Marian College is proud to announce that a couple of our very own blog posts have made their appearance on one of the top nursing blogs of 2016! The nursing blog is known as “The Nursing Site”, providing valuable information to nurses, student nurses, and those who aspire to become nurses.

Our very own blog here at Marian College attempts to offer the same valuable advice to nurses, our very own students, and those who may be considering a career in nursing.

The Two Blogs Featured on The Nursing Site

1. Technology and Nursing: How Tech Savvy Should Nurses Really Be?

This is an interesting post because it highlights an integral aspect of society today: technology. If you look back even just 20 years ago, you’ll find that technology has rapidly advanced over the years. Unless you’re on top of it, it’s very difficult to stay current, which is why we constructed a valuable post around this topic.

The short answer to the question is YES, you should be somewhat technology savvy if you decide to become a nurse. Why? Because it will give you something to offer to the older, seasoned nurses that may not be tech savvy. In exchange, you’ll receive their knowledge for mutual growth. It’s a win-win.

2. Social Skills in Nursing – Introversion and Shyness

Does shyness mean one cannot become a nurse? Absolutely not. Anyone can become a nurse and both introverts and extroverts offer different ways of approaching their patients. As a nurse, you are required to perform certain skills and duties that may not always call for conversation. As a nurse, it’s important to understand that sometimes-patient interaction is not necessary. However, interaction between team members is vital to running an efficient operation.

Find Your Answer at Marian College!

We’re delighted to have the opportunity to share valuable information, experiences, tips, tricks, and advice that we hope provide value to our readers. If you have any questions regarding nursing, simply use the search bar above to see if we have already written our response to your question. We do our best to stay current and on top of the latest in nursing. ☺

Looking back, we must say that 2015 was a great year! Being a school of nursing, it is important that we keep our blog consistently updated with nursing-related articles that we hope provide value in some way to both our students and our readers. Thank you for supporting us throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the top nursing articles of 2015 that we feel provided the most value. Please keep in mind the information contained within these articles may still be applied today!

1. Productive Ways to Spend Time During Summer as a Nursing Student

This is a great article to get you thinking about what you can do this summer (2016) after class is over. Staying active in the nursing community will it make it that much easier to land your first job out of school. When you remain active, you meet people & network your skills and abilities. You also broaden your knowledge of the subject.

2. Common Fears of Nursing Students Addressed

We’re sure that you have experienced one of these fears at least once at some point during nursing school. It’s rather common, actually. But this is a great article that helps you curb these common thoughts that do nothing but bring you down.

3. Applying for Jobs After Nursing School

When nursing school is all said and done, the next step is clear: finding a job. We offer a few great pointers on where to begin when you reach this beginning stage of your nursing career. And when you nail the interview, here’s an infographic to keep in mind to help you land that nursing job!

Nursing is a field that is always changing, every year. A New Year has begun and there’s one question we want to provide some insight to: what’s in store for nurses in 2016?

Affordable Care Act

We won’t go into specifics here, but President Obama’s Affordable Care Act has been gradually implementing over the months. As a result, more and more people are obtaining access to health care. What does this mean? It simply means nurses will continue to be in demand!

The Power of Technology

We can expect to see a growing reliance on technology. Nurses and doctors are using more and more applications and portable devices on the job in order to make their medical operations more efficient.

Pro tip: Those with technology knowledge & skills will be favored over other candidates when applying for a job!

5 Smartphone Apps Every Nursing Student Should Have.

More Education Opportunities

Nurses are still in high demand and online educators know this. As such, they are continuing to push their online programs to people with busy schedules who still want education, all for an affordable price.

Start Your Nursing Career at Marian College! Nursing programs offered in Los Angeles & Van Nuys, CA with classes starting in March, 2016.

Geriatric Care

First off, geriatric care refers to care provided to older adults and their family members. Nurses in this field must have specialized skills in order to assist in treating their illnesses and injuries. The fact of the matter is that people grow old and with advances in medical technology & treatments, it’s not surprising to see that adults over 85 happen to be the fastest growing segment of our population.

Pro tip: Specialize in Geriatrics Care!

The New Year is officially here and by now most of us have decided on a New Year’s Resolution. If you haven’t, then there’s still time as we have come up with our own New Year’s Resolution ideas for nurses.

The tricky part is maintaining progress on your new resolution. We’ll make the resolution, stay true to ourselves for the first week (or first month) and then slowly return back into our busy routine – leaving the resolution out of the picture. But at least you tried, right?

