional education and discipline-specific prevention interventions to combat skin and pressure injuries? Yes!

In 2016, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel described a change in terminology. The NPUAP staging system now refers to pressure ulcers as “pressure injuries.”

The change should help healthcare professionals think of injuries and potential for injury in terms of harm to tissue from pressure regardless of whether the harm has resulted in open injury or nonintact skin. There can be underlying serious tissue injury before the injury progresses to the point of an ulcer or nonintact skin.

Have you ever heard a colleague say, “It’s just a stage 1 pressure injury.” or “If it blanches, it’s OK.” Well, is it really OK? Implementing prevention measures may help keep these areas of pressure stress or injury from becoming worse.

Practicing prevention also can reduce costs

Being prevention-minded can help save money too. Medicare has penalized hospitals with regard to preventable injuries or complications such as pressure injuries as reported in the article “769 hospitals face Medicare penalties due to patient injuries” in Healthcare IT News. Penalties for hospitals for preventable complications may be upward of $400 million.

In addition, pressure ulcers are a frequent topic for litigation, more so than even falls, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. A past estimate states that a pressure ulcer can add tens of thousands of dollars in costs to a hospital admission.

There are things we can do to help decrease healthcare injuries. “A number of innovations have been published offering practicing nurses and managers ideas for raising awareness of skin care and preventing pressure ulcers,” states a research article published by the National Institutes of Health. “The majority of these have focused on patients in hospital settings with very little in the literature related to care-home and community initiatives.”

Despite available literature, pressure injuries are still a significant issue, and risk for pressure injury increases in persons with compromised mobility and/or nutrition, according to the NIH article “Pressure ulcer prevention is everyone’s business: the PUPS project.”

Nurse.com by OnCourse Learning has developed a one-hour interprofessional webinar, “It’s Just a Stage 1 Pressure Injury. Or Is It?” The webinar discusses deep tissue injuries, stage 1 pressure injuries, assessment tips for darker skin tones (where initial tissue changes may be harder to recognize), risk assessment and, of course, prevention efforts.

In addition, nurses, nursing assistants, physical therapists, dietitians, pharmacists and occupational therapists can earn continuing education credit through this educational activity.

 

Choosing a nursing degree? Here’s what you need to know

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There are three pathways students can select to receive a nursing education.

The first is a diploma program, where the student will receive a diploma as a nurse and some college credits but not a college degree. A diploma helps prepare a student to sit for the NLCEX-RN. Diploma programs range in length from 22 months to two years. These hospital-based degree options have become rare nowadays.

The associates degree in nursing, or ADN, is a program that awards the student an associates degree. This typically takes two years and prepares the student to sit for the NCLEX-RN.

The bachelor of science in nursing program can take up to four years and prepares the student to sit for the NCLEX-RN. In the past 10 years, some schools began to offer accelerated BSN programs for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another subject area and want to become a nurse. These programs generally take from 11 months to about 18 months to complete. All the nursing education programs vary in clinical experiences.

 What are the pros and cons of two-year degrees versus a BSN?

Ruelens-Trinkaus: Many of the hospitals in the U.S. are attempting to be awarded Magnet status and the BSN is an entry-level requirement at Magnet hospitals. Therefore, the BSN graduate will have an advantage over nurses with an ADN or diploma. Many of the Magnet-designated hospitals will not consider hiring a registered nurse if they do not have a BSN.

One pro for students is associate and diploma programs cost less than BSN programs because diploma programs are hospital-based and ADN degrees are community college-based.

Another potential pro for graduates of ADN or diploma programs who are hired into hospital systems is that many systems then offer tuition reimbursement to pursue the BSN.

 What are some major considerations for students who want to pursue undergraduate nursing degrees in today’s healthcare environment?

Ruelens-Trinkaus: There are several important considerations.

One is a university’s or college’s NCLEX pass rate. Drexel’s is 97% to 100%. Each state has a baseline requirement. For the state of Pennsylvania, for example, 80% is the pass rate required to maintain state board approval.

Make sure the college or university has an accredited program. It can be accredited by the National League of Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. If a school is not accredited, you may not be able to sit for your licensure.

Ask yourself if the degree you’re thinking about meets your career desires. For example, do you want to become a nurse practitioner or an educator? Make sure it meets what your needs are, and what you are planning for your future. You want to make sure there are options for financial aid, if needed.

