Blog | Erica Bettencourt (28)

Erica Bettencourt

Content Manager and Social Media Specialist

Nurse Imposters Are A Real Thing

Tue, May 16, 2017 @ 12:33 PM

We’ve recently heard in the news about Nurse imposters. One was hired to work as a Nurse in a hospital and was even hired as a Nurse educator! Another story is a Nurse Practitioner imposter working in a clinic.

These individuals got hired, taught students, and were treating patients. We wondered how they got hired. The man posing as a Nurse Practitioner had lots of Nursing credentials listed on his LinkedIn page. What’s scary about him is, as an NP, he has the ability to prescribe medication as part of the job.

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Samantha Rivera from Missouri is being accused of identity theft of a Nurse and using that I.D to get hired at St. Alexis Hospital. Rivera lied about having Nursing experience and a degree. According to court documents, she worked there for three months and treated geriatric patients in the intensive care unit and psychiatric ward.

This isn't the first time Samantha has lied about being a Nurse. According to investigators, in 2015, she allegedly lied about her background and landed a job teaching nursing at Brown Mackie College in New Mexico and her salary was $80,000.

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Over in California Nurse imposter, Chad Litz, also with a history of lying, has been arrested. In 2015, the California Board of Registered Nursing cited Litz for unlawful practice and being a nurse imposter. Litz was also sentenced to four years in prison for identity theft in 2011.

Chad Litz was working at the City Impact Clinic in San Francisco pretending to be a Nurse. The district attorney's office said Litz had been with the clinic for months, that he treated at least 28 patients and prescribed controlled substances to two of them. He's facing five felony counts, four for practicing medicine without a license and one for identity theft.

Besides being completely illegal, the act of impersonating a medical professional can really shake people to the core. Patients place their trust and privacy into the hands of Nurses and those Nurses have worked so hard to be in this field.

How does this happen? Perhaps you’ve worked with someone posing as a Nurse and it turned out, they weren’t? How can we prevent it from happening again? Please share your thoughts with us. Thank you.

Topics: Nurse imposters, Impersonating A Nurse, Fake Nurse

A TED Talk Tribute To Nurses [VIDEO]

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Thu, May 11, 2017 @ 02:33 PM

This heartwarming Ted Talk is a glimpse into a 5-year journey of over 100 interviews with Nurses across America. Carolyn Jones discusses big health issues like aging, war, poverty, and prisons.

She also gains insight from these interviews as to what made them become Nurses. Jones advocates for the diversity of Nurses and how their jobs are not all the same. She even mentions the future of complicated decisions Nurses will face when it comes to technology. But most importantly, she wants to praise Nurses for everything they do for their patients and their families.

Topics: health care, Nurses Week, thank a nurse, TED talk

Funny Parody About The Life Of A School Nurse [VIDEO]

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Wed, May 10, 2017 @ 02:40 PM

547021d7-eacc-4b41-ace0-096306e8d797-large16x9_ScreenShot20170509at5.37.11PM.jpg It’s Nurses Week and we always want to show our thanks for everything you do. This School Nurse wanted to show her thanks, especially to other School Nurses, for taking care of our kids.

She created this comedy sketch based on Adele’s song, Hello. We thought it was hilarious and we hope you do too!

Hello, it's me—and you should pay attention because school nurse has something to say.

To celebrate "School Nurse Day," Kelli Petersen, who works at an elementary school, penned a beautiful rendition of Adele's "Hello," only this time it's all about the life and times of a school nurse. "Happy School Nurse day to all my fellow school nurses! May you know how truly valued you are! And to nurses everywhere, you're amazing!," Petersen wrote on YouTube.

It's a creative celebration of countless bandaids, hurt tummies and gross bathrooms that Adele would most definitely be proud of.

Topics: school nurse

Nurses Will See These 3 Medical Technologies In Their Near Future

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Tue, May 02, 2017 @ 03:06 PM

With technology consistently evolving, Nurses will see an influx of new advancements throughout the next couple of years. Nurses will have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with robot surgery, advanced prosthetics, and virtual reality.

