Research funding to support these efforts are a part of the American Heart Association’s $7.8 million national initiative to expand Food is Medicine projects under its Health Care by Food program. Public health researchers have embarked on groundbreaking efforts to enhance health outcomes by way of nutrition.

Researchers are actively engaged in food-based interventions like food prescription plans and other resource designs to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity and chronic health conditions.

Shreela Sharma, Ph.D., RDN, LD

Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, and Director of the Center for Health Equity, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health

Shreela Sharma, Ph.D., RDN, LD, professor and vice chair of the Department of Epidemiology, was awarded $430,452 for the project “Testing the Impact of TBES (text-based engagement strategies) Rx.” This project will test the impact of high-frequency messaging with cardholders on activity and utilization to increase fruit and vegetable consumption for high-risk pregnant mothers. Outcomes from the study will be used to build similar messaging platforms to boost healthy eating habits. “This project will test strategies to enhance engagement in produce prescription programs, and assess optimal dosage and delivery strategies,” said Sharma, who also serves as director for the Center for Health Equity.

Nalini Ranjit, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and at the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health

Nalini Ranjit, Ph.D., associate professor of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and at the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, will serve as the primary investigator on a $447,480 award, alongside Sharma, to examine the utilization of a produce prescription program among high-risk pregnant mothers. The project will analyze the effectiveness of tailored nutrition plans and food preparation guidance in improving health outcomes for high-risk pregnant women. Ranjit and Sharma plan to bolster partnerships with for-profit food distributors to process and deliver biweekly produce plans of fresh fruits and vegetables to participants’ homes.

Access to produce prescription plans can aid in addressing health disparities and barriers that leave pregnant women at health risk. “Lacking such access, low-income populations are at disproportionately higher risk of developing several chronic diseases, which are far more expensive to treat than prevent,” said Ranjit, emphasizing the positive outcomes this could have on healthcare systems.

Alexandra van den Berg, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and associate director of the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health

In recent studies, the rise of Food is Medicine studies has been tailored to investigate its impact on postpartum women. To further this field’s research, Alexandra van den Berg, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, and associate director of the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, was awarded $394,804 for the project “Enhancing Food is Medicine Interventions for Food Insecure Postpartum Women in Central Texas.” Nutrition is critical for health, but for postpartum women, healthy eating is especially critical. “Postnatal maternal food insecurity is positively correlated with poorer maternal mental health, reduced breastfeeding, and higher infant hospitalization rates,” said van den Berg, emphasizing the need for adequate nutrition.

The rise of Food is Medicine has gained significant attention and emerged as a central focus for researchers and policy makers, promising innovative solutions to improve health outcomes.

To learn more, visit sph.uth.edu/

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Dr. Ashish Joshi

Dean, School of Public Health at the University of Memphis

“It’s not just about creating a workforce or doling out degrees. We have a much larger responsibility as public-health educators.”

When Dr. Ashish Joshi became dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Memphis in the summer of 2022, he wanted to act fast with an educational approach that would go beyond academia. And given the many distressing statistics throughout the current public health spectrum, he understood that he had to.

For instance, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of hypertension (i.e., high blood pressure) in the United States is 47.3%. That’s almost half the population.

But the state of public health needs to also be measured by greater, overarching factors that are inherently debilitating — especially the levels of poverty in any given area, which can severely affect access to proper nutrition and generally healthy standards of living. In the city of Memphis alone, the poverty rate is 21.4% —among the highest in the country — and the child poverty rate is 32.7%.

“We’re facing rapidly changing socio-economic and geopolitical environments that demand a new way of thinking about public health within a local, national, and global context,” Dr. Joshi said. “Public health education shouldn’t just be about research and garnering knowledge. We need to translate those programs into impactful solutions versus just publishing papers and books. We need practical solutions in order to instill a greater community impact.”

So, how does that actually work? For Dr. Joshi, it all begins with giving the youth the knowledge and tools necessary to address public health challenges.

Empowering young people

“Investing in the young people’s health and well-being is essential to economic growth and social change,” Dr. Joshi emphasized. “The community may be facing public health issues on a daily basis, and yet they may not understand that these are public health concerns. So, we want to enhance the youth’s understanding of the field of public health early on — and also help them see how they can choose a career in public health without having to necessarily become a physician or a nurse.”