This is a big one: specialties. A lot of nursing education programs have started to integrate specialties into the general curriculum. For example, some schools integrate pediatrics into the curriculum, so separate pediatric clinical experiences will diminish and may possibly go away altogether.

The specialties are pediatrics, community or public health, maternity or reproductive health and mental health. If you take away those individual specialties and integrate them into the curriculum, you’re losing out on getting this specialized knowledge and clinical experience. This experience can help you determine whether that is a specialty in which you might want to work in the future.

Consider a school’s location. Do you want to live in a city or in the suburbs? This also will impact the types of clinical experiences you will receive.

Consider how many clinical hours and the types of clinical experiences you will be provided. For example, in Philadelphia, you might have the opportunity to go to an internationally recognized children’s hospital, as well as several nationally ranked hospitals.

 How is the job market different for different for associates and diploma versus bachelor’s graduates?

Ruelens-Trinkaus: Salary is based on location more than the type of undergraduate degree you completed. In a city, you make more money than in the outlying suburbs and small communities. But the BSN offers more job options than the associates degree or diploma programs.

 Are there trends in healthcare that make one degree a better career choice than another?

Ruelens-Trinkaus: Absolutely. A 2010 Institute of Medicine report identified an overall goal for 80% of the nursing workforce to have a BSN by 2020.

The report addresses the way our healthcare has changed. So much of healthcare is now community-based, versus acute care in the hospital. Typically, concentrations in community or public health, leadership, research and health policy is not included in the ADN or diploma programs. They are part of the curriculum for a bachelor’s degree.

 How can students who might think they can’t afford a BSN, as well as others who have families and other responsibilities and might not think they can do four years of school, overcome such challenges?

Ruelens-Trinkaus: In nursing education, we have identified that one way to address the need to increase the BSN workforce would be for four-year colleges or universities to collaborate with community colleges and develop a bridge program to allow the ADN student to roll into an RN-to-BSN program.

Drexel is working with Delaware County Community College to bridge their ADN students into Drexel’s RN-to-BSN program once they complete their courses at the community college.

Additionally, this may enable the ADN graduate to obtain a job at a Magnet hospital, because they are already a student in an RN-to-BSN program. This would allow them to be eligible for tuition reimbursement from their employer, to help pay for the RN-to-BSN education.

 Finally, what do you think is the future of entry-level nursing education?

Ruelens-Trinkaus: I truly believe the future of entry-level nursing education is the BSN. However, I have been a nurse for more than 32 years, and it has been more than 40 years that this has been a part of the conversation. We have never been able to accomplish this goal.

I think this is a multifaceted, complex issue. Cost is one issue that many students face when enrolling in a program. Additionally, many people identify later in life that nursing is something that brings them the fulfillment they need in a career.

The accelerated programs are reflective of the student that is changing careers, sometimes because of a life event, such as taking care of a sick loved one, when they discover that nursing is what they are passionate about.

I think the demographic of the nurse has begun to change, and it now encompasses a diverse group of individuals. Therefore, being able to address everyone’s needs into one pathway will be very difficult.

However, with the current healthcare climate, it is imperative to have entry-level nursing education be that of the BSN. We need to have multiple systems in place to try and address getting people on board with this. I don’t think there is only one way to do it.

 

How to overcome 5 challenges to med-surg certification

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Over the years, med-surg nursing has evolved into a highly-respected nursing specialty. Nurses who work in the field are charged with providing care to patients with increasingly complex medical issues, and many choose to pursue certification to validate their expertise and increase their professional development.

Below are tips on how to overcome common challenges that nurses may face when considering certification:

1 – Second-guessing your abilities

Doing a great job as a med-surg nurse is one thing, but some nurses may question their ability to pass a certification exam.

Haskins said nurses who have worked in med-surg for at least two years and who study for certification usually do very well and feel an extreme sense of satisfaction after passing.

2 – Overcoming test anxiety

For nurses who haven’t taken an exam in a while or who have test anxiety, Haskins recommends taking a practice test to prepare for the certification exam.

Haskins said the FailSafe program offers a great way to help boost confidence for nurses who may be nervous about taking an exam or are unfamiliar with computer-based testing.

