Tuesday | May 9, 2023

Healthcare starts with you. This is your beat.

Hey-O Nursing Beat Friends!

I hope the start of your Nurses Week has been a good one! If your unit is continuing its tradition of the annual sub-par pizza party or stale donut delivery, don’t worry. There are some fantastic deals from companies like Lululemon, Levi’s, and Overstock that we’re getting this week! Click here and see the whole list!

Now, on to the Two for Tuesday fact break!

🥵 On average, a human adult will sweat up to four gallons of perspiration daily. (I think the number would be a little more for nurses.)

🧠 Our brains have over 100,000,000,000 nerve cells. (And sometimes, patients, coworkers, and bosses get on every last one of them!)

In case no one tells you today or at any point this week, Team TNB is proud of you and the work you do every day! Happy Nurses Week!

Big love and even better health,

Kel M.

Managing Editor of TNB

MORNING BRIEF 🍳 ☕️

New Website Offers Virtual Nursing Best Practices

With telemedicine only likely to increase in the coming years, virtual nursing is continuing to take off. However, a group of virtual nursing experts wanted to be sure a place existed for discussion of virtual nursing, including strategies, insights, and best practices. So they developed virtualnursing.com, “designed to be the objective, trusted, the go-to source for healthcare professionals seeking to discuss, understand, adopt, and implement virtual nursing clinical and operational workflows and technologies, according to their launch press release. 

The website is free to use and includes curated articles and podcasts on virtual nursing as well as interactive forums and affinity groups for nurses to network, discuss, share tips, and ask questions. The four experts that formed the steering committee include Karen Murphy, Ph.D., RN, from Danville, Penn.; Kelly Aldrich, DNP, from Nashville; George Demiris, Ph.D., from Philadelphia; and Eric Wallis, DNP, RN, from Detroit.

ER Nurse Delivers Baby in Hospital’s Parking Lot

Syndi Smith, an RN who works in the emergency department of Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan, planned to be in labor and delivery a few months later since she was 31 weeks pregnant. But when she arrived at work on May 2nd, she was the one delivering someone else’s baby. Raye and Drew Sleep had arrived at the hospital expecting Raye to give birth later that day. But, instead, their daughter Ivy had other plans, and Raye found herself going into labor in the parking lot.

The couple notified a security guard, and Smith, who was behind the guard, heard them and called labor and delivery. But Ivy was already on her way before any of the L&D staff could get down to the parking garage. Smith helped deliver the healthy girl right there in the garage. Baby Ivy headed home a few days later to meet her older siblings.

University of Maryland Nursing Gets Gift of 200 Scholarships

A $7 million gift from the Bedford Falls Foundation will fund 218 nursing Conway Scholarships over the next four years at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. The foundation was established by Bill and Joanne Conway, for whom the scholarships are named. The gift will cover 116 scholarships for students pursuing a BSN, 42 scholarships for the MSN program, and 60 scholarships for the school’s Teaching in Nursing and Health Professions Certificate.

Each scholarship covers up to the total amount of tuition, fees, and books, with enough left over from the gift for the creation of a new faculty position and a pilot residency program. The new faculty member will help prepare nursing students for the most recent version of the National Council Licensure Examination. In addition, the year-long pilot residency program aims to support nurses transitioning from practice to the academic setting.

COMMUNITY PICKS 🌼 

As nurses, we’re always looking for a way to destress after a long shift. This Boss Babes Coloring and Activity Book will do just that. With pages dedicated to Malala, RBG, and Beyonce, you’ll feel like a boss babe in no time!

TECH TUESDAY with NURSE MANNY 🤖

VR in Nursing Schools?

Nursing school education has evolved from the days of Nightingale-inspired, hospital-based apprentice programs. They have grown from educating what were considered assistants to the most trusted healthcare professionals; nursing schools have taught skills and theories to improve patient care. How they teach has changed, and I’m convinced virtual reality (VR) will become the gold standard in clinical nursing education. As much as 65% are currently using the tech. As more nursing schools embrace the technology, prompted by a pre-pandemic AACN vision statement, future nursing students will be better prepared to care for more complex patients and a growing population. Leaders in the nursing education VR space include UbiSim, Oxford Medical Simulation, and SimX. I’m partial to UbiSim as it empowers the nursing educator to program the simulation directly. While I experienced ineffective denial from nurse educators, as evidenced by volatile grades, I think nurse educators are the best leaders in utilizing tech for improved education. 

DAILY DIVERSION 💊

Are you considering getting a new nursing certification? Check out this comprehensive list of all available nursing certifications in the US from Nurse.com, including links to the organizations that offer the certification and the initials that denote the credential.

🤯 ONE BIG NUMBER