How Your Mindset Affects Your Life with Gary Clinton
Your mindset affects your life in ways you don’t even expect. The truth is that many factors could affect our mental health.
It could be stress, frustrations, or pent-up emotions that we cannot express. It could also be pressure at work, studies, or it could also be the way you think. We tend to put pressure on ourselves.
And when we can’t fight these, it will indeed affect us. It is also the reason why many of us suffer from depression and anxiety.
But is there a way to combat these mental health issues? How can we keep a healthy mind? And most importantly, how can your mindset affect your health and life in general?
In this episode, we would like to introduce you to Gary Clinton. Gary Clinton is a mental health enthusiast passionate about mental health, dreams, nutrition, fitness, and creating a ripple effect on this earth to change human consciousness.
We talk about the philosophy of life and how Gary overcame depression to become the person he is today.
QUESTIONS FOR GUESTS
The questions below are some we’d like to tackle. We go off-topic, so we don’t expect to hit them all. If you have any ideas, please let us know. We are 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.
QUESTIONS:
You told us that you lost your father. How did you cope with a death of a loved one? How did it affect your childhood?
What were you trying to emotionally escape from? How did you deal with depression?
What is the value of talking to someone?
How do you clean up the mind?
What are non-negotiable habits? And how important are they?
How do you describe life and suffering in a metaphor?
Any words of wisdom for people suffering from depression?
How do we overcome suffering?
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?
To learn more about how our mindset works and mental health, check out Gary on Instagram @mentalhealthhelp.ie for more helpful lessons and tips that you can use in life.
Learn more about your mindset by watching this full episode. Click here for the best advice! 👇
TIME STAMPS:
00:00 Introduction 01:38 About Gary Clinton 05:58 How acceptance molds our future 07:57 Coping with the loss of a father and Healing Childhood 11:13 Escaping emotions and dealing with depression 14:48 Value of talking to someone 18:13 Goals, Dreams, and going through change 21:36 Shifting perspective 25:39 Tools to keep you on track 27:33 Cleaning up the mind 32:43 The non-negotiable habits 40:18 Metaphors for life and suffering 58:19 Wrapping up the episode
How we react to the stress response is important. We all deal with stress differently. Some people can get over it quickly, while others take their time.
But why is that? Is there a way to help reduce anxiety? Does food play a role in this? Find out more by reading about it in our post.
What is Stress
Stress is your mental and physical reaction to pressure from a certain situation. But remember, not all of the stress response is bad.
Certain stress helps you and gives you the strength to do more. Negative or harmful stress is referred to as distress, and on the flip side, positive or good stress is referred to as eustress.
When someone comes into contact with a stressful situation, the cerebral cortex identifies it and sends the information to the amygdala.
The amygdala interprets the senses, and if it perceives it as dangerous, it sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus.
When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus.
This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy for fight or flight.
The hypothalamus controls such involuntary body functions as breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, and the dilation or constriction of blood vessels and bronchioles in the lungs.
The autonomic nervous system has two components;
Sympathetic nervous system: functions like a gas pedal in a car. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, providing the body with a burst of energy so that it can respond to perceived dangers.
Parasympathetic nervous system: acts like a brake. It promotes the “rest and digest” response that calms the body down after the danger has passed.
After the amygdala sends a distress signal, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system by sending signals through the autonomic nerves to the adrenal glands.
These glands respond by pumping the hormone epinephrine into the bloodstream. As epinephrine circulates through the body, it brings on a number of physiological changes.
The heart beats faster than normal, pushing blood to the muscles, heart, and other vital organs.
Pulse rate and blood pressure go up.
The person starts to breathe more rapidly. Small airways in the lungs open wide. This way, the lungs can take in as much oxygen as possible with each breath. Extra oxygen is sent to the brain, increasing alertness.
Sight, hearing, and other senses become sharper.
Triggers the release of blood sugar (glucose) and fats from temporary storage sites in the body. These nutrients flood into the bloodstream, supplying energy to all parts of the body.
