Travel Nurse’s Guide to Moving During a Pandemic
This is a scary time to be moving from place to place, but it’s almost impossible to avoid as a travel nurse. It is possible to move safely, though. Here are some tips for settling into your new temporary home.
Choose your moving company carefully
If you’re moving from one state to the other, which you likely will be, your moving company options might be a bit limited. But you can go to Move.org and find out what options you have. Then it’s important to call and ask detailed questions to each moving company about their COVID-19 policies. How often are they monitoring the health of their crew members? What kind of supplies, including face masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers, are being made available to movers on a daily basis?
Also ask them about paperwork. If you’ve ever moved before, you know there are a myriad of things you need to sign before you get going. But in the time of Coronavirus, it can be risky to sign all the documents you need in person. Ask your moving company if it’s possible to switch all your transactions to virtual, including virtual quotes.
Buy all the supplies you need ahead of time
Your moving supply checklist has gotten a little longer during the pandemic. Make one big trip to the store a week before you move to make sure you have everything you need. This should include lots of cleaning supplies. You can also order boxes and tape online now at a number of retailers and Amazon. You can use this neat packing calculator to figure out how many boxes you need based on what you’re moving.
Clean as you pack and pack ahead
Packing is a hellish experience where you realize you have way too much stuff and you also realize you haven’t cleaned half of that stuff since you moved the last time. Now it’s even more important to clean and disinfect everything. So as you’ve gathered all your things into one place, what better time to wipe all of them down and make sure they’re clean? You also shouldn’t procrastinate with packing if you want to be extra cautious while moving. Coronavirus can live on cardboard boxes for up to 24 hours. So to be courteous to your movers, make sure you have everything packed and untouched for at least a day before your movers arrive.
Put everything in boxes or plastic
Although you’ll probably want to be extra careful and sanitize all of your belongings again when you move into your new home, you’ll still make it a whole lot easier on yourself if everything you own has a barrier between it and the stranger picking it up. Put everything you can in boxes, and if you have furniture or larger items that won’t fit in boxes, at least wrap it in plastic you can throw away afterward.
Also, be sure not to use recycled or borrowed boxes. It might be environmentally friendly, but as we said earlier, coronavirus can live on cardboard for a long time.
Plan for unpacking on your own
While before, your moving company would usually unpack your belongings for you, now that seems like a risky move. That means you’re on your own in the unpacking process. And since you’ll likely be moving to a new placement where you don’t know anyone, it’s time to mentally prepare yourself for unpacking alone. This doesn’t have to be a painful process if you 1) give yourself the proper amount of time off work to make it happen 2) make it fun! Install your TV and your speakers first so you can have some entertainment while you’re working. Have a pizza and a bottle of wine delivered to your new digs and give yourself the treats that you usually promise to friends in exchange for their moving help. It’s all on you which means all the pizza is YOURS.
You got this. The key is disinfecting everything, keeping the talking and in-person interacting to a minimum, and finding enjoyment in being self-sufficient.
Ready to pack and move to your next placement? Check out all the cities you can go under Stability’s website here.
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Elements to Include in Your Travel Nurse Resume
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that writing a resume isn’t an easy task. It’s something that most nurses don’t even go over in nursing school in the first place. With travel nursing jobs on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, lots nurses are revisiting their resumes. A travel nurse resume has some key differences from a regular nursing resume, and yours may need some refining.
If you’re trying to get that travel nursing job you dream about, make sure to include these five things.
1. Certifications & Licenses
If there’s one thing you can’t forget on a travel nurse resume, it’s your certificates.
There are a number of certifications you need to become a travel nurse. These often include a Master of Science in Nursing and a related nursing specialty certificate. You should always mention these in as much detail as possible, as well as any other certificates you may have.
The more certificates you can show off, the more qualified you’ll appear.
2. Relevant Work History
You want to be as honest and open about your work history as possible on your resume.
Include full details on every nursing job you’ve ever had, and give your potential employer all the details they need to follow-up on your jobs. Details to write-in include:
- Job title and description of that title
- Name/location of the facility, type of facility, contact details
- Exact start and end dates
- Number of beds in facility, unit you worked in
- Specific duties completed
The more details you can give on your previous jobs the better. This shows you as a working professional. Only include relevant jobs — that grocery store clerk job you had as a teenager likely doesn’t have too much pull on a travel nursing job.
3. Professional Prose, Action Words
The best resumes use not just professional wording, but action words to hook the reader in.
Always triple-check your resume for spelling and grammar errors and awkward phrasing. You can even bring your resume to a professional to have it checked over if that’s not your strong suit. Once the language is perfect, it’s time to mix in some action words.
Action words like tested, administered, and coordinated may be suitable on a nursing resume. Fit them in where they make sense, and don’t overstuff your resume. These words will help keep your resume exciting when used tactfully.
