lifestyle Tag

What To Know About the COVID-19 Vaccines

With a COVID vaccine being made available, it’s starting to look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation when it comes to the safety and the efficacy of the vaccine and why you should get it, who can get the vaccine, and where to get the vaccine. Below, you can find more basic and general information. However, the vaccine rollout can be dependent on state/city, and as Biden comes into office, the rollout may change even further. As a travel nurse, you likely will be in the first few rollout phases (or maybe, you’ve already been vaccinated)! It’s best to consistently check local state regulations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for the most updated and accurate information. 

What are the effects of the COVID vaccine and is it safe?

If a vaccine is effective, it helps prevent the person from getting sick if they’re exposed to the virus. For COVID specifically, it’s very important to note that you must continue to remain socially distant until enough people have received the vaccine. There is not enough information to determine whether or not a vaccinated person can pass and transmit the virus to others, hence the importance to remain socially distant (Hopkins Medicine). 

The FDA approved vaccines (which you can see below) are safe and encouraged. As BBC states, “there is no evidence that any of these ingredients cause harm when used in such small amounts. Vaccines do not give you a disease. Instead, they teach your body’s immune system to recognize and fight the infection they have been designed to protect against.” If you think you may have any allergies or reactions to the vaccine’s ingredients, it’s always best to consult the CDC website and your doctor before receiving the vaccine. 

What COVID vaccines are out there?

As of now, there are two COVID vaccines that the CDC recommends: the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. Each has their own requirements and eligibilities:

Pfizer

• Recommended for those 16 years and older. 
• 2 shots in the upper arm. There should be 21 days between the initial and second shot. 
• According to the clinical trials, “the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was 95.0% effective… in preventing symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in persons without evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
• Mild to moderate symptoms following vaccination can include: pain, swelling, and redness at the injection site, and chills, tiredness, and headaches. This is normal, and these are common symptoms with many safe vaccines. 

Moderna

• Recommended for those 18 years and older. 
• 2 shots in the upper arm. There should be 28 days between the initial and second shot. 
• According to the clinical trials, “the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine efficacy after 2 doses was 94.1%…in preventing symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among persons without evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, which was the primary study endpoint.”
• As with the Pfizer vaccine, mild to moderate symptoms following vaccination can include: pain, swelling, and redness at the injection site, and chills, tiredness, and headaches. 

Who can (and should) get the vaccine?

• Currently, eligibility to receive the vaccine differentiates between states. For example, Illinois is making the vaccine available to certain groups in different phases. Travel nurses would be in Illinois’ first phase, because it includes healthcare personnel (hospital settings and non-hospital healthcare), long-term care facility staff and all residents, and other identified congregate care staff and residents. The second phase includes people 65 years and older, frontline essential workers, and inmates. Then the rest of the phases move accordingly to who is deemed at a higher risk of contracting and suffering from COVID. Often, you register ahead for the vaccine, but this also varies by location. Webmd has a good, collective list of links to states’ different rollouts. 
• Overall, the COVID vaccine rollout across the United States will likely change when Joe Biden takes office. NPR reports that Biden has a five-part plan to speed up national vaccinations: “To bring the virus under control, it proposes hundreds of billions of spending for a national vaccination program and public health measures such as testing and contact tracing; new jobs for public health workers; and expanded U.S. manufacturing for protective gear.” The full five-part plan can be found here. 

Why should a travel nurse especially get the COVID vaccine?

• First and foremost, getting vaccinated for COVID will help keep you healthy, and greatly lower the risk of serious complications of COVID. Travel nurses typically have a higher COVID exposure than non-healthcare workers. Getting the COVID vaccine will not only give you peace of mind but will also allow you to continue to work and help those in need. 
• The CDC points out that “Healthcare personnel who get COVID-19 can also spread the virus to those they are caring for—including hospitalized patients and residents of long-term care facilities. Many of these individuals may have underlying health conditions that put them at risk for severe COVID-19 illness.” Getting vaccinated not only protects yourself, but it helps protect the people you’re working with. 

As always, please refer to the CDC for the most updated information regarding COVID and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Best Travel Nursing Destinations for Winter

One of the benefits of being a travel nurse is the option to work virtually anywhere in the world. Assignment choices vary depending on experience, specialty, and desired location, but being able to change up your travel nursing destination means that you can move with the seasons. Here are some of the best travel nursing destinations for winter – whether you love or hate it.

