Finding your Happy Place in a Sea of Stress

Manage your Stress. Find your Happy Place

Tina Gonzales

 

If you’ve been a nurse for more than 15 minutes, you are already aware that your chosen profession carries a high level of intrinsic stress.  How could it not? The very life of another is often in your hands. Added to that responsibility is the nursing shortage that’s expected to exceed 1 million nurses by 2022, increased nurse-to-patient ratios, and the constant influx of new technology. Feeling the pressure? You’re not alone.   These factors and others are causing Nurses to report lower job satisfaction. In fact,  many nurses are actually leaving the profession. What’s the snowball effect? A greater nursing shortage, higher nurse-to-patient ratios…More Stress!

As a healthcare professional, you don’t need anyone to tell you the negative impact of stress on the human body. You are very familiar with the physical (headache, chest pain, high blood pressure, insomnia), emotional (anxiety, irritability, lack of motivation/focus), and behavioral (eating disorders, substance abuse) that can be brought on by stress.  No doubt you have discussed these consequences with your patients.  Serious stuff!  Staying healthy and in the game requires taking steps to avoid the stress you can, and reduce the impact of the unavoidable stuff.

There are many documented techniques that have been successfully utilized to mitigate stress. The challenge is finding the one(s) that work for you. No two people respond in the same way, and there is no panacea for stress reduction. The name of the game is to try SOMETHING! Some of the most common techniques:

1.      Regular Exercise and/or Yoga. Train for a 5K, lift some weights, or Meditate.

2.      Find a hobby, or do volunteer work a few hours a week.

3.      Get a pet.

4.      Try aromatherapy. Lavender, Rosemary and Vanilla are common scents to reduce anxiety.

5.      Schedule down time. Take a weekend and curl up with a good book, or a new movie.

6.      Catch some ZZZs. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-8 hours a night for most folks.

7.      Utilize Support System. Family, friends or formal support group.

8.      Keep a journal.

9.      Try something new, a change of scenery can reduce stress while invigorating your senses.

The most successful approach to stress is avoidance. Avoidance involves identifying the sources of stress in your life that are within your control and keeping your distance.  Here are 4 quick steps that will help.

1.      Avoid people that stress you out.

2.      Take control of your environment.

3.      Try saying “No” when you can.

4.      Pare down your “To Do” list. Delegate what you can.

Now for the catch. The people and environment that stress you out probably involve your work. So does your overloaded “to do” list.  How does one solve this puzzle? To state the obvious, perhaps it really IS time for a change.  The nursing shortage that drives the above stress factors, also provides more opportunity to transition into a different type of nursing career than ever before.  Not sure if you’d like working in another environment? Consider Per Diem staffing. You can pick up a shift or two in several other facilities and “dip your toe in the water”.  You might also look into contract staffing. Most assignments are 6-13 weeks in length, and give you a much clearer picture of what working in that new facility would be like. If you love it, many facilities will offer the opportunity to transition to a permanent position. If the environment is no less stressful, knowing that your assignment will be complete in a few short weeks can in itself bring a measure of calm.

Take the time, evaluate your stress levels, identify the root causes, and if it makes sense to explore alternative career paths, give us a call.  Accountable Healthcare Staffing offers, per diem, local contract, national travel, and permanent placement opportunities and we’d love to help you find your “Happy Place.”

Hospital Employment Shortcomings & How it Benefits Supplemental Staff

Hospital Employment Plummets in Past 3 Months

Hospitals lost 1,200 jobs in February and hospital employment is down by 10,000 over the last three months, according to the most recent seasonally adjusted numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite the job losses sustained in hospitals, healthcare as a whole added 9,500 jobs last month. Most of the employment gains in the industry came from physician offices and outpatient care centers.

The nation's total employment increased by 175,000 last month, while unemployment continues to hover around 6.7 percent.

So we all know that working in Healthcare we benefit from a constant need and a very low unemployment rate but what does the overall drop in Hospital Employment mean to us? It means a great opportunity to capitalize on economic changes which are coming into play. As supplemental staff our experience, dedication, and expertise will be handsomely rewarded.

Those of us who are specialized and experienced will be (if not already) highly sought after. We'll in essence have the choice of which facilities, shifts, pay rates, and other perks we'd like to benefit from which is why now - arguably more than ever - is the time to take advantage of  agency work.

Why Go Agency?

Staffing agency healthcare professionals were once looked down upon as being inferior to full-time staff for not knowing often times the most basic of skills and of course shunned for sometimes pulling in more pay. The stigma which once surrounded agency staff is now a thing of the past with most agency personnel having at least five years of specialized experience. Plus agencies now have more rigid requirements and have current and former healthcare professionals working with or for them to make sure things are done correctly and by the book. 

