Healthy Eating & Snacking at Work for Nurses

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Due to the long hours that nurses put in, and the constant needs of the patients, it is important that proper nutrition is utilized for a nurse to stay at their top performance level. This article has been broken into two parts. In the first part, we will explore proper eating habits for nurses, and in part two, we will discuss some great snack ideas that are easy for nurses to keep on hand without a lot of preparation.

Healthy Eating

Whether a nurse is working the night shift, a busy twelve-hour shift, or working per diem, finding the right nutrition to help you get through the shift is important. Many people resort to the vending machine or skipping meals, but these are not good answers to the problem. A nurse’s health is just as important as the health of the patients that are in their care, and therefore, must be treated with the same respect. It is important that a nurse can remain a caregiver and not end up on the other side needing care because they did not take care of themselves.

Deprivation – No

The question that most people ask is where to start. When starting to eat healthy, remember that deprivation is not your friend. When you deprive yourself of all your favorite foods, you are at a bigger risk for falling off the wagon quickly! Moderation is your friend. Consumption of healthier whole foods will leave you fuller so that you will consume less of the non-healthy foods like french fries, sugary treats, or other items. When you decide to eat the non-healthier foods, you will find that the desire for them is not as strong. The healthier additions to your diet is more filling, and it helps keep the cravings away. If you do find yourself with a craving, eat it in moderation. By not depriving yourself of the thing that you want, you will be able to stay on the right path. Better to eat a piece of cake at one sitting than eating a slice of cake with ice cream and whipped cream because you think you will never eat it again.

Big vs. Small

Another thing that happens is the consumption of a big meal in the hopes of making up for the skipped meals. Unfortunately, the body is not able to process big meals effectively. Smaller meals give you the continued energy necessary for you to perform the tasks necessary during a long shift.

There are many benefits to eating smaller meals during the day, and one is keeping the blood sugar levels stable. When you miss meals, you can cause a drop in your blood glucose level. The side effects of this can be irritability, extreme hunger, and fatigue. It is recommended that six small meals is more sustaining than 3 meals and 2 snacks. With a busy schedule, this can be hard.

To make the small meals work for you – plan ahead! Take the time to prep your meals before hand to ensure that you have what is necessary to have those meals. Making a grocery list that contains everything that you will need is the first step. Stick to the list when shopping, and once you get home, prep the meals. Once the meals have been prepped, put them in the containers that you will need to take with you to work. This will make it easier to pick them up when you are running out of the house to get to work. Having the meals on hand at work will keep you from eating things that go against good eating.

Written By:  Medical Staffing 360 Staff

Are You Taking Care of Your Staff

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In every industry, workers are feeling the strain that increased hours can take on their productivity. The healthcare industry is no different. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are dealing with long work hours every day. The long hours are a strain on workers that are working hard to ensure patient safety. Unfortunately, it has been established that there is a connection between overworked nurses and patient safety. The overworked worker faces more workplace safety issues as well. The longer hours translate to the workers body being fatigued and that is when accidents are most likely to happen.

This knowledge that your staff can be at risk for poor patient care due to overtime should be a concern to the health of your facility. It should get you to thinking about how you can make it better. This issue will not be solved with one solution, but with a mixture of actions. It is important that you figure out what works best in your environment.

Stress Relief

First, let’s talk wellness. One thing that has been proven to relieve stress is exercise. Not only can it help reduce stress, but with a person’s health comes better mental clarity. This can increase job performance. Take the time to look into gym memberships for your staff. If you can find a local gym with corporate packages, it may be worth the investment. Also, massage therapy is another wellness alternative. They benefits of massage therapy are not only physical, but emotional. Both of these wellness options will help your staff relieve stress. There are other options available to you. Take the time to figure out what fits your facility’s culture the best and commit to it.

Weigh the Cost

As your staff is overworked on a constant basis, their job satisfaction starts to lower. This can result in the desire to quit and the decreased likelihood that your staff will recommend other great professionals to your facility. All of this disrupts the quality of patient care. An overworked nurse will have a hard time giving the same level of care to a patient than a nurse who has not been overworked and is refreshed from getting the proper rest and time away required. Patients will see the level of service being given to them. This can cause either positive or negative publicity because the patient will talk about the service that they received while under your facilities care. Recovering from negative publicity takes a lot of effort.

Recruit More

To keep your staff from being overworked, a plan needs to be created to recruit more staff. It is important to understand your staffing levels, and know what your peak times are so that you can have coverage. By adding the additional staff, you will allow your current staff to only work their specified work hours, and allow them the opportunity to get the proper rest they require. If they desire overtime hours, you can then use your discretion in when to use them or not. It will not be necessity dictating your overtime work. The control will be back in your hands.

Whatever decisions you make to help your workforce, it is important that you make a plan of action and stick to it. Not only will your staff benefit from the plan that you put in place, but your quality of patient care will benefit as well.