The Body’s Stress Response Process
All of these changes happen so quickly that you won’t be aware of them right away. The body’s wiring is so efficient that the amygdala and hypothalamus start this cascade even before the brain’s visual centers even have a chance to fully process what is happening.
That’s why people are able to jump out of the path of an oncoming car even before they think about what they are doing.
As the first surge of epinephrine subsides, the hypothalamus activates the second component of the stress response system, the HPA axis.
This process consists of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. The HPA axis relies on a series of hormonal signals to keep the sympathetic nervous system going [1].
If the brain continues to perceive something as dangerous, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which travels to the pituitary gland, triggering the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
This hormone travels to the adrenal glands, prompting them to release cortisol. The body thus stays revved up and on high alert. When the threat passes, cortisol levels fall.
The parasympathetic nervous system, the brake, then dampens the stress response.
Cortisol is also responsible for:
Increased urea production, appetite suppression, suppression of the immune system, exacerbation of gastric irritation, an associated feeling of depression, and loss of control.
In addition to the HPA axis, some other hormones, such as Growth Hormone (GH) and thyroid hormones, also play a significant role in stress.
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone released from the anterior pituitary gland. GH raises the concentration of glucose and free fatty acids.
Thyroid hormones, the Thyroid releases thyroxin and triiodothyronine. The main function of thyroid hormones is to increase the overall metabolic rate.
Thyroxin also increases heart rate and also the sensitivity of some tissues to catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine).
Negative Effects of Stress
When you are unable to efficiently cope with stress or if the stress persists over a long period of time, it leads to negative systemic effects. Stress affects the body in many ways.
Stress affects both physical as well as mental health.
Some of the prolonged effects may be individualized, but some of the effects are common to every individual.
Most of the effects are associated with increased concentrations of corticoids and adrenaline. Some major effects on the body’s systems are [2]:
Digestion
Inconsistent eating habits, acid reflux, diarrhea, or constipation are the common symptoms seen in stressed persons. Chronic stress is also associated with obesity leading to many other negative effects.
Though there is no clear evidence that stressful life events promote the development of diabetes in children or in adults.
In addition to that, hormonal changes occurring during acute and chronic stress can also affect glucose homeostasis in both healthy people and those with diabetes.
Several studies have reported a negative effect of acute stress on the maintenance of blood glucose concentrations in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Circulation
Both adrenaline and cortisol affect heart and blood pressure when active over long periods of time. Too much adrenaline makes blood pressure go up, which in turn affects the functioning of the heart since the heart has to pump harder and faster.
This can produce coronary heart disease, strokes, and sudden cardiac arrest. Stress has been reported to be a predictor of incidents of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and hypertension.
Stress can cause increased oxygen demand on the body, spasms of the coronary blood vessels, and electrical instability in the heart’s conduction system.
Chronic stress also leads to increased blood cholesterol levels
The persistently high levels of cholesterol and other fatty substances in the blood may cause atherosclerosis and sometimes may be a reason for a heart attack.
Cortisol also plays a role in the accumulation of abdominal fat, leading to obesity. Occupational stress also has a significant influence on the onset of CHD.
The persistent activation of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis in chronic stress response impairs the immune response leading to several types of infections.
Studies have shown that people under chronic stress are more susceptible to viral illnesses like the flu and the common cold, as well as other infections.
The high levels of stress hormones suppress the release of cytokines and chemicals secreted by Th cells. Cytokines regulate both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses in the body.
Chronic stress may dysregulate cytokines that can lead to suppression of both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses, as well as systemic inflammation.
Proinflammatory cytokines produce symptoms of fatigue, malaise, diminished appetite, and listlessness, which are the symptoms usually associated with depression.
In some cases, stress could also be a cause of cancer. The persistent activation of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis in the chronic stress response and in depression probably impairs the immune response.
