Category: Healthcare

Pros and Cons of Being an FNP in a Rural Community

Choosing to work in healthcare is a smart career choice. The demand for these services continues to grow as the population ages. Plus, the work can be extremely fulfilling!

Nurse practitioners in particular are becoming a bigger part of the healthcare field, filling in care gaps and helping to improve preventative care. As a nurse practitioner, you can offer a lot of versatility to group practices, hospitals, or communities as an independent practitioner (depending on your state’s laws).

Once you’ve become a family nurse practitioner, you have to consider your options. Would it be better to get a job in an urban environment, where you’ll be one of many NPs working to keep the community healthy? Or would you thrive in a rural community, providing local care to a smaller population?

Here are some of the pros and cons of choosing to work as an FNP in a rural community.

The Demand for Healthcare Providers is Strong in Rural Areas

Many rural communities do not have good local healthcare options. This means that residents have to travel long distances to get the care they need. Ultimately, the lack of local services can lead to poorer health outcomes since people are likely to put off getting the care they need or do not have the resources to travel for their care. When community health services become available, everyone benefits.

It can be hard to attract qualified healthcare providers to rural communities. Why? Because most people prefer to live closer to urban centers and all the amenities they offer. This means that there are more opportunities and demand in rural areas, despite the smaller population numbers.

NPs Have More Autonomy and Scope of Practice

As long as you’re practicing in a state that allows FNPs to have lots of autonomy, you’ll be able to utilize that autonomy more fully in a rural healthcare job. With fewer healthcare providers available, everyone needs to provide a wide range of services with little supervision. FNPs who enjoy a large scope of practice and working independently are likely to thrive in a rural practice.

It’s Easy to Make a Difference and Build Relationships

In a rural community, you’ll really get to know your patients. You’ll have the opportunity to build relationships with them and get to know them. It’s also easier to see the difference you make in people’s lives. As a healthcare provider, you’ll get the chance to help reduce the health disparities that affect rural residents.

Being part of a rural community and providing care can be an incredible experience. Instead of working with thousands of patients and getting to know very few of them, you’ll be working directly within your community and providing care to your neighbors.

Resources and Collaborations Will Be Limited in Rural Practice

One of the downsides of rural practice is the lack of resources. A small hospital or practice won’t have the budget for the latest technology or the patient volume to support certain types of equipment. This can be a challenge and creates barriers to providing top-notch care.

Supplies and technology aside, you won’t have access to the same collaborative environment as a rural FNP as you would in an urban or suburban area. It will be more challenging to work through tricky diagnoses or collaborate on complex treatment plans without a network of specialists nearby.

In some cases, rural FNPs have to refer their patients to specialists that practice in far-off cities. This can be difficult emotionally, especially if you know that someone does not have the means to travel so far and see an expensive specialist.

Rural Living Can Be Isolating

Many people who take a job in rural healthcare settings struggle with the transition. It can be very isolating to live in sparsely populated areas. FNPs who decide to work in a rural community need to be proactive with self-care and making friends to fight off the potential for loneliness and isolation.

The Challenge of Maintaining Professional Boundaries

Rural communities are small and often have to rely on one another in many different ways. While that can be a huge positive for community-minded people, there are some downsides when it comes to privacy.

In a small town or rural community, everyone is likely to know your business. It can be difficult to maintain your privacy and professional boundaries when it’s normal in your community to gossip about your neighbors.

Embracing the Rewards and Challenges of FNP Work in Rural America

If you want to make a difference as a healthcare provider and work more independently, then becoming an FNP in a rural community could be a great fit. Embracing the rewards and challenges of healthcare in these settings can be a great way to grow as a healthcare provider while embracing a simpler life.

However, it’s important to consider your preferences and personality in making the decision. Weigh the pros and cons and be honest with yourself about whether life in the country or the wilderness is right for you before you decide.

With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Why Marketing Is Essential for Private Medical Practices

Consumerism across all industries has drastically changed the way professionals need to market their products or services, and the healthcare industry is no exception. With so many options available to patients today, healthcare facilities and companies must go the extra mile to market their business if they want to continue attracting and retaining new customers.

This is especially true for smaller, private practices. The field of private medicine is even more niche, which means you have to do even more to stand out against larger healthcare companies. It’s all too easy for someone to do a search and find the bigger, more popular facilities that can address their needs, but it’s much harder to find the smaller places that offer more specialized care and services.

The only way to make yourself known among the myriad medical solutions providers, general practitioners, and healthcare specialists, is to engage in marketing yourself. Marketing is essential for private medical practices for two main reasons — the first is somewhat obvious, and it’s the axiom that you can’t sell anything without marketing it first. Sure, you might be generated leads through referrals, but you can’t rely on others to market for you forever. The second reason is that your competitors are already doing it. They’re already fishing in your pond, and you’re never going to catch any fish without casting a line yourself.

Even if you are only comparing your business to other private practices, it is still a competitive market. Just because you offer specialized services does not mean you can simply sit and wait for patients to find you. You have to actively put your services out there and market them in a way that shows patients why they should choose your business over other private practices.

What is Medical Practice Marketing?

