Tips for Navigating Social Media

Tips for Navigating Social Media

Many nurses work for health care organizations that have social media policies to govern their online behavior in the workplace. It’s navigating social media at home when the risk can increase for inappropriately posting identifying patient, coworker, or hospital information on personal computers or other electronic devices.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has a social media tip sheet that clearly states what’s at stake when such breaches occur.

”Nurses and nursing students have an obligation to understand the nature, benefits, and consequences of participating in social networking of all types. Online content and behavior has the potential to enhance or undermine not only the individual nurse’s career, but also the nursing profession,” the ANA tip sheet says.

To safeguard patient information, use these guidelines to successfully navigate social media:

  1. Adhere to the standards of professionalism, which are the same online and off.
  2. Separate personal and professional information online.
  3. Do not share or post information or photos acquired through your relationship with a patient as this violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and can lead to such adverse actions as termination, a civil lawsuit, criminal charges, and licensure discipline.
  4. Never use your personal devices to take photos or videos of patients.
  5. Do not post negative comments about patients and their families, or your coworkers and employers. Even if you do not use their names, they (and others) may read your postings on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites, blogs, online chat rooms, and forums.
  6. Promptly report a breach of confidentiality or privacy.
  7. Avoid posting about a challenging or bad day at work. Again, certain details can help readers identify the place or people you are talking about. Consider recording your experiences in a journal instead.
  8. Notify appropriate authorities about content that could harm a patient’s privacy, rights, or welfare.
  9. Consider volunteering to help develop or update social media policies at your workplace.

Be mindful when you post on social media. Nurses are the most trusted health professionals for a reason. Keep it that way.

11 Ways to Get Healthier

11 Ways to Get Healthier

There is good news about the upcoming holiday-pack-on-the-pounds-season. It’s still many weeks away. That means—at the moment—you can’t use the excuse of “it’s a bad time of year” to justify NOT working on your eating and exercise goals to get healthier.

Imagine this: if you start today, you have a nice head start on your 2018 resolutions.

Now, are you ready? If so, here are 11 strategies toward achieving a healthier body and mental outlook:

1. Reach your ideal weight. 

Learn what your BMI is to determine how much you need to lose or gain to improve your health. Anything lower than 18.5 is considered underweight and a BMI over 30 is considered obese.

2. Move into a groove.

What kind of exercise brings a smile to your face? That’s not a trick question. Most of us like doing some kind of activity. The goal is to be active most days of the week for at least 30 minutes. Pump your favorite music and dance while cleaning, watching TV, or lifting weights. Find what works and rock out.

3. Chew more.

Speed eating leads to thicker waistlines. Slow down. Focus on savoring your meals, snacks, and refreshments. Challenge yourself to appreciate every ingredient. Jazz up your table, counter, or island with flowers, candles, or colorful plates and enjoy the view.

4. Minimize stress.

Start with deep breathing, which can lower cortisol levels and blood pressure, studies show. Whether you write in a journal, listen to music, or do an art project, find a way to unwind and relax while enjoying yourself.

5. Maximize positivity.

Your mind is a powerful tool to help you change. Start there. Look for the bright side. Seek out supportive friends. Find ways to reduce stress and increase laughter. Start each day with gratitude and move from there.

6. Get outside.

Fresh air and a brisk walk can be a wonderful combination to lift your mood, increase energy, and burn calories. Consider a picnic while it’s still warm.

7. Ink in play dates (for you, not your child).

You know that pedicure or dinner with your best friend that you keep putting off? Stop doing that. Repeat this: You are allowed to have fun.

8. Keep learning.

Ever longed to play an instrument? Want to learn screenwriting? If not now, when? Keep your mind nimble by stretching your brain. If time is tight, consider online classes.

9. Add vitamin D.

Research shows many of us are vitamin D deficient, which exposes us to all sorts of illnesses and diseases such as an increased risk for coronary artery disease, Alzheimer’s, and early death.

