There is nothing more heartwarming than spending the holidays surrounded by friends and family sharing wonderful meals, presents and stories. But for many families, their loved one is away working in a hospital or care facility meeting the needs of others and trying to spread a little holiday cheer. As we celebrate the holidays, let’s not forget the men and women who sacrifice to provide hope and healing for so many. While most businesses might be closed for Christmas and New Year’s Day, hospitals and care facilities aren’t; sickness, aging and accidental injuries don’t take a day off, and neither do those charged with providing care.
I was amazed by the loving spirit I observed during the year I worked at our local hospital, but never more impressed than when the holidays came. The corridors echoed with ho-ho-hos and many of the staff adorned themselves with ornaments and Santa hats. While it can be tough to be away from the family during a major holiday, here are some ideas for nurses and other care providers that can make the day better:
Be festive at work – it will raise your spirits and those around you, including patients
Play holiday music
Share a holiday potluck or meal
Take heart that you are helping those who must be in the facility to smile and know someone cares
Be thankful that you get to go home to your family and friends when your shift ends
Celebrate the holiday with our friends or family on a different day
The rest of us can make those holiday shifts a little brighter for care givers and their patients:
Bring some baked goods for the staff
Deliver some thank you cards
Find ways to volunteer at hospitals and care facilities
You know what DTaP, APA, BBP, CVA, FMPS and MI stand for.
You learned that Stable is not one of the four conditions of a patient which are: Critical, Serious, Fair and Good.
Discussions of mucus were one of the daily dinner table conversations.
You learned to dread full moon nights and what kind of mood your nurse-parent would be in the next day.
Scrubs were considered every-day attire.
You laugh at needles, catheters and don’t freak out anytime anyone slips on latex gloves.
You constantly heard, “from one to ten, what’s your pain level?”
You were regularly awakened from a dead sleep because your breathing patterns were a little too close to Cheyne-Stokes rhythm or sounded like severe apnea.
You were taught to carry four extra pens and to keep track of every one of them.
You got used to daily “bathroom visits” to check your BM.
There was nothing you could do that would gross out your nurse mom or dad.
The last place you were allowed to go when you were sick was to see a doctor.
Most people assume nurses live healthy lives, but that isn’t always the case. The challenge posed by long hours, demanding shifts, and stressful encounters often leaves nurses worn out, and healthy eating sometimes takes a back seat in favor of easy eating.
Instead of stopping by the nearest fast-food restaurant on the way home from your next shift, think about the importance of eating well.
Tips and tricks for healthy eating
As a nurse, you need to commit to three things in order to take care of yourself: regular exercise, adequate sleep, and a balanced diet. Each of these feeds off the other, naturally, but you could argue that a balanced diet is the most important.
Here are some of the most vital tips for maintaining a healthy, balanced diet while pursuing the responsibilities of a busy nurse.
Never skip a meal. When you’re working an eight- or 12-hour shift, it can be too easy to skip a meal. However, you mustn’t forget how important it is to eat regularly. Not only do meals dispel hunger, but they’re also essential for giving you energy and focus. Instead of relying on your stomach to tell you when it’s time to eat, make a habit of eating a small meal every four to six hours whenever you’re on call.
Don’t binge eat. As a result of skipping a meal, you may try to overcompensate by binging on a single large meal. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t operate this way. It can’t handle so many calories at one time. If you do happen to miss a meal, simply move on and make a point of not missing another.
Slow down. When a shift is super-hectic or busy, it can be challenging to relax during a break. But try to avoid rushing your meals. Your body needs time to digest the food you give it, and rushed eating can lead to heartburn and an upset stomach.
Avoid vending machine food. Vending machine food is quick, easy, and convenient, you know it’s rarely good for you. To combat the temptation to purchase junk food out of machines, bring your own snacks with you to work. Not only are your healthy alternatives good for you, but you’ll save money in the long run.
Cut back on fat and sugar. You have to cut back on saturated fats, processed foods, and items that have a high sugar content. Not only do these increase your chances of developing heart disease in the future, but they can also cause you to feel groggy in the present.
Drink plenty of water. Mayo Clinic suggests female nurses need around nine cups of non-caffeinated beverages per day, while men need roughly 13 cups. Though these are merely guidelines, you should aim to hit these marks as a bare minimum. Not only does water keep you energized and healthy, but it also enables your body to flush harmful toxins out of its systems.
Get plenty of rest. Did you know that sleep-deprived people tend to be hungrier than those who get adequate amounts of rest? By getting seven to eight hours of sleep per night, you’ll end up being less hungry during the day.
Go for superfoods. When you don’t have a ton of time to plan and cook meals, it’s a smart move to pack as much vitamins and nutrients into your food selections as possible. For optimal results, shoot for a diet that’s rich in superfoods such as kale, nuts, sweet potatoes, spinach, and yogurt. Other wise choices include wild salmon, almonds, avocado, and organic coconut oil.
