15 Lessons Learned During My Nursing Career

1. Just when I think I’ve seen or heard it all, something else comes along.
2. To be really successful, you must learn to be the master of multitasking.
3. Don’t ever pass up the opportunity to use the bathroom—you might not get another one for a very long time.
4. Losing my sense of smell at age 15 has served me very well in many situations during my career.
5. Family, friends, neighbors will call you at all hours asking you for expert medical advice on any and all ailments, and you will be expected to know the answer—immediately.
6. I have a great appreciation for nurses that work the night shift.
7. I’m a terrible patient.
8. I love Dansko shoes.
9. Learning to accept that you can’t always be all things to everyone at all times.
10. When people find out you are a nurse, they tell you everything—and I mean EVERYTHING.
11. Always carry a blue or black pen.
12. Don’t write your family notes that contain medical abbreviations—they will have no idea what you are talking about.
13. Patients trust and need you.  Do everything you can to respect and maintain that trust.
14. Listen to your intuition.
15. You should expect and look forward to learning something new everyday.

Are you a nurse? What are some of the lessons, tips or tricks that YOU have learned during your career? Leave them in the comments section below!

Not a nurse?  But know one? Be sure to thank your nursing friends TODAY!

Established by the American Nurses Association to coincide with Florence Nightingale’s birthday, National Nurses Week is a time to recognize the strength, commitment, and compassion our nurses provide all year long to patients and their caregivers.

Nursing is more than a profession; it is a calling. Under any circumstance, our nurses find a way to give a bit of themselves to every patient in their care.  A single week is not enough time to acknowledge how important and appreciated our nurses are, but it gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect and to say “thank you” for the daily contributions of these dedicated professionals who are at the heart of patient care day in and day out, 52 weeks a year.

Please take time this week to thank those nurses in your life. Exceptional people choose to be nurses. Theirs is a rewarding profession, intellectually challenging and physically demanding. We honor and appreciate our nurses who accept these challenges daily.

For your dedication and commitment we say thank you!

Strong first or baby teeth set the stage for strong permanent teeth, and help children play, learn, and grow. That’s why HealthNet’s NEW Pediatric & Adolescent Dental Center, located in downtown Indy,  is pleased to offer dental check-ups and cleanings for children of all ages.

When Should Dental Care Start?
Proper dental care begins even before a baby’s first tooth appears. Remember that just because you can’t see the teeth doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Teeth actually begin to form in the second trimester of pregnancy. At birth a baby has 20 primary teeth, some of which are fully developed in the jaw.

Running a damp washcloth over a baby’s gums following feedings can prevent buildup of damaging bacteria. Once a child has a few teeth showing, parents can brush them with a soft child’s toothbrush or rub them with gauze at the end of the day.

Even babies can have problems with dental decay when parents do not practice good feeding habits. Putting a baby to sleep with a bottle in his or her mouth may be convenient in the short term — but it can harm the baby’s teeth. When the sugars from juice or milk remain on a baby’s teeth for hours, they may eat away at the enamel, creating a condition known as baby bottle tooth decay. Severe cases result in cavities and the need to pull all the front teeth until the permanent ones grow in.

The American Dental Association recommends that a child’s first visit to the dentist take place by his or her first birthday. At this visit, the dentist will explain proper brushing and flossing techniques (you need to floss once your baby has two teeth that touch) and conduct a modified exam while your baby sits on your lap.

Such visits can help in the early detection of potential problems, and help kids become accustomed to visiting the dentist so they’ll have less fear about going as they grow older.

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Click here to find the HealthNet dental center closest to you!

This month, HealthNet Certified Nurse Midwife Blythe Kinsey joins a team of nurses on an amazing adventure to Tanzania, East Africa. Here’s an excerpt from the team’s blog: 

Jambo!

I just thought I would send a note from Tanzania! For those who don’t know I am working as part of a Vocational Training Team through a Rotary International grant at Aga Khan University in Tanzania. We are working with the University to review their assessment and evaluation standards for their nursing and midwifery students.

I woke this morning sleepy but excited….We have been preparing for months to help the professors of Aga Khan University look at assessment tools for students, to help evaluate the students practice. We will be offering our assessment tools to help guide their evaluation process.

It has allowed for a deepening of the ideals that I think about when I think of a good student, who turns into a good nurse, who then can turn into a good nurse-midwife. How as preceptors, professors and instructors do we foster those skills that are imperative as well as the attitude behind them that allows for success? We are excited to facilitate this discussion!

We will all deepen our knowledge and understanding of this through this process. We will share our ideas and will learn from the ideas of Aga Khan…and I know will all be the wiser for the process.

Blythe

Click here to follow the team’s blog!

Since 1994, NIIW has served as a call to action for parents, caregivers, and health care providers to ensure that infants are fully immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases.

The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death. According to TIME, one in five children around the world lack access to immunizations that help keep children in the U.S. healthy. Every 20 seconds, a child in the developing world dies from a vaccine-preventable disease.

Despite these figures, vaccination remains a controversial subject and parents who choose not to vaccinate do so out of the belief that they are putting their children’s health first. But the data points to the contrary. California, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have reported rising rates of whooping cough, which public health officials attribute in part to parents opting out of vaccines for themselves and their children. Measles cases in the U.S. are also the highest they’ve been in 15 years.

Got questions about immunizations for your child? Check out this interactive immunization guide:

http://www2a.cdc.gov/nip/kidstuff/newscheduler_le/

That’s the message of Minority Health Month, which each April aims to raise awareness about disparities in health care affecting minorities.