4. Education
You worked hard for your education, so flaunt it on your resume.
Include the full details of where you went to school, for how long, a full address and telephone number. List the degree achieved, your GPA, and any references you may have made there. If you did any interning, or any specialty courses while in school, mention those too.
5. Custom Summary
You should always tailor your cover letter for each travel nursing job, but that goes for resumes, too.
Study the position before you apply and tailor your professional summary to it. Highlight how you can help in the specific position, and include buzzwords you think they’ll like. The more you study the assignment listing and company (check social media pages, company website, etc.) the better you can pull this off.
Submit the Best Travel Nurse Resume Every Time
Your travel nurse career starts with a standout travel nurse resume. Follow the five tips above and wow the travel nursing agency every time!
If you need a good travel nursing agency to find your next assignment, click here to see what Stability can do for you.
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Suicide Prevention Month: How to Help
Both male and female nurses experience higher rates of suicide than non-nurses, according to a national study from last year. The study, conducted by the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, showed that the rate of suicide for female nurses was 11.97 per 100,000 and the rate for male nurses was 39.8 per 100,000. Both are statistically much higher than the suicide rate for non-nurses (7.58 and 28.2 per 100,000 respectively).
Especially in the wake of COVID-19, when many nurses are confronted with war-like emergency rooms, challenging and uncertain medical quandaries and a lot of death, it’s even more important to check in with yourself and others about your mental health.
“Nurses are known not to care for themselves as much as they care for others. It’s just a part of who we are,” RN Nurse Judy Davidson told MedPage Today. Davidson spearheaded the study after three nurses at UC San Diego died by suicide within a short period of time. “But now with this whole movement towards preventing burnout, increasing joy in the workplace, increasing resiliency, this is a piece of that puzzle … sadly it took a tragic event to get the ball rolling.”
In support of Suicide Prevention Month, we’re providing resources and information about depression, where to go if you need to seek help, how to recognize the signs of suicide risk in your colleagues and how to talk to them about it. This week’s blog is all about how to check in with your coworkers and understand depression so that you can be an empathetic advocate for those who might be struggling around you.
Checking in on your friends and colleagues
It’s a cliche, but it’s true: You never know what the people around you are going through. Someone could have a bubbly and bright personality all day long and still have a life-long struggle with depression. So first and foremost, always be kind when you can, even if that kindness isn’t always reciprocated.
But also, check in with your friends and colleagues at work, especially on busy weeks or even difficult news weeks. Saying “how are you?” doesn’t always cut it. Often, there is shame associated with depression and suicidal thoughts and for those who are struggling, it can be hard to answer a question like that honestly. Instead, try some of these alternatives when you want to check in.
Recognizing the Signs
It’s important to think preventatively about mental health, for both yourself and those around you. And prevention often involves access to mental health resources, being kind and paying attention to those around you, looking for ways you can do things together and encourage each other. But it’s also important to recognize if someone has reached a certain threshold with their mental health that is concerning and possibly life-threatening. While it’s true that a lot of people conceal their depression, and are able to function well even though they are struggling, there are some signs to look out for that might indicate a friend or colleague is considering hurting themselves.
Some of these signs include an increase in drinking or drug use, talking about being a burden to others, asking existential questions like “why does any of it matter?”, extreme mood swings, behaving recklessly or without concern for consequences and strong amounts of negative self-talk. Here are additional warning signs to look for.
In assessing whether some of these signs might be indicating that your friend or coworker is in danger, you could always use this list of suicide risk assessment questions from the Lippincott Nursing Center:
* How are you coping with what’s been happening in your life?
* Do you ever feel like just giving up?
* Are you thinking about dying?
* Are you thinking about hurting yourself?
* Are you thinking about suicide?
* Have you thought about how you would do it?
* Do you know when you would do it?
* Do you have the means to do it?
* Have you ever attempted to harm yourself in the past?
It may seem weird to use your nursing skills on other nurses but even if your colleague catches on to what you’re doing, it might indicate to them that someone else cares about their wellbeing.
What to do if you suspect someone you know is suicidal
If you’ve recognized a few warning signs and perhaps have even confirmed that a coworker or friend suffers from depression and has considered self-harm, what do you do now?
There are three things you should do right away if you seriously think someone might harm themselves.
The first is not to leave them alone. Invite them over for dinner and insist on them coming if they decline the first couple of times.
The second, if you really think they are in immediate risk, is to call a local emergency number or contact a trained professional right away. Fortunately, you both work in healthcare, so you should have even more access to someone who is qualified to help. If you’re concerned for a friend but don’t think they’re an immediate danger to themselves, you might decide to instead encourage them to call a suicide hotline, like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255) which will put you in touch with a trained counselor.
And the third is to tell a family member what is going on as soon as possible.