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Few jobs are as demanding as night shift nurse. Although the duties are no different for nurses as night from what day workers have to do, the unusual hours present unique challenges.
Knowing how to handle this situation properly can ensure that you live a happier and healthier life, as well as perform better on the job.
The challenge of the night shift
Studies and statistics have shown that shift work isn’t good for the human body — especially night shifts. That’s because they upset the body’s natural circadian rhythm, which tells the body when it’s time to rest and recuperate.
Research suggests that people who work night shifts for 10 years or more often suffer from memory loss, cognitive deficits, and an array of other mental deficiencies. In addition, other studies have pointed to hourly shift work as a possible factor in heart attacks.
While short-term night shift work is unlikely to cause any permanent damage, these discoveries indicate that it’s vital to pay attention to how you handle unnatural work shifts.
Helpful tips for surviving the night shift
Obviously, working on the night shift shouldn’t be a long-term proposition. As a new nurse, however, you’ll likely be asked to handle a few night shifts each month.
How you tackle these assignments — before, during, and after — will dictate whether or not you succeed. Here are several tips to help youprepare for proper handling of night shifts:
Stay busy. Although night shifts can be slow, it’s useful to stay active, and find constructive tasks to perform, if you can. The last thing you need to do is doze off. This will further complicate your body’s circadian clock and will leave you feel groggy and disengaged, not to mention the potential danger to your job security.
Be wary of 4 a.m. Research suggests that for most night shift workers, fatigue and drowsiness peak at 4 a.m. With that in mind, you should avoid scheduling critical tasks at this time, and try to give yourself a boost with physical activity.
Use caffeine cautiously. While you may enjoy the initial kick that caffeine gives you, it’s best to use caution when it comes to depending on coffee, soda, and energy drinks. Caffeine often comes with negative side effects that leave you feeling jittery. It also stays in your system much longer than you might think and can keep you awake hours after your shift when you should be sleeping.
Keep your home dark. In your bedroom at home it’s a good idea to invest in blackout curtains. You need to keep your house as dark as possible during the day to avoid sending the wrong signals to your brain. Otherwise, your body will naturally respond to sunlight by waking up.
Don’t forget about exercise. You mustn’t neglect exercise just because you’re working a night shift. Many nurses like to go for a jog, do yoga, or lift weights a couple hours prior to starting a shift. While you may initially feel more tired, the exercise will invigorate your muscles and keep you engaged over the long run.
Get home safe. Did you know that almost 20 percent of all serious car-crash injuries are directly attributable to drowsy or sleep-deprived drivers? On your way home from a night shift, be sure to stay alert and keep aware of your surroundings. If you find it too difficult to drive home after a shift, catch a ride with a coworker or call a friend. It’s not worth risking your life just to get home.
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For most of us, time is a rare commodity. If you had an extra hour, what would you do? Let’s throw out the obvious: get an extra hour of sleep, play with the kids or clean the house, and here are some interesting ideas as the end of Daylight Saving Time this weekend provides that rare extra hour of time:
Write a love letter to your spouse or partner (when was the last time you did that?)
Catch up on that Netflix show you keep trying to see
Try a new recipe
Read a book
Get a massage
Write those thank-you notes you promised you’d get out
Google yourself and family members
Plan a perfect dinner party
Give yourself a makeover
Unplug the computer and TV, hide your cell phone and just enjoy the silence.
For Educators:
Use it to write longer, pithy comments as you grade papers due last week
Get an extra hour of push-ups and exercise to gird yourself for the rest of the school year
Shop for technology you’d like to have in your classroom (but probably won’t ever have the funds for)
Revise the lesson plan to satisfy unsatisfied parents and administrators
Learn how to do math problems the “Common Core” way
Fill a week’s worth of water bottles and prepare snacks to save time the rest of the week
Doing that self-evaluation you were supposed to do at the beginning of the school year
Fill out grant requests so you can afford to buy classroom materials
Rearrange the class seating chart to accommodate the three new students who are coming into your already crowded classroom
Look over the “new” testing criteria that will be instituted next semester
Looking up recipes you’d like to cook, if you had the time
Reacquaint yourself with the people you call family, but rarely see
Catch up on the charting that electronic record keeping promised would be “that much easier and faster”
Reorganize the work station so it is actually more functional
Go for a run or to the gym for the first good workout of the year
Talk with the patient in room 201 whose yet to have a visitor
Chart your goals and desires and the prescription to getting there
Design a patient gown that actually fits and works
Actually watch one of the shows or movies in your Netflix cue
Take that nap you promised yourself at the beginning of the year
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