One major step forward here is the dual enrollment program at the School of Public Health, which expedites high school students into the realm of public health by allowing them to take college courses — everything from Population Health and Society to Health Data Analytics and Informatics — and get a sneak-peek into an interdisciplinary approach that can open doors for them within various careers in healthcare, government, non-profits, and more. They can also transfer any credits earned toward their bachelor’s degree if they choose to attend the School of Public Health at the University of Memphis.

Pragmatically, Dr. Joshi sees young people as important drivers of public health who can bring back what they learn to their families and communities to help galvanize change, allowing their educational pursuit to go beyond academia.

“The youth are the biggest contributors to public growth,” he pointed out. “Think about it this way: If the youth are dealing with obesity, substance abuse, alcohol, smoking, mental health issues, or even motorcycle accidents, those are early triggers that can inhibit their growth — and hence the positive growth of the general public. They can delve into this before becoming undergrads since it’s all surrounding them already.”

Furthermore, Dr. Joshi wants to equip young people with a strong sense for innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit so they consider solution-based ideas. “We’re building a model for public health education in high schools with a multi-pronged system,” he said. “There’s the dual enrollment, and then there’s also public health clubs (just like how you have robotics clubs and chess clubs), where students can contribute to community awareness campaigns, like about hypertension.”

And then, there are the hackathons. “The goal is to not just identify the issues, but to address them and resolve them — to be solution-providers,” Dr. Joshi said. “We’re living in a data-rich environment, so we need to analyze that data. As an example, if we see lots of accidents, and if the youth are drivers of that, they can go into their communities and discuss how to resolve the issue with their peers. Hackathons are a way to challenge the youth to come up with big, bold ideas on how to solve the emerging challenges of public health in the 21st century.”

From Memphis to the rest of the world

Dr. Joshi perceives the prioritizing of the public health problems in Memphis as a duty of the School of Public Health. But, again, the push is to go beyond the university walls, as the School of Public Health is extending itself to actively collaborate with other organizations including the health department, veteran affairs, the fire department, the school system, and the juvenile court system — rather than just with hospitals.

Meanwhile, given how Memphis has some of the worst socio-economic disparities and social determinants of health in the nation, Dr. Joshi knows that a forward-thinking public health program can have a big impact on the local community — and this can potentially set an example for other programs around the globe.

“We’re living in an interconnected world with similar problems and potentially similar solutions,” he said. “Yes, the underlying factors and causes may be different in Memphis and, say, Nigeria, but the public health issues of income, housing, poverty, and the environment can be universal. So, we can think about ‘glocalization’ here, which is a concept that goes from global to local and vice versa, and we can help the youth gather inspiration from how other countries are addressing public health problems and apply that locally.”

The University of Memphis is creating a system that aims to revolutionize the paradigm of public health education — committing itself to go beyond its own boundaries and beyond the health sector.

“It’s not just about creating a workforce or doling out degrees,” Dr. Joshi said. “We have a much larger responsibility as public-health educators. We need to be more creative, dynamic, and entrepreneurial. In an aging society, we need a new community of learners to re-envision, revolutionize, and eventually lead the field of public health.”

To learn more, visit memphis.edu/publichealth

The post How the University of Memphis Is Transforming Public Health Education appeared first on Education and Career News.

Whether their jobs involve consulting, healthcare management, research, pharmaceuticals, medicine, or community practice, these professionals all rely on their rigorous public health training and education to succeed.

A public health education is both diverse and interdisciplinary. It encompasses the analytics of statistics and hard sciences; the behavioral considerations of psychology, anthropology, and sociology; and the process-oriented skill sets of management, politics, and advocacy. Success in public health also relies on effective collaboration and communication, and the ability to work with, understand, and respect diverse communities as public health issues are addressed.

Further, future public health leaders must have a deep desire to not only generate rigorous science-based evidence and new knowledge for the public good, but also be willing and able to put that knowledge into action to improve population health.

So, what does it take to succeed in this diverse and demanding environment and, ultimately, in a public health career?

