Tag: self care

Summer Reading for the Stressed Out Healthcare Practitioner

There is no time like the present to start practicing self care, and Debut A New You, a new book by Mimi Secor, is a fantastic place to begin.

Are you tired of feeling unhealthy, stressed out, overwhelmed, but you don’t know where to start? Well, guess what? In my NEW #1 International Best-Selling book, Debut a New You: Transforming Your Life at Any Age, I teach you how to change your life, become healthier, build your confidence and become more successful than you ever imagined possible.

As a nurse practitioner for the past 41 years I know what it’s like to be stressed out and unhealthy while meeting everyone else’s needs. But you can’t serve from an empty vessel. It’s time for you to become healthy so you can be a role model for your patients, family and community and, most of all feel, good about yourself. That’s powerful medicine. So, join me as I challenge you to jumpstart your health and new life TODAY.

To order my book, just go to DebutANewYou.com. Join my mail list by texting “DrMimi” to 36260.

Dr. Mimi Secor is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in Women’s Health for 36 years and is a popular National Speaker and Consultant, educating advanced practice clinicians and consumers around the country and the world.

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.

Kim’s Blog: Regeneration of the Mind and Spirit

Caring for patients, takes not only an extraordinary amount of knowledge and skill, but also caring. How can we make sure we’re mentally up for the task?

by Kimberly Spering, MSN, FNP-BC

It goes without saying that what we do, caring for patients, takes not only an extraordinary amount of knowledge, skill, but also caring. How can we make sure we’re up for the task of working in our roles? One answer: caring for ourselves… first and foremost. Doing things to “regenerate” our spirit.

It’s been a long summer and early fall season with patients. For whatever reason (full moon, superstition, eclipse, etc.), patients’ needs have seemed exorbitantly… needy lately. There were more phone calls and demands on my time than usual. I get it – in my palliative role, I may see 3 – 4 patients per day (at 40 minutes to 3 hours each), then chart later. The time I spend is nowhere near the amount that I spent working in an Internal Medicine office.

Or, do I, really?

In the office setting, I had my allotted 20 minutes (really, 10 minutes after patients were roomed) to determine the most pertinent issues that needed to be treated. Repeat by 20-plus patients daily. In my home-care palliative care world, I will spend as much time as needed to determine what is needed – whether this is new medications, family counseling, consultations with other offices, goals-of-care discussions, etc.

The numbers may be less, but the situations are often more crucial… the outcomes more perilous, and often, long visits are needed to determine patients’ needs and to coordinate care.
Can one put a time frame on these critical issues? No, we can’t. However, no matter if we see 20 – 30 patients (or more) per day, or three… caring for patients in any role takes a toll on all of us as providers.

So, what do we do to “regenerate” ourselves?

Is it taking time off (whether we travel for a fabulous vacation, have a stay-at-home vacation (also known as, in my world, doing things around the house)? Is it spending time to recoup our losses in medicine (oh, yes, we have losses – patients who die, “rules” we must follow by the so-called administration, services we could not get patients qualified for, etc.)? 

Or is it something that we make time for in our busy schedules: working out at a gym, going for a walk, getting a massage, spending quality time with a friend, etc.?

I daresay, regeneration can take place in any or all of those areas.

So why is it that many of us feel the pull to martyrdom, trying to “suck it up” without paying attention to our own needs? I’d bet that most of us have counseled patients, who were frustrated about the lack of time, lack of self-care, and we probably blithely said, “well, you have to take care of yourself first.” Or, “you need to recharge your own battery if you want to care for others.”

Well, now. That’s just great. If only we followed our own advice.

I’m guilty as anyone—putting the needs of family, home, dogs, and patients before my own self-care.

I fully believe that if we are to take care of patients – in any realm – that we must be mindful of the need for our professional & personal self to regenerate. Taking time to see out of our own world-view. Taking time to care for ourselves.

Don’t feel guilty about it. We OWE it to ourselves and our patients to practice good self-care – so we can care for others… be fully vested… and fully able to help them.

In August, I relaxed on vacation, in a private lake community in Pennsylvania, with my husband’s family. It was different from past years, as my sister-in-law died on January 31st. It was great to see how the cousins all connected, sharing in comradery, as only cousins who see each other a few times yearly can do. Our family needed that week of restoration… of healing.

I recognized that I needed time in solace and meditation. While reading eight books, including studies in the metaphysical, religion, and yes, “beach reads” with no requirement for “real” thought… I found my time to regenerate.

My taking vacation won’t adversely affect my patients. I have my co-workers to rely on to manage those issues. Purposefully, I did not log onto our hospital system to see what transpired while I was on vacation.

