Wednesday | March 22, 2023

Healthcare starts with you. This is your beat.

☀️ Happy hump day, TNB fam!

Today’s edition of our newsletter is filled with some exciting nursing news. Flavonol-rich foods could slow cognitive and memory decline! The FDA has issued two exciting clearances: one for a Hemophilia B gene therapy and another for an Apple Watch app that monitors Parkinson’s symptoms. Self-Care Catalyst also has some great tips for you to deal with pre-shift anxiety. Although I’m no longer a shift worker, I still find these tips applicable, and I hope you do too. 😁

Stay Curious!

Hannah B. (aka Nurse Hans)

Chief Ops Guru

MORNING BRIEF 🍳 ☕️

State Bans on Abortion Pills Have Begun

It’s officially begun: Wyoming has become the first state to ban the use of pills for abortions. Of course, medication abortion is already outlawed in (conservative) states that have near-total abortion bans, but Wyoming is the first to outlaw the medications separate from an overall ban. This legislation comes at a time when a Texas judge will soon rule on whether the FDA’s approval of mifepristone should stand, potentially affecting abortion throughout the nation. 

Wyoming has a previously standing abortion ban, which so far has been blocked by courts for potentially violating part of the state’s Constitution. Gov. Mark Gordon, who signed the medication abortion bill, said he would allow another measure banning abortion under almost all circumstances to become law without his signature for fear of complicating the legal battle over the previous ban, he claims.

New Hypothesis for Why US Fentanyl Crisis Is So Bad: Lack of Hugs

Some 70,000 people in the US die of fentanyl overdose every year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. However, it’s not trafficking activities by Mexican cartels that are to blame, according to Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Rather, we should be blaming US families who don’t hug their kids enough, he said, while also denying that Mexico produces fentanyl. 

López Obrador said that United States’ anti-drug policies are a failure and that both countries should propose bans on using fentanyl in medicine, though the drug doesn’t often find its way into the illegal market from hospitals. Most illegal fentanyl is produced in Mexican labs that use Chinese precursor chemicals, according to US authorities. Most of the drugs from the Mexican cartels are made into counterfeit pills resembling medications including Xanax, oxycodone, and Percocet. 

Sudden Closure of Ketamine Clinics Strikes Fear in Patients

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy has recently gone mainstream, with routine infusions able to effectively treat severe depression, PTSD, and other conditions. One of the largest clinic chains in the country, Ketamine Wellness Centers, had been growing over the past decade, and just a few months earlier had plans to expand. But then CEO Kevin Nicholson sent an email to some patients and all of the company’s employees across nine states that Ketamine Wellness Centers would cease to exist, practically immediately. Patients are now scrambling to find new providers before their symptoms potentially come back, according to STAT. 

The cause of the Centers’ quick demise appears to be a business deal gone sour, leaving the company without funds to continue operations. There are other ketamine clinics patients can turn to, but navigating insurance can be tricky, especially for veterans (Ketamine Wellness Centers had previously partnered with the VA).

COMMUNITY PICKS 🌼 

Susan J. Farese MSN, RN, has written a book of poetry that expresses the encompassing emotions and feelings that nursing brings in “Poetic Expressions in Nursing: Sharing the Caring.” It offers a unique perspective that only a nurse can give on the profession through the collection of 40 poems

☕️ THE BREAK ROOM powered by

The Self Care Catalyst Post Shift Reflection is my most popular download for a reason. 100s of nurses have used it to tame their nervous system post shift so that they transition home in a more balanced, confident, calm state of being. 

Here are the basics and why a post shift reflection is a gamechanger:

1. Interrupts the autopilot of overwhelm. It’s so easy just to keep “doing” but sitting in your car taking time to unpack the day and reflect will give you perspective so you transition from a state of service to others to self-service.

2. Looking at what you did well will help your confidence grow and remind you that you are learning, growing, adapting, and capable of amazing things. 

3. It ensures you get your needs met. Unmet needs and crappy boundaries will contribute to your level of burnout. Tuning into you is essential. 

Snag the freebie here and bust through post shift burnout! I’m always rooting for you! 

DAILY DIVERSION 💊

Have you ever tried putting butter in your coffee? How about another type of fat, say olive oil? Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz thinks you’re going to love it and has launched a series of coffee-olive oil concoctions in Milan, Italy. The beverages will soon spread across the globe and this spring for Southern California and later this year for Japan, the Middle East, and Britain. 

🤯 ONE BIG NUMBER

Thanks for reading! 🤓