Driven to serve

Mary Keefe, director of admissions at Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), has seen thousands of applications from students interested in changing the world through public health. But the most successful students, she says, have something special in their character — a drive, a focus, a lived experience, a sense of purpose and mission, that distinguishes them from the rest.

Mary Keefe

Director of Admissions, Yale School of Public Health

“We are looking for students who have an idea of what it is they’d like to do with their degree, and the impact they want to make on the world or their local community.”

“We’re looking for people who bring something to the table beyond just what the application might tell us,” she said. “In my role in admissions, I am looking for extraordinary students — for students who will really add to the depth and richness of the program, in terms of their classmates, their faculty, and the other staff they encounter, but also in their engagement with the greater community.”

A sense of focus and purpose is important. “We are looking for students who have an idea of what it is they’d like to do with their degree, and the impact they want to make on the world or their local community,” Keefe said. “The wide breadth of perspective and background and life experience is important — academics, and experiences that are public health-focused and their goals with the degree.”

Keefe also stresses that the meaning of success can differ from one student to the next, depending on why they come here, by the departments they choose, their life paths, what they want to study, and what they hope to do with their degree when they graduate.

“Being a successful student, I think, really demands that they apply themselves to rigorous coursework, to get the skills that they need and the public health perspective in different focus areas,” she said.

A collaborative experience

For students juggling passions or looking to apply multiple fields of study, a public health degree offers the opportunity to ensure that any range of interests has impact and purpose. This kind of interdisciplinary and creative thinking is central to the YSPH student experience.

At YSPH, several postgraduate and doctoral degree options serve as pathways into this full, collaborative experience. The Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) is a top choice for future changemakers determined to specialize. It allows students to complement their foundational knowledge with interdisciplinary concentrations, such as Global Health, Public Health Modeling, Climate Change and Health, or U.S. Health Justice.

YSPH offers a range of Joint Degree Programs, as well as a Hybrid Executive M.P.H. for working professionals interested in leadership. A variety of M.S. and Ph.D. programs are also offered.

The post What It Takes to Succeed at a Top School of Public Health appeared first on Education and Career News.

Sheila St. Cyr, M.S., R.N., NPD-BC

President, Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD)

“It’s my job to contribute to a happy and healthy healthcare environment for nurses, but anyone can join a nurse’s support system.”

Nurses are the backbone of healthcare. Yet staffing shortages, evolving clinician roles, and other pandemic-related challenges have strained their ability to provide life-saving patient care. On top of a very demanding profession, nurses are human beings, with the same personal and family obligations we all have. These competing demands create a recipe for burnout.

For the 21st year in a row, nursing has been identified as the most trusted profession, but despite this trust, only half of U.S. nurses feel the general public appreciates the importance of their work. We have all experienced a situation where completing a task or finding joy in our work was difficult because we felt unappreciated and undervalued. Having a support system of cheerleaders around motivates us to be our best. 

As a nursing professional development (NPD) practitioner, a specialty of nursing practice sometimes known as a nurse educator, I am proud to be one of those cheerleaders. My role is to guide nurses through clinical training with knowledge, skill, and encouragement. I contribute to a nurse’s ethical practice development by building confidence through engagement and feedback. I’ve seen firsthand how appreciation, mentoring, and respect can help nurses beat burnout. 

It’s my job to contribute to a happy and healthy healthcare environment for nurses, but anyone can join a nurse’s support system. Doing so can even enhance patient outcomes for yourself and your loved ones.

Be kind

As an oncology nurse in my early career, caring for my patients was at times like caring for a family member. Consider sending a thank you card, dropping by the unit to say “hello,” or calling the unit to update your nurse on a patient’s life — these gestures can bring a sense of home and family to the facility.
Nurses understand that individuals visiting a hospital or medical facility are under stress, but it still can throw a nurse off balance to be treated poorly. Due to job-related stressors, nurses are at risk for death by suicide, mental health challenges, and substance use disorders (SUDs). It may sound simple, but showing basic human kindness — even just a smile, or a “please” or “thank you” — can reduce these risks and help nurses stay healthy.

