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Journaling and Emotional Health

Journaling and Emotional Health

by | Aug 19, 2023 | Uncategorized

Journaling and Emotional Health

Our minds like to be efficient. Often our brains have been thinking the same thoughts in the same patterns over and over. Our patterns and actions become predictable because we have repeated them over time.  Many of these thought patterns create unhealthy beliefs, actions and habits.

While our profession continues to suffer, we continue to fall short in training nurses to manage their own emotions. Those of us that are more resilient sometimes don’t know why. Those of us who are less resilient, begin to believe that we don’t have any power over our emotions at all. We become victims to our own thoughts.

One of the most powerful habits we can develop in our nursing students is the ability to recognize their own emotions and to “capture” the thoughts that are creating those emotions.

When a student has a poor interaction with a patient it is possible to believe; “that person is doing the best they can on this day at this time” and “that behavior was awful” at the same time. The same is true of colleagues.

But first we must learn to recognize our own thoughts and to separate those thoughts from facts.

  • Fact: The patient hit the call button 6 times every hour.
  • Thought: The patient is manipulative.
  • Fact: My instructor changed the due date for the assignment.
  • Thought: My instructor doesn’t know what they are doing.
  • Fact: Leslie offered to help me with my assignment.
  • Thought: Leslie is a great friend.

Journaling provides a unique opportunity to capture our thoughts and emotions. It allows us to uncover thought patterns and emotions that we may not have acknowledged or even realized were present. Equipping students with the ability to recognize their own thoughts and emotions is invaluable, and journaling is an excellent practice to develop this skill.

 

Do we glorify neglect?

Do we glorify neglect?

by | May 20, 2023 | Uncategorized

Nursing…. the caring profession; the most trusted profession. And I love this about nursing. In fact, I love all of it. I’m so proud to be a NURSE.

As nurses, we are told patients are first and everything else is second. Not only that, but our kids, spouse, friends… you get the picture. We come in somewhere after the Dog and in front of the pet Gold Fish.

Many of us believe “caring” means neglecting ourselves.

We glorify neglect. Yes, we glorify neglect… especially self-neglect. We skip lunch, stay late and have bladders that can expand to unthinkable sizes. And we boast of all this with great pride. And we complain.

We neglect ourselves, experience burnout and wonder why we are left unfulfilled in our work and our lives.

Do you know how to take care of yourself?

Sometimes the message nurses hear is “Serving others at the expense of abandoning yourself is real love.”

We pick up extra shifts, stay late and sign up for extra duties. We go home, we clean, care for our kids, cook for them. We take care of our parents and extended family.

Are you a people pleaser? Do you find yourself saying “YES” more than you want?

  • “Yes, I will take you the doctor”
  • “Yes, I’d love to discuss your bowel movement.”
  • “Laundry… I have plenty of time.”
  • “Yes, I’ll pick up an extra, extra shift.”
  • “Check your kids for lice? Sure!” …. Okay… maybe not!

There’s a fine line between the nobility of sacrificing for others and people pleasing. Serving is something you choose to do, people pleasing is something you feel obligated to do—and at your own expense.

You miss out on things that are important to you. Whether you realize it or not, you are watering a seed of resentment.

As a coach and a nursing leader I know that the biggest contributor to unhappiness and un-fulfillment is self-abandonment.

Do you recognize self-neglect? Do you know how to truly care for yourself? I am not talking about pedicures and a glass of wine (although I totally support your choice here). I’m talking about Training Your Brain to stop sacrificing yourself for the sake of service. We are the most caring and trusted profession. Lets learn to care for and trust ourselves.

Today… start noticing when you say “yes” when you wish you “could” say NO.

Train Your Brain to recognize your thoughts. Spend this week noticing. When do you say “yes” when you want to say “no”? Write your thoughts down or put a note in your phone.

What patterns do you notice? Is there anything you want to change?

In a non-judgmental way… As though you are talking to your closest friend… just ask… “How would I need to feel to have the confidence to say NO?”

