While rewarding, nursing is also incredibly demanding, and each shift requires hours of walking, standing, and moving from place to place. In short, the job requires that you have stamina and endurance. If you can’t keep up, then there are strategies you can try to regain your tenacity during those long shifts.
In addition to sleep and a proper work-life balance, another solution is to try out some high-adventure activities like surfing, skiing, and other exciting endeavors. These fun activities can help you relax during your off-time, and many can help during your shift. Here are some facts and tips to consider if you need a little pick-me-up at work.
Nursing Requires Stamina And Endurance
Nursing requires various physical demands, including mastering gross motor skills to move within confined spaces, maintain balance in awkward positions, and reach all directions. Physical strength is also required for lifting children, ambulating patients and supplies, and carrying or moving them around the hospital. All of that effort might be easy during a regular eight-hour shift. However, nurses often work double and even triple shifts.
Studies have shown that many nurses, especially those in emergency rooms and intensive care settings, take thousands of steps throughout the day. The studies also found that nurses who work during the day often take even more steps than nurses working at night. That’s impactful information, especially for nurses working day and night shifts without time off in between. Keeping that endurance for countless hours requires self-care; adventures during off-hours can help.
How High Adventure Hobbies Can Help
Long shifts are often required in nursing, and it’s not always easy to avoid them altogether. Still, during your off time, you should do things you enjoy. Luckily, many of the most fun activities can also help to build your endurance and stamina.
Surfing
Take surfing, which requires strength and patience to stay on the board as you cruise upon the waves. If you enjoy surfing, many exercises can help build your endurance in the ocean and during your nursing shift. One of them is running exercises, which help to improve your lung capacity and strengthen your legs. Push-ups are some of the best exercises nurses can get because they’ll help with your core strength on the surfboard and improve your upper body strength so you can lift that heavy equipment at the hospital for longer.
Skiing
Many nurses may want to hit the slopes and go skiing when winter comes. This activity requires training, and the exercises you use to prepare can also help in nursing. You’ll want a workout regime with a lot of cardio via running, the stair climber, and the elliptical trainer to succeed. All of that helps to condition your lungs and legs for a long day of skiing and being on your feet during a nursing shift. Some studies show that downhill skiing can be particularly helpful for your balance and posture, which can help when reaching and multitasking on the job.
ATV Riding
For a real rush, look around your town for a track where you can ride ATVs up ramps and through valleys. This is yet another activity that can help with endurance on the job. Riding an ATV requires a lot of lifting as you hold on and control the vehicle over rugged roads, and it builds stamina in your legs and arms. When you ride, you’ll feel it in your muscles, and the activity will strengthen them so you can go for longer while on the job. Studies have shown that riding ATVs and off-road motorcycles can improve isometric leg endurance and overall health.
Making Time For Hobbies
This information may seem all well and good, but taking the time to ride an ATV or surfboard with your busy nursing schedule may seem next to impossible. However, that’s only true if you let it be.
There are many ways to improve your work-life balance and make time to include hobbies in your busy lifestyle. A great way to help you say no and ensure you fit in your hobbies is to plan them. Pick a time you’ll go out with your friends and stick to it. Also, set realistic goals. So, if you want to ski for an hour to work on your legs for those longer shifts, plan accordingly.
You may want to work on your exercises but feel like you don’t have time to go to the gym. In that case, consider dedicating a space in your house to fit equipment and make room to stretch. If all else fails, your hospital or office may have a gym you can use.
Remember, your physical hobbies are not only for fun but also for your success on the job, so make them one of your priorities.
Conclusion
If you want to boost your stamina on the job, consider a high-adventure hobby that will help you let loose and improve your physical health. If you haven’t done anything exciting on your off-time, consider a change because the benefits can be great for your well-being.
Burnout impacts approximately 38% of nurses each year. Burnout isn’t a small issue, either. It can lead to a lack of empathy, a sense of dread as they head into work, and extra stress that could impact their physical and mental well-being.
Countless factors contribute to nurse burnout, from a busy schedule to difficult patients and demanding daily tasks. But technology has quickly been added to that list in recent years. It’s growing rapidly in the healthcare industry, and while it offers efficiency and innovation, it can also contribute to increased stress and fatigue among nursing professionals.
Technology isn’t going anywhere. The last thing you want to do as a nurse is let the stressful side of tech keep you from effectively utilizing it for its benefits. So, what can you do to strike a balance? How can you leverage technology to alleviate burnout rather than exacerbate it?
Understanding Emerging Technologies
Advancing technologies in the healthcare industry are designed to help professionals and patients alike. They are supposed to make your job easier, but that can only happen when you take the time to stay ahead of the latest advancements. With that in mind, some of the most popular emerging innovations in healthcare technology include:
Telehealth
Artificial intelligence
Healthcare wearables
These advancements can make treating and monitoring patients easier without necessarily having them come into your practice. You can connect with them digitally, monitor their progress through cloud-based services, and offer support without necessarily scheduling appointments.
