Your Professional Legacy

Legacy I often hear nurse leaders in my generation talk about the importance of their legacy.  They want to leave their mark on the world and be remembered for their work.  Some seek a tangible symbol of something they have left behind such as a scholarship in their name or a book they write.  In today’s rapidly changing world, there are no guarantees that your ideas will remain relevant into the future.  John Maxwell in his book The h21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership noted that ” Our ability as leaders will not be measured by the buildings we built, the institutions we established, or what our team accomplished during our tenure. You and I will be judged by how well the people we invested in carried on after we are gone.”  Ultimately, legacy is about an investment in those will carry the work on.

In their international best selling book The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner identify enabling others to act as one of the five key practices of exemplary leaders.   Leaders they note can’t do it alone nor should they. Enabling others to act happens through building trust, fostering collaboration and strengthening others.  Enabling others to act should be a very intentional part of leadership but often, it is not.  Many leaders are too insecure to strengthen their teams members and worry that they could be displaced.  I often hear nurse leaders say that there is no one to pass the torch to but I have not found that to be true.  What I do see is many leaders who have the mistaken belief that there is only one torch and fail to light the torch of others.   Kouzes and Posner offer the following suggestions to enable others to act:

1.  Create a climate of trust and be the first to trust others

Mutual respect and trust is what leads to organizational achievement.  Lighting the torch requires trust and a recognition that there are many different ways to accomplish goals.

2. Demonstrate genuine concern for the work of others

To enable others to act, you must recognize that work is all about relationships with others.  You want to build supportive relationships and ask what support is needed.

3.  Share your knowledge and information

Some leaders intentionally withhold important information from their team because they worry about losing power.  To enable others, you must share what you know.  To do otherwise is to sabotage and undermine team efforts.  The interesting outcome is that the most powerful leaders are also often the most generous with their time and knowledge.

4.  Structure projects to promote teamwork

Most leadership accomplishments are the outcome of a team effort.  To enable others, you need to structure work so that it promotes teamwork and not team dysfunction.  The ability to work effectively on teams is a skill that future leaders need and increasingly, these teams should be interdisciplinary.

5.   Foster self-confidence

In my work with Generation Y nurses, I have found that there is a real fear of failure among this group.  It is important for current leaders to promote realistic self-confidence with constructive feedback.

6.  Build a culture of accountability

Despite whatever happens with health reform, one aspect of the leadership role will never change and that is the need to accept accountability.  Harry Truman often said “the buck stops here”.  Effective leaders don’t duck the accountability and responsibility even when the outcomes are not good.

7.  Adopt the role of coach

Sports coaches know that they will not be out on the field playing the game – they need to light the torch of their team members so they can perform at their highest level.  Ask two simple questions – What can I do to help you get the most out of this experience?  and What can I do to help you to sharpen your talents and strengthen your skills?

8. Structure roles to allow latitude and growth

In every role, there should be an opportunity to grow one’s leadership skills.  You need to identify for staff how they can do this within the context of their work.  It might be participation on a unit council, task force or committee.  It may be serving as a preceptor or chairing a community event.

Kouzes and Posner  in their discussions about leadership legacy make a strong case for leaders to think beyond their own achievements and to appreciate that others will inherit what we leave behind.  They recommend that we ask, “What can I do to ensure that their experience will be better than mine?    It all begins with recognizing that for most of us, our true leadership legacy will be what invested in others.

 

Character Traits That a Nurse Has

Nurse Nursing is much more than a career; it truly is a calling. It takes a special kind of compassionate personality, calm head to care for people in their times of need. Below are traits of a good nurse.

Traits of a Good Nurse

  1. Caring

The number one quality of a good nurse is caring. If you do not care about others and yourself, you cannot be compassionate and provide quality care to others. A great nurse is able to do their job effectively while also showing compassion, concern, and sympathy for each individual they serve.

  1. Communication skills

Communication skills are one of the most important requirements of a nurse’s job—both following directions and communicating with patients and families. Patients who are sick or suffering often are not in a position of strength to speak up for themselves. Patients and families rely primarily on their nurse for this kind of support. For a good nurse, being supportive includes being an effective advocate for the patient when you anticipate a problem or see a concern that needs to be addressed.

A nurse’s communication skills take many different forms. “Their smile is the most important one. A genuine smile gives a patient a sense of comfort, knowing that their nurse cares about them.”

Of course, nurses have been wearing masks and other PPE since the COVID-19 pandemic began, so smiles can be a little harder to come by these days.

“Beyond that, there are many communication styles a good nurse knows how to work with, and not all of them are verbal. A great nurse can communicate in ways that make a patient feel at ease and feel confident that they will be cared for.”