Top Tips to Succeed in Nursing School

Top Tips to Succeed in Nursing School

by | Jul 15, 2019 | Student RN, Uncategorized

Is Nursing School Fun?

Absolutely! Are you ready to start the journey of a lifetime?

So you are getting ready to start nursing school. It is important to start strong. The momentum will carry you through the first few weeks. If you want some tips on starting strong, check out our previous blog (CLICK HERE). 

This week let’s talk about having fun and building a framework for a successful nursing career. 

Top Tips to Thrive in Nursing School

  1. Work or volunteer in a hospital or other healthcare facility while you are in school.
  2. Find a study group.
  3. Take care of yourself.

Success Tip Number 1: Work or volunteer with patients!

Isn’t this the reason you are in nursing school in the first place? Working with patients prior to nursing school or during school will give you several distinct advantages. You will:

  1. Have the opportunity to practice empathy,
  2. Develop strong communication skills and
  3. Learn to organize and prioritize.

If you can manage to hold a very part time job in a hospital you will be well on your way to preparing yourself for school and graduation. When I hire new nurses, those that really struggle have no prior work experience in a healthcare facility. Working in a healthcare environment sets you up for success and gives you a distinct advantage. Healthcare demands excellent communication, organizational and prioritization skills. If you can’t manage a job, look for volunteer opportunities. 

Pro RN Tip: Find a job in the facility you think you want to work in and work your bottom off! If you have a good work ethic, word will get around. Leaders will fight for you. On the flip side, if you complain a lot, cancel your shifts, and are difficult to work with…. Guess what? Word will get around.

Success Tip Number Two: Find a study group.

I don’t know what I would have done without my study partners. I listened to their hearts (literally) checked their pulses, assessed their tonsils, and palpated their abdomen. They even let me poke them with needles. Today these are some of my closest friends. We studied together, complained about our professors together, ate bad food, laughed and cried, held each other up and graduated together. Find a study group. They’ll keep you sane.

Bonus Tip Number Three: Budget time for yourself!

My daughter (who happens to be in nursing school), suggested I add one more. Budget some time for yourself. We get busy and stressed. Call someone you love. Remember your manners. Say please and thank you. Find a quiet place, take a walk, watch a movie or keep a journal. Practice positive self-care. We can’t take care of patients if we aren’t taking care of ourselves. Whatever it is, reserve some time to revive.

There is lots of research out there boasting the benefits of connection, strong relationships and positive self-care. Positive self-care improves happiness, increases life span, and decreases chronic illness. There is even evidence that happy providers diagnose patients faster and more accurately. Empathetic nurses are less like to restrain patients. Connect with people and practice self-care. The benefits to you and your future patients is priceless.

Ready to get started? Click HERE to check out some of our free resources!.

Do you want to get a jump start on Nursing School? Check out our free dosage calculation course! 

Enroll in our Free Dosage Calculation 

Class Today!

Get a jump start on your Nursing Career.

Our LIVE dosage calculation course will walk you through the five easy steps to ACE dosage calculation. 

 

Start Strong in Nursing School

Start Strong in Nursing School

by | Jul 8, 2019 | Student RN, Uncategorized

Start Nursing School Strong!

 

Our top tips to start strong!

  1. Learn how to introduce yourself to patients. 
  2. Keep a calendar or an agenda.
  3. Eliminate time wasters!

Tip Number 1: Learn how to introduce yourself to patients!

Do you know that most students don’t know how to introduce themselves to patients? You will get nervous, you won’t know what to say and you will stumble over your words. Students don’t know what to say. Patients are vulnerable. Sometimes they are angry or sad. It can be difficult for the beginner to communicate effectively. You may not be sure what to say and you may or may not have an instructor who provides good coaching and direction. I know, it sounds silly, but I’ve found this made a big difference in the first week of the clinical experience. Most students become nervous or even afraid to meet patients for the first time.

 Over time, I learned to have students practice introducing themselves. Some students told me they practiced introducing themselves in their mirror or even to their dog. It will take less than 10 minutes and you will be glad you did. It may sound silly, but I could tell the difference and so could the patients. I’ve attached some scripting for you (CLICK HERE). 