Marketing is the practice of using strategic outreach and communications to attract and retain customers. For healthcare workers and the private medical practice field, this specifically involves developing a marketing strategy that shepherds people through their healthcare journey from start (when they are just prospective patients searching the internet) to finish (or for as long as they remain a client/patient).

Some of the best medical practice marketing strategies utilize multi-channel tactics to target specific markets through the use of online and offline efforts to drive engagement. The more places your marketing is, the more new patients you will attract.

What Medical Practice Marketing is Not

To further help you understand what marketing is and how it can help your practice, let’s consider some common marketing misconceptions which could be influencing your hesitance about developing your own marketing strategy:

1. Marketing Is Too Expensive

Marketing is neither expensive nor inexpensive. Like anything you do or buy for your business that offers you a return on your investment, marketing is what you put into it.

If you buy a piece of cheap medical equipment, it might not really bring you the results you were hoping for, which means it might not end up being worth the money you paid for it. But if you buy the higher priced piece of equipment that is more reliable, it is a larger spend upfront, but in the long run, it’s not really expensive because it gets you a much higher return on your investment.

In this same vein, good marketing isn’t really expensive because of what it gives you; good marketing can be low-cost and still significantly boost your return on investment (ROI). No matter the cost, good marketing brings you more clients and patients. It increases your profits.

Of course, it’s also all about how you spend your money on marketing. If you have a quality, well-thought-out strategic plan, you can be more mindful of your budget and make the money that you do put into marketing go a lot further for you.

But if you simply throw your money at marketing that you haven’t really put the time and effort into, then yes, you might end up wasting that money, which means you might end up having made an expensive purchase that doesn’t deliver results.

2. Marketing Is About Quantity, Not Quality

As marketing has increased in popularity in recent years, many believe that you just need to constantly produce as much marketing content as possible to stay ahead of the game. But this just isn’t true.

A little time spent on quality marketing will go further than a lot of time spent on poor marketing. In general, good marketing still takes time and effort, but you don’t need to constantly churn out content if you do things well the first time around.

As a private medical practice, you don’t have the time to be a content-generating workhorse. And you don’t need to be. If you simply put in a little extra time and effort upfront, then you will have higher quality content that is more reliable and will deliver results over time for a longer period.

3. Marketing Is Only About You and Your Business

While your goal with marketing your practice might be about improving the success of your practice, your marketing should not center around you and your business. Marketing is really about your customers — your patients.

If you stand and shout, “hey, look at me, come look at my business and what we’re doing,” you might initially garner some attention, but today’s consumers are more discerning than they used to be. This means the marketing experience really needs to be about them, what your business can offer them, and how you benefit them — not the other way around.

If customers or patients don’t think you actually care about them and their needs and you are just trying to make a sale, then they won’t stick around. So your marketing shouldn’t be about you; it should be about them and what you can do for them. In fact, investing in community building is one of the most effective ways to humanize your brand — give to your customer base, and they will be much more likely to give you their business.

4. Marketing Isn’t Substantial Enough

While content marketing, such as the content on your website and blogs, is a big part of marketing, it is not the only part of it. If you want to expand your reach and generate more revenue, your marketing needs to be multichannel or a mix of different mediums.

A good website and website content is a great place to start, but simply building a website and paying for some blogs every now and then will only get you so far. Again, what you get out of your marketing will depend on what you put into it.

So when creating a strategy, consider all the avenues through which you can market your practice. This includes digital marketing, such as your website, blogs, e-newsletters, emails, social media, videos, podcasts, digital ads, etc., as well as traditional marketing, like print advertising and tv and radio ads.

The more varied your marketing, the more it will engage and attract your target audience. Consumers today like to be wowed. If you do the same thing over and over again, they will lose interest. As such, it might even be worth it to hire a third party that specializes in multichannel marketing solutions — at the very least, you know that you’ll be getting fresh and effective strategy and ideas.

How To Build a Quality Medical Practice Marketing Strategy

Now that you know the “why,” it’s time to start considering the “how.” How do you create quality marketing for your private medical practice?

There are so many ways you can go about this. There is no one right way to build a marketing strategy. And in many ways, it can depend on the specific needs of your individual practice. But we’ll cover the basics with a few of the best medical practice marketing strategies.

1. Build a Consistent Brand

Consistency is key in brand strategies and marketing, especially in the healthcare industry. Your audience needs to know exactly what to expect from you and to walk away from their experiences having had those expectations met. The way to do this is to build a strong and recognizable brand that delivers on its promises.

What is your brand—your practice all about? What do you care about? What kind of experience do you offer your patients?

Your customers need to know who you are — that they can trust you, and that you will deliver the experience that you said you would. This not only boosts your brand’s awareness but will result in higher customer retention rates.

2. Create a Quality Website

Seamless digital patient experiences are a must in today’s world of digitally savvy consumers. In healthcare, this starts with a quality website that patients can easily navigate and find exactly what they need. Websites are also a great way to collect consumer data that you can use to improve your marketing.

Think of your website as the face of your business. It is often the first thing a prospective patient sees when looking into your business, so it needs to make an impression. If your website isn’t good, chances are people won’t bother to come visit your practice in person.