And you know what? The universe didn’t collapse. My patients’ needs were met by my co-workers. Life kept going on.

And when I looked out on the lake, lost in thought – or thinking nothing at all, threw a ball for one of my retrievers to fetch, spent time with my family… all was right in the world. I was regenerated to do this work for another day.

I encourage you to make time to “regenerate” in your own way. The only way we can continue to do our work is to care for ourselves first. Give it some thought. Make the time to care for YOU.

Kim Spering has been a nurse for over 25 years and worked as an NP over the past 15 years in Family Medicine, Women’s Health, Internal Medicine, and now Palliative Medicine. She serves as an editorial board member of Clinician 1 and submit blogs to the website, with a goal of highlighting both the clinician and patient experience in health care.

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 Nurse, The Martyr and The Oxygen Mask

Many of us are nurses because we’re caring people, and when someone asks why we became a nurse, we might say something like, “Oh, I like to help people”. And that sounds nice. But we know there’s more to it than that, don’t we?

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

Over the years, I’ve known a lot of different nurses. I’ve known new nurses, seasoned nurses, frightened nurses, burned out nurses, and nurses who were so jaded they couldn’t even see their patients if they were right in front of their noses. I’ve known nurses who clocked out at the end of their shift and never looked back, and I’ve known others who consistently clocked out two hours late and then were up all night hoping their patients were OK. It takes all kinds.

Many of us are nurses because we’re caring people, and when someone asks why we became a nurse, we might say something like, “Oh, I like to help people”. And that sounds nice. But we know there’s more to it than that, don’t we?

Now, when we like to help people, that can truly be a double-edged sword, can’t it? We care, we care some more, and then we find that we’re caring so much that we can’t—or don’t–care about anything else. We eat poorly, we sleep even worse than we eat, and maybe we drink, smoke, or we don’t exercise because we’re too busy caring. Maybe, because we’re so caring, everyone around us at home and in our neighborhoods feels free to ask us to care some more. And we do. Again and again.

And then, one day, we wake up after all of this time caring for others so well, and we realize that we haven’t been caring for ourselves. We’re tired, we’re depressed, we’re overweight, and our relationships have actually suffered (perhaps because we were busy caring so much about everyone but ourselves).

Take “Nurse Jackie”, for instance. Maybe you’ve seen it and maybe you haven’t. I know I castigated the show here on Digital Doorway back in its first season, but it turns out that the series has made some very good points about nursing and healthcare, as unrealistic as it may often be.

Having said that, Nurse Jackie cares a lot. She goes the extra mile, stealing meds for patients, giving them money, visiting them at home, and otherwise doing what she feels is right. Meanwhile, she lies to everyone in her personal and professional lives, and more or less continues to “nurse” a pretty hefty addiction.

So, what addictions do you nurse? Is it an addiction to caring? An addiction to being needed? Or is it an addiction to being so busy that your thoughts, emotions, needs and desires are completely sublimated to your identity as a nurse and a caring person?

I’m speaking from experience, here, folks. I’ve been there. I’ve been burnt out. I’ve ignored my body, eschewed my spiritual growth and otherwise thrown a wrench into my life in the service of being a caring, compassionate nurse.

In the end, it all comes down to that same old “oxygen mask theory”. Remember? When you get on a plane and the flight attendant demonstrates how to put on your oxygen mask in case of a sudden change in cabin pressure, they always say to put your own mask on first before you try to help anyone else. And why? Because you’re useless to those who depend on you if you’re not caring for yourself.

So, if some of us are prone to embody the archetype of the nurse as hero or martyr, we’re always free to do that, but we can also rise above the caricatures and stereotypes and do something radical by honoring ourselves along the way.

Yes, we can choose to be the walking wounded, or we can choose to be the walking well, living our lives with integrity, and making our own self-care and wellness of equal importance to all of those others whom we serve and care for.

It’s nice to be needed, and it’s nice to be loved and appreciated. But if we’re getting so-called “secondary gain” out of being a nurse martyr, then at some point we need to wake up, smell the coffee, and put our own well-being back on the front burner.

In the course of my career, I’ve been all over this particular map, and my personal mission is now about creating a life that’s balanced, sane, healthy, and focused on my own well-being as much as anyone else’s. Sure, I still catch myself trying to be the “uber-nurse”, helping everyone and doing everything and more. But that’s the point: I catch myself, redirect my energy, and make sure that I’m not burning my wick at three ends with no thought of the ‘morrow, as they say.

So, my friends, choose health. Choose your own well-being. Choose to do enough, but not too much. And choose to be the kind of nurse who cares for his- or herself in order to care for others better. It’s the right thing to do, and that proverbial oxygen mask will serve you—and others—for years to come.