“Nurses who have taken a certification review course have been shown to do better on the exam than those who haven’t,” Haskins said. “In addition, nurses feel less pressure when they know that if for any reason they don’t pass the exam on the first try, the FailSafe program allows them to repeat the exam.”

3 – Feeling ill-prepared

For nurses who have been out of school a long time, the idea of a test may seem daunting.

Haskins said going into the test feeling prepared can make a huge difference and she recommends the free 15-question sample test on MSNCB.org.

4 – Overlooking human resources

Forming a study group and preparing for the exam along with colleagues can give nurses confidence as they prepare to take the test.

Haskins said studying within a group also allows nurses to identify topics where they may need to devote additional time studying. For example, a nurse may feel confident about diabetic care but feel she could use a refresher on respiratory issues.

Most professional nursing journals also offer CE articles that can be utilized to meet the 90 CE’s in five years,” Haskins said. “Many local chapters of professional nursing organizations also have educational programs throughout the year that have CEs attached to them as well

“Staff at my facility got together and formed a study group with each person taking a section from the Core Curriculum and reviewing with their colleagues at weekly meetings,” she said.

Maintaining certification

Once you have obtained certification, which lasts for five years, you will want to maintain your certification. To be eligible for re-certification, nurses must hold a current med-surg certification, hold a current RN license, have accrued 1,000 practice hours in a med-surg setting in the last five years and have earned 90 contact hours in the last five years.

 

 

 

How moral distress, courage and resilience impact nursing care

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It’s a normal part of life to have some distress. It’s something none of you want, and all of us try to avoid.

Often the cause of emotional and physical pain that can upset and disrupt our lives, distress can occur because of various work situations, financial problems or family issues everyone experiences at times.

Distress can be emotional and make you feel nervous, overwhelmed, worried and even afraid. It also can be physical, causing headaches, GI upsets, respiratory difficulties and more. In your role as a nurse, it can even be worse.

Based on the nature of your work, you often find yourself in situations others never encounter. It can come out of patient care issues related to end-of-life decisions, informed consents or advance directives, or be the result of workplace and staff issues caused by errors, accidents, gaps in communication or poor decisions.

All of those issues are part of nursing and for many people can become moral dilemmas. The decisions they call for move the distress to a different level and cause what is known as moral distress.

Defining moral distress and dealing with it

Moral distress has been a subject of interest and study in healthcare for more than 30 years, and many still ask:

  • How do I know if what I’m experiencing is moral distress?
  • What does it feel like?
  • How does it happen?

Studying it is one thing, but to deal with moral distress you must first define and understand it.

There is a connection between the dilemmas and decisions you deal with, the inner struggle the two can cause and the moral distress that results.

According to the well-known definition from Andrew Jameton, first published in 1984, moral distress occurs when a nurse “knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action.”

This occurs most often when you believe you know the right thing to do but feel powerless or afraid to do it. Because many patient care situations can be serious, some see suffering moral distress as a predictable part of nursing you need to accept.

Moral distress is when you cannot just accept it when you’re being asked to do something you believe is wrong while organizational rules, regulations or opinions of superiors say it’s not. This is where moral courage comes in.

The power of moral courage

Remember when you were young and your mother told you to “have the courage of your convictions and stand up for what you believe in”?

It wasn’t always easy. Even though you’re all grown up now, it’s still not easy.

It is tempting to say if you have moral courage, you won’t experience moral distress. Sufficient moral courage would enable you to speak up and challenge unacceptable practices and policies. But that’s not always the case.

Speaking up isn’t easy. It helps, but doesn’t always mean your distress will go away. Moral courage takes practice, and “even the most morally courageous staff may fear speaking up,” according to a study published by the American Nurses Association.

The role of resilience in moral distress

Another word we hear in discussions on moral distress and courage is resilience.

“Moral resilience is the ability to deal with an ethically adverse situation without lasting effects of moral distress. … It requires morally courageous action, activating needed supports and doing the right thing,” according to a study in the journal MedSurg Nursing.

So how can you effectively address moral distress as a nurse?