 

  1. Empathy

Caring, compassion, and empathy sometimes are confused as one and the same, but there is an important distinction. Empathy is the ability to really hear and share in a patient’s feelings. For a nurse, this doesn’t mean you always have to agree with what a patient or their family thinks. And for your own self-preservation, you don’t need to internalize the pain and suffering they may be experiencing. But it is very important that you listen and try to understand where they’re coming from.

great nurse can make each patient feel seen and heard, without judgment, and with a recognition that each individual has their own valid set of values, life experiences, and perspectives.

Not everyone is born with a robust capacity to be empathetic toward others, but most people lack empathy only because they don’t know the full range of circumstances others may have experienced in life and how it affected them. It’s something nurse educators have understood since the days of Florence Nightingale, and with the knowledge and training a nursing program provides, it’s a learnable skill.

 

  1. Attention to detail

When it comes to providing medical care, attention to detail is crucial. Even in the most busy, hectic environment, a good nurse must be detail-oriented, making sure that instructions are followed to the letter, ensuring proper medication dosages, and keeping accurate records.

In the home care setting, a nurse serves as the detail-oriented coordinator of patient care. A good nurse will be the first to notice subtle changes in a patient’s medical condition and alert physicians and other members of a health care team to respond in ways that can avoid a serious adverse health event or unnecessary hospitalization.

  1. Problem-solving skills

Similarly, a great nurse exercises excellent judgment and can think quickly to anticipate and address problems.

Being set in one’s ways is not a useful quality for a nurse. Providing excellent health care can be very dynamic and unpredictable at times. A great nurse is willing and able to be flexible and adapt to any unforeseen circumstance.

In the day-to-day provision of health care, it is up to nurses to sometimes juggle hectic schedules and competing demands, to make calm decisions and respond to unexpected events effectively, and often, to find creative ways to make a difference for patients in the limited time you are able to spend with them.

  1. Respect

Respect for the rules within the healthcare industry, however, is also important. As a field, medicine is notoriously slow to change. That’s because it’s evidence-based, and the processes required to ensure changes are made for the right reasons take time. Reimbursement for medical services is also inexorably tied to regulations set forth by insurers and government agencies, and the failure to follow them can mean the loss of revenue, financial penalties or worse, closed doors.

Decision-making on the job can be a delicate balancing act, and when it comes to nursing, respect goes a long way. Whatever may come, it is important for a good nurse to respect healthy boundaries and to respect all of the diverse people you serve and work with.

A nurse who exercises respect for all coworkers, patients, and families will earn a high level of respect in return. This quality is demonstrated by a professional demeanor, a mindfulness for rules and confidentiality, and a high regard for each patient’s wishes.

In the home care setting, when a nurse enters a patient’s home, they enter the patient’s life. It is crucial to get to know each patient and their family as individuals, and to respectfully and unobtrusively work in concert with their desires and schedules.

  1. Self-awareness

To create a great career in nursing that works for you, it is important to really know yourself. Not every work environment will be the best fit for you. Some nurses thrive on the excitement of a busy emergency ward. Others prefer the more quiet, longer term, one-on-one attention they can give patients in the home care setting.

A good nurse will enjoy a long and fulfilling career by being self-aware and gravitating to the kinds of work that best suit their own personality, priorities, interests, and physical stamina.

  1. Desire to keep learning

Medical knowledge and technology are advancing very rapidly, and a great nurse must have a genuine sense of curiosity to keep working on their professional development, improving their skills, and learning new things.

  1. Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate facts and come to rational conclusions objectively. It’s a disciplined, self-directed way of looking at things that allows nurses to interpret data, prioritize patient needs and troubleshoot difficult clinical issues quickly and accurately. During triage, for example, it’s how a nurse uses normal diagnostic results to determine that a patient having chest pain can wait because they are likely having indigestion, not a heart attack.

The ability to think critically is an important quality because while nurses most often function as part of a healthcare team, their practice is autonomous, and their professional decisions are their sole responsibility. Nurses may be able to dress wounds in seconds, place urinary catheters without faltering or start an intravenous line with a blindfold on, but without the ability to think on their feet, high-pressure situations will be stressful.

Although not all healthcare settings are as extraordinarily fast-paced as a busy emergency room, making decisions isn’t something nurses can avoid. The good news is that while critical thinking comes naturally to some people, it’s also a skill that can be learned and nurtured in school and beyond.

  1. Flexibility

For nurses, there’s no such thing as an average day. The excitement of learning new skills and consistently doing different things is part of the appeal of nursing as a career, but it also makes flexibility one of the top qualities every good nurse needs.

Nurses wear many hats on even an average day, but when challenges emerge, it requires the ability to adapt. A quiet day planned to care for neonates can suddenly become high-intensity when four women simultaneously arrive in labor.