It’s easy to get caught up in the fast paced life that we live in. Advertisements begging for your attention, exams to study for, nursing classes to attend, jobs that you are responsible for, helping Grandma clean the garage out, etc.

Don’t worry – breathe. Relax.

That is why every so often it is important to take a step back from it all and just spend time having fun – in an appropriate manner. We try emphasizing this here at Marian College!

Back in August, we hosted a Marian Fun & Games event where students and faculty participated in a little friendly competition with Jenga® and other fun games. You would be surprised the difference it makes when you’re having fun, laughing, and smiling!

Marian College Family Fun Day (August 2015)

Laugh, smile, and have fun!

Nurses play a critical role in the different healthcare settings, whether they are caring for patients in a physician office, working at the patient’s bedside, or providing care and training as part of public health. They are lifesavers, caregivers, trusted resources, and so much more.

But the expectations thrust upon nurses are often accompanied by long and variable work hours, exposing them to the stressors of caring for ill people, like sleep deprivation, lack of time to address family responsibilities, and upset of the biological clock.

When working shifts, you don’t have a routine meal schedule, and this can be further complicated by working back-to-back 12-hour shifts. Such schedules may disrupt your personal life and sleep and waking patterns (circadian rhythms), resulting in chronic fatigue, GI distress, cluster headaches, and a myriad of other problems.

Managing Healthy Eating as a Nurse

A study conducted by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality revealed that nurses regularly miss or skip meals to attend to patients. The result is snacking on unhealthy and less nutritious high-calorie items, like chips or candy bars, which are easily accessible via vending machines.

But having little time to rest or eat is not a good excuse for missing meals. There are many options for preparing and consuming healthy meals within small time frames, though it requires good planning and commitment. Here are some useful tips:

1. Carry meals from home.

When you have a bit of time to prepare a balanced meal at home, you can bring it to work and eat it when you get the opportunity. You can also save money that would otherwise be spent on eating out by ordering food.

2. Divide your home meal into a morning snack, lunch, and small afternoon snack.

Dividing your meal into smaller portions is advantageous in a number of ways. First, it eliminates the need to binge on a single large meal, which can affect your caloric intake. Second, you have a better chance of finishing a small meal and enjoying it, so you don’t have to skip meals. Third, it keeps you away from sugary vending-machine snacks and fatty or spicy foods. And fourth, you can enjoy your meals when relaxed.

Skipping meals can lead to cravings and blood glucose spikes that trigger the increased production of triglycerides – stored as body fat, increasing the risk of weight gain.

3. Carry a large bottle of water.

It is important that you stay well hydrated to ensure proper circulation, body temperature regulation, bowel function, and proper transport of nutrients throughout the body and water removal. Dehydration is known to stress the heart and raise core body temperature, increasing fatigue. So, try to consume 8 cups of decaffeinated beverages a day. Although coffee can increase your alertness, large amounts of coffee can cause insomnia, stimulate cardiac activity, and exacerbate GI symptoms.

Lastly, you may prefer to eat at a restaurant or cafeteria at your workplace instead of bringing food from home. If this is the case, identify proper meals on the menu to avoid impulse buying. Eating healthy is an important way for nurses to reduce the impact of stressors, improve their health, and boost satisfaction with both work and life in general.

The start of a New Year provides a great opportunity to turn over a new leaf, and possibly change some behaviors that may have started to slide. Many people look forward to shedding fat, drinking less, being more active in the workplace, or even getting a new job.

For nurses, the challenging work environment is constantly reminding you to change one or more things to help you get through shifts more smoothly. However, some changes may not be viable. For instance, declaring to never work overtime or leave right after your shift could affect your finances and even put your job at risk depending on the circumstances.

Nursing New Year’s Resolutions

However, there are many resolutions you can make about your personal life, career as a vocational nurse, or the healthcare sector in general that fit your daily struggles, including the following:

1. Commit yourself to learning new things

The healthcare environment is changing rapidly in unpredictable ways, and nurses looking to provide the best possible standard of care should keep themselves informed by reading journals, attending professional programs, and doing internet searches. Commit yourself to learning irrespective of whether or not your organization is paying for it or offering paid time off for you to participate.

2. Challenge yourself to make a personal sacrifice for your long-term professional success

If you have always wanted to advance your education to bring yourself closer to a long-term career goal, this is the time to take that step. If you want to get into a leadership role, you should take a charge nurse role, and invest your time to make it succeed.