These new medical advancements will allow for more innovative techniques to help you provide the best care.

Nursing departments are known for their willingness to trial new medical technology. From advanced surgery techniques to virtual reality (VR) systems, nurses get to see cutting-edge technologies before most people even hear about them.

Here are three new advancements nurses will see in the near future:

1. Robot surgery

Today's robots may not look like those popularized in science fiction stories, but they have proven to be very useful. In fact, robots have already proliferated within the nursing field.

One of the most exciting robotic advancements in recent years is the da Vinci robot, a multi-limbed piece of equipment that can perform complicated procedures with fewer invasive cuts than traditional surgical methods.

A trained surgeon is still completely in control of the robot, but because the machine has delicate yet strong appendages, it can cut and stitch within highly confined spaces.

2. Advanced prosthetics

Prosthetics have come a long way since the turn of the century. Today, researchers are developing limbs that can be controlled by the patient's own neural system – exactly as they would control a real appendage.

According to MIT Technology review, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have created a prosthetic arm capable of translating thoughts into simple movements. Currently, the movements are simple, but it is a promising step forward.

Meanwhile, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers are producing a line of powered prosthetic legs to help amputees walk again.

To see these futuristic biomechanical legs in action, check out the video below:

3. Virtual reality

VR headsets have already made their way into the consumer market, but there's still so much more that researchers can do with the technology. From VR-assisted physical therapy to augmented reality applications, the possibilities of VR medical technology are limitless.

MedicalFuturist explained that VR applications are helping stroke patients recover their motor skills more quickly. By making repetitive exercises more fun, the program increases patient motivation throughout the recovery process.

Nurses in rehabilitation settings are likely to see VR use become more common over the next few years as the technology becomes affordable.

Every day, technological advancements make life a little easier for patients and the professionals who treat them. The above solutions are already in use today and will only become more prevalent as time goes on.

Topics: medical technology, medical technologies

Hospital Impact: Nurse Leadership's Role In Reducing Burnout

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Thu, Apr 20, 2017 @ 02:52 PM

In order to provide top quality care to their patients, Nurses must be focused and alert. Burnout in Nurses is worrisome because common side effects are forgetfulness, impaired concentration, anxiety, and depression. As a Nurse leader you want to make sure patient's lives are in good hands and the Nurses are well.

Continue reading below to learn what stressors cause burnout in Nurses and what you can do as a Nurse leader to prevent burnout from happening.

The problem of nursing burnout has been in a state of evolution for years. For many of these years, the 12-hour shift was the primary focus. However, 12-hour shifts provide nurses time away from the bedside necessary for rest, family time and self-care, allowing for a rested and refreshed start to new shifts.

Several stressors lead to high levels of pressure and nurse burnout. These include:

High patient acuity (years ago, these patients would have been in the ICU)
High nurse-to-patient ratios (not acuity-based)
Multiple discharges and admissions (many nurses will discharge and admit an entire team of patients during their shift)
Lack of ancillary support and resources
Leaders who assume that nurses “can take one more patient”
Physicians who expect nurses to drop everything and attend to their needs
Interruptions while on their break
The expectation that nurses are all-giving.

However, the most important stressor includes an old mindset held by organizational and nursing leadership: Nurses who voice concerns related to patient safety and workload are viewed as complainers. As nursing leaders, we must recognize the demands placed on our nurses, validate their concerns, and through best practices and common sense, use our leadership to provide support.

The most important skill of a nursing leader is the ability to listen to nurses. The nursing leader must be engaged in the discussions and have a physical presence in the department. Engaging with nurses allows for an open dialogue and a discussion of ideas, and provides validation.

Validation, in turn, lowers nurses’ stress levels because they know they are being heard. Open dialogue provides the nursing leader a forum to foster best practices, find workable solutions for departmental issues, and teach leadership skills through mentoring sessions.