A quality website with a seamless digital experience can make all the difference in the healthcare industry. If your website isn’t professional and engaging, then the customer will assume that your business isn’t professional and engaging.

3. Optimize Your Content to Improve Search Rankings

Again, one of the first ways a prospective patient discovers a new medical practice is through their website. The way they find that website is by conducting a search using sites like Google.

If you want your practice to be among the first results that pop up after someone performs a search, you need to be using SEO — Search Engine Optimization. SEO involves using keywords and phrases in your content to help people find you when they are looking for certain services.

For example, if someone needs help with a certain medical condition like diabetes, and your practice specializes in endocrinology, you would want to use specific keywords or phrases in your content related to that topic so your website will come up in search results for that person. If you don’t optimize your content, your website likely won’t rank high compared to your competitors, which means people won’t discover your practice as easily.

4. Boost Your Social Media Presence

Billions of consumers use social media today, and not just for socializing and posting pictures with their friends. Social media is a tool for discovering new brands, products, and services. So if your medical practice isn’t on social media, you are missing out on a large audience.

The notion that social media is unprofessional is outdated. Everyone is on social media, and it is an excellent way for your practice to engage your patients and prospective patients by posting tips, news, and other noteworthy healthcare information. This helps users keep you in mind when they require medical services.

Wrapping Up

These are just some of the tactics you can use to get started, but the important thing to take away is that your private medical practice needs quality marketing. And that marketing can significantly boost your chances of success and help you attract and retain more patients. The healthcare industry is always changing, so it’s essential to stay on top of marketing to ensure your private practice stays relevant and competitive.

 Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specializing in lifestyle, mental health, activism-related content. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. To connect with Katie, you can follow her on Twitter. 

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

4 Ways to Improve Medical Back Office Operations

The back office is the beating heart of any healthcare organization. It’s responsible for everything from administrative tasks to financial management, ensuring that the facility runs smoothly and efficiently. Yet, despite its crucial function, the back office can often feel overlooked, underutilized, or improperly managed. This blog post will discuss four effective ways to improve medical back office operations and help your healthcare facility to operate more smoothly.

 

Standardize Procedures

One of the most important steps in improving back office operations is standardizing procedures. Each staff member should understand their role and follow established guidelines for managing patient paperwork, billing, and more. Establishing clear procedures and protocols can create consistency in your workflow, which leads to improved accuracy and efficiency. This also ensures a standard of care that all patients can expect when visiting your facility. Creating a standard operating procedure manual can help you ensure everyone follows the same procedures, so start by outlining steps for common tasks, including scheduling appointments, patient check-ins, and processing claims.

 

Automate Processes

Automation is the key to increasing efficiency in the back office. Manual data entry can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Automation of tasks and processes where possible, such as scheduling appointments and processing insurance claims, can free up valuable time for employees to devote to other necessary tasks. Additionally, adopting a patient management system that incorporates automation can increase accuracy and productivity—automating billing and sending reminders to patients for example can result in fewer missed appointments and improved collections.

 

Integrate Technology

One of the most effective ways to improve back-office efficiency is to integrate technology into your workflow. Software solutions such as medical billing software, EHR software (such as drchrono, or Cerner) can simplify administrative tasks, while automated patient management systems or electronic payments systems can streamline financial management. The healthcare industry now offers web-based systems such as MyMedLeads, which not only has a suite of patient acquisition tools, but also serves as a communication platform for doctors and patients.

 

Back Office Healthcare Operations Software

The right software solutions can dramatically improve back-office operations. Rather than relying on manual processes that are prone to errors, healthcare facilities should consider implementing back office healthcare operations software. Medical billing software, for example, can help you manage financial information and payments more efficiently, resulting in fewer delays and higher collections. Medical practice management software can streamline scheduling and reduce wait times for patients. In addition to these software solutions there are modern back office healthcare platforms that provide various components (like billing, claims processing, and documentation) within the same platform, unifying workflows to increase efficiency and reduce error rates.

 

Implementing standardized procedures, automation, as well as technology and software solutions can all aid in boosting the efficiency and productivity of your back office operations. Healthcare facilities that successfully implement these methods will have a streamlined workflow, improved accuracy and precision, and be able to provide better quality care to patients. With the right tools and mindset, medical facilities can achieve a high level of operational success and improve their medical outcomes.

Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and walks in the park with her husky, Snowball.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Future of Healthcare: Why Nurse Practitioners are Poised to Play a Major Role

Healthcare in the United States has been in a rough spot for— well…quite some time. Covid certainly didn’t invent the struggles of Western healthcare but it did intensify them. Hospitals all across the country are suffering from dangerous personnel shortages that have made it challenging to deliver even basic levels of care to certain communities.

It’s a bad situation. But while the number of nurses shrinks, nurse practitioners have been growing enormously in prominence.

In this article, we talk about what nurse practitioners do, and how they are poised to shape the future of healthcare.

Nurse Practitioners Declutter the Healthcare System

One of the healthcare system’s greatest problems in the United States—

That’s a long list, friend.

