Should I Quit This Darn Nursing Job?

Have you ever wondered when it’s time to quit your nursing job and move on? Are you stuck in a job, uncertain where to go next as a nurse? Or do you just need a change of scenery?

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

Have you ever wondered when it’s time to quit your nursing job and move on? Are you stuck in a job, uncertain where to go next as a nurse? Or do you just need a change of scenery? It’s all about timing, self-care, finances, lifestyle and workstyle, career development, and other factors that impact how long you stay and when (and why) you go.

Ready to Move On or Not?

Making the choice to move on from a nursing job you’ve had for a while is not always an easy choice. There are multiple reasons to move on, just as there may be a myriad of reasons to hang in there.

What has led you to quit jobs in the past? Was it money? Was it health insurance or other benefits? Were you mistreated, overworked, burned out, or underpaid? Did you receive an offer you simply couldn’t pass up? Did you need to relocate? Were there other reasons you left for greener pastures?

Sometimes we feel we should move on but something stands in our way. Is it the money or the benefits? Is it pressure from our spouse or family to not undergo the stress of a job change? Or is it just regular old lack of motivation and career lethargy?

Whether you currently need to move on or not, it’s always good to be prepared for the eventuality that a change may be on the horizon.

Some Reasons to Quit That Job and Move On

How many reasons are there to quit your nursing job? Let me count the ways.

Poor leadership/management: One of the top reasons that people leave jobs is poor management and leadership. When you don’t feel supported by those who you report you, the game’s over and it’s time to jump ship.

Your nursing license is endangered: If your work environment is such that you feel that your nursing license is at risk, leave that job today and don’t look back. No amount of money or benefits or prestige is worth the risk of losing the license that you’ve worked so hard to earn and maintain. An untold number of circumstances or conditions can endanger your license, patient care, and perhaps even your safety. My advice: don’t compromise on this ever! It’s just not worth it.

You are physically unsafe: An unsafe environment where you’re physically in danger and have little or no protection is a workplace that simply doesn’t deserve you. If your workplace doesn’t offer the resources to be physically safe from harm, grab your parachute and leap from the plane before you experience unnecessary and wholly preventable injury.

Mistreatment/bullying/harassment/etc: Mistreatment and aberrant behavior thrive in nursing and healthcare for some reason. Bullying is rampant, and discrimination and harassment are common. The presence of such behavior, when it goes uncorrected, is a sure sign that you need to exit, stage left as soon as possible. In the presence of persistent on-the-job bullying or harassment, I generally advise clients to leave their job immediately since that type of toxic environment eats away at the soul and psyche in very unhealthy ways that can be more damaging than being unemployed for a period of time between jobs. Bullying can cause you to make errors and lose confidence, and no one needs that kind of energy running in their work lives.

Overwork/staffing issues/burnout/unhealthy environment: This is so common it’s almost laughable if it wasn’t so tragic. California is the only state in the U.S. with mandated nurse-patient ratios, although some other states are moving in that direction. Legislation to mandate safe ratios nationwide makes its way through Congress every year but has yet to come down for a vote. Burnout often results from overwork, the pressures of mandatory overtime, long hours, high ratios, and unsafe staffing that can result in nurse or patient injury, medication errors, and many other less than positive outcomes.

Pay and benefits: With the cost of living as it is in the 21st century, it’s understandable that some nurses choose to leave their jobs in pursuit of more pay or improved benefits. Health insurance and your personal healthcare can be expensive, and some employers offer much more robust health benefits that others. Healthcare and childcare savings accounts help employees shelter more of their money from taxation, and other benefits like time off and money for continuing education can be attractive.

A better opportunity: Sometimes we leave jobs because something better came along. You never know when a new opportunity may cross your path, so be ready to jump when the jumping is good. New opportunities can lead to more responsibility, new clinical skills, a shot at a new circumstance that lends itself to career-building, or a host of other potential positive outcomes.