It can also contribute to the development and progression of some types of cancer. Studies have indicated that stress can promote breast cancer cell colonization of bone.
Since sex life depends on the fitness of both body and mind, chronic stress may decrease libido.
It may even cause erectile dysfunction or impotence in men. In the case of chronic stress, testosterone levels can drop to the extent that can interfere with spermatogenesis (sperm production).
In women, stress can affect the menstrual cycle. It can lead to irregular, heavier, or more painful periods [3].
2 Foods That Decrease Stress
Many foods can help you with stress. The reason many foods decrease stress is that they usually help rev down the stress response. Many common foods will help you get through your stressful times.
Chronic stress leads to poor food choices that further increase inflammation. This is why it is important to eat healthily and dial down on nutrition.
Oatmeal
The main reason why oatmeal helps with stress and anxiety is that it boosts serotonin. Serotonin is a natural feel-good neurotransmitter. Oatmeal increases serotonin due to the fact that it is a good source of tryptophan.
Tryptophan is a precurses to serotonin, and studies are looking at whether levels of tryptophan have an impact on mood.
Oats are also a complex carb, high in fiber, and rich in vitamin B, magnesium, and potassium.
Those nutrients play a key role in blood sugar stabilization, mood, and energy. Fiber has been shown in some studies to decrease oxidative stress and inflammation.
Stable electrolyte levels help with heart function and blood pressure.
Tea
Tea has been around for thousands of years. There is a wide assortment of teas, but specifically, black tea has been associated with calming and relaxing properties.
There are 2 major players when it comes to tea having these beneficial effects. L-theanine and catechins are responsible for the destressing functionality of tea [4].
L-theanine is an amino acid commonly found in tea and certain mushrooms. L-theanine facilitates relaxation by boosting GABA, serotonin, and dopamine.
It also reduces the amount of cortisol in your system.
What is really interesting is that l theanine increases alpha brain waves which are associated with wakeful relaxation while promoting attention and creativity.
According to a study shown on WebMD, tea drinkers showed a drop in cortisol levels and decreased platelet aggregation after a stressful situation [5].
Catechins are naturally occurring phenols, also known as antioxidants. It helps combat oxidative stress. It has also been linked to the inhibition of corticosteroid-induced anxiety and stress [6].
Learn more about stress response by watching the full Episode 82 here 👇
TIME STAMPS:
0:00 Introduction 0:45 Cup of Nurses Introduction 2:28 Episode Introduction 2:45 The Stress Response 16:33 Negative effects of stress 16:46 Effects of Stress in Digestion 19:02 Effects of Stress in Circulation 20:49 Effects of Stress on Immunity 27:12 Effects of Stress in Reproduction 33:00 2 Foods that Decrease Stress 33:25 Foods that decrease stress: Oatmeal 35:23 Foods that decrease stress: Tea
Life after you graduate nursing school seems a bit overwhelming, but with proper guidance and helpful tips, you can manage it too.
Where do you want to work? What are the key takeaways from nursing school? What do you need before you step into the unit? It can be tricky to find the right opportunity.
To ensure you are happy with your first decision, take your time and explore the market to learn about the types of opportunities that will be best for your career goals.
Understanding Different Opportunities
Finding a hospital to work in after you graduate from nursing school is often the main goal of many nursing graduates to start their careers.
Other career opportunities (non-bedside): Legal Nurse Consultant, Hospice Nurse, Public Health Nurse, Occupational Nurse, Dialysis Nurse, Nurse Educator
Research the facility you will be applying for to learn more about the role you’re applying for. Answer the following questions:
What are the facility’s mission, vision, and values?
Do you know what the facility’s designation is?
What population do they serve?
Do you know if they have been awarded or recognized?
Different Units – What Unit Do You Want to Work On?
How would you describe yourself?
Lead the team?
Do you love to collab?
Do you work best alone?
What does your ideal workday look like?
Consistent, likes to plan ahead?
Something new every day to keep you on your toes?