The ANA offers nine recommendations that summarize ways you can develop, work on and strengthen your moral courage and resilience:

  1. Adopt ANA’s Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation strategies to support your general well-being as a foundation for cultivating moral resilience.
  2. Read, review and implement the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements to gain knowledge and strengthen ethical competence.
  3. Seek opportunities to learn how to recognize, analyze and take ethically grounded action in response to ethical complexity, disagreement or conflict.
  4. Cultivate self-awareness to recognize and respond to your symptoms of moral suffering, including moral distress.
  5. Pursue educational opportunities to cultivate mindfulness, ethical competence and moral resilience.
  6. Develop your personal plan to support well-being and build moral resilience.
  7. Become involved and initiate workplace efforts to address the root causes of moral distress and other forms of moral suffering.
  8. Develop and practice skills in communication, mindfulness, conflict transformation and interprofessional collaboration.
  9. Identify and use personal resources within your organization or community, such as ethics committees, peer-to-peer support, debriefing sessions, counseling and employee assistance programs.

 

How do you celebrate your calling during National Nurses Week?

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Make a Nurses Week resolution to recognize each other every day.

One of my favorite sayings about nursing is our ordinary is actually extraordinary. We provide an amazing service to the public, whether in hospitals, clinics, long-term care or in the community.

Being a nurse is not something we turn off completely at any time. It doesn’t stop at the end of our shift like many other professions.

We are there to help at a moment’s notice because we care. That perspective of caring is always with us and we believe we are doing what any other person might do in the same situation — that it was our job.

Enter Nurse’s Day and Nurses Week. Celebrated since 1965, the original intent was to raise awareness of the important role of nursing, which mark our contributions to society. Nurses Week was first unofficially observed in October 1954, the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s mission to Crimea.

It was later changed to May 6 and officially recognized by President Ronald Reagan in 1982. The American Nurses Association expanded the holiday into National Nurses Week, celebrated from May 6 to May 12, in 1990. Over time, this week became the one time of year we as nurses truly expect we should receive external recognition for our contributions.

Have we all moved away from recognizing the important role in nursing that the outcome of our caring results in one week of food or tchotchkes a year? I am speaking here for administration and all nurses alike.

Let’s make a Nurses Week resolution to recognize each other more than once a year

What if each week throughout the year, you, your unit, department or organization decided to recognize yourselves? What if we recognized each other and ourselves daily? How do we give our gratitude to other nurses? How do we show our caring to others? How might this type of recognition look?

I asked many of my nursing friends how they should celebrate themselves and each other and here are some ideas:

  • Nursing retreats designed just for nurses by nurses. My colleagues and friends at the Arizona Nurses Association have organized this retreat for four years straight!
  • The DAISY recognition program is a formal program healthcare organizations can participate in to recognize the work of nurses. This program exists in all 50 states and 18 countries!
  • In our daily manager and administrative huddles at Oregon Health and Science University we discuss staff who deserve recognition. Clinical and non-clinical staff and managers know to escalate stories so individuals are recognized. There always are several staff members mentioned daily during these huddles.
  • Celebrate little victories, such as when a patient finds solace in music or speaks for the first time after visiting with a therapy dog. This might be just part of your routine day, but it is yours to celebrate. Take a moment to reflect on how your caring was part of this patient’s victory.
  • Write a letter to the editor in a non-nursing-related newspaper or magazine that reflects positively on the nursing profession.
  • Have a nursing school reunion.
  • Attend your state nursing association conference.

When we do not stop to recognize ourselves and others, we are not supporting ourselves or each other. When we don’t support each other, individually we can burn out and experience compassion fatigue, which makes it harder to provide a healing environment for those in our care.

Patients and families can tell when we don’t or can’t care any longer. Worse yet is we start to exhibit bullying behavior to others, instead of compassion and caring our colleagues and fellow nurses need just as much.

Nurses Week shouldn’t and can’t be just the only time we recognize, celebrate and demonstrate the importance of nursing. Each of us need to commit to a Nurses Week resolution to celebrate our profession, ourselves and each other each day!

 

Celebrate nurses’ strengths during Nurses Week

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RNs are educated, ethical and engaged, and patients are all the better for it.

National Nurses Week is set aside in the U.S. each year to focus on the nursing profession and honor its members for their many contributions to our nation’s healthcare. During the week, nurses are celebrated at their workplaces, featured in stories about their outstanding work, honored at special programs and events and presented with awards for excellence.