Written By: Medical Staffing 360 Staff

Reasons You Should Utilize Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

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The demand for physician services is high and the cost of utilizing physicians can also be expensive. For many, it has become imperative to look for alternatives. Two great alternatives are Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs). There are many misconceptions concerning NPs and PAs, but hopefully, this article will eliminate some of them.

Qualifications

Although there are many people who believe that NPs and PAs are not qualified to give the same high level of care that a physician can give, but that is simply not true. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants endure years of schooling and training. This allows them to diagnose and treat patients. For an NP or a PA to do their job, they must work under a doctor’s supervision. For patients, this means they will be seen by a qualified professional faster. The physician is still consulted, and the facility is able to provide qualified medical professionals to take care of their patients.

Reduce Expenses

The salaries associated with physicians can be expensive. It will cost you considerably less to employ an NP or a PA. By employing an NP or PA, your patients will not have to wait as long to be seen. There is improved efficiency when wait times are decreased. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants can help in providing preventative information to the patients. This employment will also increase patient compliance. The physicians on your staff are now fee to see more patients.

Trained Professionals

At your facility, you want to provide the best care possible. NPs and PAs are trained professionals with extensive clinical experience. They have also practiced under different specialties. For your facility, you are getting qualified and credentialed professionals. To give your patients the best care possible is the goal. By using these professionals, you will meet your goal.

Coordination and Education

In order for the use of NPs and PAs to work, coordination will need to be done between the physicians and the NPs and PAs. By them working together and coordinating care for the patients, everyone wins. To help your patients, take the time to educate them on the importance of the NPs and PAs. Make sure they understand that their quality of care is being improved because the physician is not being overburdened and a team is working on their care.

Written By: Medical Staffing 360 Staff

Temp Medical Professionals Means Positive Benefits for Your Facility

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In the past, many people believed that utilizing temporary workers meant getting unqualified workers. Now, more people are realizing that there are benefits to utilizing these workers. In the past, there was a stigma that temporary medical staffing workers were the lowest of the work force, but that is simply not true. Temporary medical professionals allows your facility to cover absences, gives you a chance to try out a potential employee before having the burden of onboarding them, and in some cases, it allows the facility to have more flexibility in scheduling. The temporary medical professionals benefit because they have more flexibility in the companies they choose to work for as well as the hours that they work.

For you, as an employer, there are several benefits for hiring temporary medical professionals.

Gap Fulfillment

When your staff is out for vacation or sickness, you are left short-handed. Those days are over. When you fill those shortages with temporary professionals, your facility continues to run smoothly. This is what you want for your facility. These temporary professionals that you have acquired through a medical staffing agency have already been through a thorough screening process by that agency. This allows you to know that you are getting a qualified professional.

No Final Commitment

By utilizing temporary medical professionals, you are not committing to hiring a person that may not be good for your facility. If the person is not the right fit, you have the option of contacting the agency to get another person to fill that position. Whether it is one try or multiple, you end up with the right person in the position. It is understood that every personality does not work in every environment. Therefore, it is important that you find the right person for your facility’s culture. As the staffing agency starts to understand your culture, the process will run smoother. The staffing agency puts in the hours to do the recruiting, and you benefit from not having to make a commitment to a person that is not right for your facility.

The Unexpected

When seasonal illnesses are at their worst, your staffing will get hit. When people call out due to illness, a backlog of work is left undone. During those times, you can utilize temporary medical professionals to provide the additional help that you will need, and in many instances, you may want to have an additional staff person on hand to get you through the backlog that has built up due to people being out. Whether it’s paperwork, patient forms, or any other issue that could cause a person to have to work over-time, the additional staffing will allow your workers to catch up on the things that they need to do during regular hours. At the same time, your patients’ quality of care is not compromised.

If you have not worked with a medical staffing agency, give them a try. It can only benefit you in the long run.

Written By: Medical Staffing 360 Staff

Resources for Nurses – Keep this on Hand

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A nurse’s time is split between work and personal life. The balance can be hard to maintain, but it easier when the right tools are available. This article is a resource for nurses to utilize as they expand their careers in either travel, contract, or per diem nursing.

  • gsa.gov – Per Diem Rates by State, City, and County for calculating monthly housing and meals and incidental amounts.
  • americanheart.org – Search for local BCLS, ACLS and PALS classes offered.
  • ncsbn.org/boards – ­Contact information for all state boards of nursing.
  • ncsbn.org/nlc – Information and map of current states participating in the Nurse License Compact.
  • nurseceu.com – Site to obtain additional CEU’s. Although there are some courses that nurses will need to pay for, there are courses that are free.
  • kobaly.com – Travel Nurse Tax Specialist, highly recommended by travelers, recruiters and healthcare staffing companies to make sure nurses are taking advantage of benefits available and making sure they meet the criteria set by the IRS.
  • paycheckcity.com/calculator/salary/ – Salary Paycheck Calculator provides an estimate of take home pay after taxes, based on filing status and deductions.
  • ehealthinsurance.com – Great tool on the web for Accurate Private Health Benefits Quotes.