Relocation: Moving to a new home in a new town, city, or country is a common reason to leave your job. Relocation is common, and sometimes we just have to move for a variety of reasons, even if we’re happy in our work.

How to Leave Gracefully (or Not)

It’s almost always preferable to leave on a good note in the interest of relations and your reputation. If possible, you also may want to line up your next position before handing in your resignation. Of course, this is an optimal situation, and sometimes optimal is just not what presents itself. Here are some pointers for how to exit as gracefully as possible:

Give ample notice: I always recommend telling your boss that you’re leaving before you tell your colleagues (unless you have a peer in whom you’ve been confiding your plans). In terms of avoiding the unnecessary burning of professional bridges, try to give at least 2 weeks’ notice. However, it’s my humble opinion that giving notice isn’t totally necessary for a variety of reasons. For example, if you’ve documented bullying and reported it to your supervisors or managers, you deserve to leave stat if they’re consistently unresponsive. When you first report the situation, consider telling them that you’ll need to leave forthwith if the situation isn’t addressed appropriately and quickly. If you report it more than once and nothing happens, you’re in your rights to get out of there.

Request an exit interview: Exit interviews happen routinely in many industries, but I don’t really hear about them much in the healthcare setting. When preparing to leave, request an exit interview where you can give your employer or your supervisors feedback. If no exit interview is granted, put it all in writing, keep a copy for your records, and distribute it to as many key players as you like (e.g.: CEO, CFO, CNO, nursing director, charge nurse, supervisor, etc).

Connect with colleagues: A big order of business is connecting with friendly and supportive colleagues on LinkedIn throughout your career. It’s advisable to keep in touch with colleagues and peers over time for a variety of reasons, and LinkedIn is a great way to organize them all in one place. If you’re planning to quit or resign, begin connecting with your colleagues who you like and respect the most. Your ongoing job will be staying connected with those peers with whom you have the most positive rapport — you may need each other in the future. A nice gift to your best colleagues is to write them a recommendation on LinkedIn, which may be reciprocated. You can even ask to exchange recommendations with those with whom you share mutual respect and admiration. You can also ask certain individuals to serve as references in the future.

Offer to train your replacement: If you’re in a position with unique responsibilities, offer to train your replacement (if it’s at all possible). Sometimes we’re the holders of important knowledge or skill that needs to be passed on to the next person when appropriate.

Be self-contained: When you’ve decided to leave, play your cards close to your chest and don’t blurt it out everywhere at once. Be sensitive to your colleagues who may want to leave but can’t yet do it — they may be envious of your escape plan. Be empathic with those you’re leaving behind, especially if it’s a toxic or difficult work environment. Share the news of your leaving quietly and gracefully.

Document: If you wrote articles, co-authored studies, took part in committees, or otherwise got involved at work, save copies of anything you were a part of (unless, of course, it’s protected proprietary information that can’t legally leave the workplace).

Pat yourself on the back: You deserve it. Period.

As you can see, there are plenty of things to do in order to move forward into a brighter future.

Summing Up

Once you decide to leave, update your resume and LinkedIn profile with your new data. (If you’ve been following my advice all along, the job you’re leaving has been on your resume and LinkedIn profile since you first started that gig.) If you’re starting a new position right away, add it now.

If you’re leaving without the safety net of another job, you may have some budgeting to do. If you have a spouse or partner, make some plans — if you’re single, you’ll have to be even more diligent in terms of managing a period of unemployment on your own.

Once you start a new gig, begin forming relationships with fellow colleagues, connect on LinkedIn, and otherwise set the table for success.

When interviewing for your next position, you’ll most likely need to explain why you’re planning to leave your current job or why you already left. Have your authentic story ready — every circumstance is different, so there are no cookie cutter answers here.

If you need help in such an important transition, make use of a career coach, mentor, trusted colleague, or counselor. It can be a lonely and stressful time, so ask for support from whomever would be most effective at being present for you when you need it the most.