Flexibility is also a characteristic that helps nurses adapt to changes in healthcare in general. For example, before awareness of blood-borne pathogen risks grew, using gloves regularly when working with bodily fluids was uncommon, but within just a few years, it became nearly mandatory. Today, technological advances are causing the landscape of medicine to shift constantly as innovations are introduced at breakneck speed. Being flexible helps nurses adjust to these types of changes with less stress.

  1. Open mindness

A patient who declines a blood transfusion because of their religious beliefs, a parent who won’t vaccinate a child because of safety concerns and a terminally-ill client who chooses to forgo life-sustaining treatment all present unique and emotional challenges. For nurses, the principle of autonomy, a patient’s right to make their own healthcare decisions without undue influence, always takes priority, regardless of the choices they make.

Today’s nurses are also required to be culturally competent. Cultural competence is defined as the ability to care for patients with different languages, customs and beliefs. Working with interpreters, assigning religiously sensitive patient’s providers of their preferred gender and respecting the need for modesty during physical examinations are some of the way’s nurses are called upon to help.

Health care is constantly changing and a great nurse changes with it and stays knowledgeable of all things. If you have any inquiry, visit our collegenursinghelp.com for more information.

 

 

10 Warning Signs You Are Working with the Wrong Nurse Leader

Nurse Leader Finding the right nursing job includes finding a manager that will help you grow, develop, and support your career goals.

There is a saying that people leave their managers and not their jobs and to have success in your career may mean you want to circulate your resume in order to find the best fit for you. This means you have to know what you want and need in the area of support.

Here are 10 warning signs you may be working with the wrong manager:

  1. You never hear from your manager prior to your performance reviews. Over 75% of performance problems can be improved with proper feedback and less than 33% of the time, feedback is provided.
  2. You have no idea what they want.  This can be worse than not having feedback at all. When a manager says, “I do not like how you did that,” you really have no way of knowing what they really mean. Make sure to ask for clarification. Review your job description and ask for your manager to specify what parts of your job responsibilities are most important to them. It could be they are focused on patient safety and you have an interest in health literacy. Knowing what they want gives you the advantage of focusing your efforts for the greatest gain.
  3. It is their way or the highway.  This is a problem for many nurses. Job satisfaction comes with autonomy and the opportunity to solve your own problems as they show up on the job. When a manager consistently tells you what and how to do something, employees quickly turn off their own creativity; more than likely, with an increase in mistakes.

    A nurse who is practicing for 7 years shared a story about his experience on a new unit. His Clinical Specialist was a micro-manager. She told him to give this medication immediately because of incoming admissions. She had poured the med. This went against his better judgment but because he knew she would have a fit, he gave it, to the wrong patient. She was extremely apologetic however the “error” was on him. Do not compromise your judgment for the sake of status quo.

  4. Your manager wants you to figure it out.  The opposite of micro-managing is to not manage at all and letting everyone figure it out for themselves. This happens quite a bit leaving the power position to go to the most domineering individuals on the unit. Everyone needs to know the manager is in charge and when needed will make those tough decisions.
  5. You could not recognize them if your life depended on it.  If your manager hides behind email or a closed door, having a relationship with your manager will be impossible. Communication and trust is the foundation of a great working relationship.

    Suggestion for managers: Time is an important commodity and getting around to all your staff can be time consuming. Why not use technology and set up a short video. Most iPhones take excellent video. Take 2-3 minutes every week and share what is going on. You may also want to share something personal about yourself; if you just started juicing, kickboxing, celebrated an anniversary or a milestone with your children. Interview them, show images along your morning run, and share something of yourself in order to make the connection with your staff.

    Suggestion for staff: Make a short video on your unit of a new initiative, gratitude board in the break room, more efficient way to give report, a snippet of rounds, and just a friendly hello from everyone on the unit. You may even want to say thanks and express appreciation; managers are people too!

  6. The way out the door is faster than up. If you have a manager that makes any attempt for you to advance your skills difficult, it will be hard to boost your resume. Managers can feel threatened by qualified staff members who want to move up the ladder and may indirectly thwart your efforts to move forward. This is really short sighted on the manager’s part because any manager that turns our qualified leaders actually looks really good to their higher ups given the ongoing need for good talent in any organization.
  7. Lack of training.  Being able to do a job well requires the right training. Often it takes the manager to assess the need for training based on performance and outcomes. This relates to the lack of feedback. While every employee really should do their own assessment of what they need to do well and then make the request of their manager, the manager should also be on the lookout for staff that need training and set up opportunities to make this happen.
  8. When the manager has obvious favorites.  Everyone has preferences in personality style, but when the manager consistently selects one particular individual for all the initiatives, opportunities for advancement, or other assignments that provide variety, the manager is sending a message to others they do not care about your skills or your future.
  9. When your manager routinely says, “I’ll think about it.”  Obviously considering all sides of the problem/ situation is important however some managers hide behind this and never make a decision about what is the ideal way to go.  Quickly, this can be frustrating if you are looking for a course of action to solve a problem.
  10. When your manager over reacts or criticizes you in front of others.  This is a toxic behavior and is an indication you want to find a new place to work. Quickly this will diminish your self-esteem, leading to resentment and stagnation.