These resources are being presented for informational purposes only. Medical Staffing 360 does not endorse any of these websites.

Written By:  Medical Staffing 360 Staff

To Work with a Recruiter or Not

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As a medical professional, it is important to recognize what you want out of your career. Once you know what you want from your career, it is important to find the right people to get you on the right track. Instead of struggling to find the best jobs to fit your goals, open your mind to help that is available through a recruiter.

Finding Balance

For most people, it is a struggle to find a work-life balance. The demands on healthcare professionals are intense. On top of those demands, there is continuing education, and in some instances, a family or personal commitments that need you. The balancing act is tough, but a recruiter gets it. Their goal is to place each candidate in the right position that allows balance. Recruiters do this because they take the time to listen to you and your needs.

Get Noticed

With all the different positions available, it can be overwhelming. Every position has specific criteria from that client. By working with a recruiter, everything you have filed with your application and resume can easily be used in connecting you with the right job. The recruiter does the searching for you. A recruiter will work for you. They review your experience and needs, and match them with open positions. Recruiters get you noticed.

Career Advancement

When you work with a recruiter, a recruiter learns what your goals are and works with you. Recruiters are essential in helping you advance your career. As you gain more experience or education, a recruiter will work to place you in more challenging positions. If the fit is not right, the recruiter will let you know that it does not match you. Your success is the recruiter’s success.

Medical Staffing 360 wants you to have a prosperous career. Our recruiters are steadfast in their approach to find the right position for each person. Contact Us today to get more information.

Written By: Medical Staffing 360 Staff

The Benefits of Hiring Temp Nurses

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As times are continuing to change, the workforce is changing also. Upon graduation, many nurses are not looking for the traditional full time job, but for jobs that allow them to practice multiple disciplines to strengthen the education that they received in school. For nurses that have experience, some are looking to try new facilities. The adds a new workforce that wasn’t available before. These additional workers can help your facility in numerous ways. Some of the benefits are listed below.

  1. Scheduling Breaks – Healthcare is too important to be short-handed. With staff getting sick, family emergencies, or childcare issues, the needs of your patients could be compromised. By utilizing a staffing agency, those positions can be filled, and patient care is not compromised. This allows for the facility to continue to run smoothly with nurses that have already been screened by the staffing agency.
  2. Time to Catch Up – Many facilities utilize temporary nurses to allow the me the opportunity to catch up on patient forms, paperwork, or any other that would normally cause a full-time employee to have to work overtime. The temporary nurse can help in getting you caught up. Temporary nurses are also great for helping you during seasonal times when absenteeism is high or seasonal illness is running rampant. Having extra nurses available ensures that your patients are receiving the highest care possible.
  3. No Obligation – Temporary nurses come with no obligation to hire them as full time employees. This allows you to figure out who fits you the best. In some situations, you may not even be looking for a full-time employee, but the fit might be so good that you will decide to keep the person. The great thing is that there is no obligation to hire the person or have them back. You have control.

There are more benefits than the three listed in this article. Medical Staffing 360 understands that each facility has unique needs, and we work with you to meet those needs. As you find yourself in need of temporary nurses, take the time to check out Medical Staffing 360.

Written By:  Medical Staffing 360 Staff

The Importance of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

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The demand for physician services is high and the cost of utilizing physicians can also be expensive. For many, it has become imperative to look for alternatives. Two great alternatives are Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs). There are many misconceptions concerning NPs and PAs, but hopefully, this article will eliminate some of them.

Qualifications

Although there are many people who believe that NPs and PAs are not qualified to give the same high level of care that a physician can give, but that is simply not true. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants endure years of schooling and training. This allows them to diagnose and treat patients. For an NP or a PA to do their job, they must work under a doctor’s supervision. For patients, this means they will be seen by a qualified professional faster. The physician is still consulted, and the facility is able to provide qualified medical professionals to take care of their patients.

Reduce Expenses

The salaries associated with physicians can be expensive. It will cost you considerably less to employ an NP or a PA. By employing an NP or PA, your patients will not have to wait as long to be seen. There is improved efficiency when wait times are decreased. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants can help in providing preventative information to the patients. This employment will also increase patient compliance. The physicians on your staff are now fee to see more patients.

Trained Professionals

At your facility, you want to provide the best care possible. NPs and PAs are trained professionals with extensive clinical experience. They have also practiced under different specialties. For your facility, you are getting qualified and credentialed professionals. To give your patients the best care possible is the goal. By using these professionals, you will meet your goal.

Coordination and Education

In order for the use of NPs and PAs to work, coordination will need to be done between the physicians and the NPs and PAs. By them working together and coordinating care for the patients, everyone wins. To help your patients, take the time to educate them on the importance of the NPs and PAs. Make sure they understand that their quality of care is being improved because the physician is not being overburdened and a team is working on their care.

Written By: Medical Staffing 360 Staff