I’ve been part of many National Nurses Week celebrations and each year I’ve become prouder to be a nurse and felt more privileged to call nurses “my colleagues.”

Nurses are ethical

In almost every poll taken in the last two decades, Gallup has ranked nursing the most honest, ethical profession. Why? Maybe it’s because nurses are the ones who always are there in the care setting, around the clock, on weekdays, weekends and holidays. Maybe it’s the traits they have that patients value — kindness, empathy, attentiveness and compassion.

Or maybe it’s because it’s usually the nurse who spends time with patients telling them about their care and answering their questions.

Nurses listen and respond to patients’ needs not simply because they have good communication and people skills, but because they know patients must understand what’s going on and what’s coming next. When patients speak with nurses they know they will be confidential and professional in handling the information they share.

Nurses take care of the small details and go the extra mile, and as a group, have more contact time with patients than other healthcare professions.

Nurses are educated    

Our nation continues to grow and change, and with it our national healthcare system. To meet the needs of its larger population and changing demographics, the nursing profession has grown its numbers and increased its knowledge, training and skills.

Education in nursing has come a long way since the first National Nurses Week and in the recent past has moved ahead even more rapidly. We all know the skillsets needed to render bedside care provided by diploma and associate degree programs still are valued and needed, but with the growing complexity of care, there’s been a call for nurses to pursue advanced education.

Our profession has responded to the call and led the charge in pursuing advanced degrees and taking on new roles.

Proponents of nursing research, professional organizational leaders and employers of nurses have supported the call, and the number of nurses prepared at the bachelor’s degree level is higher than ever and predicted to increase.

Advanced education has made nursing more mobile and flexible and prepared nurses to move into new specialties. Knowledge in advanced technology, monitoring devices, specialized diagnostic equipment, digital record keeping, phone apps and more has changed their work and their roles.

Nurses are engaged

Nurses go to work each day planning to be with their patients in every sense of the word.

Nurses also are engaged with each other. They care about nursing advancement and professional issues and know it’s important they work together on common objectives in their professional organizations.

Nurses also are passionate and engaged outside of work and willing to go beyond their normal nursing roles to help others locally, nationally and internationally. Engagement is not just being in the game, but up at bat, and this is what we see in the volunteer work nurses do.

To me, the magnificent volunteerism in nursing is proof positive that nurses are all the Gallup poll results represent: fully prepared with special and valued traits; fully prepared for their work through advanced education; and fully engaged with patients and others in need and their nursing colleagues.

 

Take the next step in your career with wound care certification

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The decision to become wound care certified benefits not just your career, but the lives and outcomes of patients.

With more than 6 million patients in the U.S. affected by chronic wounds, according to Becker’s Hospital Review, enrolling in the Wound Care Education Institute (WCEI) can be an important addition to your nursing expertise.

Regenia Butler, RN, WCC, DWC, a telemetry nurse and member of the hospital-wide skin prevalence team at Methodist Health System in Dallas, Texas, understands this importance.

While working as a supervisor in home health in 2010, a staff member approached her about the idea of getting nurses in the organization wound care certified.

Wound care knowledge is power

Being wound care certified means access to helpful resources that can expand wound care knowledge throughout hospitals, health systems and other healthcare organizations.

These resources include free live webinars, free seminars, on-demand webinars for $10 each and Wound Central, a wound care journal published quarterly.

Bolster your career options

Nurses and other wound care-certified clinicians also have opportunities to become subject matter experts for special projects, as well as volunteer opportunities for focus groups and some WCEI special events.

Among nurses who have seen an increase in their marketability as a result of becoming wound care certified is Stephanie Mansfield, LVN, WCC, DWC.

Mansfield, a wound care coordinator at Willow Bend Nursing and Rehabilitation in Mesquite, Texas, was on Butler’s team when the decision was made to pursue wound care certification, she said.

Attending the WCEI’s annual Wild on Wounds conference each year since 2011 has been a great experience, said Mansfield, who also works as a home health wound care nurse for Bridgeway Health Services in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I took two courses and have two certifications from the WCEI and since then, I’ve had more opportunities in nursing,” Mansfield said. “WCEI cares about the nurses, PTs and physicians who attend these conferences. They want us to learn, and if they don’t have an answer to a question, they’ll get the answer for you.”