If You Want To Warm Up…

Tampa, Florida: Tampa is an ideal travel nursing destination to escape the harsh winter climates because winter all but does not exist in this Central Florida locale. Even if you don’t necessarily want to take a dip in the Gulf of Mexico, you can walk alongside the ocean, enjoy the expanses of greenspaces or enjoy outdoor markets with average winter daytime temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The USF healthcare system as well as Tampa’s extensive population of retirees means travel nurses have plenty of options for work here as well.

San Francisco, California: This is another city that is seasonably mild throughout the winter months. While the fog may cool things down at night and in the morning, you can expect to enjoy outdoor recreation in San Francisco year-round. It is the heart of northern California, which also means that travel nursing assignments are diverse as the opportunities for fun in this locale.

Phoenix, Arizona: Job opportunities across a wide spectrum of healthcare systems and stunning desert scenery make Phoenix one of the top travel nursing destinations. This might not be your ideal option during the summer months, but if a winter escape is what you are after, then this metropolis in the desert should be high on your list. The surrounding mountain ranges mean you can spend time camping, hiking, or fishing while the rest of the country breaks out the snow gear.

If You Love Cold Weather…

Denver, Colorado: You get all the appeal of a bigger city with the wintry weather that guarantees great skiing, snowboarding or nights spent watching snowfall next to a roaring fireplace. Moreover, the extensive healthcare system in Denver means plenty of opportunities for work for travel nurses.

New York City, New York: If you’re on the hunt for travel nursing destinations that will allow you to make the most of the winter weather, then NYC is your spot. Sledding in Central Park, ice skating at Rockefeller Center, and of course the myriad holiday decorations bring the city to live. The job opportunities here are plentiful as well as some of the top hospital systems in the world are found around the city.

Bar Harbour, Maine: This is touted as one of the best-kept secrets for an exciting winter adventure. If you want to ingratiate yourself into the season, the beauty and authenticity of Bar Harbour can’t be beat. Acadia National Park offers opportunities for snowshoeing and the shops, while less crowded, all decorate for the holidays with festive fanfare. As travel nursing destinations go, there are plentiful options for job opportunities.

Ready to head to your winter wonderland? Stability Healthcare offers travel nursing placements all across the country. Find your next placement today.

5 Morning Workouts Under 20 Minutes

Working at a hospital can really take a toll on a nurse’s health with long hours, lots of time on your feet, lots of high-stress moments, and no consistent routine. It’s important to get in a little extra movement to keep you in tip-top shape so you’re feeling good.

Starting the day with a workout isn’t for everyone, but it is a fantastic way to get the day started. The common misconception is that you have to wake up at the crack of dawn and lose needed sleep to squeeze in a morning workout, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Set your alarm clock a few minutes earlier than usual, and get in one of these convenient morning workouts – all under 20 minutes and all can be done out of the comfort of your own home.

Maddie Lymburner of MadFit has a goal is to help inspire everyone at all fitness levels to get up, get moving, and reach their goals. This 15 minute morning workout is the perfect combination of stretching and cardio to get you moving.

If you’re in the mood for something more lowkey, then this full-body stretch is perfect. Mady Morrison is a Berlin-based yoga instructor and her workouts aim to leave you feeling balanced in body and mind. This video takes you through a full-body stretch that is perfect to get you ready to head into a 12-hour shift.

If you’re in the mood to get moving, this 12-minute cardio routine is sure to get your heart racing. Dudzz Dimension is a former NCAA Basketball player and current Personal Trainer and his videos are for beginners and pros alike. The best part? This only takes 12 minutes!

If yoga is your thing, this one is for you. If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll know we mention yoga fairly often  This 20 minute full-body flow is the perfect way to center your mind and body before starting your day.

And last but not least, you don’t even have to change your alarm for this one. This 5 minute routine from the Allbengers is just enough to help you break a sweat and keep you feeling strong and ready to take on your shift.

Ready to test out your morning workout routine in a new city? Stability Healthcare offers travel nursing placements all across the country. Find your next placement today.

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Cozy Up: 4 Fall Drink Recipes

The leaves are changing, we’re pulling out our sweaters, and most importantly, we’re officially making the leap from iced coffee to hot. We put together a list of some of our favorite fall drinks to get you feeling festive and give you a little boost to start your shift on a fall-filled note!

