Good Morning, Readers!

On this day in 1921, Forrest M. Bird was born. An inventor and biomedical engineer, Bird created the first reliable mechanical ventilator. His work paved the way for modern-day ventilators used in hospitals today.

Today's Top Beats

🩺 Supporting Nurse Managers
🍽️ Colon Cancer Diet
🏫 Poor Nutrition Education

Love First,

Ayla Roberts

Managing Editor

HANDOFF

Nurse Manager Support Gaps

A new national survey of over 230 nursing leaders highlights growing concerns about how hospitals should support nurse managers. The results show that nurse managers are asking for more flexible schedules, help with administrative tasks, better technology, and stronger leadership training. While higher-level leaders agree these items are important, progress has reportedly been slow. Many nurse managers are stretched too thin and often supervise very large teams, which increases the risk of burnout, the survey found.

Diet Affects Colon Cancer Survival

Last week we shared research showing how exercise reduces the risk of colon cancer recurrence and increases survival. Another colon cancer study is now making headlines, this time for highlighting the key role diet plays in colon cancer survival. Specifically, researchers found that those who consumed the most inflammatory foods—such as white bread, hot dogs, and soda—had a staggering 87% higher risk of death than those who ate the least. While the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib showed no significant effect, patients who exercised more had better outcomes.

Is Med School Education Lacking?

Health Secretary RFK Jr. announced plans to require US medical schools to include more nutrition education or risk losing federal funding, saying there’s a lack of training in food-based approaches to disease prevention. Though details remain unclear, Kennedy’s remarks have been welcomed by some nutrition experts who argue doctors are poorly equipped to address diet-related conditions—a 2015 study found medical students receive about 19 hours of nutrition education. Some schools say they already offer sufficient training, but experts call for consistent national standards to guide curriculum development.

TODAY'S TOP VITAL

65%

The percentage of nurses who say stress and burnout are their top challenges. Click here to learn more about the state of the nursing workforce in 2025 so far.

NURSE ON-CALL

THAT REMOTE LIFE WITH NURSE FERN

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?

A few years ago, I would have said no. But over the last year, LinkedIn has moved some features behind the premium paywall.

Below are three job-seeking features I find valuable that require a Premium account:

“Meet The Hiring Team”. Some LinkedIn job postings include profile info for the hiring team. This can help you decide who to connect with at a company.
InMail Messaging. This allows you to directly message people outside your network. Premium members receive 5 InMail credits a month.
Unlimited Personalized Connection Requests. Premium accounts have unlimited notes with a character limit of 300. Basic accounts can only send a set number monthly (10-30ish) with a 200 character limit.

LinkedIn lets you trial Premium for 30 days every 12 months, so you can use this strategically. You can absolutely still find value and make connections without Premium, it’s just a little harder now.