    Knowing what you want in the way of workplace is key and will help you avoid a poor manager. What type of opportunities are you looking for in the workplace? What are your career goals? Evaluate the workplace, ask questions, find out the management style, review a performance appraisal, ask about turnover, and see if you can build a relationship with your new manager.

 

Tips To Prepare For Nursing Interview

interview Apart from practicing some interview questions, there are still some steps you need to take to prepare for a nurse job interview.

Some other areas you should concentrate on include:

Understand the Organization’s Vision and Mission Statements

Research the company’s mission and values to show you have a vested interest in the system.

If you’re genuinely passionate about working for an organization, you’ll dig deep into their history and find out what they cherish most.

HR managers will be disappointed if you cannot answer common knowledge questions about their firm.

It means you’re cold about the culture and value system of the company.

Understand the Job Description and Role

Most interviewers ask questions about the relationship between the job description and your experience to know how well you fit into the job role.

Be prepared to explain the skills you possess to enable you to perform the job role well.

Let the hiring team understand that you’re the best fit for the job, and you can get started almost immediately.

Explain the skills you’ll use to work in the job position in practical terms.

Do a Mock Interview

Plead with a relative or friend to conduct a mock interview for you.

Pay particular attention to your time management skills while answering the questions.

You may record the mock interview and watch it alone to do a self-assessment.

Be very serious about this process because it can make the actual interview a walkover for you.

Find Time to Rest

It can be tiring when preparing for an interview.

Find time to rest well before D-day.

It will be a minus for you if you look tired and lose attention quickly.

When you rest well, you’ll look and sound authentic.

Dress Well

If you’re unsure of the proper dressing for the occasion, check on YouTube for help.

Don’t appear too casual or superficial.

Wear business attire that fits well, is clean, and is without wrinkles.

Show the recruiters that you’re ready for business.

Appearance matters in interviews; make a valid statement with your dress style.

Be There On Time

If it’s an in-person interview, check the driving directions and allow time for traffic and other emergencies.

If it’s a virtual interview, test your video cameras and microphone before the scheduled time.

Ensure your environment is quiet, clean, and free from distraction.

You will do well in an interview if you take all these factors into cognizance.

Calm down and approach every issue as they arise.

Questions to Ask the Interviewers

Most times, the interviewers usually ask if the interviewees have questions.

It’s not good when you shake your head to this question.

Ask at least two questions to show that you’re engaging and thoughtful.

It shows you’re genuinely interested in the company.

It also allows you to clarify issues with the employer.

Some of the questions you can ask an employer include:

Do you have a training outline for new workers? 

What are the KPIs for this position or the organization? 

What’s the most-valued skill for this position? 

What else can I do to prepare well for this position? 

What is the in-house style of the organization? 

What next after this interview? 

Be courteous while asking these questions.

Conclusion

We shared nursing interview tips with job seekers in this article.

The article is rich because it highlights every aspect you need to focus on to have a successful job interview.

We discussed the likely questions interviewers ask and sample answers to each.

However, don’t be dogmatic about the answers; they’re just for illustration.

Think outside the box and be more responsive while answering actual interview posers.

But with this guideline, your job search is almost over!

 

Understanding Nursing Orientation

Nursing orientation Nursing orientation is designed for new nurses or those with changes in specialties.

It keeps nurses updated on procedures, documentation, and policies within a new healthcare facility.

Orientation generally involves pairing an inexperienced nurse with an experienced counterpart where the former learns from the latter.

A nurse educator or clinical nurse expert supervises the orientation process.

Types of Orientation Programs

Different healthcare facilities offer various orientation programs, and you should familiarize yourself with them before a job interview.

The four terms used are mentor program, preceptor program, nursing orientation, and residency program.

Most hospitals overlap these four components.

However, research what the specific term stands for at the facility where you aim to work.

Below is an explanation of their meanings in a conventional acute care hospital:

Nursing Orientation

Many hospital orientation programs involve a general orientation and a unit-specific orientation.

Classroom education involves enlightenment from all departments in the hospital and how to use electronic medical records.

The duration of the classroom education depends on the individual healthcare facility.

Mentor or Preceptor Program

Upon completing general hospital orientation, you’ll move to unit-specific ones where the hospital authorities assign you a mentor or preceptor.

Preceptors are registered nurses with a minimum of a BSN or MSN degree and have worked for at least two years in the facility.

These are experienced registered nurses who orient new hires on nursing practice.

The facility, mentor, and specific unit where you’re posted will determine the duration of the unit orientation.

