thenursespeak.com/blog

In an environment that focuses on incredibly challenging chronic illness management coupled with a percentage of minimally educated and inexperienced nursing staff, LTC facilities find themselves experiencing sub-optimal patient/resident outcomes, nursing job dissatisfaction, and poor nursing staff retention. The understanding that access to continual professional development resulting in improved nurse job satisfaction shouldn’t be a novel idea, especially when considering how complex the role of nursing is in today’s healthcare marketplace. Speaking from professional experience, when healthcare facilities operate primarily in a reactive phase of nursing professional development and education, such as providing education and training after a sentinel event, nursing staff feel that the focus is on their mistake, rather than empowering them with the knowledge and skills to prevent further incidents. However when facilities focus on implementing proactive education and training programs, such as preceptor workshops, real-time coaching, in-facility certification prep classes, and internal career ladder programs, they experience improved job satisfaction and staff retention.

Effective interprofessional collaboration – also known as interdisciplinary collaboration, is an essential component in the delivery of comprehensive, safe and therapeutic patient care. In today’s healthcare marketplace, stressors such as heavy patient loads, increasing demands on nurses and other direct care providers, and system-wide financial strain can lead to a wide variety of miscommunications and tensions among members of the healthcare team

The Nervous System – when the body is stressed, either physically or mentally, the sympathetic nervous system signals the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol. The Cardiovascular System – short term stress, such as sitting in traffic, or being nervous for an interview can make the heart rate increase, and cause systemic vasodilation, which increases the blood flow to all body parts. The Endocrine System – stress causes the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol, which makes the heart rate increase, and prepares the body for the fight or flight response. Looking back at how the body releases large amounts of stress hormones and cascades of inflammatory response to prepare the body for fight or flight during stressful situations, we can better understand how chronic stress can greatly damage tissues by interrupting normal processes that regulate homeostasis and promote healing.

As the saying goes “time sure does fly by when you’re having fun”, and that’s exactly what’s been going on here at The Nurse Speak! 2018 was a great year for The Nurse Speak as we proudly joined in the celebration of client NCLEX successes – maintaining our 100% client NCLEX pass rate, enjoyed working on several fun writing projects, was featured on the Mastering Nursing Podcast, hosted by Nurse Keith Carlson, attended the National Nurses in Business Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas, and continued to make many more wonderful connections within our amazing nursing community. With so many awesome experiences last year, The Nurse Speak is ready for another AMAZING year – So join us in the exciting journey that 2019 has in store, and remember to let us help YOU develop strategies for success!