Nursing leaders must hold nurses accountable who are not carrying their load. Modifications in behavior by the nurse will indicate action and support from the nursing leader. In addition, nursing leaders must know, understand and demonstrate a deep caring for their nurses. This is why having a presence on the unit is so important. Actions always speak louder than words, and we must model healthy, professional and supportive behaviors for our nurses.

Staff meetings can be of great benefit and should include discussions regarding new organizational policies, processes and outcomes from higher leadership meetings. One way to engage nursing input in staff meetings is to post an agenda and ask for additional items the nurses would like to discuss or present. Allowing nurses to create ideas, and to volunteer according to their interests and passions, fosters a sense of belonging that is necessary for engagement.

Imagine nurses researching best practices regarding care of a complex patient diagnosis new to your unit. The nurses present their research and provide the education to the nursing staff. Recognition encourages more nurses to contribute to improving the unit.

As nursing leaders, we must teach and empower our nurses to lead. Self-care has become a buzzword in nursing. Nurses are expected to care for themselves, but are sabotaged by the stress and the demands of the patient care environment. However, nursing leaders must provide supportive environments that foster self-care. For example, a competent team can handle discharge and admissions paperwork and patient education, allowing nurses to attend to their patient loads.

Finally, and most importantly, nurses need to be told that it is OK to take care of their own needs during their work shift. They need to feel confident that the nurses who are covering their team are knowledgeable and competent.

Self-care is included in many of the BSN and master’s-level nursing programs. Nursing programs are teaching leadership skills focusing on professional communication and how to achieve self-care in the work environment. Using best practice and leadership practices learned in nursing programs, nurses should present new ideas and evidence-based models to their nursing leadership.

By communicating in a professional fashion with the leadership, nurses will feel empowered and validated by having a voice. This new refreshing outlook is a far cry from the old, when nurses were expected to give up their chairs for physicians.

Topics: nurse leadership, Nurse burnout

Some Ideas To Make Your Workplace Happier

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Wed, Apr 12, 2017 @ 02:45 PM

Smiling is contagious and really the only thing Nurses are okay spreading around. Being happier during your shift usually results in it going by a little faster. I wanted to know how Nurses made their shifts a little more enjoyable. I did some research and here’s what I discovered.

Besides the small birthday get togethers in the break room, there are other easy things you can try that can really boost morale.

Free Food
"If it's free, it's for me" my father-in-law always says. I agree, and what makes everyone happy? Free food. How do you get free food at work? One word… potluck. Each person brings in a food dish.
When people bring in their old family recipes or their favorite comfort food, you'll end up with a bunch of dishes from different cultures that you've never tried before. Trying new things can be fun!

You Win Some and You Lose Some
Some hospitals have sign up sheets for sports. Teams could play every sport from volleyball to basketball. We know playing sports inside a hospital is frowned upon. Even though the games are played outside of work, you can always talk some FRIENDLY team rivalry trash talk leading up to the big day. Some other game ideas that aren’t physical are card games and bingo.

Play Dress Up
Working holidays gives Nurses a reason to dress up, and if appropriate, act a little goofy around their patients. Nurses have dressed up in everything from elves to clowns. There is a hospital that celebrates “Tutu Tuesdays” where everyone wears a tutu over their scrubs.

Guess Who
Guessing games can be very interesting and an easy way to have a little fun. You can bring in pictures from when you were a kid, hang them on the cork board, and guess who's who. Another idea is bringing in pictures of your pets and guess who’s the owner. There is a lab department who hangs employee’s pet pictures in their blood bank area where other departments can see them. They create categories people can vote on. One category was, “Most likely to star in a Steven King movie”.

Be Thankful
I know when I'm thankful for things, it makes me feel good inside. Hospitals are putting up thank you boards or boards of recognition. One place has cardboard hands that you write on and pin to the board if you want to pat someone on the back for something good or helpful they did. It boosts people's morale and spirits. It also shows they’re all one big team and are there to help each other out.

Nursing is not all fun and games. There are those hard shifts, the sad moments, and trying times. Try to stay positive and lean on each other to get through those times. Cherish the good times and celebrations!

