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☀️ Good Morning Readers!
It has been a special time for our team as this is the first year we are planning Nurses Week! As nurses, we know the gifts you usually receive don’t equate to the massive value you add to your community. This year, we have partnered with Cherokee Uniforms, connectRN and Guardian Medical Direction to give nurses the bonus they deserve.
We are giving $500 American Express gift cards to nine lucky nurses! Nominate your favorite nurse that deserves some extra love this year. Winners and their stories will be featured on our platforms during Nurses Week!
At TNB, it’s really important that we not only stand by our words but we provide you with opportunities to be your best self both at and beyond the bedside.
With much love and gratitude,
Tamara AL-Yassin (aka Nurse T)
CEO | The Nursing Beat
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Leda Toussaint, The Med Tech Matchmaker, has written a fantastic piece on how nurses and other healthcare professionals can thank the often unsung heroes that make our jobs easier during Medical Laboratory Professionals Week! So head over to the blog and read “Five Ways to Celebrate Your Laboratory Family During Their Recognition Week” today! Read more here.
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MORNING BRIEF 🍳 ☕️
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DOJ Charges Doctors and Nurses in Widespread
Covid Fraud Schemes
The Department of Justice is issuing numerous criminal charges against 18 doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. The deed? Stealing some $490 million in funds from federal health and Covid-related programs. These include the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Covid-19 Uninsured Program, Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, and the Health Care Fraud Unit’s Provider Relief Fund Initiative. The accused also reportedly sold thousands of fake Covid vaccination cards and billed Medicare fraudulently.
One of the most significant misdeeds, according to the DOJ, was defrauding the HRSA Covid-19 Uninsured Program, which was designed to halt the pandemic’s spread by providing testing and treatment access to uninsured patients. The program also provided financial support to healthcare providers by reimbursing them for services provided to uninsured individuals. The program incidentally ceased operations after exhausting funding.
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Hawaiʻi Aims to Advance Pediatric Emergency Care
Hawaiʻi is launching a new medication dosing system, according to the Rainbow State’s Department of Health. The system is designed to improve pediatric emergency care and patient outcomes by reducing medication errors. The new mobile application system provides quick access to medication dosing guidelines for children. The federally funded technology also documents the medications and doses given in a childʻs medical record. In addition, the state is conducting training courses in each county next month to certify 35 EMS personnel and teach more than 300 paramedics how to use
the system.
The new system comes at a time when 7.5 million medication dosing errors occur in pediatric patients in the US each year. Research shows that up to 31% of those errors may harm or even kill the patient.
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School Nurse Saves Janitor’s
Life
On March 16, Jefferson Forest High School custodian Thomas Garrison had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest while at work. Another custodian called 911 after seeing Garrison collapse and called out for help from school staff. One of his coworkers who responded was school nurse Virginia Davis, who rushed to the scene to discover an unresponsive Garrison who wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. After 15 minutes of CPR and using an AED, Davis, and her helpers brought Garrison back from the brink of death. Garrison returned to consciousness before the fire department arrived and was released from the hospital several days later.
Though this is the first time Davis has had to respond to a true emergency at the school, she is no stranger to handling life-or-death events. Before becoming a school nurse, Davis was a nurse in a busy emergency department.
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COMMUNITY PICKS 🌼
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TNB headquarters is always stocked up with pens and sticky notes. These are some of our absolute favorites.
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🧑💻 THAT REMOTE LIFE powered by
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Can New Grads Work Remotely?
Why does it feel like a taboo subject when a new grad nurse wants to pursue a non-traditional nursing role? Nursing “skills” reach far beyond IV insertions and med passes. While clinical experience is necessary for many remote and non-traditional roles, there are instances where a new grad can be successful without prior bedside experience. On the other hand, without clinical experience, you may face mental stress from time-sensitive metrics or needing to frequently ask for colleague assistance.
If you don’t feel ready to work remotely yet, consider other non-traditional nursing paths:
Clinic nursing
Home health
School nursing
Mobile infusions
Entrepreneurship
Health coaching
Nurse writing
Never be afraid to change the formula, and build a career you love, no matter how non-traditional. Are you interested in learning more about remote nursing life? Check out the Nurse Fern blog.
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DAILY DIVERSION 💊
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Nasal irrigation with salt water can work wonders for easing non-severe sinus infections systems like mild pain and fever. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, chronic nasal irrigation with tools like a neti pot can result in more frequent, recurrent sinusitis attacks. Read more here.
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🤯 ONE BIG NUMBER
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19%
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As of April 15, 2023, nearly one in five transgender youth lived in states where they are banned from receiving best-practice medical care, according to a report by the Movement Advancement Project. Check out MAP’s Equality Maps for the most up-to-date information on youth’s gender-affirming
care across the country.
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The Bonus Nurses Deserve for Nurses Week!
Read the Blog