This year’s theme, Advancing Health Equity Now: Uniting Our Communities to Bring Health Care Coverage to All, seeks to reduce disparities and improve health care outcomes with affordable access to care.

Health disparities — differences in health outcomes that are closely linked with social, economic, and environmental disadvantage — are often driven by the social conditions in which individuals live, learn, work and play.

Racial and ethnic minorities still lag behind in many health outcome measures. They are less likely to get the preventive care they need to stay healthy, more likely to suffer from serious illnesses, such as diabetes or heart disease, and when they do get sick, are less likely to have access to quality health care.

According to the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities:

• Infants born to black women are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to die than those born to women of other races/ethnicities and American Indian and Alaska Native infants die from SIDS at nearly 2.5 times the rate of white infants.
• Cancer is the second leading cause of death for most racial and ethnic minorities. African American men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer and Hispanic women are more than 1.5 times as likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.
• African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives are twice as likely to have diabetes as white individuals; diabetes rates among Hispanics are 1.5 times higher.
• Although racial and ethnic minorities constitute one-third of the U.S. population, they make up more than half of the 50 million uninsured people.

Want to help?

Like other community health centers across the country, HealthNet’s full-service primary care centers are purposefully located in high need areas and are open to all, regardless of ability to pay.

 Sign up today to be an advocate for the community health center nearest you! Together we can make an impact in improving access to care and reducing health disparities in Indy.

To learn more about health centers and their model of care, check out the National Association of Community Health Center’s fact sheet.

Ah, spring. The weather is warming up. It’s time to open those windows and start sprucing up around the house. Although many of us don’t think about it, it’s also a great time to spring clean your health.

Check out these 12 essentials to help you kick your healthy habits up a notch—from tossing old makeup to deciding to eat local—with nary a cleaning rag in sight!

Nearly 900,000 people die each year from causes that can be prevented. For the first time, American children may live shorter lives than their parents. Nearly 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese. More than 50 million Americans do not have health insurance.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. With your help, we can make America the healthiest nation – and Indy one of its healthiest communities — in one generation.

In honor of National Public Health Week this week, please join us and watch this video by the American Public Health Association and share it with people you care about.

Catching preventable illnesses and incidents before they develop is the key to improving our nation’s health. There are so many small steps we can take to begin leading healthier lives; sometimes it just takes a little motivation. We CAN work to encourage more people in Indianapolis to take preventive measures to help improve their lives. Little steps can lead to big changes.

One step you can take today to make our nation – and Indy – a healthier place to live is to advocate for the Community Health Center near you.

Community Health Centers like ours play a central role in improving public health – by providing access to affordable, preventive care close to home. They serve as the health care homes for over 20 million people in the United States.  BUT! There are still 60 million Americans, even those WITH insurance, who do not have regular access to health care.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN

FOR AMERICA’S HEALTH CENTERS!

Here’s a sobering statistic.

Just released data, complied by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, reports that Indianapolis ranks near the bottom — 46th in the nation — in infant mortality, with a rate of 9.7. Thankfully, that’s DOWN from the previous year’s rate of 11.3.

Although still higher than most other developed countries, the U.S. infant mortality rate has declined by 34 percent since 1990. Developments in maternal health and advancements in medical technology partially explain the trend. Despite improvements, racial disparities persist, with African-American (11.6 per 1,000 live births) and American Indian (7.6 per 1,000 live births) infants experiencing higher mortality rates when compared to their white counterparts. And the effects of poverty play a significant role too.

Those takeaways ring true especially for our Better Indy Babies and Healthy Families staff, who are all about helping kids get a great start in life.

Check out the report. It’s worth the read. We commend the Casey Foundation for raising awareness about key issues that can lead to better lives for all Hoosier kids. The question is, what can we, here in Indianapolis, do to keep Indy’s infant mortality rate going DOWN and help our community flourish?

There are lots of challenges to consider. Neighborhoods. Safety. Jobs. Health. Resources. Education.

Each of those is a big challenge, but each needs to be addressed in concert so that more families have more opportunities for a higher quality of life. We owe it to our kids to start the conversation.

Yet even as welders and electricians prepare the building for its fall 2013 opening, funding conversations are beginning in Congress that WILL directly affect health services for Indy and other communities across Indiana next year. The U.S. House of Representatives has already started work on the FY2014 annual appropriations process, which helps provide much of the funding for community health centers.

Here’s how you can help, Indy.

Last week, the bipartisan sign-on letter led by Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), indicating support for the Health Centers program to House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Jack Kingston (R-GA) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), has begun circulating, the National Association of Community Health Centers reports. The deadline for signatures is set for April 10th. You can view the letter here. The letter is a great way for Representatives to publicly convey their support for the Health Centers program in the FY2014 Appropriations process.

Take Action: Request your U.S. Representative support Health Centers by 1) Signing on to the Bilirakis-Pallone letter, and 2) Submitting an individual programmatic request in support of full funding for Health Centers.

The Bilirakis-Pallone letter conveys general support for the Health Centers program and does not include a specific funding level. Individual House Members can include Health Centers among the programs they deem priorities in their individual programmatic requests to the House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is now accepting these requests and the deadline to submit individual programmatic requests is April 15th. However, many individual House offices may set internal deadlines prior to that date, so the time to reach out to Hill offices about supporting Health Centers via programmatic request is NOW!

Click here to send your U.S. Representative an email now!