A mix of this and that?
Who is your ideal patient?
Elderly, acutely ill, new mom and infant, children?
When it comes to patients, the best way you can help is?
You can use this opportunity as a stepping stone to advance internally up the specialty ladder.
For example, starting in Med/Surg, then working up to PCCU, and then ICU. Other managers and supervisors can notice you and help you cross-train to their unit.
Utilizing your Network and Resources
Since you can’t rely on years of professional experience to land your new gig, using your network to get your foot in the door is your next best option.
After you graduate nursing school, many nursing schools also have a network to help with different employment available for you before deciding on your first job. While doing clinical rotations, you can also inquire about opportunities.
Build your support network early on, as they can offer advice, guidance, and job leads. You can start by getting all your classmates and professors’ email addresses.
Job fairs are another great way to look for opportunities. At a nursing job fair, you can meet with dozens of prospective employers in a single day instead of sending out stacks of resumes and waiting weeks for a response.
If you’re unfamiliar with which facilities are hiring, you can consider major job boards such as Indeed, Linkedin, and Hired.
Tips on using jobs board effectively:
Make sure your Linkedin profile and resume are congruent.
Adding new responsibilities and new volunteer opportunities you’ve taken
Be attentive to the language you’re using in your profile resume
Mirror the language of job listings that interest you in your profile and resume/
Don’t be afraid to reach out directly
Most job boards won’t list direct information to employers but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach out with a follow-up email about your application. The human connection can be the deciding factor.
Clean Up your Social Media Account
Have appropriate profile photos on all accounts.
Edit the biographies, headings, and descriptions to reflect a professional manner.
Run a Google search on your first and last name. Make sure all photos are appropriate.
Change your privacy settings to private if you do not want potential employers to view your social media profiles and photos.
Preparing for Your Interviews
The purpose of the interview is to determine if they like you and whether you’re a good fit for their team. Nursing is a team effort.
They also want to see if you’re as good as you seem on paper and can help them reach their goals as an organization.
Tip: Treat the interview like a conversation where both candidate and employer have a shared goal of getting to know each other.
You’ll be spending a lot of time at work, so make sure your core values align, and it’s an enjoyable work environment – not just tolerable.
Prescreen phone interview for nurses – Usually the first step of the hiring process. The goal is to reduce the number of candidates and invite the best-fitting candidates for the next step.
They’ll ask basic qualifying questions about:
Education
Employment status
Clinical experience
Goals
Tip: Know your availability, as the goal is to invite you for an in-person interview. Also, ask about the next steps, don’t get off the phone and wonder what’s next.
The Interview
This will be your first opportunity to meet the hiring manager or the unit. Ultimately, they are determining if they personally like you.
No one wants to work with a negative Nancy. This includes a number of things:
How they feel about you
How you’ll fit within their unit
Your level of enthusiasm
How your strengths can help them reach their goals
During this time, or maybe for the next interview, you will undergo a panel/peer interview which will include multiple people, usually from the unit, to help the hiring manager pick the best candidate.
We advise maintaining good eye contact with everyone, engaging in conversation with the entire group, sharing your personal stories, and smiling.
Before the interview, make sure you understand yourself.
Your strengths and weaknesses, the experiences you’ve had in clinical settings.
What is your 5-year goal?
Teamwork: Talk about a conflict within your healthcare team. What was the conflict, and how did you handle it?
Patient care: Tell me about a time when a patient’s family was dissatisfied with your care. How did you handle that situation?
Time management: Talk about a time you worked in a fast-paced setting. How do you prioritize tasks while maintaining excellent patient care?
Tip: Be a storyteller. Storytelling is powerful and memorable. Most importantly, it provides evidence to support the assertions made in your resume.
It gives the employer a glimpse at the type of nurse and human being you are.