Topics: fun at work, boost morale, Fun Nurses

Retired ICU Nurse Has Stories For Days

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Apr 10, 2017 @ 02:58 PM

Jokester, Trini Moad Snow, was a Nurse for over 40 years. She's now retired at age 91 but, talks about her happy days at work and the path to her passion. Moad Snow recalls picking vegetables after high school so she could save up enough money for Nurse training and that one time when she cut off an executive's tie! If you're interested in more of Trini's stories continue reading below.

When Trini Moad Snow retired, she decided to play a prank.

It was at a luncheon put on in 1992 by the staff of Mercy Medical Center, now Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa. Moad Snow, standing next to a hospital executive, pulled a pair of scissors out of her pocket and cut off the tie around his neck.

"I said, 'I never did like your ties,' and I cut it off!'" Moad Snow said, laughing.

"He said, 'You cut off my tie,'" she continued. "I said, 'I know, I don't like your ties.' I thought he was going to faint."

The people watching roared with laughter. Then, Moad Snow pulled out a box containing a nice, new tie and presented it to the executive, who gave her a hug.

"I get a card from him, every once in awhile," she said.

At 91, Moad Snow lives a laid-back life of retirement in Caldwell. She recalls tales from her nursing days that are usually tinged with humor and make her and her audience laugh. Moad Snow has the direct, matter-of-fact attitude you expect from a nurse, and her passion for her more-than-40-year-career is evident.

"I never did go to work unhappy," Moad Snow said. "I loved my work."

Moad Snow holds the distinction of having helped set up the first intensive care unit in Nampa at the Old Mercy Hospital, at a time when intensive care looked different from it looks like today. She saw the evolution of the nursing field from medical advancements to the style of uniforms.

Back in 1946, nurse training school cost Moad Snow a mere $75, a fact she likes to point out incredulously.

In today's dollars $75 is about $995, but that is still cheaper than a nursing student would pay for a semester's tuition at the College of Western Idaho, let alone three years of schooling.

To earn the money to train to be a nurse, Moad Snow, along with her friend Mickey Maybon, picked vegetables in the fields after graduating from Marsing High School. She swears she can still feel the cold lettuce in her hands as she packaged it for shipping.

When they finally earned enough money, they went into training at the old Sisters of Mercy hospital in Nampa.

Nursing was not at the top of Moad Snow's list of careers. She went to nursing school because Maybon convinced her to go. When she was almost finished with training, she had an interview set up in Seattle for an airline stewardess job. But a nun at the hospital turned her plans around.

"She said, 'Trini, you gotta give us a year. You owe us that,'" Moad Snow recalled.

She ended up working in the office of Dr. Warren B. Ross for the next eight years, then went to work at Old Mercy Hospital, an institution where she spent the rest of her career.

Moad Snow was a head nurse in the mid-1960s when she was walking down the hallway with two doctors who asked her if she likes to travel. They told her the hospital was setting up a new kind of unit that was becoming common all over the country, and she could go to New York to learn all about it.

"It wasn't really new; we took care of very ill patients out on the floor," Moad Snow explained. "But what was beginning to happen was they were beginning to group these patients into one area, and they called them 'intensive care units.'"

The new type of care would require nurses to have special training in things like the monitoring of patients' heart rhythms.

Moad Snow was told when she came back to Nampa that Old Mercy's intensive care unit would be fully set up and ready to go; all she would need to do was train the nurses. It didn't quite turn out that way.

"I came back, and I'll never forget ... I went home and cried that day," Moad Snow said.

One of the nuns at the hospital took her downstairs and showed her where she would set up the intensive care unit. She had two small rooms, and to wheel a patient out to the elevator to the surgical department she had to physically move her nurse's station desk.

Thankfully, that set-up was not permanent. Three months later, in September 1968, the Mercy Medical Center opened.

Although Saint Alphonsus is preparing to replace that facility this summer when it opens a new medical center nearby, the hospital was modern for its time, Moad Snow said, especially the ICU.