3. Help to build a healthy work environment

Building a strong and positive culture in the work environment is not just a duty for those in leadership. You can choose to stop engaging in negative behavior and discussions at your workplace, and help to cultivate a more positive setting.

4. Volunteer to guide a new graduate in their work transition

Thousands of new nurses enter the practice every year, filled with passion and enthusiasm for their chosen profession. New nurse graduates often get frustrated as they experience the reality of the profession, and require good coaching to reduce their disillusion and make them aware of their important role in the world. As the future of nursing, they may someday take care of your loved ones, and coaching them will give you a fulfilling goal as you contribute to their future.

5. Find a mentor

If you are uncertain of your future in the healthcare sector, you may need to find a mentor who can offer career guidance and help to increase your awareness of your strengths and areas that need mentoring. This will also keep you motivated.

On a more personal level, you may evaluate your performance over the past year to identify areas of improvement. For instance, you can try to be more positive, smile more, be more patient, listen more than you speak, and say thank you more. Changing yourself will positively impact those around you, as well.

Whether you’re an LVN, RN, or other specific type of nurse, there’s a great chance that you will be working a major Holiday as a nurse. It’s an unfortunate truth in this profession, but there are plenty of ways to make it seem less daunting if you’re new to the world of nursing.

How to Survive the Holidays as a Nurse

Treat Yourself

Because you’re working the Holidays, there may be a chance you’ll receive overtime pay and other bonuses. Take some of this extra money to treat yourself to new clothes, an outing, or something else you’ve had your eye on.

Flexibility

Even though you are working New Year’s Day, does that mean you cannot enjoy New Year’s Eve? Absolutely not. The trick is to be flexible with your schedule in order to enjoy your traditions.

For example, perhaps celebrate New Year’s with your friends or family on a different day. It would give your friends and family something to look forward to, while allowing you an opportunity to stay in the loop.

Coworkers/Colleagues Companionship

Most of the time, you will be close with your coworkers and colleagues as a result of your out-of-the ordinary schedules that generally do not coincide well with friends or family who sport typical 9-5 jobs.

With that to say, you may want to look into celebrating Holidays on off days with your coworkers instead. You can also celebrate on the job by having small potlucks. At least this will ensure you have good food to look forwards to on breaks during Holidays.

Stay Festive – Decorate Where Possible

What better way to remind yourself of the Holidays than to be actively participating in it. You may not have a chance to help Mom decorate the tree this year, but you may have a chance to put your own festive spin on the nurse’s station at work.

Keep Your Patients in Mind

Above all, remember that as a nurse it is your duty to provide care to your patients. With this in mind, be respectful of the fact that many of your patients may not be able to see their own friends and families during the Holidays in 8 or 12 hours (marking the end of your shift).

You’ve officially taken your first step into the world of nursing by either starting or finishing your education at Marian College. At this point, if you’re just finishing your training, you’re probably wondering what to expect during a shift, especially if you’re hired to cover a shift after sundown. If you’re just beginning your training, it is great that you’ve begun your journey by researching and planning ahead, so welcome!

Although the responsibilities and duties are about the same for both morning shifts and evening shifts, the night shift introduces unique challenges, that as a nurse, you may have to overcome. As challenging as it may be sometimes, there is no greater reward than knowing you are helping others while practicing what you enjoy. We’ve picked up some of the best tips on how to survive the night shift as a nurse to help ease the transition. If there is anything that might help your thrive on your first day as a nurse, for either morning or night shift, it is to research and prepare.

Transitioning to Night Shift Nursing

1. Get Adequate Amount of Sleep During the Day
This is probably easier said than done. Working during night time not only may affect your sleeping pattern, but it may complicate getting any sleeping altogether. To help avoid experiencing sleep deprivation, we recommend preparing your body for this transition by creating an environment conducive for sleep. By using curtains to help create a relaxed setting and avoiding any distractions such as electronics, magazines or bells, you should be able to rest comfortably. Establishing new but healthy sleeping habits will help prevent any side effects to these sudden changes in your lifestyle. Having a necessary amount of sleep will benefit your personal health, performance and overall energy levels throughout these late nursing nights.

2. Have Small Portions and Snacks Throughout the Shift
Instead of having a large meal before your 12 hour nursing shift, believing it will help prevent any hunger, pack various snacks you can eat throughout the night. Things such as almonds, dried fruit, raw salads and vegetables will provide that “energy boost” you need to perform adequately throughout your shift.

