Wednesday | April 12, 2023

Healthcare starts with you. This is your beat.

☀️ Happy Wednesday, Readers

So many people enter the nursing profession for flexibility - in shifts, locations, and specialties. When I worked bedside, I was always captivated by the endless possibilities that my nursing license allowed. Do you need some flexibility in your life? Perhaps picking up an extra shift to pay for that vacation? Or are you in school and need some extra shifts? Our friends at connectRN have expanded their platform to find hospital shifts at multiple Nashville hospitals and will continue to expand to other regions. Check them out here. 😎

Enjoy your next flexible shift!

Hannah B. (aka Nurse Hans)

Chief Ops Guru

TODAY ON TNB'S BLOG

MORNING BRIEF 🍳 ☕️

connectRN Helps Address Nursing Shortages in Hospitals

Staffing agency connectRN has been helping clinicians and nurses find shifts in skilled nursing facilities and home health settings. It has now announced that it is expanding its staffing services into hospital settings, allowing nurses to find more flexible shifts and hospitals to fill their staffing shortages. 

connectRN helps nurses work when and where they want, providing more freedom over their schedules and routines. As a result, it allows nurses to develop a healthier work-life balance instead of burning out. Nurses are currently using connectRN to find shifts at multiple Nashville hospitals, and the company is focusing on expanding its hospital availability in Florida before launching nationwide. 

The agency is holding two free events in Fort Lauderdale: a networking event where local RNs and LPNs can learn more about connectRN and an Orangetheory workout class.

Hospital Groups Fight CMS’ Plans for Nursing Home Staffing Mandates

Last year, the Biden Administration announced it was directing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to work to improve the safety and quality of care in US nursing homes. A major part of these reforms would be to institute minimum staffing standards. Two major hospital groups — American Hospital Association and American Health Care Association — are now pushing back against CMS’ plans for federal staffing minimums. 

In their letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the hospital groups argue that such mandates are a “one-size-fits-all” approach that doesn’t consider individual nursing homes’ circumstances. Staffing levels should instead be “customized to the resident population and facility characteristics,” they wrote. 

The letter comes a day after Democrats reintroduced a House bill that would set minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for all hospital units. It mirrors California’s nurse staffing law and protects nurses who speak out against unsafe staffing levels. 

Does Science Support Transgender Athletic Competition Bans? 

Conservative states, including Vermont and Kansas, have recently pushed bans on transgender athletes. Even the World Athletics has banned transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in women’s events at international competitions. But experts say that such bans don’t follow the science.

Few studies on transgender athletes have been published, and those that have don’t back the bans. One 2021 review found that women’s muscle mass remains high after transitioning, but their hemoglobin levels are comparable to cisgender women’s. A 2015 study also suggested no advantage for transgender women — race times of participants slowed after transitioning from male to female, and performance relative to sex-matched runners stayed the same. Arguments and bans based on testosterone levels make little sense, given that many cis women have elevated levels and are allowed to compete. The Biden Administration is proposing rule changes to stop the bans. 

COMMUNITY PICKS 🌼 

If you need something relaxing for your downtime, check out this 1000-piece nurse-themed jigsaw puzzle!

🔎 NOBC INSIGHTS powered by

From Bedside to Boardroom: Other-Advocacy vs. Self-Advocacy vs. Us-Advocacy

What happens when a nurse finds themself in a situation where they need to self-advocate? They play a little subconscious trick on themselves. Instead of self-advocating, they “us-advocate.” Instead of advocating for their salary increase, nurses advocate that “all nurses get paid more”; instead of advocating for a new manager due to personal abuse, nurses advocate for “safe working environments for all,”; etc. While us-advocacy can move systemic change, the individual nurse’s specific problem often never gets addressed: the salary doesn’t increase, and the manager keeps being abusive.

Next month, this column will teach you four language strategies for successful self-advocacy. You are already good at advocating for others; let linguistics teach you how to advocate for yourself.

Samantha Beaver | Linguist; Author; Senior Workplace Communications Analyst; Communications and Research Consultant; NOBC News Editor

DAILY DIVERSION 💊

From the late 1700s to 1821, Our Lady of Guadalupe, later named the Spanish Military Hospital, stood in St. Augustine, Florida. In that final year, the city had to replace water lines under the hospital, forcing them to remove the original building and rebuild it. During the process, however, they discovered thousands of bones from a type of burial ground, possibly belonging to the Timucua Indian tribe. These bones led to — you guessed it — hauntings. As a result, there are ghost tours to take you through the haunted hospital (now a museum). 

🤯 ONE BIG NUMBER

Thanks for reading! 🤓