Leaving a job is a potentially stressful time, especially if you don’t have anything else lined up quite yet. Be thoughtful, circumspect, kind, strategic, organized, and gentle with yourself, and things will fall in place as you do your due diligence and move forward into an even more promising future.

Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known nursing blog, Digital Doorway. Please visit his online platforms and reach out for his support when you need it most.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of “Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century,” and has contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession. Keith has written for Nurse.com, Nurse.org, MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline, StaffGarden, AusMed, American Sentinel University, the ANA blog, Working Nurse Magazine, and other online publications.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, podcaster, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.

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.

Travel Nursing: The Answer to Curing Nurse Burnout?

Burnout remains a common problem within nursing. Is travel nursing the cure?

By Guest Author: Deb Wood, RN, NursesRx Contributor

Burnout remains a common problem within nursing, driving nurses from a rewarding profession and negatively affecting patient safety.

“This is an ongoing problem, and we have to do something about it,” said Diana J. Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior policy service professor at George Washington University School of Nursing in Washington, DC.

Vicki S. Good, DNP, RN, CPHQ, CPPS, past-president of American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), called burnout a “silent epidemic.”

A condition ACCN member Anna Rodriguez, BSN, RN CCRN, PCCN, began to experience while working at a hospital in Idaho. She began traveling, avoiding management responsibilities, colleagues calling off and hospital politics and, eventually, found a permanent position in Washington State she feels good about.

“[Travel nursing] was my way to recover from burnout,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriquez also blogs about burnout as a way for her and other nurses to become more resilient. She writes about patient compliments or something meaningful and then when she starts to feel burned out, she reads through it and reflects on what brought her to nursing.

Rodriguez is not alone in having felt burned out. Good reported that 30 percent to 50 percent of nurses exhibit characteristics of burnout, which is related to working in a high-stress environment. However, she added that most nurses do not realize when they are developing signs and symptoms of nursing burnout.

“Critical care nurses are at especially high risk for developing burnout syndrome, due to the high-risk and high-stress environment where they are asked to care for patients during a vulnerable time in the patient’s life, and often at the end of life, with the accompanying ethical issues,” Good said.

What is Nursing Burnout?

Burnout happens when clinicians are emotionally exhausted and feel alienated from their job-related activities.

“Nurses experience moral distress when they go home at the end of the day feeling that they were not able to do a good job, because they had too many patients and could not give them the care they needed and wanted,” Mason said. “Moral distress is tied with burnout and leaving [the profession].”

Many nurses experience burnout and leave nursing after one year, said Cynda H. Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor of clinical ethics at Johns Hopkins University.

“Nurses’ work is intense,” Rushton said. “The suffering and conflicting values about patient care and the healthcare system can deplete people’s energy and make it difficult for them to feel they are making a difference.”

Nurses experience emotional, physical and spiritual depletion, Rushton said. People may shut down and go through the motions. Nurses may have difficulty sleeping or develop somatic symptoms or become cynical.

Repeated stressors lead to anxiety or disconnecting from work and losing passion, Rodriguez said.

“You lose whatever drive you had and you just don’t care anymore,” Rodriguez said.

Multiple research studies support that burnout presents a threat to patient safety. A 2016 paper from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported that it’s because of depersonalization that results from burnout.

What to Do About Nurse Burnout?

“A lot can be done, starting with recognizing it and secondly being open to learning new ways of managing,” Rushton said. “Nurses have to practice in a way they feel is consistent with their ethical values.”

First of all, take care of yourself. Eat healthy, get enough rest, exercise, meditate, take breaks during your shift and time off for vacations, and put things in perspective.

“The better shape you are in, the better able you will be to withstand the physical, emotional and intellectual challenges of the job,” Mason said.

Joy Jacobson, MFA, at George Washington Nursing Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, and Mason have worked to develop reflective writing initiative for nurses to reconnect with the meaning and value of their work and cope with burnout.