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.

How Music Can Powerfully Heal a Physician’s Life

Physician Adam Kendall uses music not only to heal himself, but also to bring inspiration and purpose to those who also suffer.

from The Doctor Weighs In

My love for music began when I was a toddler, mesmerized while watching a television program that featured a violinist accompanied by a symphony orchestra. As a result of this inspiration, I began playing the violin at age 5 and, a few years later, took up the piano. Playing music to share emotion, love, happiness, and aid in consolation was a healthy ritual that had been passed on through my family’s generations, most notably by my grandmother, Edith, who also played the violin. However, it wasn’t until I became an adult that I found a clear understanding of how music could console and help bring hope.

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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.

9 Self Care Tips for the Time-Crunched Therapist

Strategies helpful to prevent feeling overwhelmed and burned out for SLPs and other therapy professionals.

from ASHA Leader

Therapy professions attract driven people who are passionate about helping others, and this combination of traits can sometimes lead to feeling overwhelmed and burned out. Many therapy professionals have struggled with work/life balance at times, and a little self care can go a long way to combat that. Read on to discover tips for self care for SLPs and other therapy professionals from a fellow therapist who has endured this same struggle.

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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.

Recovering From Physician Burnout

by Lori Corley

My name is Lori Corley and I am recovering from physician burnout. There is a lot of discussion and education about physician burnout recently, but this was not always the case. Physician burnout is that point where you love and hate your job at the same time. You love parts of it, and you don’t want to give up the salary, but you are just not happy, like when you started out as a doctor. The major symptom is that you don’t feel the calling, you don’t want to give any more of yourself, and you think you might just “go postal” one day if things don’t change.

In my case, a lot of things contributed. I went through a divorce, my teenager came out as transgender and went through severe anxiety, which prevented school attendance, and my live-in mother-in-law died suddenly. Luckily, I had strong friendships and good support from my family. I also had a minor heart attack and returned to work part-time and still felt exhausted. In Yiddish, we call this “Tsuris,” or “Woes.”

I had been a pediatrician in private practice for over 20 years, more than 15 years in the current office. Like many of you, I had to adjust to more insurance plans with Gatekeeper requirements. I had to suffer through the transition to Electronic Medical Records with its unintended burden on patient flow and time spent on charting. Add to that the advent of ICD-10 codes always demanding more detail, even when it is not available. And then there is the insurance company’s very real threat that they won’t pay you unless you cross every “T” and dot every “I”. Don’t forget the hoops you have to jump through to meet the Meaningful Use standards so that your company will survive in these times of over-regulation.

In an office practice, I had to see enough patients to meet my productivity goals. I had to deal with patient satisfaction surveys, where getting a 9 out of 10 was not good enough. I had to chart all the items needed to justify my charges, while at the same time charting the necessary points to avoid malpractice suits. I had to make decisions about filling and refilling prescriptions, handle phone calls from patients and manage cases where several specialists were involved. I had to deal with staff squabbles and hiring and understaffing. I had to manage difficult patients (or rather, families) where they insisted an antibiotic was needed or knew just enough to question my judgement. And then there was the fact that my Nurse Practitioner and my Partner rarely saw eye-to-eye on patient or office management. I could complain all day (but I fell into a state of Learned Helplessness).

Everything was more vexing because I was being asked to do more with staff who were overtasked. The system kept changing and I was asked to adapt over and over again. I always saw myself as resilient, but I was one straw away from breaking the proverbial camel’s back. I didn’t mention before that I have anxiety and depression and have been on medications for most of my adult life. I have been very stable over the years, but all the personal and work issues had ramped up my anxiety symptoms to where they were now interfering with my concentration. I felt I would make a medical mistake soon.

There was no way I could return to full-time work at my office. So, I took medical leave for 6 months, even though my sick pay would only last for 2 months. It was a risk I had to take to avoid going to the loony-bin. And it was the best decision I ever made. After I found that disability insurance really does not cover what I had, I determined that I had to go back to work of some kind. I applied for teaching and research positions in biology or medicine, but these opportunities are rare without relocating. I looked through job sites online and submitted my resume for anything lower stress that could use my skills – medical coding, phlebotomy, hospital clerk. Besides the huge change in hourly pay, I also started thinking about how I would be wasting this knowledge I had accumulated. I finally decided that I just had to find a different job as a doctor.