The biggest reason to go agency is without a doubt flexibility. You want to partner with an agency which takes care of you and matches you and your skills to the right need. There's always a little bit of this and a little bit of that which will make one person choose agency A over agency B but there are agencies out there which can provide not only flexibility but a constant stream of work and even with full benefits so you can work to live and not the other way around. 

Accountable Healthcare Staffing has several specialized divisions and really focuses on their people. They have a 24 hour support line where you'll reach a live American person to help you with scheduling or other clinical needs or even listen to you if you just want to blow off some steam. They have branches nationwide and have a great travel division which will guide you from the application all the way through to your first day! The pay is great but what really makes all the difference is the people. They honestly care about matching you to the right facility and the right position and making sure that you're happy and taken care of. At the very least give it a try, pick up a shift or two and see how it goes you've got nothing to lose by just trying it out. If you don't like it then now worries and you still get paid - even same day if need be.

With the Affordable Care Act beginning to make waves and the nursing shortage becoming more and more apparent, now is the time to capitalize on our experience and expertise. Working with an Agency doesn't mean you'll be working full time for them (unless you want to), it also doesn't mean you'll have them nagging you every five minutes to go work a job you don't want to. At Accountable it's all about you, flexibility, and helping you to reach your career goals.

What the heck is in my supplement!?

Here is a very interesting link talking about consumer's being aware of what they are really ingesting when taking protein powder supplements.  From a source who knows health Dr. Mercola.

Here's a very interesting excerpt from the link above:
The worst of the products tested was Muscle Milk Chocolate powder, which contained all four toxic metals; three of them at the highest levels of all products tested. Three daily servings of this particular brand and flavor contained an average of:

• 5.6 µg cadmium
• 13.5 µg of lead
• 12.2 µg of arsenic
• 0.7 µg of mercury

I guess there really is no free lunch.  Sure, this stuff may taste like a milkshake, but is it worth it?  I think not!  Imagine how this compounds if taken at 1-3 servings daily for X amount of years, needless to say it adds up ... scary stuff. And even though our bodies will filter and metabolize most substances we ingest I at least wanted to share with you the risks involved when we unknowingly supplement our nutrition with marketing. 

Visit this link to learn more about supplementation (this link does not constitute an endorsement of any kind, always check with your healthcare provider for risks when taking supplements of any kind)

*Originally posted January 13, 2014 at http://www.p3protein.com/blogs/news/11534497-what-the-is-in-that-protein-container written by K. Dover and adapted to the AHS Blog by G. Flores with K. Dover's expressed Permission 

Fatigue Study Author Calls for Nap Breaks and Shorter Shifts

The lead author of a study on inadequate sleep among nurses has called for management to encourage strategic napping and shorter shifts, according to a Health Leaders Media story. Lead author Linda D. Scott, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN, is an associate dean for academic affairs and an associate professor, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago. Her study, in the January issue of the American Journal of Critical Care, found that nurses impaired by fatigue and an inability to recover between shifts are more likely than well-rested nurses to report "decision regret." 

Decision regret is a negative cognitive emotion that occurs when an actual outcome differs from the desired or expected outcome. Entitled "Association of Sleep and Fatigue With Decision Regret Among Critical Care Nurses," the study included a survey of 605 critical care nurses, and 29 percent of them reported having experienced decision regret.

 Healthcare employers should implement scheduling models that maximize management of fatigue, states a news release on the study from The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. "Proactive intervention is required to ensure that critical care nurses are fit for duty and can make decisions that are critical for patients' safety," said Scott in the news release.  

Our work is demanding and requires and acute sense of awareness and attention to detail in addition to a plethora of other skills, but will strategic naps or even shorter shifts really have the impact that Scott is expecting it to have? We'd love to hear your comments and don't forget to share.

Tired of Winter? Enter the AHS/HRN Hawaiian Nights Contest 

For a Chance to Win a Trip to Hawaii!

Did the Polar Vortex get you feeling all blue?  Hopefully, we can help your spirits warm up a bit. As a way of celebrating our most recent acquisition, Accountable Healthcare Staffing and HRN Services would like to send you to Hawaii.

Intrigued? Entering is simple.  Refer another healthcare professional to AHS or HRN. And if they work three shifts before March 29th, you will earn TWO entries into the contest.  So, the more working healthcare professionals you refer, the more chances of winning you’ll receive.  In addition, if the referred professional works three shifts before the end of the contest, their name will also be placed in the drawing.

The contest runs from January 25th through March 29th.  2nd place will win an Apple iPad Mini. This contest is open only to current AHS healthcare professionals; corporate employees are not eligible to participate. Drawing will be held April 11th 2014, or soon thereafter, and winners will be announced via the corporate Facebook and twitter pages.

