Personal finance must be your top priority. The nursing profession is indeed a lucrative job. It has its perks and advantages, mainly if you choose to be a nurse in a specific field like travel nursing. If you’re a student nurse right now, you’re probably thinking, “I want to be a nurse because it pays well, ” While this is true, this should not be your end goal. Just because the job pays well, that’s all you’ll ever chase. Being a nurse is more than just the dollar sign; being a travel nurse requires time and dedication. And if you want to do both and get the paycheck you deserve, you must also learn how to build a solid financial foundation.
Remember, you will not be a nurse forever, and learning to manage your finances as early as now will help set your future. What can you do about it? And what are the benefits of having a solid financial foundation?
In this episode, we would like to introduce you to Anthony Swain. Anthony has been an RN since 2014 and works as a travel nurse and Nurse Finance Coach. He recently released his new e-book, The Travel Nurses’ Guide to Personal Finance. The goal of his book is to help nurses & other healthcare professionals develop a solid personal financial foundation so that they can be empowered by money rather than be hindered by it. His mission is to help others reach financial independence.
QUESTIONS FOR OUR GUEST
The questions below are some we’d like to tackle. We often go off-topic, so we don’t expect to hit them all. If you have any ideas, please let us know.
Looking forward to our conversation!
These are the questions you had in Calendly. We’ll go off your questions and wherever else our conversation goes.
Can you please give us a little background about yourself?
Before we dive into some financial tips, what was your favorite unit to work on?
What was it like working with liver and kidney transplants? What did the day-to-day look like?
When it comes to liver and kidney transplants, what are some protocols you follow or things you pay attention to?
When you started travel nursing, what really surprised you? Were you surprised by how little focus is placed on investing and saving for your future?
Is working overtime worth it? Doesn’t a lot of it get eaten away by taxes?
What are the most critical systems to put in play when travel nursing?
Where should people start to put their money?
In your book, you mention asset and investment allocation; what are they, and are they different?
ENDING QUESTIONS
Before we end the show, we have one last question we like to ask all our guests.
If you had the opportunity to have a Cup of coffee with anybody one last time, who would it be & why?
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Want to learn more about managing your personal finances? Click here for the full video 👇👇👇
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction 01:44 About Anthony Swain 03:37 Travel nurse financial lesson 04:48 Financial tips for new grad nurses 10:02 Possible modifications to make student loan repayment easier 14:25 Financial advice for nursing staff who want to do travel nursing 17:16 What to do with the money you’ve saved? 18:32 The journey of writing a book 20:31 What’s inside the book 21:50 How to begin building financial stability 24:54 How to track your finances 30:35 What to do with your extra money 33:36 Can a nurse retire early? 36:45 Difference between Asset allocation and Investment allocation 38:01 Where are Anthony’s Investment 40:57 Difference between an Index Fund and a Stock 45:38 Universal Life Insurance vs. Term Life Insurance Policy 50:12 Wrapping up the show
Nurses are among the essential workers in the healthcare world, especially now that we have a pandemic. However, miscommunication among nurses is an issue that happens quite often. How can this be avoided? What causes miscommunication among nurses?
How Can Miscommunication Among Nurses Be Avoided?
There are a couple of ways that nurses can avoid miscommunication. Keep in mind that being able to relay the correct information about their patients can make a difference in nursing care. As a nurse, you must provide accurate data regarding their condition so proper nursing can be given. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Make eye contact when endorsing patients.
There is a sense of relief whenever the shift is over, especially if it has been a toxic one since you first clocked in. While it is exciting to exit the nurse’s station once your shift is over, make proper endorsements first. The best way to ensure no miscommunication is to make eye contact with the next nurse on duty when endorsing the patient’s chart.
Take the time to explain everything, from the procedures done to the patient, medications given, the diagnosis (if you have to), and even the physician/s who came to check in with them.
Making eye contact gives you the chance to scan for any uncertainty in their face or if they understood what was said to them. It is also the best way to engage someone in a conversation and ensure they listen to what you say.
2. Use bedside nursing boards.
Bedside nursing boards are also commonly known as bed-census boards. These can help you with an open line of communication among nurses in the team/building, the patient’s families, and you as health care providers.
The boards help with the patient’s condition and communicate with their families and the rest of the hospital staff. Understand that there are tons of healthcare providers in the hospital working on patients. Failing to communicate properly can lead to negative consequences.
Bedside boards are essential in providing reports to the next nurse on duty. It can help them understand what happened during your shift and fill them in on the patient’s history if this is their first time handling them. Bed-census boards also prove to the patient’s families that proper care is given to their loved ones.