Educating yourself on these topics is essential for building empathy and kindness toward anyone experiencing a mentally or emotionally tough time. Throughout my career, I witnessed several colleagues who suffered from SUDs, and one nurse’s life ended due to this disorder. I wish I had known at that time about the signs and symptoms of SUDs so I could have had the opportunity to help. These experiences inspired me to learn how to support nurses in crisis, and I encourage everyone to learn about these disorders and how to get help for someone experiencing one. Being available to talk could help save a life — it just takes a little courage.

Ask questions — and listen

Do you have a friend or family member who is a nurse? Have time for a conversation with a nurse at a medical facility? Take the time to learn what their job entails and what being a nurse means to them. Ask them about the differences between their work and what is on television, and aim to understand what triggers their stress and what defines a happy day in their work life. 

Opening the door to conversations like these will help the nurse feel listened to and appreciated. You might just be amazed at their answers, and these conversations will deepen your understanding of nursing.

Offer help

Don’t just ask your nursing friend or family member to let you know if they need anything — that can place the burden of asking back on the loved one. Instead, provide concrete ideas of how you can help. Offer to cook dinner one night or come over to prep healthy snacks for them to have throughout the week. If you sense they have had a bad day at work, maybe they need a bit of their favorite chocolate or potato chips delivered to their door. Or perhaps your friend would prefer you volunteer to let out the dog or babysit for a night.

Keep in mind that if you meet a nurse and want to help, you can do so through some of the ideas on the list, but realize nurses usually can’t accept gifts or services while at work.

Now more than ever, nurses face challenges that threaten their well-being and ability to provide quality care. By offering these invaluable professionals meaningful support, we can cheer them on and become their backbone, fostering a better work environment that reduces burnout and improves health outcomes for all.

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Beverly Malone, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN

President and CEO, National League for Nursing

Under Dr. Beverly Malone’s leadership, the National League for Nursing has advanced the science of nursing education by promoting greater collaboration among stakeholders, increasing diversity in nursing and nursing education, and championing evidence-based practice. Dr. Malone’s distinguished career has blended policy, education, administration, and clinical practice, including as U.S. Federal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. A global leader as well, Dr. Malone served as general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing with a membership of 400,00 nurses, the United Kingdom’s largest professional union of nurses.

A report released by MarketsandMarkets predicts that by 2028, global spending on AI-powered health technologies will exceed $100 billion. Nurses will be vital stakeholders in their effective implementation.

With the nursing workforce stretched to the limit due to the ongoing shortage of nurses — fueled, in part, by a shortage of nurse educators — hospitals and other healthcare providers will undoubtedly benefit from new, sophisticated, and nimble options to deliver information that improves clinical workflow and patient care.

Remote patient monitoring

Here’s one new example of how advanced technology is aiding frontline nursing: remote patient monitoring (RPM). The device-driven technology now makes it possible for patients experiencing an acute medical event or managing chronic conditions to remain in their homes and receive the care they require, whether it be preventative, rehabilitative, or even post-operative.

With the data it generates, RPM could facilitate and expand communication among registered nurses, advanced practice nursing specialists, physicians, and other members of the care team. The potential is exciting; the reality is in the implementation, evaluation, and nursing involvement, leadership, and oversight, for it is nursing that is the interpreter and advocate between technology and the patient, family and community.

This technology is a revolutionary tool providing a continuous and comprehensive picture of an individual patient’s medical status, alerting providers to issues of concern faster than, say, if a person had to await an in-person appointment with a nurse practitioner or doctor at a clinical site. Without caring and oversight, however, this innovation can fall short of providing quality, safe patient care.

RPM may also aid in understanding the home environment that can contribute to or impede health and healing, or pick up patterns of behavior that reveal non-compliance with treatment or medication. Such technology may be of extraordinary value to patients in rural communities that lack easy access to transportation to clinical care located miles away.

Nurses are uniquely positioned to play a central role in mediating information from AI-generated alerts and maintaining the human connection that is so critical to successful patient-caregiver relations. Furthermore, nurses are able to ensure that any unintended consequence of AI, like potential bias in care access or delivery, can be prevented.

An ounce of prevention

The healthcare community has for decades recognized the importance of prioritizing preventative measures and health maintenance over costly and inconvenient interventions like visits to the ER, particularly for those struggling with chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and COPD. Studies have already shown how RPM has improved the health of such patients.