After you have responded to someone’s immediate risk, here are a few things you can do to continue supporting them:
- Get their insurance information and make a list of licensed therapists in their network. Offer to set up initial appointments for them to get the ball rolling.
- If they have to undergo emergency treatment, make future plans with them doing something normal like going to the farmer’s market or an exercise class. Make it clear that just because they’re going through something doesn’t mean that your friendship will change or that you’ll start treating them differently.
- Make sure to acknowledge their feelings and be careful about not dismissing anything they confide in you as irrational. Emphasize that they’re not a burden to you and that you want to hear from them about what they’re going through.
For more info, check out this guide to supporting your depressed friends.
Be sure to check Stability’s blog, and Instagram for more tips and tools for Suicide Prevention Month.
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Must Haves For New Nurses
You’ve done it! Cap and gown, diploma, everything. You’re the freshest nursing school grad on the block, licensed and all, and you’re ready to hit the hospital or clinic floor running.
Maybe this is actually you or maybe you’re in the throes of fall semester and you’re manifesting this dream. But either way, you’ve done the hard work and now it’s time to talk about the fun stuff: SHOPPING.
There’s a lot you need to start your first nursing gig. Scrubs are a given, but here are five other essentials you don’t want to forget about before your first day.
#1: Comfortable shoes
Especially for new nurses, this one is an essential. Working those 10 hour shifts on your feet is a great time to discover that your favorite comfy shoes are maybe not as reliable as you thought. Not to worry though, there some are brands of kicks that have held tried and true for nurses and they have a lot of cute options.
Nursemates sells tennis shoes, slip-ons and clogs that are custom designed to keep you standing for hours on end. They also come in dozens of cute designs, so you don’t have to sacrifice style for comfort. Seriously, some of these are so cute, you’ll have no problem wearing them to the bar at the end of your shift.
Naturalizer is another brand that’s affordable, stylish and designed to be walked in all day long. They come recommended by podiatrists for having a sole that supports your heels and the balls of your feet, while also coming in several different width sizes and keeping you cool on the outside. And they’re cute! There’s lots of options on their website. But you can also buy them for a little cheaper on Amazon.
Another shoe that comes recommended by podiatrists is the Nike Tanjun Sneaker. These are a classic style that won’t get scuffed up easily and are roomy and comfy all day long. You really just can’t go wrong with the right sneakers.
No matter how good the brand is, being on your feet all day long will wear out the soles on any shoe you buy. So to take care of your feet, make sure you stock up on a couple different shoes to wear throughout the week. And also feel prepared to restock on your fave sneaks about twice a year. Here’s a good guide to knowing when it’s time to replace your shoes.
#2: A watch
This is an easy one to forget about, but essential. A watch that indicates seconds is crucial for patient care. Whether you’re monitoring vitals or injecting medication, you need to know you can count the seconds. Scrubs and beyond sells watches specifically for nurses. So does Speidel — theirs are a little more expensive, but really cute.
#3: A good stethoscope
Are you actually a nurse if you don’t have a stethoscope hanging around your neck? You might already have a few of these from your clinicals and classes, but it’s good to start fresh on your first real job. High quality stethoscopes can last your whole career. Reliable brands like Littman can be expensive, but worth your while. In fact, this might be a good thing to have on your register of graduation presents if you haven’t had your big day yet.
#4: Scrubcheats
These little reference cards carrying helpful tips about anatomy, pharmacology, heart rhythms, lab orders and more, will be a life saver for you your first couple of weeks on the job. ScrubCheats sells pocket-sized cheat sheets in packets of 150 and more. Wade through them and pick the essentials to carry around with you so you can double check yourself.
#5: A Badge Reel
The one thing you should really avoid doing in your first week (aside from killing anyone) is losing your hospital or clinic badge. It’s not a good look to need a replacement early on, but as hectic as your first week will likely be, it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Sure, your clinic or hospital might give you a basic badge reel to keep on your person, but if you come prepared with one you like, you might be more likely to notice if it’s suddenly gone. Plus the hospital ones are cheap.
There are a ton of fun options out there, but here are a few we love.
Boojee Beads has a ton of fun options from pretty brooches, to funny designs to very classic and chic reels.
Uniform advantage also sells some sweet reels, and cute lanyards too!
And of course, if you’re looking for something artistic or quirky, Etsy shops will always be around to fill your shopping needs. Here are a few of our favorite reels on Etsy:
This sunflower reel you can personalize with your name or “RN” (*crying emoji* so cute).
These rose floral reels are adorable and cheap.
You could get a cute cactus or a Georgia peach if you want to forever be reminded of warm weather.
And if any of the previous reels are a little too girly for you, you can’t go wrong with baby yoda OR chips and salsa badge reels.
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The Ultimate Guide to Men’s Scrubs
Are you wondering where you can find the best men’s scrubs? When it comes to finding the best scrubs, you want to find something that is comfortable, durable, and well fitted.