3. Take time to talk to your patients.
Nurses are often busy in each shift, and it is not surprising that they cannot give their patients full attention. However, taking the time to check on your patients, listen to their concerns, and show that you can help are enough to put them at ease. It is also a good nursing quality to have.
Allowing a few minutes of one-on-one conversation with your patients can be rewarding. It is easier to see how they are improving and establish a sense of trust as their nurse. Although you may not do this every day, it is best to create a routine and stick to it.
How Can Nurses Improve Their Communication Skills
Improving communication among nurses is possible. To do this, nurses like you practice patience and become better listeners. When you listen, you don’t offer one ear but both. Keep in mind that you are working with other nurses who are also busy. Listening to each other is crucial to providing better services to patients.
You can also avoid communication conflict when you practice active listening. Active listening is repeating the key points of the conversation to the speaker. So, make it a habit to listen to your coworkers and improve your listening skills.
Another way to avoid miscommunication among nurses is not to interrupt the speaker. This could be helpful during endorsements at the end of the shift. Allow the person to finish talking first before asking questions.
Keep in mind that even the slightest cues can determine the condition of patients. Resist the urge to ask questions whenever someone is talking.
As a nurse, you must also learn to maintain a positive attitude. Remember, happiness is contagious! Your positive outlook can also affect your coworkers and even your patients.
When things get a little serious, be sure to keep your emotions in check. Your nurse training taught you to remain professional and courteous during conversations. No matter how angry or upset you are, keep it cool.
Be aware that your emotions can affect others and your ability to communicate at work. When you do so, miscommunication among nurses will not happen.
In Closing
Communication is an essential part of patient care, and when this is done accordingly, it is nurses can work together effectively. If you feel like you or your coworkers are missing out on proper communication, take the step to address this issue. It will surely help your team and other hospital staff to do better as you provide nursing care to your patients.
The common causes of nurse burnout are rarely talked about these days. With the pandemic still rolling, nurses often go on with their lives. But the stress and burnout nurses feel are very real. The pandemic affects the work of nurses and the different factors that make their jobs extra challenging.
The 5 Causes of Nurse Burnout
A nurse’s job is overwhelming and can be a toxic experience when the shifts are long. Of course, nurses are superheroes, and nothing seems to weigh them down. But there are plenty of other reasons why nurses are often exhausted at work. Here are common causes of nurse burnout:
#1. Stressful environment
Most nurses work in a stressful environment and often involve high-stress levels. Nurses who work in particular areas like the Emergency Rooms, Trauma Unit, or Intensive Care deal with traumatic injuries, combative patients, high mortality rates, and ethical dilemmas that put more strain on themselves. As a result, the burnout these nurses face is widespread.
#2. Short Staff
The shortage of nurses is now a real problem in many hospitals. These days nurses handle more patients nurses than they can, and with the increasing number of Covid patients, it is more likely that nurses are understaffed. There is also an increase in retiring nurses, making it harder for new nurses to adjust to their roles.
#3. Lack of Sleep
As a nurse, your job often involves working night shifts and long hours. Because of this, many nurses do not get enough sleep. And even if they do, it is not the best quality of sleep either. In a survey conducted by Kronos, 25% of nurses reported suffering from insomnia or chronic fatigue.
#4. Lack of team support
One of the many reasons for nurse burnout is when team members do not cooperate. Poor teamwork caused by conflicts, lack of communication, and bullying can lead to poor execution of nursing care. It can also lead to a toxic work environment and medical errors if many nurses do not work together.
#5. Emotional exhaustion
The main job of nurses includes patient care which is the most rewarding aspect of this profession. As a nurse, you form connections with patients and their families when you help and care for them. However, this could also lead to emotional distress for nurses, especially if they are in critical or end-of-life care.
Nurses who take care of several patients at once can also lead to emotional exhaustion. And nurses who are taking care of more than four patients in one shift have higher risks of burning out and raising each patient’s chances by 23%.
Other Reasons for Nurse Burnout
While the ones mentioned above are prevalent, there are also other reasons why some nurses are exhausted to the rim. Among these include:
Work overload and time pressures
Role conflicts and ambiguity
Career development issues
Being exposed to infectious diseases
Needlestick injuries
Work-related threats and violence
Difficult patients
How to Know If You are a Burnout Nurse?
There are plenty of signs that you are already burnout as a nurse. While there are signs that you are experiencing total burnout, some nurses quickly dismiss it and continue working. If you are that nurse, then it’s time to sit back and take note of these burnout symptoms.
Gets sick easily
One of the most common signs of burnout is when you get sick often. A weakened immune system can lead to many gastrointestinal issues, heart problems, and chronic pain. If you are not careful, these can easily manifest after contracting viruses. You also experience constipation, aches, and pains.