That can take a lot of stress off of you and your patients. But it can also take things too far in the other direction. Telehealth is excellent for patients who have questions but can be abused. You might feel like you’re glued to a computer or tablet all day just trying to keep up with questions or requests. The same goes for wearable technology. Patients might have tech issues with their devices or wonder what specific data means. When you have to play the role of IT guru, it adds extra stress.
Virtual connected care is a great way to stay close to your patients and to provide greater one-on-one care. But don’t let it tie you down to technology so much that it causes you to feel overwhelmed by your other daily duties.
The Challenges of New Technology
Many healthcare facilities nationwide still rely on legacy technology — tech that utilizes outdated and antiquated hardware and software systems. But, because healthcare technology is advancing so quickly, practices are starting to understand the importance of switching to newer systems.
Unfortunately, when you’re used to working with a specific type of technology, changing to new technology can cause a lot of stress and confusion. You’ll have to get trained on new systems, learn about security and compliance, and might experience disturbances in workflow as everyone gets used to the new programs in place. Your practice can help to stop those disturbances and reduce stress by:
Creating a schedule that allows you to work with new systems before they go live;
Relying on experts for installation;
Providing open communication about upcoming changes;
Setting aside time for proper training.
New technology is beneficial in many ways. It can keep things organized, improve workflow (once everyone understands it), and provide better connections for each staff member and every patient. But keeping up with it isn’t always easy. Express your needs, take the time to train, and ensure you aren’t entirely relying on these new tech types to get the job done. There’s still something to be said for pen and paper!
Practice Self-Care
With technology in the picture or not, one of the best things you can do to prevent burnout and manage your stress is to take care of yourself. You spend countless hours each week caring for others, but it’s easy to forget about prioritizing your well-being.
Self-care isn’t selfish. You can’t pour from an empty cup and adequately care for patients when you’re exhausted, stressed, or even resentful of your job.
You can utilize technology to practice self-care each day. The same wearable health devices you recommend to patients can help you monitor your heart rate, track your sleep, and record your physical activity. You can also use technology to set daily reminders to take breaks. Sometimes, you might even need to remind yourself to eat a snack or break for lunch so you don’t feel sluggish and cranky by the end of your shift.
Nurse burnout is very real and a factor in the nationwide nursing shortage. Technology can help with that shortage and can help to reduce burnout, but only when it’s utilized the right way. Find a personal balance and a balance within your practice to take advantage of healthcare tech without letting it completely take over your job description.
There’s no question that nursing is one of the most fulfilling, rewarding, and toughest career choices. It’s also one of the most demanding, physically and mentally. So, no matter how much you’ve loved your career as a nurse, everyone retires at some point and takes advantage of the relaxation and reduced stress that comes with it.
However, retirement isn’t always what people expect it to be. Some people experience loneliness and isolation. Others feel they’ve lost a sense of purpose, leading to anxiety and depression. One study even found that people in the first year of retirement are 40% more likely to experience a heart attack or stroke than those working.
Thankfully, as a retired nurse, there are things you can do to find personal growth — including travel nursing.
Self-Discovery After Retirement
Nursing can become an important part of your identity, so you may feel lost when you leave it. Remember that your career isn’t who you are but what you do. However, many nurses have an innate desire to help others. That doesn’t go away just because you’re not working every day.
You can use retirement to discover who you are and why you have that desire. Self-discovery and personal growth are essential after retirement so you understand that you still have a purpose even if you’re not heading to a hospital every day.
Traveling is one of the best ways to “find yourself.” While that might sound silly at first, it often takes stepping out of your comfort zone and seeing the world from a different perspective to dig deeper into your true identity. The benefits of traveling when it comes to personal growth include:
Finding and maintaining a sense of purpose
Introducing you to new cultures
Offering a sense of adventure
Some of the best places to travel for personal growth include Italy, Greece, South Africa, Alaska, Hawaii, and Spain. Explore rich architecture. Take in historical art. Walk along the sugar sand beaches of an island and breathe in the salty air. If you’ve given much of your life to nursing in one area, changing scenery and perspective can help you discover who you are outside of your career. It can inspire you to use your skills and expertise to make a difference.
Should You Become a Travel Nurse?
Traveling and retirement go hand-in-hand. It’s estimated that 25% of people aged 65 and older leave the country at least once a year. But choosing to be a travel nurse goes a step beyond that. While you can (and will) certainly enjoy the sights, sounds, and cultures of the countries you visit, you can also renew your sense of purpose by helping those in need in a completely different setting and environment.