What to Buy Before You Enter the Unit
Click pens
Penlight
Nursing scissors
Good scrubs
Right shoes
Stethoscope
Giving End of Shift Report
An end-of-shift report is a detailed report of your patients and their overall care and medical status.
nd-of-shift reports include medical history, recent procedures, lab values, medications, head-to-toe assessment, pain management, and plan of care.
Episode 115: Goes in-depth about the end of shift duties and gives a report
After you accept your position, remember that getting off orientation is not a race.
If you are hired with other new graduates, it is common to look at them and feel like you are competing in the race of who can be the best new grad nurse.
Who can take care of higher acuities quicker? Who will be let off orientation earlier? Your work culture can bolster this, especially if your manager starts making comments that make you feel like you’re behind.
Tip: You must focus on your journey and fill in the gaps you need. It’s not about winning a race.
Don’t forget about self-care days!
Treat yourself, take yourself out, get massages, and buy something nice.
Get those feel-good endorphins pumping. The Self-care culture is at an all-time high with talks about the pandemic and burnout.
Here are the things you need to know after nursing school. Click here for the full episode 👇👇👇
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction 0:57 Sponsor Ads 1:34 Cup of Nurses Introduction 3:51 Episode Introduction 6:39 Understanding different opportunities 11:35 What unit do you want to work on? 18:46 Utilizing your Network and Resources 23:29 Tips on using jobs board effectively 24:30 Clean up your own social media account 25:50 Preparing for your interviews 31:01 What to buy before you enter the unit 34:24 Giving end-of-shift report 37:01 Don’t forget about self-care days
Problems in nursing have been there since the beginning, but not a lot has been changed or resolved.
Nursing is the nation’s largest healthcare profession, with over 4 million registered nurses nationwide. Yet it feels like nurses have no voice, no say in what goes on in healthcare.
The struggles nurses face seem to be a nationwide occurrence.
Nurses are plagued with the same revolving problems nationwide. Management in nursing seems to be driven by politics.
The idea of healthcare is centered around patient care. It looks more like hospitals are centered around money.
Top 4 Issues in Nursing We Are Facing
Slowly nursing and healthcare are becoming more of a business. Patient ratios, nurse retention and recruitment, burnout, and patient satisfaction are the current nationwide issues that nurse managers are facing.
Here are some of the problems in nursing we face:
Patient ratios are among the problems in nursing
Currently, California is leading with the best and most complete nursing union. The whole state is union-based, meaning that every hospital in the state is required to have a nursing union.
Some people are anti-union, and it is understandable why but as nurses who have worked in both union and non-union hospitals, we see some major differences. The main difference is patient ratios.
California has the best nurse-to-patient ratios because its nursing union sets strict guidelines on how many patients a nurse has.
It also states that based on a certain level of acuity, a patient might need closer monitoring. These guidelines are clear-cut and strictly adhered to.
When there are good patient ratios, this increases nurse satisfaction. It is hard to understand that nurse managers don’t seem to address this issue.
If you were to ask nurses what would make their job less stressful and empowering, they would all say better staffing ratios. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it is a common problem in nursing.
With appropriate nurse ratios, care would be more personal to the patient and patient-centered.
Let’s face the facts, nurses are overworked, and the amount of tasks they have to do decreases the nurse-patient experience.
This means nurses have less time to get to know the patient, and the concept of holistic care fades because we only have time to treat the body, leaving out the mind and the soul.
Nurse Retention and Recruitment
Another problem in nursing that we face is nurse retention and recruitment. Retention and recruitment are something managers struggle with all the time.
Especially during a pandemic with increased demand for nurses finding and keeping them is tough. If your hospital was already short prior to the pandemic, it is most likely in an even worse state.
Trying to keep a nurse is always a struggle because there is endless opportunity for the nurse.
They don’t have to be tied down long-term to one area because almost every staff position has openings, meaning nurses can almost come and go as they please.
The struggle with nurse retention is related to job satisfaction. Nurses don’t just leave because they feel like it. There is a reason for them wanting to work somewhere else.