“Reflective practice helps nurse cope,” Mason said.

Rushton recently developed the 24-hour, in-person Mindful Ethical Practice and Resilience Academy to give nurses tools to combat burnout.

“It focuses on building skills in mindfulness, ethical competence and resilience,” Rushton said. “This was designed to give nurses the skills they need to address the inevitable ethical challenges at the bedside and be able to do that with more ease and not so much cost to self.”

Rodriguez called early recognition of nursing burnout key to dealing with it. She recommended developing a good support system. She also suggested talking to others, reflective journaling, self-care, and making a change to a “different role at work or changing locations.”

That may be time to travel. Nurses can work with their recruiters to ensure they fill assignments in facilities that staff adequately and value their nurses.

“Many nurses like the idea of seeing other parts of the country, find a place they like and stay there,” Mason said. “There are so many opportunities out there.”

NursesRx is the industry’s leading travel nursing company. Get access to the largest database of high-paying travel nursing jobs in all 50 states along with competitive benefits and perks. Let our experienced team match you with travel nursing job that best suits your skills, experience, and preferences.

How Therapy Providers Can Start Preparing for RCS-1

RCS-1 is a complete rewrite of therapy reimbursement rules, and will require therapy providers to make significant operational changes in order to maintain healthy businesses.

from McKnight’s

While the RCS-1 language is still in draft form as a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has indicated that it plans to implement this new classification system as early as October 2018. Among therapy providers, there has been much discussion of the challenges that would arise if CMS made the rule effective in 2018, but CMS has not indicated that it plans any delay in the rule.

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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.

6 Benefits of Running a Home-Visit Therapy Practice

There are numerous benefits to not being a brick-and-mortar clinic and providing house calls. Here’s a small sample of them.

from WebPT

What if I told you there’s a physical therapy practice model that requires minimal investment, has a low operating cost, and is practically burnout-proof? What if I added that this model provides a steady flow of new clients and is well poised to meet the rehab needs of the Baby Boomer generation? It would almost be too good to be true, right? Well, it’s real.

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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.

One Nurse Per 4,000 Pupils = Not The Healthiest Arrangement

School nurse shortages have been reported in recent years in California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Florida.

By Ana B. Ibarra

During a 15-minute recess, the elementary school students trooped from the playground toward nurse Catherin Crofton’s office — one with a bloody nose, a second with a scraped knee and a third with a headache.

Kids quickly filled a row of chairs. Staffers brought paper towels for the bleeders and tried to comfort the crying.

“We’re here for first aid, emergency, counseling,” said Crofton of the Mount Diablo Unified School District. “There is always something to do.”

Mount Diablo and other districts around the nation can use all the help they can get. Many suffer a severe shortage of nurses, and money to hire more is scarce.

Outside of California, shortages have been reported in recent years in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Florida.

Last year, Crofton saw 20 to 30 children a day at Cambridge Elementary, located in eastern Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some were first-timers, others her regulars — those with chronic conditions such as cystic fibrosis who need daily medication. Crofton said there are dozens of diabetic kids in the district, a huge change from 20 years ago, when they were rare.

Before taking a leave earlier this year, Crofton was on site at Cambridge Elementary three days a week and at Meadow Homes Elementary, about six blocks away, the other two weekdays.

Desperate to fill the nursing gap, the Mount Diablo district partnered with John Muir Health, a local health system of doctors and hospitals, to pay for her position. Other districts are also addressing nursing shortages creatively — and with mixed success — by opening school-based community clinics, conducting video sessions with faraway doctors and even training office staff to dress wounds or check glucose levels of diabetic children.

Beyond tending to minor scrapes, school nurses see many kids with chronic, potentially life-threatening illnesses that need medication and monitoring. Sometimes they are a child’s only regular link to medical care and often are the first to spot emerging disease outbreaks.

Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for a minimum of one full-time registered nurse in every school. Before that, the recommended nurse-to-student ratio had been 1-to-750.

California, the nation’s most populous state, is far from hitting either goal. It had one registered nurse for every 2,592 students in the 2016-17 school year, according to the latest state data. In many districts, one nurse must cover two or more schools. (Districts don’t report their use of licensed vocational nurses, who are not as highly trained but are sometimes hired to fill in the gaps.)

At Mount Diablo, the ratio is 1 registered nurse to nearly 4,000 kids. Figures for the smaller, neighboring district, Antioch Unified, show 1 nurse per 17,326 students.

California, like most states, doesn’t have a specific budget for school nursing, and it doesn’t require schools to have a full-time nurse. Yet schools are obligated to provide certain health services to students, such as vision and hearing tests and medication monitoring.

“Obviously a nurse has to be on board to do that, so we kind of come in the back door that way,” said Pamela Kahn, president-elect of the California School Nurses Organization.

The organization has tried several times to get the state legislature to set minimum nurse-to-student ratios with no luck so far. “When you crunch the numbers, it’s overwhelming what it would cost to provide that kind of service in the state,” Kahn said.

In the meantime, some districts are looking beyond the traditional model of bringing health care to school kids.

Last year, the Sacramento City Unified School District experimented with telehealth, which gives school staffers electronic access to a doctor to guide them, but as of the beginning of this school year, district officials had not decided whether they’d continue.

Telehealth works well if there is a school nurse, not a school secretary, consulting with the doctor, said Nina Fekaris, the president of the National Association of School Nurses and a school nurse in Beaverton, Ore., outside Portland. “It can’t be viewed as a replacement of [nursing] services,” she said.

In some instances, clerks and other school staff have been assigned medical duties in the absence of nurses, with disastrous results. In Washington state, a girl reportedly died of an asthma attack in 2008 under the watch of a playground supervisor when no nurse was around.

Partnerships between school districts and health care organizations are among the most promising approaches because schools don’t have to bear the full costs of hiring nurses.

Besides building goodwill, nonprofit health systems like John Muir can count their contributions of nurses and free student services toward the “community benefits” they must provide to retain tax-exempt status. Under this model, they cannot collect reimbursement from Medicaid or private insurers for seeing the students.

Since 2008, John Muir Health has donated two nurses in schools where the need is the greatest. One of those is Cambridge Elementary, which is in a densely populated area, next to a busy corridor dotted with fast food joints and apartment complexes. Many families are first-generation immigrants and English learners who don’t have an established health care provider, said Chris Grazzini, John Muir’s clinical program manager.

Such partnerships, however, tend to be more popular on the East Coast. Schools in Toledo, Ohio, for example, hired 12 school nurses through a deal with a local health care system in 2015. As part of the three-year agreement, ProMedica, a local nonprofit health system, invested $1.8 million to hire nine nurses. The school district, Toledo Public Schools, pays for the others.

Ann Cipriani, the health coordinator at Toledo Public Schools, said the arrangement allowed the district to attain its goal of having one nurse in each of its 50 schools — meeting the Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation. “It has made an amazing difference,” she said.

Schools in the Bronx partner with medical organizations to open health centers on campus. One partner is Montefiore Medical Center, which has established 25 school-based health centers, serving about 30,000 children.

Montefiore covers the cost of services by billing Medicaid or other insurance. State grants and private donations also help. The medical center is responsible for providing a doctor, nurses and a mental health provider at each center.

Similarly, Fresno Unified School District in California’s Central Valley aims to have seven health centers on campuses operated by Clinica Sierra Vista, a local group of health clinics and Valley Children’s Health Care. The first opened in 2014 and draws close to 500 visits a month. A second is scheduled to open next year.

Even with money in place for clinics and additional nurses, however, finding qualified professionals to fill the positions can be tough.