SHEA Infectious Diseases Experts Issue Guidance on Health Care Staff Attire

New attire guidance from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) recommends that facilities consider a "bare below the elbow" policy for staff, embracing short sleeves and avoiding wristwatches and other jewelry. 

The recommendations—designed to prevent transmission of healthcare-associated infections through healthcare personnel (HCP) attire in non-operating room settings—were published online in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the SHEA. Also published was a review of patient and healthcare provider perceptions of HCP attire and transmission risk. 

The role of clothing in passing infectious pathogens to patients has not yet been well established, said Gonzalo Bearman, MD, MPH, a lead author of the study and member of SHEA's Guidelines Committee. "This document is an effort to analyze the available data, issue reasonable recommendations, define expert consensus, and describe the need for future studies to close the gaps in knowledge on infection prevention as it relates to HCP attire." Bearman was quoted in a story in Healthcare Purchasing News. The recommendations also suggest that staff wearing white coats have two or more, so that they can be laundered frequently. (adapted from SHEA news release, 1/20/14)  Below are the policies they are suggesting:

1. "Bare below the elbows" (BBE): Facilities may consider adopting a BBE approach to inpatient care as a supplemental infection prevention policy; however, an optimal choice of alternate attire, such as scrub uniforms or other short sleeved personal attire, remains undefined. BBE is defined as wearing of short sleeves and no wristwatch, jewelry, or ties during clinical practice.
2. White Coats: Facilities that mandate or strongly recommend use of a white coat for professional appearance should institute one or more of the following measures:
1. HCP should have two or more white coats available and have access to a convenient and economical means to launder white coats (e.g. on site institution provided laundering at no cost or low cost).
2. Institutions should provide coat hooks that would allow HCP to remove their white coat prior to contact with patients or a patient's immediate environment.
3. Laundering:
1. Frequency: Optimally, any apparel worn at the bedside that comes in contact with the patient or patient environment should be laundered after daily use.
2. Home laundering: If HCPs launder apparel at home, a hot water wash cycle (ideally with bleach) followed by a cycle in the dryer or ironing has been shown to eliminate bacteria.
4. HCP footwear: All footwear should have closed toes, low heels, and non-skid soles.
5. Shared equipment including stethoscopes should be cleaned between patients.
6. No general guidance can be made for prohibiting items like lanyards, identification tags and sleeves, cell phones, pagers, and jewelry, but those items that come into direct contact with the patient or environment should be disinfected, replaced, or eliminated.

A lot of this seems like common sense practices but we all know that hospital acquired diseases are a big player when it comes to patient outcomes. How you'll decide to ultimately implement these and other techniques should be an adaptation of the above outlined procedures and your facility's standard operating procedure - however, it is one more way in which we can be proactive and influence the treatment of those in our care.

Getting the Most Out of Your Phone Interview

So you've decided to take the leap and either enter contract staffing full time, or pick up some extra shifts on your days off.  Good for You!! Gaining the opportunity to work in another facility requires an interview (obviously).  Most interviews for temporary staff take place over the phone, and even in-person interviews are typically prescreened by phone.  Many of you clinicians (and you know who you are!) have not interviewed by phone or otherwise since graduating from nursing school (or the Carter Administration), and interviewing is a diminishing skill. The purpose of this article is to refresh your memory on the process and provide you with 3 simple guidelines that will help you highlight your strengths, gather the info you need, and get you a job offer.

1.      Prepare to be questioned. Use any and all information your agency has regarding unit size and description to determine what you might be asked int your interview. If you are particularly light or particularly proficient in a required skill, strategize with your recruiter on how to address that skill set. Be confident in your responses. Find ways to put a positive spin on your answers.

 “I understand that your floor sees abc patients. While I have not worked full time on a floor with abc patients, I have floated, and have cared for abc patients on other floors. I am very comfortable with abc patients.” 

2.      Prepare questions of your own. Interviewing is a two way street. What do you want to know about the unit?  As examples, many seasoned  nurses have asked about the floor/unit atmosphere, average census, typical diagnoses, the dress code, shift times, and how scheduling is handled for temporary staff.  Others have asked about census, and likelihood of call off, and facility parking. Work with your recruiter to develop your list of questions.

3.      Prepared to ask for the position.  Practice.  Here is an example of one way to ask for the position. “From what we’ve discussed, this opportunity sounds very much like the type of work I’m accustomed to doing.  I am excited at the prospect of working for you, and can start as early as ###. Do you have any additional questions for me? Where do we go from here?”  Take the above verbiage and make it your own.

In closing, the above steps may seem very basic, but consider that a manager may have 3-4 resumes on her desk, all with similar skill sets and experience. His/Her decision will be made based on how well the candidates interview.  Take a tip from the boy scouts and “Be prepared.” Happy interviewing!