I spoke to my supervisor in the medical system where I worked. We came up with a few positions I could fill as a “Float” doctor. I would fill in when office doctors were on vacation or sick, work as a newborn hospitalist for healthy newborns, and work at our system’s Pediatric After Hours Clinic, which was the same acuity as a regular office. The latter two were certainly lower stress because they did not require continuity of care. And the Locum Tenens weeks would not require me to manage the long-term problems or manage office staff issues. That would peel off several layers of tasks on my to-do list.

I have been working part-time so far. My fatigue and concentration have both improved a bit and I feel useful again. I smile and joke with the patients and staff. I am not anxious or angry or fed-up with the world anymore. I am still a little worried about 2 weeks from now when I fill in at my old office and work my longest week yet, at 32 hours. If I successfully complete the week without relapsing, I will have my doctor release me for full-time work. I still won’t take a long-term assignment in an office, though, because that will surely hurt my recovery. I will blog again to let you know about my continued recovery.

Lori Corley has been a pediatrician for over 25 years. She grew up in Miami, attended Tufts University and the University of Florida. She completed her internship and residency in Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University Hospitals. She has been practicing general Pediatrics in the Atlanta suburbs since 1991. She has taught medical students from Georgia Regents University/Medical College of Georgia and Nurse Practitioner students from Georgia programs. She has 4 grown children. She enjoys playing guitar and singing Jewish choral music and has recently started painting.

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.

Mindfulness Is the Key to Physician Burnout

Researchers have turned their attention on mindfulness benefits on physician burnout and physician stress relief and are finding promising results.

from KevinMD

Mindfulness has gained a lot of awareness and attention over the last few years as the medical community has set out to find strategies for prevention of physicians burnout. What has been coined “mindfulness-based stress reduction” or “mindfulness” is a principle proven long before medical researchers decided to reduce it to treatment strategy to promote acceptance among the physician community. This very useful tool today is becoming widely used in our community, where it was once viewed as “fluff” or “quackery.”

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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.

12 Foot Care Tricks for Nurses with Tired Feet

93% of nurses suffer from swollen and painful feet after their shift. Here are some ways to lessen that pain.

from Massage Boss

According to a survey conducted by the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, nearly all nurses (93%) suffer from swollen and painful feet after their shift. If left untreated, foot pain can negatively impact your job satisfaction, efficiency, and long-term health. Because of this, it’s essential for every nurse to do their best to take care of their feet. Learn how to put your best foot forward with these helpful foot care tips.

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.

Sleep Tips for the Tired Nurse

It’s Sleep Awareness Week, and if you’re a nurse, you’re probably well aware of how tired you are. Here’s some tips on how to get a better night’s sleep.

by Kathleen Caulfield, RN

Sleep, sleep, sleep—for many of us it’s hard to get there and even harder to stay there. It especially seems a problem for stressed out nurses, with their chaotic routines and many demands. But the insomnia can be cured with a few tweaks, and given that it’s Sleep Awareness Week, I wanted to share some tips for how busy nurses can get a better night’s rest:

  • No use of electronic devices 1-2 hours before bed. Shut off TVs, cell phones – no texting. Or, better yet, remove them from the bedroom entirely.
  • Plan your day the night before. Llay out your clothes, jot down work activities or tasks for the next day. This can allay some anxiety.
  • Take a warm bath with lavender Epsom salts.
  • Stop caffeine early in the day and limit alcohol 3 hours before bed.
  • Exercise is key to sleep; do it early in the day for a restful night.
  • Respect the sleep process. Use nightclothes that are clean and comfortable.
  • Prep your bedroom. Keep it clutter-free, and get comfortable pillows that support your neck, linens that are soft to the touch.
  • Use room darkening drapes.
  • Keep the bedroom cool: 68 degrees is a good setting.
  • Have a light dinner and if hungry prior to bed, eat foods high in tryptophan, such as nut butters, bananas, yogurt, tuna, dates.
  • Warm milk is excellent, but not palatable for some. Try it with a teaspoon of real vanilla and a package of natural sweetener to improve taste.
  • Passion, valerian, or chamomile tea one hour before bedtime is also known to be effective for promoting relaxation.
  • Incorporate yoga into your nightly routine, including child’s pose, legs up against the wall, or corpse pose to assist with relaxation.
  • Journal and reread your entry to give closure to the day.
  • Use progressive relaxation techniques.
  • Lavender in any form – candles, spray for pillowcases or sheets, or in a diffuser.
  • Keep a sleep diary.

By evaluating these components with a sleep diary, often the culprit causing sleep problems and deprivation will be caught, and insomnia will no longer reign.

Kathleen Caulfield is a Registered Nurse who has worked in all facets of nursing, with her most recent gig as a psych nurse in New York City. Currently residing in Florida while seeking employment, she is sharing her passion for writing with us at HealthJobsNationwide.com.

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.