Experiences compassion fatigue
People who become nurses are compassionate by nature. And nurses who often work with the sick and dying tend to lose their compassion after witnessing pain and suffering. Because of this, some nurses detach themselves from patients due to feelings of failure and cynicism toward their job.
Chronic fatigue
Have you ever felt exhausted but cannot seem to get rid of it no matter how much you rest? Do you go to bed tired but still wake up feeling the same in the morning? It is a common sign of chronic fatigue. As a nurse, this condition is widespread. Extreme physical exhaustion, unable to catch up with sleep, and dozing off at hours when you should be awake are among the most common signs of this condition. It is often felt by nurses who work long hours on consistent shifts.
Lack of enthusiasm
When you were a new nurse, working seemed to be an exciting thing. However, as the years go on, this enthusiasm seems to fade. If you ever dread going to work and focus on going home whenever you are there, your confidence in this job is starting to die down. And that is not a good thing. Your lack of enthusiasm may lead to other issues at work.
Feelings of being unvalued
Work is part of a nurse’s life. But when you are overworked as a nurse, you may feel unappreciated and unvalued. And when this goes on for long, feelings of resentment and frustration can happen. This resentment could be towards their job, coworkers, and even their patients. It is not a good state of emotion for a nurse. If this is the case, the best step is to reach out to someone you can talk to about how you feel. You can either discuss this with your supervisor or a therapist to get the help you need.
Overwhelming anxiety
To the general population, having anxiety is normal. It is also a part of our lives – to experience anxiety. However, when the stress becomes crippling, it can be an issue. Nurses who feel too pressured at work to the point that they cannot function normally can become a problem. Burnout can cause severe stress, which leads to insomnia or delays in daily activities. Nurses cannot give quality care when they are not feeling their best.
Your Takeaway
These are the common reasons for nurse burnout and when you feel you are going way over than you can carry, take a pause and rest. Ask for sick leave or vacation leave. Take time off to take care of yourself.
Keep in mind that nurses like you are human too. Do take time to recharge and refresh your mind and body. A few days off work will not hurt you. And remember, you must take care of yourself first before taking care of others. Make your health a priority above all else!
Nursing negligence is when a nurse fails to do or perform minimum nursing care within the standards of conduct, which results in loss or harm. It can also result from a failure of the nurse to perform their duties or when it is done incorrectly.
While this rarely happens, it is still something that all nurses must be aware of. The lives of our patients are in our hands, it is vital that we are always conscious and mindful of our job and duties as members of the healthcare team.
Our Guest
In this episode, we would like to introduce you to Irnise Williams. Irnise is an experienced nurse and now an attorney. She has a vast amount of knowledge when it comes to healthcare law. Irnise has advocated for and trained thousands of healthcare providers to work within their scope of practice. She has also worked with over 100 businesses helping them operate and stay protected by creating systems, solutions, and success through her 5-step framework.
QUESTIONS FOR GUESTS
The questions below are some we’d like to tackle. We often go off-topic, so we don’t expect to hit them all. If you have any ideas, please let us know.
Looking forward to our conversation!
These are the questions you had in Calendly. We’ll go off your questions and wherever else our conversation goes.
Can you give us a background about yourself?
From a legal standpoint, what can nurses get in trouble for?
What kind of cases do you see most that involve nurses, physicians, or any healthcare professionals?
What is malpractice from a healthcare professional standpoint?
What is your experience with malpractice cases?
Should every nurse have malpractice insurance?
Other than malpractice insurance, how should nurses protect their licenses?
What Potential Legal Ramifications Do Nurses Face?
What should you do as a healthcare professional to avoid getting sued?
Have HIPPA laws changed at all?
How is social media use affected by HIPPA law in the workplace?
Can we talk about nursing stories outside of the hospital setting?
What is the 66-day business Bootcamp you offer?
ENDING QUESTIONS
Before we end the show, we have one last question we like to ask all our guests. If you had the opportunity to have a Cup of coffee with anybody one last time, who would it be & why?
Learn more about Nursing Negligence & HIPPA by watching the full episode here! 👇😎
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction 01:50 About Irnise Williams 05:19 The reason why Irnise went to law school 07:30 Transitioning from being a nurse to running a law firm 11:31 What you should do to avoid getting into trouble 14:08 Things that nurses may be held accountable for in court 20:52 The difference between negligence and malpractice 22:46 HIPPA Violations 28:29 Information you shouldn’t post on social media 30:31 Can a healthcare provider sue a hospital 33:52 Does healthcare provider need malpractice insurance 35:06 Other services Irnise can provide 36:47 Legal tips for nursepreneurs 38:31 Responsibilities and liabilities of a travel agency 41:26 Wrapping up the show
10 Best Jobs for Nursing Students in Need of Extra Income
Nursing students can get a job even while they are still studying. And in this post, we compiled the best jobs for nursing students.