First, understand that travel nurse positions are often short-term. You might only be somewhere for a few weeks or a few months. That’s often an ideal situation for a retiree who wants to explore the world and help others while enjoying a less stressful retirement. There are plenty of contracts you’ll have to go through if you work with an agency, but the benefit of doing so is that they’ll take care of almost everything for you to ensure your travel assignment goes as smoothly as possible.
When it comes to personal growth, you can have a voice in where you want to travel. You’ll meet new people in various cultures, as well as new colleagues, and you can explore new healthcare systems that might offer insights and ideas you’ve never considered before. There’s greater flexibility, excitement, and freedom you don’t find working every day in a hospital in the U.S.
Plus, it doesn’t hurt that travel nurses earn a median salary of $84,000 annually. While that might not impact your growth, it can help you live a more comfortable life as you age and take on more opportunities to travel for fun.
Preparing for Personal Growth as a Travel Nurse
If you’re ready to leap into nursing, you must be prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally. That starts by planning as much as possible, including:
Researching agencies
Exploring the pros and cons
Networking with other travel nurses
Gaining specialty experience
Keeping certifications up to date
From a practical standpoint, you’ll also want to ensure your medical records are current and up-to-date with all vaccinations.
You also have to consider your finances. While travel nursing can end up being a lucrative career, especially if you had previously budgeted for retirement, there are expenses to think about that you’ll have to deal with upfront. Have money set aside for a hotel room if your accommodations aren’t ready. Ask the agency you work for about utility bills and whether you’ll be responsible. Consider using a credit card instead of cash to earn points on your destination expenses and easily keep track of your spending online. Budgeting as a travel nurse is as important as managing your finances at home.
Finally, prepare yourself and your family. They might have expected you to retire and spend more time at home. If you’re older, they might be concerned about you traveling the world to help those in need. Make sure you explain your desire to grow and find out who you are by experiencing new adventures and perspectives.
The world is in constant need of qualified travel nurses if you’re already retired or planning to soon, consider travel nursing as an option to help you find personal growth and get to know yourself.
We’ve all heard the statistics about the growing need for trained healthcare professionals, especially nurses, within our society. Federal estimates indicate that not nearly enough people are entering the field to meet the projected healthcare needs of the coming decades.
Although the overall need is concerning, the issue is particularly acute in rural communities. Here, staffing shortages have caused the closure of entire wards of hospitals, forcing rural community members to travel great distances to seek healthcare treatment.
Rural nurses’ challenges can be profound, especially within the current system. Fortunately, new technologies are being incorporated to relieve some stresses and provide greater opportunities. Becoming a rural nurse comes with its real challenges, but these tech advancements could help make it a more rewarding decision.
Challenges Facing Rural Hospitals
Rural communities have experienced a sharp decline in economic output over the years. Over the past few decades, demographic trends in the United States have indicated that people are leaving rural areas and heading for the city in droves. The primary reason for this is the pursuit of better economic opportunities.
Healthcare services have not been excluded from this mass exodus from rural communities. Today, workforce shortages are common in rural hospitals, and many nurses choose to live and work in cities where higher pay and more amenities are available. This ultimately means that remaining rural nurses are spread thin and asked to treat a greater variety of ailments. Because rural communities are often lower-income, salaries are also lower for healthcare providers.
All of this has a significant impact on community members, too. Much research indicates that rural communities have more chronic conditions and poorer health outcomes. This can be attributed to several reasons, including fewer opportunities for local specialized care and economic factors that play into the ability to seek the right treatment elsewhere.
Fortunately, technological advancements are alleviating some issues associated with obtaining necessary healthcare in a rural setting. The most important of these advancements is within the realm of telehealth. Telehealth services allow rural residents to “see” specialists and other healthcare providers from the comfort of their own homes or their local clinic.
Initial consultation appointments, examinations, post-treatment follow-up appointments, and rehab can be conducted online. All of which can save multiple trips to an urban center and thousands of dollars. Many health conditions can be treated via telehealth services, including things like:
Skin conditions;
Prescriptions and associated refills;
Allergy assessments;
Asthma treatments;
Mental health examinations and therapy;
Follow-up visits for hearing and visual healthcare;
Physical therapy and other forms of rehab;
Diabetes management and prevention;
Some forms of addiction treatment.
Rural nurses have a profound ability to play a critical role in their community healthcare as telemedicine becomes more mainstream. For one, nurses can be essential resources for urban doctors following up with their rural patients. These nurses can help reinforce treatment recommendations and ensure that patients fully understand the information communicated online.
As a rural community member, locals will trust you more than the urban doctors they speak with online. Rural communities are often very tight-knit, and the nurses within them are valued and trusted resources. This puts all rural nurses at the forefront of encouraging telehealth adoption and could make a profound difference in community healthcare outcomes.