Keep reading for our guide to the best places to get men’s scrubs so that you can find the best option for you. Find the quality scrubs you’re looking for today.
Cherokee
Cherokee’s Workwear Professional line is a great option for scrubs made of quality fabric. Their men’s scrubs are lightweight, allowing for breathability and are also stretchy for some flexibility. This fabric is made with anti-wrinkle materials so that you can look your best even after long hours.
These scrubs also offer a fantastic fit, as they aren’t too tight or too baggy in certain areas. This allows for a tailored fit that is still comfortable for all-day mobility.
Figs
Figs Chisec scrubs for men are made to be durable without sacrificing comfortability. This is a highly functional scrub option that has 10 pocket compartments to help you keep all of your gear on you when needed. This option is one of the most contemporary and stylish on the market.
Carhartt
Check out the men’s Carhartt Utility Scrub for a scrub that will last. The scrub’s fabric blend allows for ventilation while working to stand strong against wearing and tearing.
This is a great option for someone who wants a great scrub in a variety of different colors, as they offer 12 different tones. They also feature a longer back length to help keep you covered when bending down during the workday.
Dagacci
Dagacci Scrubs for men has eight pockets and is built with functionality and comfort in mind. The waist on the scrub set bottoms has an elastic band and drawstring so that they will stay put while you’re busy throughout the day. This is an affordable brand that offers awesome color choices.
M&M
Consider M&M’s scrubs for men for a design made with tailoring men in mind. This allows for a clean fit that will still allow for mobility.
With eight pockets, you can organize your items instead of fishing around for them. This is a long-lasting option that will resist wear and tear, all for a low cost.
Amazon
If you’re looking for an option that can get delivered to your doorstep in days, check out Amazon Essentials men’s scrub. There are 15 masculine color options for whatever your preferences may be. They have a great fit and feel using quality fabrics, and feature 9 pockets.
The Best Places to Purchase Men’s Scrubs
When you’re on the go as a travel nurse, you may need to find reliable, comfortable scrubs, fast. When looking for men’s scrubs, check out these options to see what style type fits your unique needs and preferences. Make sure your scrubs work for you by finding options made of quality materials that allow for a great fit, comfort, and durability.
Are you hoping to find your next travel nursing assignment? Use our site to find the best assignments out there.
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The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting for Nurses
From childhood, it’s been drummed in all our brains that breakfast is the most important meal. If you skip it, you’re just hurting yourself! But now a new eating trend picking up some steam in the health/nutrition world is saying just the opposite: Go ahead, skip breakfast. It’s actually better for you.
Can this possibly be true? Let’s examine the benefits of intermittent fasting for a travel nurse.
First, what exactly is intermittent fasting? The name sounds complicated, but it’s really not. It’s all about adjusting the cycle between fasting and eating. We already have a cycle in place even if it’s not something we actively think about. The time between when you eat dinner and when you eat breakfast is technically a pretty significant fast (usually between 10-12 hours if you forgo a midnight snack). But in an intermittent fast, this gap widens a little bit. While it varies, this type of fasting usually requires that you avoid any form of calorie intake for about 16 hours. Or put a different way, you are only consuming food ideally from 6-8 hours each day. For energy purposes you want this period to extend some time in the middle of the day. Let’s say you don’t eat until noon and stop eating around 6 or 7 p.m.. So yeah, basically you skip breakfast.
For practical reasons alone, this is a routine that fits pretty well with the work hours of a day nurse. If you’re expected to go in early, 7 a.m. or earlier, it can seem like a hassle to get breakfast ready at the crack of dawn. It’s also not useful. If you eat breakfast at 5 a.m., you are bound to be hungry two hours later, right when your work starts to pick up. So much for that breakfast energy! Mornings are usually busy and hectic in a hospital or clinic. There’s not much of a window to take a breakfast break. So delaying your eating until lunch makes sense. It also makes sense to try and get your dinner over with before your shift actually ends. Getting off at 7, driving home, and having to prepare dinner leaves you eating at 8:30 or 9 o’clock at night, which is bad for your sleep and digestive cycles. Might as well take a quick break and come home fed, ready to watch Netflix and go to sleep.
But are there health and energy benefits? Why yes there are! The first one I mentioned above, it’s much better for your sleep cycle if you’re not eating right before bed, because you sleep better if your body isn’t digesting.
Speaking of digesting, sometimes it’s our instinct to snack regularly throughout the day to curb any feelings of hunger. But intermittent fasting is centered on the idea that your body actually needs a lot of time in between eating, and if you give it that time, you’ll start to curb those feelings of hunger and also reap several other benefits. A lot happens in your body when you take a break from eating. It undergoes cellular repair processes, growth hormones form that help you burn fat and your insulin levels drop (which might not be great if you have type 1 diabetes). Ultimately, you’re giving your body the time it needs to go through all these good processes with the energy you’ve already given it. Imagine your body is like an assembly line. You drop in one item and it has to undergo all of this work before you drop in another, and if you drop in another item too soon, the assembly line clogs up.