When the ICU was still in its early years, Moad Snow traveled to Russia to observe intensive medical care. She noticed they had a different policy than she was used to: Family members were allowed to stay nearby with the patient, as opposed to being kept at a distance. It broke all the rules Moad Snow learned, but it made such a difference in the patients' treatment and recovery.

When she got back to Idaho, Moad Snow tore up her rule book and let families visit patients in the ICU.

"It just made everything so much better," she added.

Moad Snow's career saw the application of new medical procedures.

She remembers the first time she watched a pacemaker get inserted. She thought the patient was going to die.

"And then when we got it connected and we saw that blip, and the patient's heart beating on the regular — it's pretty thrilling," Moad Snow said. "And I just couldn't get over how we could do things like that."

With all the changes, what hasn't changed about quality nursing is caring for patients, Moad Snow said.

"I still think there's a lot of care there. If you're a nurse, a good nurse, and you care about patients — I think they still have that," she said.

Topics: ICU nurse, retired nurse

More Men Becoming Nurses

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 04:18 PM

Two men discuss their career paths in a female dominated work environment, Nursing. Brian Medley and Zain Rehman talk Nursing shortages, specialty options, salary, and more. Read below to find out more about the interview.

Brian Medley, a nurse at Lurie Children's Hospital, and Zain Rehman, a nurse at Advocate Christ Medical Center Intensive Care Unit, talked about their career path.

Nursing has historically been a female-dominated field, but men are increasingly pursuing the career. The percentage of men in nursing is still small, only about 9 percent to 10 percent.

A nursing career holds many advantages for men, such as highly diverse patient care environments, career stability, and a competitive salary.

Resurrection University will host a "Thinking Out Loud" speaker series for men, by men.

"Men in Nursing" is a free event that brings together a panel of male nursing professionals to talk about what it's like to be a nurse in today's healthcare environment

EVENT DETAILS
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Resurrection University, 1431 N. Claremont, Chicago

For more information, visit: www.resu.edu/meninnursing

IT'S A GOOD TIME TO BE A NURSE
Nurses are in high demand because of a current nursing shortage. Statistics from the World Health Organization show that the total number of nurses actively working in the U.S. health care field has decreased dramatically since 2000, therefore causing the demand for nurses to increase. Another reason for the shortage is that our country's aging population is generating a growing demand for services such as end-of-life and long-term care. The shortage of nurses crosses all specialties including faculty for nursing education program. That means graduating students can enter a job marketplace that is stacked in their favor. The job opportunities for nurses are expected to grow by 16 percent by 2025.

MANY TYPES OF NURSING SPECIALTY OPTIONS
The nursing field offers many different patient care environments, some of which may be particularly appealing to men, such as anesthesia, flight, emergency, or trauma nursing. Other nursing specialties in the field that male nurses may want to explore include middle management, nursing education, nurse practitioner, oncology, psychiatry, pediatrics, and administration. Nursing is not a one-size-fits-all profession; for both male and female nurses, the wide array of specialties makes it possible to pursue one's specific areas of interest in the field.

SALARIES FOR MALE NURSES IS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE

Nurses earn a good living. Nurses in Illinois earn an average salary of $60,000. That goes up for nurse practitioners and those with specialties such as anesthesiology. It's a relatively quick transition to make a comfortable salary. Opportunities for advancement happen more quickly in nursing than in some other fields.
Even in the female-dominated field of nursing, male nurses typically out-earn female nurses, as is the case across almost all occupations. Also the retirement benefits are often very appealing. It is also not uncommon for new nurses to be offered signing bonuses.

MALE NURSES IN DEMAND
Many hospitals desire a mix of genders and many men offer the physical strength needed for tasks such as moving patients and heavy equipment. Also, some male patients prefer male nurses when dealing with sensitive medical issues, such as prostate exams, catheters etc.

NURSES HAVE JOB STABILITY
Nursing will never go out of style, and they can't be replaced by machines. People will always need medical care no matter what happens in the economy. Nursing requires empathy, resilience, and a capacity for caring... and there's no gender restriction on that.