Fair enough, one of the many problems is that hospitals have more patients than they do people who are qualified to see them. Nurse practitioners can help to relieve some of that burden by providing much of the same care that doctors have traditionally offered.

There are limitations to the extent that this is allowable. Many of these regulations are regional. For example, some states require nurse practitioners to get a doctor to sign off on all of their determinations, which can nullify the time-saving benefits.

However, in states with more permissive laws, this can be an enormous boon. Keep in mind that it takes a lot less time for someone to become a nurse practitioner than it does for someone to become an MD. This means that it is much easier for hospitals to staff up on nurse practitioners.

NPs can work on a wide range of different floors, from neonatal to maternal, allowing hospitals to declutter, and patients to get better quicker care. Fewer patient bottlenecks is better for everyone.

NPs in Private Practice

One of the big appeals of becoming a nurse practitioner is that it can allow you to effectively open up your own practice. Like so many things concerning the life of an NP, this will depend on where you live. However, in many states, nurse practitioners can make diagnoses and prescribe medication just like a general practitioner.

Sometimes, an NP’s ability to do this will be contingent on how long they have been practicing. Other times, it’s simply a matter of getting licensed and setting up a practice.

This is great for patients because it gives them more opportunities to receive care. Many people, particularly those living in areas with limited access to healthcare professionals, are finding that they have to wait more than a year to get a wellness visit.

This is a frustrating, sometimes even dangerous dynamic that more nurse practitioners could help solve.

If you are interested in becoming a nurse practitioner in the hopes of setting up your own practice, do some research about your local laws before you get too far in the process.

It is a Good Option for Burnt-out Nurses

You can’t seem to turn on the news without hearing more about the ongoing healthcare crisis that is taking place in the United States. Since Covid-19 hit it seems that hospitals everywhere have been dangerously understaffed.

This was brought to renewed attention a few months ago when a nurse working in Washington made national headlines for dialing 911 after her hospital reached a breaking point and had too few employees to treat their current patient load.

While that episode was dramatic, it was far from unique. Hospitals everywhere have been overwhelmed by the recent nursing shortage. While it is tempting to lay this crisis at Covid’s feet, the truth is that it has been a long time coming.

For years, experts have been warning about this. The problem? Many people have been leaving nursing, and not enough are coming up to replace them.

The culprit is burnout. Nursing is hard, so people look for different jobs. The healthcare industry, and all the people that it serves suffer as a result.

To become a nurse practitioner is to pivot into a similar, but perhaps more comfortable gig. NPs make more money, work friendlier hours, and get to work with patients on an entirely different scale.

In an industry that is in desperate need of personnel retention, more NPs would be an enormous boon with truly transformative potential.

Where are We At Now?

It sounds like more nurse practitioners would be a great thing for this country. And that’s all well and good, but it doesn’t really matter if we don’t have them, does it? Where are we at now?

That’s a good question. While it wouldn’t be right to say that the United States healthcare system’s need for nurse practitioners is being met, it is fair to say that the profession’s growth rate is in promising shape.

Between 2012-2022 the number of nurse practitioners nationwide grew by a whopping 30%—more than three times the national average for professional growth.

That’s an impressive figure by any metric, and all the more notable when compared to the numbers for regular nurses. RNs are expected to grow by only 6% in the next ten years.

It’s hard to contextualize exactly what this means for the American healthcare system. On the one hand, more nurse practitioners are great. This is definitely a “the more the merrier,” type of situation.

That said, we do still need bedside nurses, and that job market is still in questionable condition. It seems that no matter what happens, the US healthcare system will look different ten years from now than it does today.

A healthy stock of nurse practitioners won’t be able to solve all of our problems, but they certainly will help the transition into a brighter future.

With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Tips for Avoiding Burnout as a Night Shift Nurse

Being a nurse is never easy, but when you add sleepless nights into the mix, things can quickly become unsustainable. Working the night shift and keeping your health intact requires a special set of considerations.

In this article, we take a look at tips and behaviors that can help you work the night shift without experiencing burnout.

Keep Tabs on Your Mental and Emotional Health

So much of life goes unexamined within the busy thrum of routine. It’s easy for key things, like your health, to receive little consideration. And yet that is exactly how burnout happens. Slowly, and over the course of many shifts, your passion for the job erodes and you are left feeling fatigued and tired.

Nursing is very hard work, and night nursing is particularly challenging. You get all of the emotional challenges that are built into the job with the added fun of insomnia.

Keeping tabs on your mental and emotional health is a good practice for anyone, but is particularly beneficial in this context. Pay attention to how you feel.

Do you dread going to work? Do you feel stressed more often than not while you are on the job?

Not all stress will translate into action, but when the majority of your working life becomes unpleasant, it may be time to make a change.

Care for Your Physical Health as Well

Maybe you’re not feeling super stressed— or at least you’re not experiencing more stress than the job warrants. Even then, working night shifts can be very difficult on your body. As a night shift nurse, you experience:

  • A lack of sleep: It is difficult to catch up on sleep when you are working the night shift. Sure, you have days off, but that’s when your friends and family are awake. You want to be able to spend time with them, and sleep is frequently sacrificed to make that happen.
  • You spend a lot of time on your feet: The average nurse walks about four miles during the course of a twelve-hour shift. Granted, you won’t break into the record books at that pace, but it is a significant amount of movement for a job, and it can easily translate into physical fatigue. You’re not just getting your steps in. You’re working at such a high volume that you don’t always have time for rest, or eating.