For example, one recent study of COPD patients by the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease documented a 65% decrease in hospitalizations and a 44% decrease in emergency room visits by those patients who were followed at home through RPM.

As the bridge between patients and technology, nurses today need to be properly educated regarding the advantages of RPM and trained in its use. There is value added when this and related technology are harnessed to help nurses become more efficient and responsive.

To that end, there is an urgent call for more nurse educator-scholars who study simulation and other technological advances in nursing education to apply their evidence-based findings to best practices in curriculum and instruction. Simulation educators, in both classroom and clinical settings, are in great demand. Nurse educators with an interest in this specialized branch of nursing education may find a wealth of professional development opportunities available to gain the necessary qualifications for entry into the field.

Organizationally, chief nursing officers will play a leadership role overseeing in-patient care and helping to determine, as part of the senior administrative team, the changes that health and hospital systems must make to prepare patients for a seamless transition to home monitoring, following their discharge. Nurse leaders will also need to become involved in making decisions regarding whether people seeking medical attention require hospitalization in the first place, and if not, see to it that they get appropriate care and treatment at home, aided by RPM.

Rising to the occasion

Nursing education must step up to the opportunity to prepare nurses and nurse leaders for researching, co-creating, implementing, and evaluating these new tools for healing and well-being. Curriculums will need to be updated, academic and clinical partnerships created, and schools of nursing and corporate organizations joined together in a mission to develop technological innovations that will extend safe, quality health care across the nation and the world.

Beyond the logistics of day-to-day remote care, it will be important for institutions to craft policies to ensure that technologies aren’t taking precedence over the mission of patient care. Nursing’s culture of caring will always prioritize the warmth of the human touch over data lacking emotional content.

That’s why it is so critical that nurses and nurse leaders are at the table to help make the best possible decisions around technology and innovations. With the involvement of nursing, better systems are developed, and funding is forthcoming for systems to operate effectively. The process calls for collaboration among experts in nursing informatics; medical ethics; public health policy; engineering; and other stakeholders.

Remote care, while groundbreaking, also needs to develop standards that match the levels of in-patient monitoring and care delivery. Only then may patients and their families feel fully secure and confident, and will nursing be able to fulfill its ultimate calling to truly advance global health, in all its diversity.

The post As Healthcare Technology Accelerates, Nursing Keeps Pace appeared first on Education and Career News.

Dr. Pamela Cipriano

President, International Council of Nurses

“We believe the tenuous state of the nursing workforce is a threat to health knowing that nurses are the key to thriving people and communities.”

We all know the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on nurses across the world. Multiple studies have shown that nurses are exhausted, burned out, underpaid, and undervalued. So why has the ICN, which represents more than 130 national nursing associations across the world, launched a new positive campaign called “Our Nurses.Our Future”?

We believe the tenuous state of the nursing workforce is a threat to health knowing that nurses are the key to thriving people and communities. ICN has published several reports showing that nurses have been pushed to the edge. The most recent one, “Recover to Rebuild: Investing in the Nursing Workforce for Health System Effectiveness,” says the worldwide shortage of nurses should be treated as a global health emergency. We have warned governments that unless they invest in nurses, health systems will not recover.

Furthermore, we have highlighted a study by the Global Burden of Disease, which suggested that the current shortfall could be as high as 30 million nurses and midwives. And we have seen nurses forced to take industrial strike action in order to pressure their governments to pay them their worth.

But despite this doom and gloom, we have also seen the amazing resilience of nurses and the solidarity within the profession and toward their patients. We know that together, with support and investment from governments, nurses can change the future of healthcare!

The new normal

COVID has made the case that we must invest in nursing; we must see spending on healthcare not as a cost but as a cast-iron investment critical to the future viability of health systems and economies.

Nurses do not want to return to the pre-pandemic workforce conditions where they were taken for granted. We need a new approach to compensation, recognition, autonomy, and respect for the nursing workforce in decision-making.

We need a seismic movement away from pre-pandemic healthcare systems toward sustainable, accessible, affordable healthcare for all, delivered by a valued, respected, competent, and satisfied health workforce.

How can we achieve this new normal?