Most unit orientations last between three to six months.

However, if you work in a critical care unit, your orientation may last for up to one year.

Essential Components of a Good Orientation Program

A result-driven orientation program must have the following components:

Preparation 

Facilities should develop curricula and modules for preceptors to make the orientation goal-driven and focused.

The modules will guide the preceptors on what to teach their mentees.

For instance, orientation programs on patient care may focus on diagnosis and procedures and may be accompanied by high/low-risk incidence competency.

Not every expert clinical nurse can serve as a good preceptor.

Authorities should choose preceptors based on clinical expertise and their ability to assess and teach new staff nurses.

It will be helpful if facilities organize a workshop for trainers with topics on adult learning and how to give feedback.

It will help mentors on how the right way to orient new graduates.

Incorporation

Facilities should put in place a system that ensures newly hired registered nurses are integrated into the team seamlessly.

Introduce new staff nurses during staff meetings or morning huddles.

If you no longer gather physically for meetings due to coronavirus, introduce them through e-mail communication by name and roles.

Take them on a familiarization tour of the facility.

Mentors should make the orientation program highly interactive by observing breaks and rest periods with their subordinates.

Nurse managers should interact with new team members daily.

It doesn’t have to be a long interactive session; a simple “Hello, how are you doing today?” can do the magic.

Grant them access to electronic platforms as soon as they’re hired.

It’s frustrating for recruits not to have access to some systems such as door access, medication dispensing system access, parking garages, and computer log-ins.

It makes them feel they’re not yet part of the team, which can debar them from learning.

Goal-Directed Learning

Nurse managers should draft benchmarks and KPIs to monitor precepting events.

You may adopt Benner’s From Novice to Expert method.

The approach allows you to orient new nurses from fundamental issues to more complex procedures over the weeks.

Evaluate their progress weekly to know if there’s a need for specialized training.

Trainers should share daily learning objectives with new nursing staff to help them identify procedural opportunities and patient care.

New staff onboarding should follow team ownership to understand the essence of collaboration in nursing jobs.

Direct Two-Way Feedback

Nurse managers should hold weekly meetings with new team members and their mentors during the nursing orientation program.

The mentor and new staff nurses should submit separate progress reports during the meeting.

The nursing leadership should create a favorable environment for recruits to be open, confident, and relaxed to air their opinions.

The two-way feedback ensures that recruits aren’t lagging in the nursing orientation program.

The nursing leadership should provide honest but encouraging feedback that will facilitate the professional development of the new staff nurses.

Preceptors should give feedback on the performance of new staff concerning nursing procedures and patient care.

The feedback should be timely and effective to enhance the professional development of recruits and boost their confidence.

Some team members may require an extended nursing orientation program to fit into the special units.

Plan for such extensions to put them on the pedestal of success!

Continuous Support

Upon the conclusion of the orientation program, the authorities should make provisions for the continuous support of the recruits.

The mentor should keep their doors open to answer the endless questions of the new nursing staff.

New staff nurses should participate in the routine evaluation process to measure their retention rate.

The authorities should also involve new staff nurses in unit projects and governance councils to ensure their retention and longevity at the facility.

Hospital authorities should follow these essential components to ensure high-standard nursing care, teamwork, and nurse satisfaction during an orientation program.

 

 

Night Shift vs. Day Shift Nursing: The Pros and Cons of Each

Night shift The public’s need for healthcare obviously doesn’t stick to strictly 9–5 “business hours.” The always-on model of our healthcare system is fantastic for anyone who has had a health emergency on a holiday evening, but it can be more of a mixed bag for the healthcare workers staffing it.

If you’re exploring a nursing career, it’s only fair to wonder about the contents of that mixed bag and whether that’s something you can handle. If you’re looking for more info on the potential pros and cons of working night shifts versus day shifts as a nurse, we’ve got you covered. We dug into the research on shift work and spoke with nurses who’ve walked the walk at all hours of the day to gather important insight into the realities of these shifts

Night shift vs. day shift: What is a shift differential?

While not universally offered, one substantial positive for night owl nurses is the potential to earn “shift differential” pay.

A shift differential is additional pay workers receive for working “undesirable” shifts like nights, weekends or holidays. This financial incentive can help employers ensure adequate staffing levels are maintained during these times.

How shift differential pay is calculated will depend on the employer. It’s often either an additional flat hourly rate added on top of base pay (ex: everyone working overnight earns an additional $7/hour) or as a fraction (ex: everyone working overnight will earn their standard hourly rate times 1.25 for that period).

Additionally, the differential amount can vary according to the specific hours. For example, evening or relief hours might include shifts started between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., night hours might start at 7 p.m. and weekend hours might start at 3 p.m. on Fridays. This means a night-shift nurse working on a weekend might earn both night differential and weekend differential pay, depending on their employer’s terms.