Topics: male nurse, male nurses

A Nurse Scientist and An Engineer Create Heart App

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Thu, Apr 06, 2017 @ 03:40 PM

Two professors at USF collaborated to work on improving self-care at home for patients with congestive heart failure. Another goal was to reduce their hospital readmissions. They knew most patients are living on their own after they get out of the hospital and it can be a challenge for patients to keep up with their regimen. They teamed up to create an app that could help them.

Learn all about it in the article below. Perhaps you have an idea that can help your patients and their families?

A nurse scientist and an engineer created a smartphone application for patients with heart failure — and the patients participating in a pilot study said they’re finding it useful in helping them make the right choices about their health, according to an article published online by the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Called HeartMapp and now copyrighted by USF, the device can be used on Android smartphones by patients with congestive heart failure.

Ponrathi Athilingam, PhD, assistant professor at the USF College of Nursing, and Miguel Labrador, PhD, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the USF College of Engineering, created HeartMapp. Their goal was to improve patient self-care and reduce costly hospital readmissions.

“As a cardiology nurse of 25 years, I know that patients with heart failure, who must follow an intricate medication regimen and self-management practices at home to stay healthy and prevent getting admitted to the hospital, struggle with self-care,” Athilingam said in the article. “After patients leave the hospital, they are alone. However, they do have a phone as a companion. So, we developed this easy-to-use, patient-centered technology to help them keep their heart health on track.”

Monitoring vital signs

The app has six modules which help patients monitor their vital signs, perform breathing and walking exercises, take their medication, read educational information on heart health and see how they’re doing. The app also reminds them to check their weight and blood pressure in the morning and assess any symptoms.

Patients check the app to see if they’re in the green, yellow or red zone. The green zone means they’re doing fine, according to the article. “The red zone means they’re gravely ill and need to immediately go to the hospital,” Athilingam said in the article. “But the goal is to have patients note when they’re in the yellow zone so they can contact their physicians and work to get back to the green zone, she said.

Athilingam and Labrador are testing HeartMapp with nine patients from the USF health cardiology clinic, and USF hopes that will lead to making the app commercially available, according to the article.

The app creators also wrote several articles about small studies they’ve done regarding the app’s usage. In one study, they surveyed 25 patients with congestive heart failure and 12 healthcare workers via questionnaires. In that study published by the journal Applied Nursing Research, the authors, which included Athlingam and Labrador wrote that “patients reported moderate self-confidence in using HeartMapp.”

They also wrote in the abstract: “The healthcare members demonstrated high confidence in recommending HeartMapp to patients and in utilizing data from HeartMapp for clinical decision making.”

Topics: smartphone applications, heart app, congestive heart failure

2017 Best Nursing Apps

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Apr 03, 2017 @ 04:08 PM

Nurses are on the move and they aren't carrying around medical books and a computer to help them when they need it. Wait, on second thought, that little smart phone in your pocket is just that, a computer, filled with apps catered to your needs.

If you need definitions to medical terms, there's an app for that. There's also one that will keep you up to date on medical news and others that will provide you with information on specific diseases and medical cases. If you haven't looked into apps that can help you out in the Nursing field, here's a list of the best of the best.

1. Nursing Central

Unbound Medicine’s award-winning Nursing Central app is available on Android and iOS devices. Users are satisfied with its extensive drug and disease information. Nurses and students are able to work more efficiently thanks to Nursing Central providing detailed information on diseases, tests, drugs and procedures on the go.

What users are saying:

“This app is awesome! I love that it has all the necessary references. The search is great and pulls up the item in all the references…”

Rating:

Cost: Free

Available: Android and iTunes

2. Diseases Dictionary

A free Android and iOS app, Diseases Dictionary offers a long list of illnesses and conditions nurses are apt to encounter, along with symptoms and preferred treatments. Nurses and students can type in the symptom and a list of possible diseases will appear; this app provides comprehensive information about how to deal with symptoms/how to prevent the disease; and how to improve knowledge about diseases.

What users are saying:

“High informative. I recommend this app.” “A Must-Have app! What an educative app!”

Rating:

Cost: Free

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Erica Bettencourt

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