ICN’s new Charter for Change presents 10 policy actions that governments and employers must take to create and sustain healthcare systems that are safe, affordable, accessible, and responsive, and shift nurses from being invisible to invaluable.

What underscores these 10 action points is the irrefutable need for investment in the nursing profession.

How can you help?

• Advocate for nurses using the Charter for Change and other ICN resources to call for protection, respect, and investment in our nurses.
• Come along to ICN’s Congress in Montreal, July 1-5 to listen to expert speakers on all issues of importance to nurses, and network with other nurses from across the globe!
• Registered nurses should join the American Nurses Association, ICN’s member in the United States, so your voice is heard at the national and international levels, and nurses around the world should join their national nurses’ associations.

Conclusion

Nurses will no longer tolerate being expected to work tirelessly in poor environments where workloads threaten patient safety and nurses’ physical and mental well-being, and their voices are ignored.

We have seen the devastating results of poor investment in and respect for nurses, and we know that lack of action is leading to more nurses leaving the profession, or migrating to countries where there are better conditions and salaries. We also have several important reports outlining the actions that need to be taken to stop the outflow of nurses and attract more people to the profession.

What is left now is for governments and employers to find the will to act on this knowledge and understand that spending on the healthcare workforce is an investment that will bring huge returns. The new normal for nurses must move them from invisible to invaluable in the eyes of policymakers, the public, and all those who make decisions affecting the delivery and financing of healthcare.

The post How Nurses Can Change the Future of Healthcare appeared first on Education and Career News.

How similar is your role portraying a nurse on “Grey’s Anatomy” to your work as an actual scrub nurse in Los Angeles?

I have been a scrub nurse for almost all my life. Being on “Grey’s Anatomy” there are similarities, but of course many differences. In real life, we don’t iron our surgical gowns for wrinkles, and we always wear eye protection. I have been fortunate to work in many kinds of operating rooms with many different surgeons. The variety of the show and the types of cases can be more exciting than real life.

What are some challenges you have faced in real life that might not be portrayed on “Grey’s Anatomy”?

The accurate representation of nurses in the show is important because we are the ones who help run the medical system. We are an integral part of the medical team. One of the major challenges I’ve faced is having a heavy accent behind the mask. Between my accent and being an Asian woman, I felt I had many barriers at the beginning of my career. I made sure to always follow the case and never make a mistake so I could prove surgeons wrong when assumptions were made about me.

Are there other medical professionals on set besides yourself? What are some ways you aid in ensuring the authenticity of a hospital setting while filming?

There is an entire team of medical professionals who help with the accuracy of the show from writing to production. Linda Klein, who I have known for over 40 years, has been helping the show since it started. Dr. Michael Metzner is also a physician on the team. I specifically come onto set for surgical scenes and will help set up the back table and make sure our actors look as realistic as possible by providing them with the correct instruments.

How were you able to balance your time and energy, working on surgeries in Los Angeles, all while filming on set?

I am retired now after working in the operating room for over 50 years. I retired 5 years ago, but when I was working there and on the show, I would do a 12-hour shift at the hospital and then come into the show on my day off. I never thought it was challenging with the long hours and really always enjoyed my time on set.

What is something you hope your fans will take away when they come across your Instagram page, @thebokheean?

My social media sprouted from when fans called me Queen BokHee. I find it so funny that so many people want to follow me on Instagram. I want to show people that working in the medical industry is fun and rewarding, but also hard. I hope to inspire others to enter the field and always remember that if someone on the healthcare team is not nice, be your best. At the end of the day, you are always there to help your patients.

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What inspired you to pursue nursing? Was becoming a travel nurse always where you wanted to be in your career?

I’ve always known I wanted to be a nurse, I went straight into nursing school, graduated, and realized, “This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.” The first couple years into my career, I was really burnt out. We had mandatory overtime, were extremely short staffed, and didn’t have the most pleasant leadership.

I stayed as a staff nurse because it was in my comfort zone. Travel nursing didn’t really seem like it was worth it.

When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I asked for time off after he passed away and it was denied due to short staffing. I was forced to go to work the day after my dad’s funeral. This, for a nurse who always worked overtime, has never been late and never missed a day.

