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DiversityNursing Blog

Nursing Trends You'll See In 2022

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Jan 10, 2022 @ 10:51 AM

GettyImages-1344099061As we start the new year, we take a look at trends we expect to see in the Nursing field. Many health experts agree staffing has been and will continue to be the top healthcare issue.

Nurse Shortage

Many factors play into the staffing crisis like the pandemic, retiring Nurses, and high rates of burnout.

Rhonda Thompson, DNP, CNO and SVP of Patient Care Services at Phoenix Children's Hospital told Beckers Hospital Review, "The nursing shortage affecting health systems nationwide will continue to be a challenge in 2022. This has a greater impact than just unfilled positions and scheduling sufficient nurses based on a high patient census. It also means our experienced staff nurses are investing a great deal of time onboarding and training newly licensed nurses, in addition to their own daily bedside care responsibilities. To solve this, it will take collaboration and commitment from our health systems, staff, and academic partners."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 194,500 openings for Registered Nurses are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Increase In At-Home Healthcare

The COVID-19 pandemic created a demand for at-home healthcare that continues to grow.

According to Forbes, the Home Care Providers industry is among the fastest growing healthcare industries in the United States. "Industry revenue, according to IBISWorld, has grown at an annualized rate of 2.2% to $96.9 billion over the past five years."

At-home healthcare has many benefits. So much so, last year a bill called the Choose Home Care Act 2021 was presented to Congress. If passed, this would give patients the opportunity to leave the hospital and recover at home with a mix of expanded skilled Nursing, therapy, personal care, telehealth services, and more.

Prioritizing The Well-Being Of Healthcare Workers

The pandemic has pushed an already stressed-out career field to its breaking point. Nurses are facing high rates of burnout and compassion fatigue.

Compassion fatigue is the emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events.

According to J. Maben and J. Bridges (2020), the pandemic has led Nurses to experience the highest level of stress that has ever been recorded compared to other professions.

Healthcare organizations and leaders have the opportunity and the responsibility to support and prioritize their staff's mental and physical well-being.

These healthcare workers have given so much of themselves they have nothing left to give and yet they are still showing up day after day under impossible circumstances. But for how much longer?

Nurses want to feel valued and safe in their work environment. Healthcare organizations must ensure Nurses are equipped with resources and the support they need to provide quality care.

Nursing School Online

The pandemic forced Nursing schools to provide their classes online to avoid the spread of the virus. Many institutions have continued the online learning option for some of their programs.

According to a report from Inside Higher Ed, about 60% of colleges and universities do plan to keep some of their undergraduate programs fully online.

Online schools provide a great opportunity for Nurses who are looking to advance further in their education, but don't have the time to physically attend classes between shifts.

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Topics: well being, nursing shortage, nursing trends, healthcare workers, healthcare workforce, healthcare trends, healthcare issues, 2022 healthcare trends, online nursing school

The Benefits Of Horse Play

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Tue, Feb 10, 2015 @ 09:05 AM

By Jodie Diegel, BSN, MBA, RNC, LNCC

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Laura* is severely disabled, but when she spent time with Lunar, her caregivers at Little Angels, a non-profit skilled nursing facility in Elgin, Ill., witnessed something they had never seen. Laura began to move her fingers back and forth. Lunar is not a doctor or a therapist, but a 6-year-old specially trained miniature therapy horse from the Northern Illinois-based non-profit organization Mane in Heaven that I started in 2012. Mane in Heaven specializes in animal-assisted activity and therapy visits. Our horses visit with people with physical, mental and emotional challenges ­— from people with severe disabilities to Alzheimer’s and dementia patients to patients who are undergoing treatment for cancer.

Laura’s reaction was no surprise to me. We witness this type of reaction all the time when Lunar — with her chestnut brown coat and blonde eyelashes and her gentle demeanor — or one of her fellow mini-horses meet our clients. I recall another visit between a young man who was blind and disabled and Turnabout, a 3-year-old mini-horse. Turnabout is the only boy in the bunch and has the biggest personality. When the young man put his hands on Turnabout’s face, they obviously made a connection because the man laughed exuberantly again and again. 

It brings us joy to see the light, laughter and hope our minis provide to people experiencing profound illnesses or disabilities — not to mention that these visits can lead to improved physical, mental and emotional well-being. 

I remember when the idea of working with mini-horses came to me. I was surfing the Internet one evening in December 2011 after volunteering with my two therapy dogs, Buffet and Dudley, when an advertisement caught my eye. “Mini Therapy Horses for Sale,” it said. I thought, “I have two big horses, so I know horse behavior, and I’ve done a lot of obedience training with my two therapy dogs. I can train mini-horses to do the same thing that Buffet and Dudley do.” 

But I knew I couldn’t do it alone. Two months later, I had established a volunteer board of directors, including founding board member and friend Dina Morgan, RN, and had acquired three mini-horses — Lunar, Turnabout and 3-year-old Mystery, our smallest horse. In 2013, 2-year-old Jenella joined the group. 

Mane in Heaven volunteers and mini-horses began site visits in June 2013, and since then our volunteers and horses have visited with thousands of people in need. We have relationships with numerous providers and non-profit organizations in the region, including Marklund, a home for infants, children, teens and adults with serious developmental disabilities; Gigi’s Playhouse, which cares for children and adults with Down Syndrome; Wings, which advocates for survivors of domestic violence, as well as homeless women and children; JourneyCare, which specializes in palliative medicine and hospice care; and Rush University Medical Center, a premier hospital located in Chicago. 

A site visit usually lasts up to two hours and involves an exchange of unconditional love between the horses and our clients. People watch, pet, brush, hug and take pictures with the minis. Rather than thinking and talking about themselves and their problems, our clients focus on the animals. When our horses visit a care facility, the residents laugh and interact more, are mentally stimulated by the entertainment and are able to recall personal memories more readily. 

When Corin Garcia, 19, from Palos Hills, Ill., met Lunar at a Mane in Heaven visit at Rush University Medical Center, it changed her whole perspective on her pending treatment. Corin told me it was a day she dreaded more than anything — admission day for “four tedious, boring days of chemotherapy,” she said. But Corin’s attitude changed when her she met Lunar. “I was in an awful mood, yet when two miniature horses walked through the door my mind cleared all its negative thoughts and my heart instantly melted. Being around these beautiful creatures made the worse day turn into the best I have ever had in the hospital.”

Mane in Heaven does not charge for visits; we rely on donations and fundraising, so fundraising is important work for our volunteers. Interest is growing in our services, thanks, in part, to media coverage by CNN, the Associated Press, and local media outlets. Having the support of volunteers helps us to maximize donations, but we hope to find others who believe in our mission and will also support us financially. While our horses are tiny, there are still significant expenses associated with running our organization. One day we’d love to open our own therapy center and acquire more horses, so we can serve more people. 

Running a nonprofit business is challenging while also working full time, but I really never feel like this is work for me. While I may have had the vision for Mane in Heaven, our volunteers have made it a reality. We have a group of amazing and generous volunteers who help special horses help special people. Everyone has challenges in their lives, but whether we are with the minis at training sessions or on visits, we always feel happier and joyful after some “mini love.” We are the privileged ones to be on the other end of the rope.

Source: http://news.nurse.com

Topics: non-profit, mental, emotional, well being, mini horses, volunteers, nursing, health, RN, nurse, health care, medical, cancer, hospice, hospital, treatment, doctor

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