Things to Consider Before Moving
Deciding to become a nurse in a rural area can be a challenging one. You may have wanted to return to your small town and make a difference in your local community, or you may be considering a rural lifestyle for yourself and your family. There are significant challenges working in a rural healthcare setting, but also several profound benefits and rewarding experiences.
One thing to consider is that many federal and state programs offer incentives for trained professionals to bring their skills to live and work in rural settings. For instance, some areas provide financial bonuses comparable to urban salaries to help bring healthcare professionals in. Others offer student loan forgiveness programs where nurses work for many years in a rural setting, and all of their loans are forgiven.
In some cases, a greater degree of autonomy is provided to rural nurses and other healthcare providers. Many nurse practitioners in rural settings have reported that they feel more able to practice to the full legal scope of their training. In contrast, in more urban settings, many have reported feeling they are still required to clear every decision with a doctor. Numerous bills in Congress seek to help loosen some restrictions that will make nurses more capable of providing services without direct doctor supervision.
It’s up to you to decide if the benefits of rural healthcare outweigh the challenges. If you choose to move, you must take extra time to account for these challenges.
Data is being incorporated for medical advancements to improve patient outcomes, and the same techniques can help recruit and retain healthcare professionals. This is especially true about one type of healthcare professional we could not live without – nurses.
Nurses form the bedrock of the healthcare system in the U.S. and are regularly ranked among the most trusted professions. Many of the most basic and humane healthcare services wouldn’t be provided without them. Unfortunately, many healthcare facilities are now struggling to attract and retain enough nurses to meet the needs of their communities. New data-driven recruitment strategies may help.
Addressing a Growing Nursing Shortage
It is hard not to be shell-shocked by the stark statistics associated with the gap between the number of nurses needed in the U.S. and the number that are currently projected to be available and in the workforce in the coming decade. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of registered nurses will increase by over 6% in the next decade, adding nearly 200,000 positions. However, many nurses are expected to leave the workforce during that same period due to retirements or career path changes.
This means that enough new nurses may be entering the workforce to sustain current levels, but there will need to be more to account for the increase in the need for nurses. The shortage in available nurses is anticipated to impact nearly every state in the nation but is particularly acute in rural Western states. Programs seek to lessen the impact of the projected shortages in rural areas, such as those that place nurses in rural areas in exchange for student loan repayment assistance.
The COVID-19 pandemic was an even more powerful blow to a field struggling to retain quality employees. The field of nursing saw an estimated 3% decline in the number of people in the workforce between 2020 and 2022. The pandemic and associated stresses were particularly difficult for nurses and those in the medical field. Many cited burnout, a lack of support, challenges with patients, and public perception of the pandemic as reasons for leaving nursing altogether.
Hospital administration officials and other healthcare leaders recognize the problem and are actively searching for effective methods of educating, recruiting, and retaining more nurses. Some of these strategies are starting to pay off already, while others are just getting off the ground, including using data to help bridge the gap.
Data-Driven Nurse Recruitment
Many hospitals are putting renewed energy into fostering relationships with nursing schools. Likewise, the schools are working hard to utilize state-approved funding to develop the infrastructure to accept and train more aspiring nurses. For example, Arizona recently passed a bill allocating over $15 million to develop a pilot program focused on nurse education. To do this, they attend career fairs or technical events, collect information on students interested in the program, and follow up. Schools collect valuable and useful information at events, such as demographics, contact information, social media platforms, and event feedback.
Incorporating data analytics into the recruitment process can significantly increase hiring efficiency and improve the quality of the candidates brought on. For instance, it can be easier to identify nurses most interested in working in certain cities or departments and strategically hire them for positions they are more likely to be invested in.
Data analytics can also help identify issues within the hiring process itself. Making a few tweaks to the interview questions may make a big difference. Likewise, data can point out problems with diversity hiring or subconscious biases that a panel might pick up. Data can look deeper under the surface to ensure diversity goals are met at all levels.
Using Data to Create a Valued Culture
Data can also be a powerful tool for building a positive culture that makes employees want to stay at their workplace rather than move on to a different position. For instance, data can be used to build a more transparent workplace where employees feel they have a real connection and line of communication with management. Issues can be more easily tracked and evaluated over time – company leaders can make policy changes and collect data to assess how they are helping.
One example could be a hospital that is getting several reports that its nurses are burnt out and struggling with some of the trauma they see every day. It is a stressful job, and many locations are likely already dealing with similar issues. Administrative staff could implement several solutions, such as rotating nurses to different floors to give them a break or bringing in a professional mental health expert to help nurses process. Data collected before and after these changes are made can help determine the actual impacts of policies and how they improve conditions.
Data can play a significant role in helping healthcare facilities attract and retain nurses. The tools can be used to improve the hiring process and assess the effectiveness of policy changes to improve workplace conditions. Incorporating data could play an essential role in helping alleviate the growing nursing shortage nationwide.