As you can probably imagine, the potential to earn substantially more for taking on unconventional hours can weigh heavily when determining if working night shifts is worth it. Even if you are hired as a day-shift nurse, it’s worth reading up on your employer’s shift differential policies. You may want to pick up hours outside of days for some extra cash.

Night shift vs. day shift: Work culture

While a shift differential can be easily calculated, differences in work culture cannot. Days at hospitals tend to be bustling with providers, consulting providers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers and other healthcare professionals that don’t typically have a presence on overnight shifts. Doctors tend to place a lot of orders during the day. Between placing Foley catheters, prepping patients for surgery, making sure patients get their imaging done and taking their medicine, it might be hard for day shifters to catch a break for lunch or grab a coffee. More people from the management ranks being around during the daytime can also mean more micromanagement—and the minor annoyances that can come with it.

The pacing of work at night varies according to the department. Nurses in the emergency department receive orders and complete tasks whenever patients present to the ER. Nurses on an inpatient floor are mostly tasked with making sure patients get the rest they need to heal and dealing with emergencies as they arise.

While it can be nice having fewer “extra” people around, it also means taking on more responsibility when emergencies do happen.

“With limited resources around, often the nurses only have each other. That bond is very strong,” says Megan Brunson, MSN, RN, CNL, CCRN-CSC and CVICU nurse who has been working the night shift regularly over the span of her career. A smaller crew can also mean stronger friendships. “There tends to be a tighter camaraderie when you’re ordering lunch at 1 a.m.,” says Sean Marchese, MS, RN at The Mesothelioma Center.

Brunson also feels like working the night shift gives the opportunity to practice at her highest scope. Providers aren’t constantly around so when emergencies arise, nurses perform all the nursing interventions they can and call the doctors. “On night shifts, many times I am the sole advocate for the patient,” Brunson says.

With that comes additional autonomy. This can be a great shift for new nurses as they’re pushed to learn new skills and grow more confident with handling the emergency situations that may arise.

 

Night shift vs. day shift: Sleep

Night shift Another important consideration while debating night shift versus day shift nursing is sleep. No matter when you prefer to clock in, sleep is critical to functioning at your best as a nurse. Being alert means avoiding making critical errors and being more aware when your patient’s condition is changing. “Your patients depend on you to get quality sleep just like they depend on you to give them the right medication,” says Brunson.

While it can certainly be a rough transition, some nurses are easily able to adjust to sleeping during the day. Many nurses tend to be tired enough after an 8- or 12-hour shift to fall asleep without changing things up too much. That said, any and all of the following can help night shift nurses maintain a steady sleep schedule:

  • Investing in blackout blinds
  • Sticking to a routine for falling asleep
  • Reading a book before bed
  • Wearing wax earplugs
  • Avoiding blue light before sleeping
  • Avoiding spicy foods before bed
  • Having a small “breakfast” before bed so a growling stomach doesn’t wake you up
  • Drinking only light caffeine and water during your shift
  • Reducing food intake between midnight and 6 a.m.
  • Owning a loud, reliable alarm clock

Most important, plan out your sleep, especially if you’re someone who switches back to being awake during the day on your days off or you have a rotating day/night schedule. Brunson recommends writing your sleep time down on your calendar or in your planner and not scheduling anything over it. “Your sleep needs to be protected at all costs,” says Brunson.

If that seems like it’s just way too much to deal with, it doesn’t mean you’re out of luck—there are plenty of nursing positions that don’t require working at 3 a.m. While they may be harder to find in a hospital setting, stay open-minded and consider doctor’s offices, clinics or surgical centers that are only open during the day. You’re better off tailoring your search to roles with schedules that work for you than being exhausted and out-of-sorts.

“I’m a better nurse and person getting good sleep at night and having improved mental health by being able to socialize during the day,” says Jenna Liphart Rhoads, Ph.D. RN, CNE advisor at Nurse Together.

If you’re looking for a good in-between, look for evening-only positions that consist of 8- or 12-hour shifts where most of the hours occur between 4 p.m. and midnight. This can allow you to have a more “normal schedule” without having to be there bright and early in the morning.

Night shift vs. day shift: Health considerations

Besides sleep, there are other health concerns to think about before becoming a long-term night shifter. While trying night shift for a shorter period of time won’t necessarily have a long-term effect on your health, there are some studies to consider if you plan on being on night shift for years.

In a recent National Toxicology Program report, it was concluded that there is “high confidence” that persistent night shift work that results in circadian disruption can cause cancer.1 Night shift work has also been associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, metabolic disorders and sleep disorders.2

While those risks are hard to think about tangibly, you can take stock of how you’re doing after a few months on the night shift and consider what changes you can make if you enjoy being on night shift but may not be feeling your best.