At my facility we use AIDET® from the Studer Group. The information is listed below.

Tip Number Two: Keep a calendar or an agenda.

I prefer to use the old-fashioned paper calendar but there are lots of electronic calendar applications you can use. I like paper calendars because it’s easier for me to see a month at a time. Map your course a few weeks at a time. In addition to preparing for multiple classes you will also have clinical and most likely care plans (which can take hours to complete). Know when your tests are. I’ve watched students mismanage their schedule and leave zero time to prepare for an exam because they did not account for their clinical schedule.

Tip Number Three: Eliminate your time wasters!

What is your Achilles heel? Is it binge watching NETFLIX, “Game of Thrones”, checking social media, Candy Crush, 8 Ball Pool, Game Pigeon? It may be time with friends or family. It might be reducing the numbers of hours you work each week. More than likely something will have to go. When I’m working on big projects I remove apps from my phone and I set time limits on others (for me it is Facebook). I also turn off notifications. Whatever it is, remove the distractions. Get a head start. Make a plan. 

Full disclosure… I have never played Candy Crush, 8 Ball Pool or Game Pigeon. I’m blessed with a couple kiddos in their 20’s. Apparently this is how they waste their time.

How hard is nursing school?

If it was easy everyone would do it. Make a plan and start STRONG! You’ve got this. At the end of this road begins the journey of a lifetime.

Do you want to get a jump start on Nursing School? Check out our free dosage calculation course! 

RESOURCES

AIDET® from Studer Group: https://www.studergroup.com/aidet

Start Strong Introduction Handout

Enroll in our Free Dosage Calculation 

Class Today!

Get a jump start on your Nursing Career.

Our LIVE dosage calculation course will walk you through the five easy steps to ACE dosage calculation. 

 

Good Summer Reads Part 1

Good Summer Reads Part 1

by | Jun 9, 2019 | Uncategorized

When Breath Becomes Air…

Are you looking for a good summer read?

I always say I “grew up” as a nurse in pediatric oncology. This was my start. I had daily exposure to the heroes and angels living among us. I was in my early 20’s. Looking back, I realize when considering end of life care, I spent most of my mental energy focusing on death rather than living.

I received the gift of perspective this past year when a friend gifted me the book, When Breath Becomes Air, the memoir of Paul Kalanithi.

In his memoir, Dr. Paul Kalanithi describes in intimate detail his diagnosis with a rare form stage IV metastatic lung cancer and his life journey towards death. As a neurosurgery resident at one of our country’s most prestigious medical programs, Kalanithi brings a unique perspective. He had spent nearly a decade preparing to be a neurosurgeon. He shares with great transparency his transition from doctor to patient. Like, many of us he and his wife had carefully planned their future, their career, their family. They were focusing on tomorrow until they were unapologetically confronted with today.

Paul walks us through how he carefully and thoughtfully considered how to live in the face of death. This book is a product of his choice to live. A choice to share. He poignantly reminds us that until we die, we are still living.

This book deepened my appreciation for the power of medicine, and the value of living. His story reminds us that we each have this same responsibility to our patients. We have a responsibility to find out what matters most to them. To help them write their LIFE story. No matter how long or short. So, ask yourself and ask your patient “What matters most to you today?”

This book will do more than change the way you view death, it will change the way you live life. It is a must read for everyone.

“Science may provide the most useful way to organize empirical, reproducible data, but its power to do so is predicated on its inability to grasp the most central aspects of human life: hope, fear, love, hate, beauty, envy, honor, weakness, striving, suffering, virtue.”

Paul Kalanithi

The Joint Commission

The Joint Commission

by | May 8, 2019 | Uncategorized

“He who must not be named!”

Many healthcare providers and leaders tremble in fear at the mention of The Joint Commission (TJC). For a long time, I think my facility focused more on avoiding a bad TJC survey, rather than pursuing an excellent survey. I remember learning about TJC in nursing school (back then it was call JACHO). While I didn’t fully grasp the significance or purpose of The Joint Commission I did understand this; the Joint Commission was bad. How unfortunate for an organization whose vision is to ensure “All people always experience the safest, highest quality, best-value health-care across all settings,” to be portrayed as adversarial. Revisiting the original mission and vision can provide a positive perspective and renewed sense of purpose when working to educate student nurses about the value and relevance of the quality and safety goals.