The 10-month work schedule is great, said Gail Williams, director of student health services at Fresno Unified, but it’s tough to compete with hospitals open year-round, 24/7. For a nurse, especially one with student loans to pay off, those jobs can be more enticing.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

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.

Jump Aboard the Nurse Wellness Express

Nurses are renowned for not taking good care of themselves, ostensibly because they’re so busy taking care of others and living the lives of the saints that they are perceived to be.

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

Once upon a time, I was talking on the phone with a colleague who is not a nurse himself but who interacts with nurses on a regular basis in his professional life. His comments about nurses and their self-care (or lack thereof) were extremely thought-provoking.

Like I’ve said on this blog many times before, nurses are renowned for not taking good care of themselves, ostensibly because they’re so busy taking care of others and living the lives of the saints that they are perceived to be.

Let’s face it. We all know that nurses aren’t saints, while we also acknowledge that many nurses come close to sainthood vis-a-vis their compassion and their seeming ability to give until it hurts — and then give some more, either in their professional roles or in their personal lives.

Getting back to my phone call with my colleague, he told me that a dentist friend of his made an interesting comment about nurses. He said (and I paraphrase):

Nurses are my worst patients. They spend so much time taking care of others that they’re very good at neglecting their own health, especially their teeth! Do nurses floss? I bet that the majority think they’re too busy to take the time!

So, what does this say about nurses? Well, first it says that many nurses potentially have very bad dental hygiene and may be at risk of gingivitis. (Remember the old saying, “You don’t need to floss all of your teeth—only the ones you want to keep.”)

This also tells me that there are non-nurses out there who recognize nurses’ predilection for caring for others while neglecting themselves, and that this self-neglect is not always a mark of sainthood. Did Mother Teresa take the time to floss? That question will need to remain rhetorical. In the time of St. Francis of Assisi, floss had not yet been invented, and we might assume that Francis mostly eschewed the self-indulgence of self-care beyond the very basics. But we’re not St. Francis, are we?

The (Nurse) Gods Must Be Crazy

Whether it’s teeth, lungs, liver, heart, or kidneys, nurses can certainly be neglectful of themselves. Poor dental hygiene, smoking, not enough rest and sleep, poor diet, lack of sleep, alcohol and drug abuse, insufficient hydration — it all adds up to a portrait of a very unhealthy nurse.

We all hear about nurses who don’t have time to drink water or urinate during 12-hour shifts; so, without self-catheterization, a leg bag, and/or a CamelBack water hydration system, it seems many nurses might as well just send out an invitation for the gods of urinary tract infections to have a field day. (And maybe they can place a call to the gods of antibiotics at the same time.)

Heroism, Stoicism or Stupidity?

All joking aside (but it’s so easy to make fun of us nurses, isn’t it?), self-care for nurses is essential yet such uncharted territory for a vast number of hard-working nursing professionals with boots on the ground out there in the world.

Whether the wider culture or our profession’s internal culture is responsible for these images of nurses as self-neglecting saints, we all know that unhealthy nurses can’t really perform all that well in the long run (although running on caffeine and adrenaline may seem heroic).

I’ve personally known a number of nurses who appear to run on fumes most of the time, and I’ve seen some of them crash and burn in ways that were certainly not pretty.

I was myself once a heroic, self-neglecting nurse, and I paid a price (as did my family and loved ones). Eventually, I wised up and got on the self-care bandwagon (with enormous pressure and loving ultimatums from my devoted wife), a wagon upon which I still proudly ride to this day.

Sure, back then I did indeed think of myself as a nurse hero, stoically (or stupidly) crashing through my stressful days with little thought for myself. It was sometimes exhilarating in a sick way — condemning myself to poor self-care in deference to caring for my patients was an extraordinary ego trip that fed some part of myself that was at once stoic, heroic, and stupid.

But that was then, and this is now.

The Self-Care Bandwagon

Whether it’s flossing, jogging, getting some sleep, taking breaks at work, or playing golf every weekend, nurses can take their own self-care into their hands, deciding for themselves that it’s important and healthy to do so.