The pandemic has affected many nurses and health care facilities. Because of Covid-19, many hospitals are experiencing a shortage of nurses. Thankfully, nursing students help out with other jobs that hospitals need.
Why Should Nursing Students Get a Job?
Having a part-time job as a student nurse is helpful in your career. For one, it enhances your skills as a future nurse. It also allows you to work alongside actual healthcare workers and get first-hand experience on what it’s like to work like a pro. Your work experience is also valuable once you apply for nursing jobs in the future. So, what kind of jobs can you work for as a nursing student? Here are a few:
1. Phlebotomist
A phlebotomist is a person who draws blood from patients that need to be tested for donations or procedures. As a student nurse, you can work as one. Blood is collected from patients to be analyzed for illnesses, the effectiveness of medication dosage, and evaluate nutritional levels in the body.
Nursing students can work in this position and gain valuable healthcare experience while interacting with patients. A phlebotomist can earn around $12.50 to $17.70 per hour, which is very helpful as a college student who wants extra spending money.
2. Orderly
One of the best jobs for nursing students is being an orderly. An orderly is someone who helps sanitize various rooms and equipment used. They also provide help for patients who need wheelchairs and other equipment required for mobility.
An orderly also helps transport patients or escorts them to various treatment rooms like X-rays or wheel them in for surgeries. According to PayScale, orderlies make around $8.96 to $16.81 per hour if you want to work in a part-time position.
3. Certified Nurse Assistant or CNA
Nurse assistants provide help for nurses during critical situations [1]. Usually, nurse assistants can work in healthcare facilities, camps, schools, hospitals, etc. Most of the time, this job involves working with young children and are often offered in pediatric facilities. Depending on their working facility, CNAs can earn around $13.00 to $16.00 per hour.
4. Home Health Aide
A home health aide is an essential job for nursing students interested in working as private nurses in the future. This job allows nursing students to work with patients within their homes and provide assistance. Usually, patients are disabled, injured, mentally or physically ill, and confined at home.
One of the main jobs for nursing students working in this position is to work with a nurse who supervises the patient’s care. Home health aides can help you hone your nursing skills, and you can earn around $9.00 to $12.00 per hour.
5. Monitor Technician
As monitor techs, you get to work within the Intensive Care Unit and monitor patients’ heart rates. Your job is to watch for irregularities or patterns and alert the nurse or physician on duty. This job is an excellent opportunity for nursing students interested in cardiac care or planning to work as cardiac care nurses. Monitor technicians can make $16.00 to $20.00 per hour.
6. Transporter
Another job that nursing students can apply for is being a transporter. A transporter gets to see the logistics involved in transporting patients from one part of the facility to another. To qualify, all you need are excellent communication skills, being personable, and being someone who enjoys interacting with patients receiving care.
One of your primary responsibilities includes working with other nurses and physicians to help transport patients to their procedures or examinations. A transporter typically earns around $9.00 to $15.00 per hour, not bad if you are a student looking for part-time work.
7. Hospital Clerical Worker
As a hospital clerical worker, your job is to work with different healthcare officials, patients, and healthcare providers. One of your jobs is to encode doctor’s orders in the electronic system, answer patient questions, answer phone calls, and provide other secretarial duties. A hospital clerical worker earns $11.00 to $19.00 per hour if you are interested in working as one.
8. Caregivers
One of the best jobs nursing students can try being a caregiver. A caregiver is someone who assists patients who need a companion. Their job is to help patients go to their appointments, report changes in their condition, and assist with their medication and meals. And if you are interested in working as one, a caregiver can earn around $9.00 to $15.00 per hour, depending on the client.
9. Dietitian Aide
Another exciting job for nursing students is being a dietitian aide. If you are interested in preparing meals for patients, this is an excellent way to learn about it.
Patient meals often come with physicians’ orders, and dietitians prepare them. Your job is to make sure that patients follow the guidelines as ordered by their doctors. Dietitian aides make about $8.00 to $12.00 per hour.
10. EMTs or Emergency Medical Technicians
Nursing students seeking an exciting job can work as emergency medical technicians [2]. They are the first to respond to emergencies and evaluate and treat patients as they are transported to hospitals. Among your responsibilities include administering oxygen, CPR, or providing interventions to sick and injured people. As EMTs, you can earn around $16.80 to $21.00 per hour.
Your Takeaway
Nurses and nursing students alike do not stop learning. There is always something new to do and situations to gather experience from. And if you are a nursing student, the chance of learning different skills from these jobs can help you. Now that you know what the best jobs for nursing students are choose the one you want to pursue. We hope that our list has helped. Good luck!
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