10. Practice mindfulness.

Being in the moment means you are fully present and paying attention to what’s occurring. This type of focus takes practice. Google to learn some exercises to practice mindfulness.

11. Drink lots of water.

Sometimes thirst is mistaken for hunger. Start the day by adding a bit of lemon juice to your water, which aids your immunity and digestion. Carry a water bottle with you to ensure you are hydrated.

Adding these strategies to your daily regimen requires discipline. Aren’t you worth it?

Bully-Proof Steps for Work

Bully-Proof Steps for Work

Of the unexpected horrors that may lurk in the workplace, a hostile environment ranks high, especially if you find yourself with a target on your back. When a bully has someone on his or her radar, a dream job can morph into a nightmare. Workplace bullying jeopardizes careers and health. Stress-related health consequences affect the quality of life on and off the job.

According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), being bullied on the job closely resembles the experience of being a battered spouse.

“The abuser inflicts pain when and where she or he chooses, keeping the target (victim) off balance knowing that violence can happen on a whim, but dangling the hope that safety is possible during a period of peace of unknown duration. The target is kept close to the abuser by the nature of the relationship between them — husband to wife or boss to subordinate or coworker to coworker,” the WBI website says.

Whether you are a new or experienced nurse, protect yourself from workplace bullying with the following strategies.

1. Address the issue of being harassed whenever it happens.

Always respond in a professional manner. An emotional confrontation will go nowhere fast. Stay calm but be firm, whether bullying occurs in public or during a private one-on-one encounter. Consider saying, “Please don’t talk to me like that” or “Your comment is unacceptable.”

2. Create a record.

Write down each incident and include such details as time, date, place, and witnesses. You may need to present this document to Human Resources.

3. Seek out other victims.

There is strength in numbers when documenting a problem. You and your colleagues can work together to address the issue with your manager or HR. Request a safe and healthy work environment. Schedule follow-up discussions.

4. Take stock of your workplace culture.

Bullies often have exceptional skills and provide value to their organization. Answer some hard questions: Are employees pitted against each other? Are bullies promoted, punished, or unpunished? Who are the bullies’ best friends?

5. Seek professional help.

If you feel emotional or psychological harm, seek help from a mental health professional or your company’s Employee Assistance Program.

6. Seek a legal resolution.

If you decide to stay and fight, contact an employment lawyer to explore the possibility of legal action. But know this: according to the WBI, “U.S. labor laws provide embarrassingly few worker protections. Lawsuits are expensive.”

If despite your best efforts to avoid or deal with a bully you find it necessary to seek a new job, you should. No one deserves work trauma.

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Six Health and Wellness Tips for Nurses

Six Health and Wellness Tips for Nurses

As a nurse, you already know that staying healthy should be a top priority. But too often other demands get in the way and doing what’s best for your physical, mental, and emotional needs gets pushed aside.

It’s time to stop this unhealthy cycle and work on increasing your energy and decreasing your stress. Health and wellness are the foundation for success not just at work but in your personal life, too. When you feel better, you perform better.

What better time than midway through 2017 to either create or improve steps to make your overall fitness a top priority. Here are six tips to help you improve your health and wellness:

1. Eat a healthy diet.

For starters, step away from sugar. It’s tough to do, as sugar is everywhere. Avoid foods with sugar listed in the first five ingredients.  Why? “Sugar makes you fat, ugly and old,” Brooke Alpert, a registered dietitian and coauthor of The Sugar Detox: Lose the Sugar, Lose the Weight — Look and Feel Great told CNN. “What we’ve discovered in the last couple of years is that sugar is keeping us overweight. It’s also a leading cause of heart disease; it negatively affects skin, and it leads to premature aging.”

2. Move your body.

Find activities you enjoy and commit to doing them for at least 30 minutes several days a week. Don’t like to jog? Walk. Hate lifting weights? March in place with soup cans while watching your favorite TV show. Increase your steps as a baseline. Be imaginative.