So what are some of the results you can see from intermittent fasting? It’s proven to help some in losing weight. There’s one obvious reason this could be true: if you’re only eating 6 hours of the day, you’re probably just eating less than you normally would. And it is proven that when you reduce your calorie intake, your body will start using your stored fat for energy. It’s also just more attainable than dieting. Limiting how much you eat day by day is a lot easier for some than restricting what you can eat. But those bodily processes that happen while fasting, mentioned above, also can play a factor in weight loss. Lower insulin levels and higher growth hormone levels, which both develop when you fast for extended periods of time, facilitate in increasing the body’s metabolism, and thus burning fat more quickly.
There are other benefits, like lowering your risk of Type 2 diabetes and increasing your liver function. On a day to day level, while you might struggle maintaining energy while adjusting to this new eating schedule, most people who intermittently fast report having more energy throughout the day and being able to focus better.
Some studies even say intermittent fasting increases your lifespan. So what are you waiting for? Skip breakfast!
If you’re looking to find a career in travel nursing, you can use our search engine on our home page. You can also use our travel nursing resources if you need help with finding housing, financing, and more.
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Want a Career in Travel Nursing? Studying Tips for the NCLEX
Only about two-thirds of participants pass the NCLEX. With all of the content that is shown on that exam, this statistic shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.
However, if you want a career in travel nursing, you need to pass this exam.
If you’re worried about passing the NCLEX or just want some study tips, keep reading. We have the best tips and tricks for taking and passing the NCLEX exam. Just keep reading.
Cater Your Studying to Your Learning Style
You need to cater to your learning style while you’re studying. This is the best way to soak up as much information as possible.
Be sure that you take the time to understand what your learning style is. Take some time to think about how you’ve learned well in the past.
For example, you may remember your Latin conjugations from high school because you made songs to learn them. If so, you’re probably a musical learner. Use songs and rhymes to learn new information.
Whatever your learning style is, cater towards it. Don’t cut yourself short and think that reading is enough. If you aren’t an auditory learner, you aren’t helping yourself.
Start Earlier Rather Than Later
The earlier you start studying for the exam, the better off you’ll be. If you start the week before, you’re not likely to have much success on the exam.
You want to give yourself the most amount of time possible to study for the NCLEX, especially if you have multiple subjects that you’re feeling weak in.
Many students make a study schedule the semester before they start studying for the exam, just to ensure that they know exactly what they’re going to be doing well in advance. It’s also important to schedule the exam around studying for class.
Look Over Past Exams
Your nursing professors likely formed your exams similarly to the NCLEX. Many nursing professors do this to make sure that you’re studying for the NCLEX while you’re studying for their exams.
Looking over those exams can remind you of how your professors phrased the questions and answers. You can refresh your memory as to how some questions may have tripped you up in the past as well.
If you don’t have access to old exams, there are many online exams that mimic NCLEX exams. You can use those to help you prepare for the kinds of questions that may show up on the NCLEX.
Finding Your Career in Travel Nursing After You Pass
Once you’ve conquered the exam and passed with flying colors, it’s time to get ready for your career in travel nursing. Finding a job after all of that studying shouldn’t be more stressful than the exam itself.
If you’re looking to find a career in travel nursing, you can use our search engine on our home page. You can also use our travel nursing resources if you need help with finding housing, financing, and more.
We wish you luck with your exam and your future career in travel nursing. You can do this!
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Planning Your Next At-Home-Happy-Hour
You might think that keeping up social distancing in a pandemic means that the modern ritual of happy hour has come to a bitter end. But you’re wrong! You don’t need to sit in a restaurant or bar to get your end-of-work drinks and snack fix. Even beyond the pandemic, it’s about time we learn to be our own happy hour. Invite some friends over to your backyard, set up a zoom call or go solo. Either way, these recipes will cement the idea that yes, it is always 5 o’clock somewhere.
Cocktails
You don’t have to be a mixologist to make these fun summer cocktails. Here are a few simple recipes that will make you forget how much you miss sitting in a crowded bar waiting for the bartender to notice you.
Strawberry Gin Smash
This is a sweet, strawberry upgrade to the backyard summer BBQ classic, a mint julep. Smashes are very similar to juleps, in that mint and ice are essential. But you can make them much more quickly, and add even more fruit. Making this cocktail takes very few ingredients and just about 10 minutes of your time. Muddle sugar and limes in a pitcher. Slice some fresh strawberries and muddle them just slightly with your sugar and lime mixture. Stir in gin and club soda and a boat load of ice and you’re done! Gin is the best liquor option for a light taste, but if you’re more of a rum or whiskey person, you can easily substitute whichever liquor you fancy.