I’m a labor and delivery nurse, so my patient called her dad into the room to say “hello” to his first grandchild. Of course, I lost it. The manager walked up to me and told me to “get up, stop crying.” That’s when I decided that I was done.

Once I started travel nursing, I realized how much freedom and flexibility it gave me in my career. It got rid of the burnout — I was able to take off as much time as I needed.

What advice do you have for those looking to become a travel nurse?

If you’re in nursing school, focus on getting through nursing school, pass your NCLEX, then gain experience in building your skill set. If you don’t have experience or the skills, you’ll be unprepared, and you either won’t be able to find a job as a travel nurse because you don’t meet the minimum requirements, or you’ll slide through the cracks and end up at a travel assignment, then your contract will get cancelled because you don’t have the skill sets.

If you’re jumping into your first assignment and you’re nervous, remember that you’re qualified for the job. If you have experience and skill set behind you, and you’re open to learning new things, you’ll be fine.

The key is to be adaptable. Some people look at it as instability, but I see it as flexibility. Because it is always changing, you understand how to leverage it to your advantage, you can use those changes to really work out in your favor.

Are there any misconceptions people have about Travel Nurses that you feel should be addressed?

I would say the most common misconception is that every travel nurse is getting paid $10,000 a week. Another misconception I often run into is nurses who think that travel nursing is not worth it or it’s simply too risky.

My goal with my program and my social media pages is to just shed light on travel nursing and all the benefits that come with it. I know too many nurses who waited until they hit rock bottom to jump into travel nursing.

I would say the biggest misconception is that it’s risky, but that’s because so many nurses don’t know about it. Anything unknown appears to be super risky, but once you get the correct information, travel nursing provides you flexibility in your career, more freedom, and opportunities for you to advance your career.

What are some challenges you faced in nursing? How did you overcome them?

Burnout was one of the biggest challenges. I had heard of burnout before, but I wasn’t expecting to be that nurse that suffered through it because I was so passionate about my job.

That’s another huge misconception: Other nurses may be burnt out, but I love my job, I love this. It was really challenging and kind of heartbreaking for me to go through. I think a lot of nurse’s struggle with it because we are so passionate. Because we love helping people, a lot of times, we put the hospital above ourselves, above our mental health, above our physical health.

Once I realized how burnt out I was, I felt stuck. I almost felt like I couldn’t overcome it. For me, personally, travel nursing was my door — my light at the end of the tunnel.

Representation is obviously very important in healthcare. Were there ever any interactions you had with patients that really solidified your choice in becoming a nurse?

I would say one of the biggest reasons I became a nurse was, yes, I’m obviously a minority. I wanted to help not only people of color, but also low-income individuals who are treated differently. I wanted to take care of the urban population, the homeless population, people of color.

Being able to build a successful business that still helps and empowers a ton of nurses of color is what solidified me being a nurse. There was a time when I was caring for a Black patient who had just given birth to a beautiful baby boy. As I observed the baby, I noticed that he appeared to have a “dusky” skin tone, which can indicate a lack of oxygen. Typically, this change in color makes the lips of a white baby turn blue. However, for a baby of African descent, the “dusky” appearance is different, presenting as a subtle light grey undertone.

In an effort to address the situation quickly, I called the rapid response team, but they did not identify any immediate issues with the baby. However, I persisted as my instincts told me otherwise. Eventually, a neonatologist evaluated the baby and discovered an underlying heart condition.

This experience made me deeply appreciative of my role as a nurse, while also highlighting the importance of recognizing that some of the attending medical professionals may not possess the necessary understanding to accurately assess Black patients. It was an enlightening moment for me, and it left me concerned about what might have transpired had I not been present. I am grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact and provide support to patients of color. This underscores the significance of representation and diversity within the medical field.

The post How Travel Nursing Reignited Sarah Gaines’ Professional Passion appeared first on Education and Career News.

When did you realize being a nurse was the career path you wanted to pursue?  

Since I was young, I always knew I wanted to go into healthcare. My parents steered me in that direction from an early age. I started working as a patient transporter at 17 to get my foot in the door in the health space.

How have issues with understaffing affected you and the nursing industry as a whole?

It’s been really alarming to hear what hospitals around the country are considering acceptable as far as staffing goes. I have members of my community messaging me daily about how appreciative they are that we’re bringing awareness to this issue. 