3. Focus on the present.

Adopt mindfulness. Pay attention when speaking to someone. Make time to connect with loved ones on a regular basis. Minimize multi-tasking. Consider scheduling one weekend a month as a time to disconnect from all digital devices.

4. Protect your sleep.

Adequate sleep protects your health. Make a date with your pillow and keep it so you feel motivated and ready for a new day.

5. Embrace education.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) noted that with over 200 free, online courses at Medline University , nurses can learn more about topics that will help enhance their well-being, including safe patient handling and hand hygiene best practices.

6. Join healthy employee initiatives.

Get fitter at your workplace. Not only are you taking charge to improve your health, you build camaraderie with your coworkers as you work toward your goals together.

The ANA designated 2017 as the Year of the Healthy Nurse. Do your part to make that true!

Addressing the Opioid Crisis

Addressing the Opioid Crisis

Nurse practitioners applaud recent enactment of legislation that empowers them to better address the nation’s opioid crisis.

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016 gives nurse practitioners the ability to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication for the treatment of addiction to opioids, such as heroin or prescription painkillers. It can quell withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings, and lower the risk of relapse.

The Act also seeks to increase the access of naloxone to first responders and law enforcement in order to reverse the effects of opioids.

Federal officials have called opioid addiction a national crisis.

Every day, over 1,000 people are treated in emergency departments for misusing prescription opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“[The American Association of Nurse Practitioners] has been very supportive of this legislation to increase access to care for these patients,” says Anne Norman, DNP , APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, vice president of education at the AANP.

Increasing Accessibility

“We are pleased that appropriately trained and educated NPs will be allowed to prescribe the necessary medications for these patients according to their state prescribing regulations and…contribute to the reduction of drug overdose deaths,” Norman says.

Allowing NPs to “treat addiction is a novel solution to bridge the gap in medication-assisted treatment for addiction,” says Peggie Powell, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, a family nurse practitioner at VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital Pain Management Services in South Hill, Virginia, an affiliate of Virginia Commonwealth University.

“Educating patients about their addiction and the need for self-care are very much within the scope of practice for nurse practitioners. The Act empowers NPs to practice to their full extent, but it also increases access to medication-assisted treatment for those in need,” says Powell, a nurse for 23 years, the last 13 working as a NP.

CARA’s enactment extends prescriptive authority to advanced practice registered nurses such as women’s health nurse practitioners. “This is particularly significant as opioid use in pregnancy can have profound implications for both maternal and infant death,” says Susan Kendig, JD, MSN, WHNP-BC, FAANP, director of policy of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NANPWH).

“When buprenorphine is utilized under careful supervision, pregnant women who are affected by substance abuse disorders have a mechanism to address their addiction while working to achieve a healthy pregnancy outcome. WHNPs often work side by side with our colleagues in OB/GYN and maternal fetal medicine in co-managing these conditions,” Kendig says. “Extension of prescriptive authority for buprenorphine to WHNPs can help to improve access to important care for women.”

Studies show that buprenorphine, a form of medication-assisted treatment, cut the risk of death in half from all causes—from overdoses to car accidents.

Educating the Public

Nurses are in a good position to help educate the public about opioid abuse since they practice in a variety of settings, from schools and clinics to home visiting agencies and community-based settings where “they are the face of health care and may indeed be the only health care provider interacting with an individual at any given time,” says Kendig. “This provides opportunity for assessment, education, and referral for opioid use and misuse.”

Nurses help the public learn the signs and symptoms of opioid abuse, which include sedation, slurred speech, itching, euphoria, constricted pupils, mood changes, and difficulty meeting work or school obligations. Signs of withdrawal include anxiety, nausea, and inability to sleep.

Nurses also teach the public how to safely store opioid pain medication and properly dispose unused opioids. “Never give or sell [it] to others as this is a felony, but also unsafe,” explains Powell.