 

What are National Patient Safety Goals and Why does it matter?

“The purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) is to improve patient safety. The goals focus on problems in health care safety and how to solve them” (The Joint Commission).

To see a list of the 2019 National Patient Safety Goals Click HERE!

The Joint Commission Hospital National Patient Safety Goals

Let’s Talk About the History of the Joint Commission

The concept of hospital standardization was formally discussed and called for by the American College of Surgeons between 1910 and 1918, at which point the first Minimum Standard for Hospitals document was issued.1 The first standards document called for professional physicians to be licensed and competent in their respective fields, the establishment of policies and guidelines, regular staff meetings, periodic review of clinical competence, complete case records for each patient encounter and the availability of diagnostic and therapeutic support services.2 Hospital participation in site-visits and the support of other professional organizations grew as the standards were improved and expanded through the early 1950’s, culminating in the establishment of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals in 1953. By the mid-1960’s hospitals successfully achieving accreditation became eligible for participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs tying reimbursement to standards compliance. Since that time, standards have become more comprehensive and now apply to long-term care, psychiatric services, ambulatory health and managed care, laboratory services, alcohol and substance abuse programs, community mental health, home and hospice, and ambulatory surgery centers. By 2000, patient safety had become the top priority both nationally and internationally.

The first set of National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG’s) became effective in 2003 and included input from healthcare providers, organizations, consumers and other stakeholders. Key components were revised for 2019 to include improved accuracy in patient identification, improved effectiveness in staff communication, improved medication safety, reduction in harm associated with clinical alarm systems, reduction of healthcare associated infections, identification of safety risks specific to each hospitals patient population, and prevention of wrong site, procedure and person during surgery.3

The list of healthcare organizations participating in accreditation have continued to grow including office-based surgery practices, critical access hospitals and Disease-Specific Care programs. The patient centered standards related to error reduction, staffing, mechanical devices, preventable injuries, infections, communication, integrated care and perinatal services were key initiatives during the first fifteen years of the twenty-first century. Most recently, targeted tools, assessments, and advanced certification programs, quality and outcome measures, education of healthcare professionals and community members, inter-disciplinary emergency management and electronic records have been added to the scope and breadth of the Joint Commission Standards. 4

Patients and their families have risen from bystanders to this standard setting to becoming the primary focus of the most recent initiatives under the National Patient Safety Goals, Suicide Prevention and Anti-coagulant Therapy.

 

What about nursing students?

Where do students fit in this picture? In truth, as a nurse educator and leader, I find it challenging to keep up with the Joint Commission standards. At times it seems overwhelming and even burdensome. Just as hospital leaders have learned it is better to prepare healthcare staff to be approachable and proactive with surveyors; we must also empower our students. If you are fortunate enough to be at a hospital during a Joint Commission survey, do you instruct your students to run and hide or do you empower them? Is it more constructive to teach students what the surveyors are looking for and how to interact with them? Surveyors visits hundreds of hospitals each. They are an invaluable resource!

Conclusion


What started out as a simple standardization of services within the hospital setting has grown to include multiple healthcare organizations and disease-specific programs and have expanded the focus to patient centered services and safety. Resource materials, tool-kits, program guidance and inter-disciplinary collaborations have become the tools to achieve grassroots changes in service delivery. Nurses, other healthcare providers and patients have benefited from the continuing diligence of advocates and leaders focused on safety and accountability within an ever changing and increasingly more complicated medical system.

References:

1https://www.jointcommission.org/about_us/history.aspx
2https://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/full/10.5858/arpa.2016-0348-HP
3https://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/6/NPSG_Chapter_HAP_Jan2019.pdf
4https://jntcm.ae-admin.com/assets/1/6/TJC_history_timeline_through_2018.pdf