Nurses can fight the stereotypes, and they can also fight the powers that be (and the dominant nursing culture) that insists that we sacrifice ourselves on the altar of patient care. Such self-sacrifice is old hat, and we 21st-century nurses can teach ourselves that self-care is a good thing, that it’s actually better for patients, and that supporting one another to take care of ourselves makes sense, both in the short term and long term.

If you’re a nurse who has yet to jump on the self-care bandwagon, realize that there are no tolls for climbing aboard, but the price you’ll pay for staying on the Self-Neglect Express is higher than you can ever imagine.

So, instead of trying to be a hero to others through sacrifice, be a hero to yourself through self-care and wellness. Your patients will benefit, your family will benefit, and your happiness, well-being, and quality of life will improve astronomically.

Go ahead, nurses. Take off the hair shirt, put down your cross, and dispose of your bed of nails. The self-care train is always at the station, and all you have to do is climb aboard.

Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known nursing blog, Digital Doorway. Please visit his online platforms and reach out for his support when you need it most.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of “Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century,” and has contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession. Keith has written for Nurse.com, Nurse.org, MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline, StaffGarden, AusMed, American Sentinel University, the ANA blog, Working Nurse Magazine, and other online publications.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, podcaster, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.

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.

IoT Roadblocks in Healthcare: Cost, Security, and Data Integration

The solutions are tailored to address specific challenges, which can become expensive for any one organization.

from HealthcareITNews

The healthcare industry saw an 11 percent boost in Internet of Things network connections between 2016 and 2017, ranking last behind four other key industries – manufacturing (84 percent), energy/utilities (41 percent), transportation/distribution (40 percent), and smart cities/communities (19 percent), according to “The Verizon State of the Market: Internet of Things 2017” report.

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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 Reasons Why The Modern EHR Must Be Mobile

A customizable, easy-to-use mobile interface can both improve common EHR efficiency issues and open the door to the meaningful use of EHR systems.

from The Doctor Weighs In

Mobile is making headway in bolstering the advanced technology that aids the care continuum for both doctors and patients in the healthcare industry—and the electronic health records (EHR) space is no exception. Smartphones and tablets are on their way to becoming staples in the healthcare ecosystem, allowing patients and their providers easy access to the tools and information systems that streamline their roles, enable information exchange, and improve care delivery. To keep up with this shift in tech, many EHR providers are investing in their mobile capabilities, improving interfaces, and offering Internet-free access to the data and tools that patients and physicians rely on.

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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.

Doctor Of Osteopathic Medicine: A Growing Share Of The Physician Workforce

Doctors of osteopathic medicine currently make up about 8.5 percent of licensed physicians, but that percentage will increase in the coming years.

from Health Affairs

Doctors of osteopathic medicine have been around since the late-1800s but are gaining increasing attention due to their recent dramatic growth. While doctor of osteopathic medicine training was originally more focused on spinal manipulation, today it is very similar to the training for medical doctors and accepted as equivalent by state licensing agencies and most residency programs. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) have teamed up to establish a single accreditation system for all graduate medical education (residency) programs. By 2020, the single accreditation system will further narrow the distinction between medical doctors and doctors of osteopathic medicine as all residents and fellows will have to meet the same training standards.

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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 Patients Seek Naturopathic Doctors

by Jennifer Landis

Medicine is usually fairly straightforward — patients who are feeling ill seek out the advice of a primary-care doctor — but more and more patients are choosing to look for a naturopathic doctor instead of relying on traditional medicine. Why are patients choosing naturopathy over primary care?

What Is Naturopathic Medicine?

First, naturopathic medicine is a growing form of primary care that relies on natural therapies instead of traditional medications. It does much of what primary care is designed to do — preventive medicine, treatment and working toward a state of optimal health — while helping patients make lifestyle changes and use natural, and sometimes centuries-old, medical knowledge.