“With years of night shift work, you can start to feel the effects on your mental and physical health,” Marchese says.

Night shift vs. day shift: Social life

If you choose to start working the night shift, you may encounter some new challenges with your social life. Some parents find it easier to be involved with their kids without having set obligations like work hours during the day. Especially if the kids have school or childcare until the afternoon, it can be easier to get your sleep after getting off work.

If you’re looking to go out, it might be easier to stay up late with friends. On the other hand, if you have social obligations with friends or family in the morning after you get off, it can be very hard to stay up after working all night. “I usually just turn into a zombie at that point,” says Sean Karbach, BSN, RN, CCRN and creator/host of the Nurse Dose podcast.

Chances are also good that you’ll meet great friends during your shift that you can see outside of work when your schedules line up. “I’ve met some of best friends on night shift,” says Karbach.

 

Everything You Need to Know About Becoming a Home Health Nurse

Home health nurse The thought of working in the medical field has always intrigued you. You know that healthcare is a growing, stable area of expertise, and you love the idea of interacting with patients and changing their lives for the better on a daily basis. All the signs seem to be pointing you toward nursing as your new career, but spending all day in a hectic hospital or under the fluorescent lights of a clinic might not be appealing to you.

Luckily, there are plenty of options for healthcare workers who don’t enjoy traditional medical environments. Nurses have the flexibility to use their talents in a work environment that not only benefits patients but also works well with their own personality, lifestyle and schedule commitments.

One nursing option to consider is home health nursing. Find out if this rewarding healthcare career is the right option for you as we break down everything you need to know about becoming a home health nurse.

What does a home health nurse do?

Home health nurses visit patients in their own homes to deliver medical care when a patient (or their family) is unable to care for themselves. You may think of home health nurses as mainly helping elderly adults struggling with dementia or ailments that limit their mobility, but the illnesses home health nurses treat go beyond that.

These nurses care for everyone from older adults to people with mental illnesses to those recovering from surgery. “You can expect to see wounds of all kinds. Some other common ailments home health nurses treat include diabetes, congestive heart failure and infections,” says Larissa Pourron, RN and nursing supervisor at TheKey®.

Just like nurses working in a hospital setting, home health nurses can expect to tackle a wide variety of job duties, including responsibilities like taking vital signs, helping patients with mobility issues, cleaning wounds, administering medication and drawing blood. Pourron adds that teaching also comes into play as a home health nurse, such as educating a patient recently diagnosed with diabetes or instructing a patient and their family about the signs of heart failure.

Home health nurses also need to report back to their employers and keep their patients’ medical records up to date, so maintaining accurate paperwork is as much a part of the job for home health nurses as it is for RNs staffing a hospital or clinic.

 

Paying for Nursing School: 5 Things You Should Know

Nursing The moment you decide to make a change and pursue a better career is empowering. You take your future into your own hands and make a choice that you hope will improve your life and the lives of your loved ones. Choosing to become a nurse is a big deal. Naturally, you want to make sure you’ve considered every angle possible. Likely one of the biggest considerations on your mind is how to pay for nursing school.

There are many types of nursing programs out there, with different delivery models, approaches and operating styles. But they all have one thing in common—tuition. While there’s certainly a range in how much nursing schools cost, depending on the institution, prospective nursing students everywhere should consider a few things before enrolling in their program of choice. If you’re worried about the cost of nursing school and how you’ll manage the expense, it’s worth taking the time to review your options for potentially keeping expenses down.

To help facilitate that, we asked nurses how they handled paying for nursing school. Let their advice lead you in a good direction.

Paying for nursing school: Options and advice to consider

1. Consider working for your school

If your university has student jobs, they can be very compatible with your school schedule and a great way to support yourself while gaining extra training.

“The most important thing I did to lower the financial impact of my nursing school program was to work for the university,” says Karin Ashley, NP. Ashley applied for positions that would pay a portion of the tuition and found that these work arrangements were also beneficial to her overall studies and future nursing career.

“Opportunities to work in the university system have double the benefits,” Ashley says. “You are able to get out of school with less debt, you get experience in your field and gain valuable references.” Ashley also emphasizes the value of expanding your experience and network through a job. Her experience working in a medical clinic during her program helped her decide which type of facility she wanted to work in and the specialties she liked. “And I gained connections for the job hunt when I graduated.”

2. Get serious about scholarship applications

“There are many financial aid opportunities, but you have to seek them out,” says Lisa Nicholas, MSN-RN and clinical instructor at UNLV Nursing.

Many of these scholarship or grant applications take time. You need to do some research to find them, then you have to fill out the applications and sometimes ask for letters of recommendation, all of which can feel like extra work for an unsure payoff. But Nicholas says the chance of winning some financial assistance is worth it.