Spicy Jalapeño Margaritas
If sweet cocktails aren’t your thing and you love tequila, try these spicy margs for taco Tuesday. This recipe takes a little more prep time, simply because you’ll need to slice one jalapeño into thin rounds and let it sit in your tequila for a few hours to get the full effect. If you’re working from home, take a quick lunch break to do this, and the rest is a breeze. Combine your regular tequila with a few tablespoons of the spicy tequila, some Grand Mariner, fresh lime juice, agave nectar and some cilantro for garnish, and you’re all set.
Summer bellinis 3 ways
No one goes all-out on summer cocktails quite like the popular food blog Half Baked Harvest. Tieghan may ask for a little more effort and care going into these recipes, but the end result is always worth it. This is a good recipe to start with, as it’s her twist on one of the simplest cocktails ever, a bellini. You get to use all of the summer fruits you bought at the farmer’s market, blackberries, peaches, strawberries, and puree them. Mix them with orange juice and champagne and voila! You will feel like celebrating. You could almost call them champagne smoothies.
Watermelon Rosè Paloma
Okay, one more Half Baked Harvest cocktail, because her’s are just too good. This one will really make you feel like your own bartender, even though it’s just as easy as the bellinis. Combine fresh watermelon juice, tequila mixed with lime juice, Rosè wine (the sweeter the better depending on your preferences), and some sparkling water. And that’s it! Drink up and imagine you’re sitting on a patio in Barcelona.
Mocktails
Happy hour doesn’t have to be all about alcohol. Why exclude your kids or anyone who doesn’t drink from the festivities? There are plenty of fun mocktail recipes you can concoct that will make everyone feel included. Here are a few drinks that are just fun to drink. No hangovers required.
Blackberry Virgin Mojito
Mojitos have to rank in the top 5 most refreshing cocktails. There’s nothing better than sipping a mojito by the pool or lounging on your lawn. Even without the rum, this blackberry mojito recipe will add some summer fun to the end of your workday. You can make the mint syrup yourself with fresh mint leaves, sugar and water. Add some blackberries, lime juice and a can of seltzer and your mojito is complete.
Shirley Temple
The classics are classic for a reason. Make your kids feel extra fancy by making these shirley temples from scratch. They’re super easy and super good. All it takes is some lemon-lime soda, grenadine, lime juice, and maraschino cherries for serving.
Mock Champagne
This one’s great for any mom-to-bes missing the taste of all their favorite drinks. Believe it or not, it’s not that hard to mimic the flavors of champagne. All you need is some chilled ginger ale, a can of pineapple juice and some chilled white grape juice. Mix it all together and who knows? You might get a placebo buzz.
Snacks
No happy hour is complete without some form of tapas to snack on with your festive cocktails. Here are some apps that would put your favorite over-priced tapas bar to shame.
Jalapeño cheddar corn fritters with chipotle aioli
When cooking in the summer, it’s all about using all the abundance of fresh ingredients you can get your hands on. Your local farmer’s market will likely have stalks of corn abound. So why not buy some and make it into a spicy fried treat? And yes, this is ANOTHER Half Baked Harvest recipe. What can we say? She’s the best. These corn fritters are delicious and you can make them in under 30 minutes. The best part of the recipe is the creamy chipotle honey aioli sauce you can make to dip them in. Read the full recipe in the link above. Pair with that spicy marg and your taste buds will thank you.
Pan fried brie with peppered honey and olives
Alright, alright. ONE more indulgent and rich HBH recipe, and then we’ll move on to some healthier snacks. But what is better than some pan-baked brie to go with your rosè paloma? This recipe has it all. It’s savory and sweet. It doesn’t take very long at all. You can pair it with your favorite crackers and it’s made for sharing (within your COVID-19 bubble, of course). It’s a little fancier than your traditional cheese plate but with even less prep required.
Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Keep things light, healthy and delicious with this New York Times take on Vietnamese summer rolls. If you’re someone who often dabbles in cooking Asian cuisine, it’s likely you’ll already have a lot of these ingredients on hand. And it’ll take you 30 minutes or less to fill your rice wraps with noodles, lettuce, carrots, fish sauce and the meat of your choice. You can make up to 16 with this recipe. Pair it with the compatibally light strawberry gin smash and you may end up skipping dinner all together. Like a true happy hour in the city, you’ll end up in bed early, slightly buzzed and just hungry enough to want breakfast in the morning.
Melon Prosciutto Skewers
Skewers should always be a go-to happy hour snack. They’re easy, festive and you can tweak them to your own food tastes. This recipe in particular has a fun summer flare, especially if you ambitiously bought a whole cantaloupe at the store and forgot about it until Thursday. It’s time to crack it open and turn that sweat into savory. Slice your melons, and stick them with prosciutto, cheese, greens and of course a balsamic glaze drizzled on top. It only takes 20 minutes. Pair with a bellini and snack to your heart’s content.