There are currently more than 4,300 licensed naturopathic doctors in the United States. To become licensed as a naturopathic doctor, individuals are required to graduate from an accredited naturopathic medical school after a four-year program. There are currently only 17 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have laws on the books that regulate licensing. Naturopathic doctors are also able to ply their trade in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Why are patients choosing to seek out these naturopathic doctors for their primary care?

Patients Are Seeking Customized Treatment

Traditional medical treatments run the risk of being “cookie-cutter” medicine — for example, a doctor who treats chronic pain will probably recommend the same drugs and course of treatment for each patient. It’s difficult, if not impossible, for a patient to convince their primary-care doctor to work with them to create a personalized treatment plan that works best for them.

Patients seeking have turned to naturopathic doctors to receive a more tailored approach to medicine. With a naturopathic treatment plan, you can’t prescribe the same thing for multiple patients. The treatment that works best for one patient might not work at all for the next. Part of what makes becoming a naturopathic doctor so difficult is that you have to know the basics of medicine, but still learn — or, in many cases, relearn — how to think outside that traditional medicine box.

This desire for personalized treatment has an additional benefit, in that it allows the patient to be in greater control of their medical treatment, rather than feeling like a passenger who’s just along for the ride.

Chronic Pain Treatments Without Opioids

The United States is in the grips of an opioid epidemic, but in spite of this, opioids remain the most common treatment for the chronic pain that affects up to 11 percent of the population. Naturopathy offers an alternative to this opioid-based treatment many patients are seeking due to a variety of reasons — either they are unable or unwilling to take opioid painkillers, or they are in recovery from an opioid addiction, but still have chronic pain to deal with in their everyday life.

Naturopathic treatments for chronic pain run the gamut from medical marijuana to diet and lifestyle changes. For example, some professionals have found a change in diet can help patients with arthritis manage their symptoms, either separate from or in conjunction with traditional medical treatments.

Patients Have Exhausted Traditional Care Options

Medical science is expansive, but for patients with chronic pain or those who suffer from chronic illness, it’s not uncommon for them to totally exhaust all available treatment options, leaving them either with the most extreme treatments or with no options at all. What can you do if modern medicine has essentially given up on you? You can apply to participate in clinical trials, but that’s not always the best option. The answer, for many, is to turn to naturopathic alternatives.

Like the arthritis example we spoke about a moment ago, naturopathic treatments can help patients manage their symptoms when they have exhausted all other options, or as something to aid in management while they wait for new treatments to complete their clinical trials.

They Fall Victim to a Scam

Not all naturopathic doctors are trained and licensed. Those who are not often prey on the fears people experience when they’re facing a serious illness like cancer. There have been multiple cases in the news, both in the United States and globally, where people with potentially treatable diagnoses turn to naturopathic medicine instead of traditional treatments — and end up dying as a result.

Now, these cases are definitely the exception, rather than the rule. Naturopathy can be an excellent option for people who have run out of options, or those who want to take more control of their health care, but it’s important to remember that while naturopathic doctors are trained and licensed, their natural remedies and treatment are not appropriate in all situations.

Whether we like it or not, naturopathy is here to stay. More and more states every year are taking steps to license naturopathic doctors, and the government’s establishment of Naturopathic Medicine Week means these treatment types are going to move out of the shadows and into the mainstream medical community.

The key to successful naturopathic treatments is to make sure patients know all their options, including transferring to a more traditional treatment plan or primary care doctor if necessary.

Patients will continue to seek out naturopathic doctors as they become more common in the coming years. While naturopathy might not offer cures for many conditions, these patient-centric treatments can help people manage their symptoms and can potentially become a fantastic complement to traditional medical practices.

Jennifer Landis is a freelance writer and healthy living blogger. She drinks tea in excess, has a collection of peanut butters, and is a super nerd at heart. Read more from Jennifer on her blog, Mindfulness Mama.

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.