Understaffing is dangerous for both the nurses and patients. Nurses are working extremely long shifts often without food or water, let alone any breaks. Meanwhile, nurses truly just want to give their patients the best care. 

What many people don’t think about is that understaffing affects every element of the hospital system, from nurses to patients and beyond. I’ve made it a priority to use my platform to spread the word about this — flying around the country to stand by the sides of nurses in certain areas that are fighting for their staffing rights.

What can healthcare systems do to avoid understaffing nurses?

I think there needs to be break nurses. I know in some states and cities, they have nurses that come in to work overtime and relieve other nurses so they can go on break and take lunch. Nurses need better break rooms and spaces where they can nourish themselves with food and water. A lot of nurses can’t even have water at the nurses station. Many times nurses can’t even leave the nurse station because of unsafe staffing. 

What have you done to ensure the best quality care for your patients despite the demanding workload?

I’m primarily focused on education in my work today. In doing so, I’m able to make sure other nurses have the resources they need. I created NurseCon at Sea, the ultimate nursing conference, to offer an opportunity for nurses to come together, renew CNE (continuing nursing education) credits, and have a good time, all in one place. It’s become an incredible event each year. 

Beyond this, my comedy allows me to give nurses a community to laugh about many parts of this industry. All of this contributes to myself and other nurses being the best versions of ourselves for our patients.

What advice do you have for other nurses dealing with the challenges of the profession, and aspiring ones who will be soon?

For people who want to become nurses — If you want to do it and have a passion for helping others, definitely do it! We need more awesome nurses in this field because there is understaffing. Get your butt out and help work the floors with us. Don’t let it scare you. Nursing is an incredible career. You don’t have to be in a hospital to be a nurse; there are plenty of jobs and opportunities for nurses to have a positive impact in their community outside of an unsafely staffed hospital.

If you are a nurse dealing with these issues, find a job you love and that is safe for you and your patients. You deserve to work in a healthy work environment and give care to patients in a healthy environment. If you ever feel unsafe, that’s the time for you to go out and find a job that makes you feel safe and allows you to give the highest quality of care to your patients.

The post Nurse Blake Has the Best Medicine for Others in His Field appeared first on Education and Career News.

Was nursing something you always wanted to pursue? What inspired you to go into gynecology?

I always knew that I wanted to make a difference, in the same way that the nurses took care of my mom throughout her fertility journey made a difference. I didn’t realize nursing was the path for me until I was a lost freshman in college and I had a conversation with a friend’s aunt. I was empowered by the flexibility of a career in nursing, and the ability to grow horizontally and vertically was something that was very interesting to me.

What would you say is the most important trait to have as a nurse in gynecology?

Having compassion for others is the most important trait for any nurse, but specifically in gynecology or reproductive health. No matter how difficult a shift is, or how short-staffed work can be, providing patients with the care that they deserve to the best of our abilities will make a difference, especially as our patient population is seeking care in very intimate and vulnerable parts of their health journey.  The patients that I’ve met and their stories will always have an impact on me, and I hope the compassion and care I’ve provided them have had an impact on them.

Why do you think a diverse healthcare team is able to provide better outcomes for patients?

I truly believe representation and diversification saves lives. The world of healthcare and its entities do not exist in black and white, and therefore the specific nuances of disease processes and how they present differently needs special attention. Every patient cannot be truly treated equally — each patient needs to be seen in their own specific light, with their race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status in mind.

Proper representation also speaks to how patients feel safe and trusting with the people taking care of them. When patients trust their providers, the likelihood of adhering to a care plan and improving their overall health increases.

When people come across your social media, what do you hope they take away from your story of becoming a nurse?

I hope people realize that becoming a nurse is not a one-size-fits-all journey, and that being a nurse and nurse practitioner is the end goal. This is my evolution as a fluid human being, and a part of my identity is what I feel passionate about and feel is my vocation.

However, my entire being is not encompassed in a job title, because I am more. I hope that what others can see from my social media is that my life is enriched by my career, but that I am more than who I am at work.

The post Catching Up With Nurse Practitioner and Social Media Star Nurse Clara appeared first on Education and Career News.