When seeking out nursing scholarships, it can help to explore some of the niche options offered by specialty nursing organizations, according to Alice Benjamin, family nurse practitioner and chief nursing officer for Nurse.org. Benjamin explains many people don’t ever think to apply to these highly specific scholarship options—and that can be to your benefit, as a smaller application pool will likely help your odds.

3. Don’t wait to make payments if feasible

It’s incredibly easy to think of student loan payments as a problem to solve later when you’re a student. But depending on your situation and the type of loan you’re taking on, you may be adding some unnecessary overall cost by not chipping away what you can while still enrolled. Private and unsubsidized federal loans will begin to accumulate interest while you’re in school—and even a small monthly payment can result in substantial savings.

Benjamin says she wished she would have started paying back her unsubsidized loans while still in nursing school. “That would have really knocked down a lot of the interest that accumulated.”

“I would recommend paying as much as possible on a monthly basis,” Ashley says. “Paying even small amounts on the principal loan amount will make a huge difference in interest over the life of the loan.”

Your comfort level with this advice may vary. If you feel like you have enough of a financial cushion to safely chip away and help keep interest accruals from snowballing, then this is a move you’ll thank yourself for later.

4. Look into employer tuition assistance

In today’s competitive healthcare market, many employers offer tuition reimbursement or assistance programs and scholarships as a recruitment tactic, Benjamin says. These programs help employees afford additional training and education and are used as an incentive to help bolster the company’s workforce.

The details of these programs will vary depending on your employer—some prefer or require employees to enroll in programs directly related to their current role, while others are less restrictive. Before enrolling, you’ll want to do your research regarding employer restrictions or eligibility requirements.

“The downside is that much of that information is written in fine print somewhere and not well advertised,” Benjamin says. She recommends talking to someone from your organization’s human resources department or with a union representative to learn more about what options may be available. “Do so well in advance because there will be deadlines and requirements that need to be met in order to participate in these programs,” Benjamin says.

5. Contact your school’s financial aid office

Once you’ve chosen a nursing program, your university’s financial aid office can really assist with locating opportunities for qualified students to keep costs down. Nicholas suggests connecting with a member of the financial aid office to ask questions about scholarships, tuition assistance, loans, grants and anything else you may qualify for.

 

Registered Nurse vs. Nurse Practitioner: Duties and Differences Explained

Nurse If you find yourself in need of nursing care, you probably aren’t going to be aware of the credentials of the person caring for you—you’re just focused on doing what needs to be done to feel better. But if you’re considering a career in nursing, it’s important to know the different levels of education involved in the profession, as there are key differences in training and responsibilities.

The healthcare field has no shortage of seemingly similar-sounding job titles, and that’s certainly true of the registered nurse (RN) and the nurse practitioner (NP) roles. While both have “nurse” in the name, there are some critical distinctions you should be aware of as you explore potential career options.

To help you get these roles sorted out, we’ve asked healthcare professionals to weigh in and provide an overview of some of the key differences. Let’s start by taking a look at each role individually.

What is a registered nurse (RN)?

A registered nurse (RN) is a person who has earned either an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in nursing, passed the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam and has met all other requirements for obtaining a state license to practice as an RN. You can find RNs working in a wide variety of healthcare settings where they provide direct patient care.

“RNs have a scope of practice that includes selecting and providing nursing care and interventions along with carrying out orders from NPs, physician assistants and MDs/DOs,” Dr. Jenna Liphart Rhoads, a nurse and advisor at Nurse Together.

What is a nurse practitioner (NP)?

A nurse practitioner is an advanced practice registered nurse with an expanded scope of responsibilities. Prospective nurse practitioners must first obtain RN licensure and then complete a graduate-level Nurse Practitioner program—either a Doctor of Nursing Practice or Master of Science in Nursing. Like RNs, prospective nurse practitioners must also pass a certification exam as well as meet all other state-determined eligibility requirements needed to practice.

What this additional education and training amount to in a work setting is a larger scope of practice and more autonomy over care decisions.

“A nurse practitioner goes through additional schooling and gains the skills needed to take on a more autonomous role when treating patients,” says Kenny Kadar, president of Coast Medical Service.

While there are certainly differences in training, regulation and overall authority between the roles, an outside observer might not easily detect much difference between an NP and a medical doctor when interacting with patients.

“NPs can do much of the same work that doctors do in a variety of settings that includes rounding on in-patient units, seeing patients in clinics independently, performing procedures, writing orders and prescribing medications,” says Liphart Rhoads.

It should be noted that across the United States, there are different regulations regarding the scope of practice for nurse practitioners. Some states do not allow NPs to prescribe certain medications while others require them to work under a supervising physician—and the details of how that supervision takes form can vary by state. For more details on what each state allows, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® provides a state-by-state overview of licensure and practice laws for nurse practitioners.