Looking for a new home base to host happy hours? If you’re looking for your next placement, Stability Healthcare has all the resources you need. Feel free to browse travel nursing jobs or read our many guides on nursing must-knows!
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What Nursing Specialty Is Right for Me?
The United States is home to 3.8 million registered nurses. Of these current RNs, almost 85% practice their profession.
That seems a lot, but experts say there is a potential for a shortage. This is especially true when it comes to those with a nursing specialty. To avoid these deficiencies, the US requires an additional 11 million RNs.
As a nursing student or new nurse yourself, all these translate to more job opportunities. Even more so in specialized areas, as these tend to have higher shortages.
The big question now is, how do you choose the right nursing specialization?
This post will give you some tips to help you arrive at a decision, so be sure to read on!
Factor In Your Personality
A survey found that a whopping 90% of people aged 21 to 65 regret their career choices. Many of them admitted that their mistakes stemmed from not knowing what they wanted to do. Many others decided without considering their values and interests.
This is why it’s crucial to factor in your personality when deciding on a nursing specialty. Base your decision on the things that interest you while still upholding your values. Can you imagine yourself happy and fulfilled in that sector within the next five, ten, or twenty years?
Let’s say that you have an impressive way of “keeping your cool” under the most distressing events. You’ve always been one of the first to react in emergencies. In this case, an ICU nursing specialization may be a great fit for your super-fast responses.
On the other hand, if you thrive in academics, then you may want to consider clinical research. Clinical research nurses help create and formulate new and better treatments. This may also be an excellent fit for you if you’re an outstanding critical thinker.
What if you’re a great conversationalist, and you love to meet people from all walks of life? Then you may want to consider becoming a travel nurse. A travel nursing job will not only let you work within a single state; you can move from one state to another!
The most important thing here is to choose a specialty that jives with your personality. Don’t let external factors, especially “pressure,” have a massive influence on your decision. Remember: your choice now will affect your life in the many years to come.
Consider the Work Environment
When deciding how to specialize as a nurse, imagine yourself in various work settings. That’s right: nurses aren’t always in hospitals, although that’s still an option. You have many other choices, though, from private practices to schools and corporations.
Keep in mind that there are more than 60 nursing specialties that you can choose from. If you don’t want a job surrounded by four walls, you can work 5.9 to 7.2 miles above the ground, in an aircraft. This the kind of environment in which flight or transport nurses work.
If the air isn’t for you, then perhaps you’d like to surround yourself with clear, blue waters. In this case, you may want to consider a specialization in cruise ship nursing. Many travel nurse jobs also provide such benefits.
Think About the Age Group You Best Identify With
Of all healthcare professionals, nurses spend the most time attending to patients. A study even found that patients spent over 80% of their time with nurses, compared to about 13% with doctors.
With that said, you should also factor in the age groups of patients that you’re most comfortable with. It’s much like how teachers specialize in specific grade levels. As a nurse, however, you’d consider age brackets, such as infants or elderly adults.
Let’s say that you’re always the first person that people turn to for help with their babies. You also enjoy taking care of infants, and you’re very good at it. In this case, you may want to consider a pediatric nursing specialty, such as neonatal nursing.
At the other end of the spectrum is geriatric nursing. Geriatric nurses specialize in taking care of aging and older adults. They can work in medical facilities, but they can also work in the home of their patients.
The Demand for Your Preferred Nursing Specialty
As mentioned above, shortages are more common among nurses who have specializations. However, there are some, like travel nurses, who are even more in demand. One reason for this is that many states are experiencing regional shortages.
California, for example, may have a shortage of up to 45,500 registered nurses by 2030. Alaska, on the other hand, would have the highest estimated RN job vacancy, at 22.7%. Many other states, like Texas and New Jersey, will also experience the same woes.
It’s because of this that travel nurses will always have work awaiting them. Critical care, labor and delivery, and geriatric nurses are also in high demand.
Additional Specialization Certification and Requirements You Need to Meet
Most specialties require additional education and training on top of nursing school. Specializations also warrant specific nursing certifications. You need to obtain these before you can work in your desired specialized field of nursing.
With that said, it’s also crucial to consider how these requirements will sit with and affect you. They will extend the time you need to spend in education, after all. However, they are well worth it, as they will boost your professional recognition.
The greater your professional recognition, the higher your earning potential becomes.
Fulfill Your Dreams With a Rewarding Nursing Career
Choosing a nursing specialty takes a lot of deliberation and mulling over. At the end of the day, though, you’d want to have a career that makes you feel utterly fulfilled. Something that you’d look forward to until you retire, and one that you’d be proud to tell the grandkids.