Eventually, physical fatigue can be just as damaging as mental or emotional fatigue. Think about your physical pain points on the job and work on ways that you can help to reduce or eliminate them. While there is nothing you can do about that four miles of walking on the job, there are ways you can make them more comfortable.

Do you find yourself getting hungry on the job? Pack portable snacks. Do your feet hurt? Look into better shoes. Small changes can have an enormous impact on your quality of life.

Take Your Scheduled Breaks

For a long time, breaks, PTO, leaving work on time, etc. had been regarded with a degree of stigma. Sure, these things are established employee rights, but they are also not conducive to performance at the highest level.

When there is something that needs to be done, you do it, even at the expense of your well-being. Granted, in the hospital setting, there is a degree of truth to that statement. If someone is having a medical emergency, you can’t say, “Sure! Be right there. After I finish this sandwich.”

However, it’s fair to say that even the worst shifts won’t keep you rushing from emergency to emergency for twelve straight hours. Take advantage of the quiet moments to utilize the breaks that were already built into your shift anyway.

Yes, there will still be things to do when you get off your break. However, that doesn’t mean that taking the occasional moment for yourself will come at the cost of productivity. Keep in mind that burnout is an efficiency killer. If you can recharge your batteries every now and then it will be to everyone’s benefit.

Stay Hydrated

You know what they say about thirst, right? Of course you do, you’re a nurse! The general medical rule of thumb is that if you feel thirsty, it means you are already dehydrated. Not only is this bad for your overall health, but it can have a serious impact on the way you feel on the job. Dehydration can result in fatigue, foggy thinking, and a generally diminished job performance.

In other words, a whole bunch of things that are at least burnout adjacent. Don’t let things get that far. Drink water regularly on the job to stay in tip-top shape.

Be Sensible About Caffeine

Surely you aren’t saying that I should avoid burnout by drinking less coffee. Clearly, you’ve never worked the night shift.

It makes sense for night shifts to reach eagerly and often for the coffee pot. In fact, a sensible amount of caffeine can have mood improvement benefits that may make your time on the job more pleasant. Emphasis on the word “sensible.”

Too much caffeine can make you anxious— a feeling you certainly don’t need while working at a hospital. It can also interfere with your post-shift sleeping. The effects of even moderate doses of caffeine can linger in your system for up to six hours. High doses will stick around for ten or more hours.

So yes, drink coffee, but chose your timing and your quantities sensibly.

With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Tackling Bias in Healthcare: Strategies for Promoting Equity and Inclusion

The world has made great strides socially, economically, technologically and in many other fields during the last century. One of those fields that has seen astounding growth through ingenuity, creativity, and in effectiveness is the modern healthcare system.

Heart transplants are now a household idea; cancer survival rates are much higher. These many advances contribute to an increase in average lifespans in the U.S. which, in 1900 was only 47 years old, and in 2019 was 79 years of age. Clearly the healthcare systems and technologies available today are tending to a variety of procedures and techniques that help to make the lives of millions of people per year much better.

Sadly, despite those advances, there are still challenges to healthcare. One problem is a rising awareness in scholarly research that has uncovered an uncomfortable fact: implicit bias.

What is Implicit Bias

Implicit bias refers to an attitude and personality expression of stereotypes that affect one’s understanding, decision, and actions in an unconscious manner. Such biases, whether favorable or unfavorable, are present and active often without voluntary awareness or control. These unconscious biases (also known as hidden biases or implicit biases), demonstrate that a lot of social behavior is controlled by the conditioned stereotypes that people operate out of automatically.

While the root of this unconscious bias is proposed to have been a product of evolutionary biology— as a means of promoting survival by quickly determining and sorting persons into various categories based on social and other characteristics— humankind has not lost these traits. The ability of human beings to do this is helpful in many instances, but as is being uncovered through such studies, can have an ugly side. These implicit biases, which give order to our lives by enabling us to put people into categories for cooperation or protection, are also the foundations of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.

Once learned, such prejudices and stereotypes are strong and very often resistant to change even in the face of evidence that exposes its reality.  A collective study done by researchers at Harvard University, University of Virginia, and the University of Washington called the Implicit Association Test  (IAT) gathered more than 4.5 million tests and their results from 1998 until 2006.

The quick summary of their findings was that a) implicit bias is a pervasive societal element, b) people are often unaware of these implicit biases, c) implicit biases are predictors of behavior, and d) people will differ in the strengths and expressions of those biases.

The results of these unconscious biases are multitudinous, and while no aspect of our lives is free from these judgements, for the purposes of this discussion, we are only focusing on how these affect the healthcare system. Here are some researched findings about how implicit bias demonstrates itself in the healthcare system.

Examples of Implicit Bias in Healthcare

As healthcare systems began to administer these IAT tests there were a variety of effects which were uncovered.