Job satisfaction seems to be the biggest motivator for a change in employment. This means that nurses are unhappy. It can be due to many things, such as unit politics, working conditions, stress, workload, and pay.
There shouldn’t be a surprise that nurses are leaving a unit to pursue travel jobs. They pay more, allow you to travel, and explore different units.
If you can’t pay your nurses fairly, don’t expect them to pass up opportunities.
Tough on Managers
Recruitment is also tough on managers. Finding nurses to hire in your unit is a mission in itself. New grad nurses are easier to hire but usually more expensive and use up more resources upfront because they are fresh out of school and need a lot of training.
New nurses are an investment. Nurses from other positions need to be sold on the new job because they don’t want to leave their current job and get stuck with a worse one.
Higher pay and a better working environment are the best way to maintain nurse retention and increase recruitment.
It may seem impossible to provide those, but as we’ve seen during the pandemic, there is money for nurses in healthcare.
Burnout is one of the most common problems in nursing
Another problem in nursing that plagues nurse managers is the burnout of their nurses. Being burnt out leads to less productivity and a weaker work environment.
There are two culprits to nurse burnout, one is related to the work environment, and the second is related to overtime,
Unit politics plays a big part in this because no one wants to work at a job where there is constant negativity.
Nurses talk about other nurses, day shift vs. night shift mentality, and a lack of teamwork deafly to a unit. It is important to foster cohesiveness in the unit to promote a better work experience.
A lot of this also has to do with ratios and proper staffing. It is hard to be happy in a career where the expectation is to always do more because there is a lack of support.
Too much overtime
Some nurses work a ton of overtime. For whatever reason, a lot of nurses pick up too much overtime.
It’s great to help out your peers, but there comes the point where you start to forget to help yourself. You lose touch with yourself and your emotions, get stuck in a fog, and slowly fade from your true self.
You start feeling tired every day, and in a slump you cannot get out of; that’s how burnout feels.
Nurses also pick up overtime for financial benefit because they can earn more. This can be due to college debt that many nurses suffer through.
Making more money is always good, but money isn’t always the root of happiness.
Many nurses that pick up overtime to make more money don’t even enjoy that money because they don’t even put aside the time to spend it on themselves and take care of themselves.
It’s just more numbers in the bank. And it’s a growing problem in nursing that we all face.
Patient Satisfaction
We hear about patient satisfaction scores during our huddles and monthly meetings. Are we hitting the quota for the month?
It’s ironic because if you’d like to increase patient experience, we would need more time to deliver holistic care, which does not happen in our current healthcare system.
Making time for patients, listening, and having empathy take time; our time is only so finite in work. Nurses are currently busy charting on the cash registers instead of giving empathy to patients.
Topics covered in HCAHPS Survey:
Nurse Communication
Doctor Communication
Responsiveness of Hospital Staff
Pain Management
Communication About Medicines
Discharge Information
Cleanliness of Hospital Environment
The Quietness of the Hospital Environment
What are these nursing issues we face? How can we solve the problems in nursing? Watch the full episode here 👇👇
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction 0:49 Sponsor Ads 2:34 Episode Introduction 2:58 Issues in Nursing We are Facing 6:48 Patient Ratios 11:17 Nurse Retention and Recruitment 20:00 Burnout 20:24 Stressful Work Environment 23:16 Too Much Overtime 27:24 Patient Satisfaction 28:02 Topics covered in HCAHPS Survey
Want to know what nurses find funny? Click here for the full episode 👇👇👇
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Cup of Nurses Introduction 1:53 Episode Introduction 2:24 Jessica’s Nursing Background 8:30 Day Flow of a Labor & Delivery Nurse 12:30 What are the difficulties in L&D? 17:56 What are the nurse personalities in L&D? 19:35 What part of L&D Struggles you the most? 47:54 Advise to Nursing Students 50:48 What made you leave the bedside? 55:43 What are your future goals? 1:04:00 Where to find Jessica Sites?
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