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients

8 oz coffee (either warmed up cold brew or regular coffee)

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (I use Califia)

1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

Combine ingredients in high powered blender and blend on medium speed for a good minute or two. Taste and feel free to add additional maple syrup or other ingredients – everyone’s taste is different! Feel free to top with whipped coconut cream! Enjoy!

via The Wooden Skillet

Spiced Apple Tea Latte

Pumpkin Spice Matcha Latte

Ingredients 

2.5 cups hot water (approximately 175 degrees)

1/3 cup raw cashews

2-3 teaspoons coconut palm sugar

2 teaspoons matcha powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend on high until creamy and smooth. For an extra creamy drink, soak your cashews in hot water for 15-30 minutes, then drain and rinse before adding to the blender. Serve the pumpkin spice matcha immediately.

via Kaitlyn Noble

Apple Caramel Latte Macchiato

Ingredients

2 cups apple cider

1 cup milk

6 teaspoon instant coffee granules

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 teaspoon salted caramel sauce

extra sweetener if desired

Instructions

Add milk, apple cider and instant coffee granules to a small saucepan. Give it a stir and let it heat up until just before it’s simmering. Add vanilla extract and, if using, additional sweetener of choice. Prepare the mugs by pouring salted caramel sauce into them and swirl to cover the bottom. Cool the mixture a bit (unless you have a heat-proof blender) and then blend. It will get bigger in volume as you blend, so you shouldn’t completely fill the blender. Work in batches if needed. Using a spoon, hold the foam back while you divide the milk mixture among the mugs. Then divide the foam between the mugs. Drizzle with more salted caramel sauce!

Guide To Changing Your Nursing Specialty

5 Evening Yoga Poses to Help You Sleep

There’s nothing more infuriating than getting home after a 12 hour work day on your feet, getting into bed, and then realizing you can’t fall asleep. It doesn’t make any sense! You were yawning for the last three hours of your shift! You are mentally and physically exhausted. But your brain says tough luck and starts racing instead of winding down. 

This can happen for a number of reasons — if you had that last cup of coffee a little too late in the evening, if you waited to eat dinner until 9 or 10 p.m. But when you’re a nurse trying to stay awake for your shift, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. There are some easy nighttime rituals that will make it easier to go to bed after a rough shift. Believe it or not, yoga is a great way to help your mind and your body wind down after a hectic day. A national survey found that over 55% of people who did yoga found that it helped them get better sleep. Over 85% said yoga helped reduce stress. Here are five moves, recommended by the Harvard Health Blog, to try before you crawl into bed. 

Wide-Knee Child’s Pose (Balasana)

A fan favorite, child’s pose can help promote a sense of stability and calm. It gently stretches your back and your hips, but is static and secure, so you’re not getting those nerves in your neck and spine fired up. Put your feet together on the mat, and widen your knees hip width apart. Exhale and just fold your torso over your thighs. You can relax your hands, palms up, stretching back by your feet. This is better for nighttime than reaching your hands forward on the mat, which is a more active pose. 

Just rest your forehead on the mat and take as many deep, concentrated breaths as you want. 

Reclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana)

Staying on the ground for this move, you can lie flat on your back and give yourself a good hip and groin stretch. Make the balls of your feet tough and let your knees fall away from each other, as close to the ground as they’ll go. Relax your arms on the floor about 45 degrees away from your torso, palms facing the ceiling.

Legs Up The Wall Pose (Viparita Karani )

This one is especially good for nurses, as it helps recirculate the blood flow in your feet, knees and ankles, which can get swollen and inflamed after a day of working on your feet. 

Bring your mat up as close to the wall as possible, lie flat on your back, and gently place your legs up the wall. Try and keep them as straight as possible. Relax your arms by your sides and take a few deep breaths. 

Standing Half Forward Bend (Ardha Uttanasana) at the wall

You’ll also need a wall for this one. Stand about a foot away from whatever wall you choose, and with your feet hips width apart, press your hands against the wall with your palms spread at the height of your hip. Step back enough so that your back becomes flat and perpendicular to the floor. Keep your feet hips width apart and press your hands into the wall to lengthen your spine. You should be making a backwards L shape with the wall. Your back will feel soooo much better after doing this pose. 

Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Finally, the perfect pose to do right before getting into bed. Lie on your back, take your knees into your chest and take in a big inhale, then exhale and press your legs straight, touching the floor. Lie with your hands relaxed at your sides, palms up. And practice a few deep, concentrated breaths. 

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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. 

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.

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!

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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