  • Non-white patients are less likely to receive certain interventions for cardiovascular problems.
  • Patients of color are likely to be personally blamed for their poor health as a result of their own irresponsibility or passivity.
  • Ethnic minorities, people with lower levels of education, and those who are unemployed, spend longer time waiting for care— black and Latino populations 19-25 minutes more on average.
  • Physician held false beliefs about patients due to skin color.

Regardless of the variety of consequential outcomes, the main point is that differences in treatment rendered based upon decisions unconsciously informed by implicit biases leads to failures in patient-centered care, levels of interpersonal communication, trust, and diagnoses.

The research supports the idea that a relationship between medical professional biases and patient care can contribute to disparities in how healthcare is administered. These cognitive biases when interacting with race, gender, age etc., affect clinician behavior, decisions.

Thus, things like patients’ avoidance of healthcare systems, lower participation in screenings, delays to care, and overall lower reviews of health care professionals arise. So, the question becomes, what can be done? The following are some strategies for promoting equity and inclusion in healthcare despite cognitive biases.

Strategies for Promoting Equity and Inclusion in Healthcare

Implicit bias, as has been shown, is a present force in our society today not just in a broad sense, but in specific demonstrations such as in the medical field. With this comes the necessity for solutions which will help to reduce this. Here are some strategies for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare:

  • Education: informing medical professionals of the reality and possibility of unconscious biases which might include
    • Stereotype replacement— helping others to recognize unconscious responses based upon the various major demographic markers of age, race, sex, religion, etc.
    • Renewed language— language, which is tethered to stereotypes, limits the ability for understanding, thereby encouraging thought behavior toward various demographics. Providing new, specific words and phrases as alternatives to stereotypical slang helps to promote a shift in mindset.
    • Perspective— providing cultural context, even generally, can help to create understanding for the variety of struggles which are common to certain people groups. This understanding breeds compassion and patience which translates to patient care.
  • Offering opportunities for cross cultural engagement interdepartmentally would encourage more empathy for various people groups.
  • Staffing departments for greater diversification encourages everyday observation promoting greater cultural sensitivity.

Any practice of such strategies will begin to gradually diminish the presence of bias in healthcare, and as such should be thoughtfully implemented in healthcare offices.

With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Stones of Yemen, Part II; The Story

Imagine for a moment you are a physician associate and have just completed your first decade in practice. While finding neurosurgery rewarding, there is still something amiss in your life, a haunting emptiness. You recognize the source of that disquiet, the lingering grief of losing your father twenty years previously, your hero and best friend—a medic dying in the south tower on 9/11. This was Bryan Roger’s emotional posture at the beginning of the Stones of Yemen. But he finds peace at the helm of a sailboat and decides to take one year off to sail around the world alone, an attempt to rekindle his passion for medicine and life.

Halfway through circumnavigating the planet, Bryan anchors for the night off the shore of Yemen. He becomes mesmerized watching the brutal civil war playing out on the mainland along the eastern horizon. By the small hours of the next morning, he hears the imagined voices of Yemen’s children of war, beckoning him to help them. He answers that call—entering the country on a whim—quickly settling into a fulfilling role in a clinic at a refugee camp in the mountain oasis, Haydan. After an incredible year, his passions rekindled, and assimilating deeply into the rich culture of the Yemen’s mountain people, tragedy strikes. In the wake of that disaster, Bryan learns of a plot for the next “9/11”, a terrorist attack against his hometown, New York, that would eclipse the first. It is a plot that only he can thwart; an around-the-world chase begins.

While Bryan Rogers is an imperfect man, his compassion, judgement, and well-honed medical skills will make all advanced medical clinicians proud. These skills are displayed in a graphic way throughout the story. The book has been characterized as a “upmarket suspense,” in other words, a thinking woman or man’s thriller. While intense at times, it does raise serious questions about war, terrorism, and finding hope in a bleak world.

The author Mike Jones draws richly from his own experience living and working as a physician associate in the Middle East and near Asia, including working among refugees and in war zones. The Stones of Yemen is beautifully written, an engaging story that will keep the reader spellbound from the beginning to the end. The book is available as a free Kindle Unlimited download and by order through all bookstores. An audio version is exclusively available at BookBaby Bookshop online.

J. Michael Jones started writing in the early 1980s, publishing over thirty articles in national medical journals, and The Stones of Yemen is his eighth book, five of them fiction. He had a thirty-eight-year career as a physician associate and worked in refugee camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Oman, UAE, Egypt, and Nepal. In addition, he hosted twenty Yemeni students over two years in the U.S. Besides his medical studies, he has a degree in Arabic from the American University in Cairo, which was invaluable during the research for this book. Michael resides with his wife Denise in Washington’s San Juan Islands, where he writes full time. They are the parents of five grown children and one hairy Saint Bernard.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Rapidly Growing Nursing Specializations in 2023

Nurses are in high demand right now, and this will continue into the next decade. Being that nursing is an ever evolving field due to the constant advancements in medicine, technology, and healthcare, the types of specialties will change with those trends.

The nursing field has grown so much in the last 20 years that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has gone out of its way to begin categorizing which of the various fields of nursing are growing quickly.