What Works

“Educating the public about the signs and symptoms of opioid abuse is one of the best things we can do as nurses,” says Lorraine Byrnes, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAANP, CNM, an associate professor and director of the undergraduate nursing program at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing.

“We must also advocate for access to treatment programs that use an evidence-based approach to treatment, which is essential in addressing this public health crisis. Community access and education about naloxone to reverse the effects of a drug overdose and save lives is a critical element in treating opioid abuse. We must also avoid stigmatizing opioid addiction by providing patient-centered care that meets the long-term and short-term needs of our patients and their families,” says Byrnes, who serves on the board of NANPWH.

To help reduce the opioid epidemic, patients treated with opioids must use the medication for a limited time to prevent dependence, opioid addiction must be treated as a chronic condition, and the stigma of addiction must be eliminated, nurse practitioners say.

“Although everyone who uses pain medication will not become addicted, we do know enough about how genetics, temperament, environment, and personal situation to develop individualized, tailored treatment plans for those who may become addicted,” says Byrnes. “Education in the proper use of opioids to manage pain must occur among prescribers and alternatives must be part of every pain management plan.”

Counseling is another crucial recovery component as well as the availability of naloxone without a prescription to families and communities dealing with addiction, says Byrnes.

Powell agrees that “Increasing access to naloxone and providing training on its proper use can save lives. Nurses, pharmacists, and nurse practitioners can be instrumental in educating the public on all these aspects.”

Other changes to address the epidemic include policy changes in insurance and medication drug coverage to reduce the opioid load in the public arena, says Powell. Insurance companies need to include abuse-resistant opioid formulations on their formulary and provide coverage for abuse-resistant opioids for chronic pain.

A Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) student at VCU School of Nursing, Powell’s DNP project focuses on opioid safety in patients on chronic opioid therapy. She recently published an article on opioid safety on the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety blog.

Prescription opioid related deaths have quadrupled since 1999 in the United States and approximately 80% of deaths are due to unintentional overdose, according to Powell.

“In 2014, opioid overdose death from prescription opioids increased to approximately 19,000 deaths in the United States; this is more than three times the number reported in 2001,” she wrote. “Such statistics are staggering and indicate a need for action to help curb this epidemic. Utilization of risk assessment tools and mitigation strategies to detect and reduce the risk of opioid overdose are needed in clinical practice.”

The only tool that provides an actual quantitative score of opioid overdose risk is the Risk Index for Overdose or Serious Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression (RIOSORD).

“I plan to utilize the RIOSORD to determine each patient’s risk of possible accidental overdose or serious opioid induced respiratory depression,” Powell says. “Patients determined to be ‘high risk’ will be given a prescription for naloxone that can be used in an opioid-related emergency to prevent death. The aim is to increase naloxone-prescribing practices among the providers at my clinic.

“Use of this tool will provide a quantitative risk stratification that is based on the patient’s medical history, opioid formulation, morphine equivalent dose, and the presence of concurrent prescriptions for benzodiazepines or antidepressants.”

“Every day, 78 Americans die from opioid overdoses,” President Obama said when he signed the CARA legislation into law this summer.

Among those ages 12 to 25, illegal opioid use more than doubled between 1991 and 2012. Yet nine out of 10 of drug-addicted youth ages 12 to 17 receive no treatment at all, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has called prescriptions such as buprenorphine “an essential component of an ongoing treatment plan” that allow people to “regain control of their health and lives,” according to USA Today.

Nurses are in a unique position to help patients reap the analgesic benefit of opioids without encountering the dangers since they are experts in non-pharmacological interventions to manage pain, including the use of mental imagery and relation therapy, nurse practitioners say.

Nurse practitioners, Powell says, are among the best qualified health professionals to help patients dealing with pain and addiction.  “We are vigilant in our monitoring; we are able to demonstrate empathy, but also ensure compliance with safe use; and we focus on educating the patient on the risks as well as possible benefits of opioid use,” she adds.