Just remember that fulfillment carries different meanings for different people. For you, this may mean taking care of people, making them better, and being able to travel too. If so, then you may do very well as a traveling nurse.
Interested in learning more about traveling nurses? Stability Healthcare has all the resources you need, and we can even help with job placement. Feel free to browse travel nursing jobs or by reading our many guides on nursing must-knows!
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Best TV Shows About Nurses
There’s no better way to unwind than pouring yourself a glass of wine, kicking your feet up on the coffee table, and binging a series on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. As a travel nurse, you might be looking to escape work when you get home. But who are we kidding? Nursing and doctor dramas are fun for everyone, and some of them are deeply relatable. Here are the best portrayals of nurses on TV.
Nurse Jackie
As far as health care procedurals go, there’s none more nuanced and dynamic than Nurse Jackie, a show about a nurse who leads a double life. Jackie Peyton is respected in the emergency room of fictional All Saints Hospital in New York City, but she uses her job to feed her addiction to pills and narcotics. Watching Jackie struggle to hide her addiction from her family and coworkers, while also going above and beyond to protect her patients is addicting and fun. Despite the dark hook of the show, it’s otherwise a realistic portrayal of all that nurses have to deal with in a hospital. Nurses tend to be background dressing in a lot of doctor procedurals or dramas. Sometimes they’re even portrayed as a barrier for doctors getting what they want. So it’s nice to watch a show that takes the nurse’s perspective and shows a nurse as a full human being, flaws and everything.
You can stream Nurse Jackie on Netflix.
Call the Midwife
This BBC show, adopted from the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth, follows a midwife in the 1950s in East End London who falls in with a convent of eccentric nuns who are also nurses. The nurses take us into the homes of women all across London, and despite being a period piece, the show depicts nursing at its best. On top of saving many lives, these midwives are advocates for the women they treat at home, as the show brushes up against a myriad of social issues. It’s witty and sharp, while tugging at the heartstrings. You’ll get hooked.
You can also stream Call the Midwife on Netflix.
Mercy
This one is a quick binge, as it, unfortunately, got canceled after one season. But while it was on air on NBC, Mercy was one of the best shows about nurses on TV. With good reviews and a star-studded cast (Taylor Schilling pre-Orange is the New Black, Buffy, and Gossip Girl’s Michelle Trachtenburg and Homeland’s Diego Klattenhoff) it’s a mystery why this show only lasted 22 episodes. And it’s cancellation is even more hurtful knowing that it was one of the few shows who dared to prioritize nurses stories over doctors. As Schilling brilliantly describes in the pilot “nurses treat patients, doctors treat diseases.” The three female nurses the show follows range from a jaded nursing veteran to Schilling’s character who is an actual Iraq war veteran, and then there’s Trachtenburg, a newbie. The show is funny and well-acted, and portrays nurses with the care and depth they deserve.
Mercy just left Amazon Prime, but you can stream it here on NBC.com.
M*A*S*H
While famous for depicting a surgical unit in the Korean War, M*A*S*H also brought us arguably the most famous nurse on television, Chief Nurse Major Margaret Houlihan. Houlihan, played by Loretta Swit, is a no-nonsense nurse who’s tough on the nurses who work under her and the doctors she works with, but gentle with her patients. Her portrayal gets better as the show goes on. At first, she seems arbitrarily rigid, but she’s given more depth and compassion in the later seasons. And the show makes it clear that all of the nurses report to Houlihan, not the physicians, which is an important and realistic distinction that a lot of health care shows fail to make.
M*A*S*H is also just one of the best health-care-related shows ever. It’s currently streaming on Hulu.
Chicago Med
Chicago Med is one of the rare medical dramas that, in addition to following the hospital’s physicians, also spends a large chunk of time focusing on three skilled nurses. They’re also all played by black women: Yaya DeCosta as nurse April Sexton, Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood and S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Lockwood. All three are portrayed as vital to their patients’ care and often self-described as “trying to keep the residents from killing people.” This dynamic makes watching Chicago Med as a nurse a lot more enjoyable than other shows that brush over nurses like Grey’s Anatomy (Private Practice too. Seriously, what does Shonda Rhimes have against nurses?).
Chicago Med is still on the air on NBC. You can stream previous seasons on Hulu.
Scrubs
Scrubs certainly doesn’t get everything right about the daily work of a nurse, or any health care professional for that matter. But it’s hard not to love watching ER nurse Carla Espinosa give JD and Turk a hard time, and of course, eventually becoming the object of Turk’s affection. Carla has every Hollywood nurse stereotype attached to her – she reports to physicians, and her life pretty much revolves around physicians. She also doesn’t really seem to know all that much about medicine. But Judy Reyes gives the character depth. And some true dynamics seep through, like nurses’ informal teaching of residents, bigotry towards male nurses, and eventually Carla’s decision to become a nurse practitioner.
You can stream Scrubs on Hulu.
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