On the whole, the healthcare field’s demand for Resident Nurses (RN’s) is expected to grow 6% over the next 10 years, while more specialized fields like Midwives, anesthetists, and nurse practitioners is expected to grow by 40% from 2021 to 2031! These numbers are much faster than the average for other occupations. Around 30,200 openings per year are expected for each of the previously named. Much of this demand will be due to the need for the replacement of workers who will soon be retiring.

Regardless of what role in the healthcare industry may interest you, there will be a need in the decades moving forward. The specialized training required to adequately serve the needs in various roles tends to set some positions apart from others. As such, there is an emerging grouping of the most rapidly growing nursing specializations.

Here is a list, though not comprehensive, for 2023.

Travel Nursing

This quickly growing field is one of the most sought after, and for two primary reasons: Travel and incredible pay. The need for nurses across the country right now is very high, so the demand is great. In order to attract the right people, hospitals and healthcare clinics are sometimes doing outrageous things to offer incentives.

Ironically, there is no difference in the role other than the transience and temporary nature of the position. Travel nurses are hired to simply fill in some of open, full-time positions that cannot otherwise be filled, usually for short periods of time, typically no longer than 13 weeks.

Persons interested in this role should be adaptable, personable, and willing to morph to fit into new communities and their various needs quickly. If you have those abilities and the freedom to move around the country, this may be just the specialty for you.

Pediatrics

The role of the pediatric nurse may not always be the most commonly thought of when mention of a nurse practitioner arises, but great responsibility lies here. Pediatrics is the area of nursing that specializes in offering care for children. Just as when being around kids in any respect, there is a novelty and playfulness that can accompany the role which helps to make a child patient feel more at home.

This fast-paced and rewarding career carries all the regular responsibilities, from testing, charting, care and cleaning, all wrapped up into a smaller person. Pediatric nurses who have an affinity and level of previous exposure to working with kids will bring valuable perspective into this specialization.

The ability to transfer the knowledge of childcare or psychological development into the day-to-day responsibilities that make up the care of children will make them a valuable member of any healthcare company. Add this to the rewards that come from making a child smile and the prospect of working in pediatrics may be the specialty that fits.

Geriatrics

This specialization focuses on working with caseworkers, nursing homes, social workers, and other similar care companies to assist the elderly. It is no surprise that this role is high in demand right now with the baby boomer generation retiring and aging into that demographic.

Nurse practitioners tend to be a more preferred choice for this role because of the need for constant coordination, but LPN’s and RN’s are in high demand too; they only need to earn the additional certifications.

Midwives

A nurse midwife specializes in childbirth care and support but can also include the education and care of women pre and post-partum. While they maintain all the general training accompanying a nurse, their specialties are focused on all things necessary to maintain healthy pregnancy and births. These nurses often work in accompaniment with doctors and other physicians or healthcare, medical professionals to accomplish that task.

Informatics

Nurse Informatics is a specialty that combines nursing sciences with multiple bases of information and various analytical sciences all with the goal of identifying, defining, managing, and communicating data. This role takes the clinical and technical languages involved in the healthcare industry and seeks to support clients, patients, customers, throughout the interprofessional healthcare settings. They help to inform administrators and companies in the many aspects of decision making to aid in any respect to client care.

By focusing on the information and data available in the systems, Nurse Informatics goal is communicating in a way that seeks to boost performance for organizations by analyzing and advising. Increased efficiencies, cutting costs, and improving patient care are some of the top goals. They do this by facilitating the integration of data sets from various departments and then distribute that to their colleagues in the workplace.

Again, while this list is not comprehensive, it does serve as an introduction to which roles and trends in the healthcare industry are becoming popular. Further research will reveal what other roles are available.

With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Stones of Yemen, PART I; The Story Behind the Story

January 11th, 2019 was seeming to be a typical Pacific northwest winter morning. A cool rain was gently falling on the lofty Douglas firs and burly cedars, dripping down to the forest floor below, where physician associate Mike Jones was hiking with his Saint Bernard, Greta—boots and paws leaving their mark in the black humus between the sea of bracken ferns. Mike had taken a day off from managing his busy headache treatment clinic, to train for a month-long trek across Greenland in the coming summer. Before that day was over, Mike would find himself in an ICU, his attending physician at his bedside warning, “Mr. Jones, you need to call your children home. We are doing everything we can to save your life but what we are doing isn’t working. Your potassium is still almost nine.”

By the time of discharge from the hospital two weeks later, through the insight offered by copious blood tests and kidney and bone marrow biopsies, he had a diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma with associated renal failure. He started hemodialysis for 16 hours per week and an aggressive induction chemotherapy program to prepare for a stem cell transplant, his 38-year career as a PA abruptly ending, never to see the interior of his office, his colleagues, or his patients again.

The stem cell transplant required Mike to go on a protective quarantine, typically lasting six months but was extended for two more years due to the COVID pandemic. It was the perfect melancholic storm. Losing his career, friends, health, and future, and living alone as a hermit on a mountain lake. His wife, a hospital administrator, working long hard hours due to the same pandemic.