Although hot coffee and donuts might sound like a good idea, the donuts usually aren’t. You might feel a sudden sugar-rush but with such intensity these foods might create at first, the crash is just as strong. Researching for recipes that are high-protein, complex carbohydrate, and low-fat foods might be a good place to start when preparing for long nights at the ward.

We’ve added some recipes on our Pinterest board for night shift meal prepping your way into super stamina and high-energy nursing.

3. Exercise or Get Active to Stay Alert
There will be a point in your shift were the fatigue and drowsiness might start to kick regardless to the coffee consumption you might’ve already had and your only resort is exercise. Staying active during your 12 hour shift is crucial to help you stay aware of any sudden emergencies and helping you perform as efficiently as possible. Some of the small exercise moves you can practice during your shifts are:

Climbing a set of stairs is a type of aerobic exercise that’s beneficial to your overall health. Not only will it help you survive your night shift but it will improve your breathing and help blood flow. Your body naturally releases painkillers to help alleviate tension when exercising, so climbing stairs will leave you feeling better.

Doing stretch exercises during a quick break will help reboot energy levels and leave you feeling refreshed.

Whether you’re preparing for your first night as a nurse or you’re considering becoming one, well-researched planning will help you adjust just fine. Everything will be worth it at the end when you realize how much of an impact you make in your patient’s life. Good luck on this new journey full of learning and opportunities.

Everyone knows that nursing is a tough profession that demands a lot of skill, patience, and dedication. Nurses face disease, suffering, and death, and often find themselves going through long and intense periods of somberness, which adds to the pressure of responsibility.

It is at such times that nurses need a healthy, and perhaps, twisted sense of humor to ease up the pressure and help them relax while at work without having to wait for specific times or days for entertainment and relaxation.

So, the next time you feel stressed and need a way to laugh & relax a little, just browse nursing memes. Here are 5 of the funniest nursing memes we found that only nurses can understand and appreciate:

1. Typical 12-hour Shifts

2. Asking Patients About Allergies

3. Happens From Time to Time…

4. Make Sure You’re Prepared for the Worst

5. A Great Feeling Indeed!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – an annual global campaign involving thousands of organizations that seek to highlight the importance of breast education, awareness, and research. The entire country rallies behind an estimated 3 million Americans diagnosed with breast cancer.

How You Can Get Involved

There are a few ways for you to support Breast Cancer Awareness this October, including:

1. Making Others Aware of the Facts

Breast cancer is the most typical type of cancer among most American women, with the exception of skin cancers, and the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in women, second only to lung cancer. 2015 estimates for breast cancer from the American Cancer Society indicate that:

• About 231,840 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer
• About 60,290 people will be diagnosed with carcinoma in situ (CIS) – the earliest form of breast cancer (is non-invasive)
• About 40,290 women with breast cancer will pass away

For the last 25 years, deaths caused by breast cancer have reduced drastically due to earlier detection via increased awareness and screening, as well as better treatment. Since 1989, an estimated 2.8 million people have survived breast cancer in the US, including those still going through treatment and those who have already completed treatment.

2. Participating in Events

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, different organizations try to get the public involved in raising awareness and funds to facilitate breast cancer research through campaigning and hosting an array of events. So, whether you love to run or walk, attend events, or shop, there are lots of different ways for you to support the cause.

Here are a few events for those looking to go pink in Los Angeles:

October 17th 2015
WHA Making Strides Walk in NOKIA Plaza at L.A. LIVE! The Women in Health Administration team is organizing a walk on October 17th from 8am to 12 pm. You can become part of the team by signing up, fundraising, and taking part in the 5K walk.

Through October
The Mr. C restaurant intends to donate a portion of sales to the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation through October. So, you can enjoy your meals at the restaurant while contributing towards the fight for cancer. Some costs to expect include:

• A glass of Perrier-Jouët Blason Rose Champagne at $22
• A cup of Tealeaves Mountain-Berry hot tea at $5.95
• A slice of the pink Cipriani Vanilla Meringue Cake at $12.95

As for the meal times: breakfast is served from 7 to 10:30 a.m.; lunch from noon to 4 p.m.; and dinner from 6 to 11 p.m. daily. The restaurant is at 1224 Beverwil Drive, Los Angeles. 310-277-2800.

Final Note
Besides increasing your knowledge about breast cancer and donating to organizations, you should also get screened for breast cancer and talk to your doctor about your own risks and how to reduce them.