For over thirty years, Mike had a hobby of writing, having authored over thirty articles for medical journals and eight books. He decided, for his own mental health’s sake, that he needed to write again, this time an epic novel, a much higher level of writing than anything he had attempted before. As a gift to his profession—which had served him so well—he knew a physician associate would be the protagonist in the story, who would showcase to the world what advanced practice clinicians can do. To engage readers, the story had to be enthralling and well written. Mike employed some of the best editors in the business to look over his shoulder as he wrote, guiding his words to be their best.

The resulting book, The Stones of Yemen, is a thinking man / woman’s thriller and it is about bereavement. But it is also about sailing, romantic love, political hate, retribution, forgiveness, and hope told on the backdrop of Yemen’s brutal civil war. When they released it in February, it quickly became the best-selling PA book and all the reviews have been glowing. The print copies are available through all bookstores, the eBook format is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers or to purchase on Amazon. An audiobook format is available exclusively at BookBaby Shop .

*Stay tuned Part 2 coming soon!

J. Michael Jones started writing in the early 1980s, publishing over thirty articles in national medical journals, and The Stones of Yemen is his eighth book, five of them fiction. He had a thirty-eight-year career as a physician associate and worked in refugee camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Oman, UAE, Egypt, and Nepal. In addition, he hosted twenty Yemeni students over two years in the U.S. Besides his medical studies, he has a degree in Arabic from the American University in Cairo, which was invaluable during the research for this book. Michael resides with his wife Denise in Washington’s San Juan Islands, where he writes full time. They are the parents of five grown children and one hairy Saint Bernard.

 

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

5 Stress Relieving Tips for Nurses

Being a nurse requires a great deal of patience, compassion, and resilience to care for patients who are often in pain or distress. However, the demands of the job can also take a toll on a nurse’s own mental and physical health. According to a survey by the American Nurses Association, over 50% of nurses report high levels of job-related stress. It is essential for nurses to prioritize self-care and find ways to relieve stress. In this article, we will discuss five stress-relieving tips for nurses.

The Importance of Self-Care for Nurses

Nurses are often so focused on caring for others that they neglect their own needs. However, self-care is crucial for nurses to maintain their physical and mental health, prevent burnout, and provide the best possible care for their patients. Self-care can take many forms, including exercise, healthy eating, meditation, and spending time with loved ones. By prioritizing self-care, nurses can recharge their batteries and avoid feeling overwhelmed or exhausted.

Tip #1: Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are powerful tools for reducing stress and improving mental well-being. Mindfulness involves paying attention to the present moment without judgment, while meditation involves focusing the mind on a particular object or activity. Both practices can help nurses reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. One simple mindfulness exercise is to take a few deep breaths and focus on the sensations of the breath moving in and out of the body. Meditation apps such as Headspace and Calm can provide guidance for beginners.

Tip #2: Regular Exercise and Physical Activity

Exercise is another effective way to reduce stress and improve overall health. Physical Exercise can also improve sleep quality, boost energy levels, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. 

Nurses can incorporate physical activity into their daily routine by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, going for a walk on their lunch break, or joining a fitness class.

Tip #3: Maintaining a Healthy Diet and Sleep Schedule

Eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep are critical components of self-care for nurses. A balanced diet can provide the nutrients and energy needed to perform well on the job, while poor sleep can lead to fatigue and decreased cognitive function. Nurses can make small changes to their diet, such as swapping processed snacks for fresh fruits and vegetables or packing a healthy lunch instead of relying on fast food. Creating a bedtime routine and avoiding screens before bedtime can also improve sleep quality.

Tip #4: Creating a Support System

Nursing can be a stressful and emotionally taxing job. Having a support system in place can provide nurses with the encouragement and assistance they need to cope with work-related stress. Support can come from colleagues, friends, family, or a professional therapist. Nurses can also benefit from joining support groups or online communities where they can connect with others who understand their experiences.

Tip #5: Finding Balance Between Work and Personal Life

Finding a balance between work and personal life can be challenging for nurses, especially those who work long shifts or irregular schedules. However, it is important to make time for hobbies, social activities, and relaxation outside of work. Setting boundaries, such as turning off work email notifications during off-hours, can also help nurses maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Additional Resources and Support for Nurses

There are many resources and support available for nurses who are struggling with stress or burnout. The American Nurses Association offers a variety of online courses and resources for self-care and stress management. The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides information and support for individuals with mental health conditions, including healthcare professionals. Nurses can also seek support from their workplace’s employee assistance program or human resources department.

Conclusion and Encouragement to Prioritize Self-Care

In conclusion, being a nurse is a demanding and rewarding profession that requires a great deal of physical and emotional energy. Prioritizing self-care is essential for nurses to maintain their well-being and provide the best possible care for their patients. By incorporating mindfulness and meditation, regular exercise, healthy eating and sleep habits, creating a support system, and finding a balance between work and personal life, nurses can reduce stress and improve their overall quality of life.

Olivia Monroe, a freelance writer, specializes in writing about technology, business, and health. She offers freelance blogging and content writing for SEO. When she’s not writing,Olivia likes to travel, cook, and write vacation plans.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.