Nursing Lyfe 101
Welcome to Nursing Lyfe 101! 🩺✨
Join Colby and Christopher, two seasoned nurses navigating the highs and lows of healthcare, as they share personal stories, practical advice, and insights on nursing, wellness, and career growth. Whether you're a student, a new grad, or an experienced RN, Nursing Lyfe 101 is your go-to for real talk on life in scrubs, mental health, and tips to thrive inside and outside the hospital.
Tune in, connect, and find your strength with us – because nursing is more than a job; it's a journey. 🎙💙
Nursing Lyfe 101
Battling Burnout: Self-Care Strategies for Nurses
The nursing profession faces a crisis that rarely makes headlines but affects nearly every healthcare worker: burnout. With alarming numbers of nurses leaving bedside care within just five years, we tackle the critical question of sustainability in a career meant to span decades.<br><br>Stress and burnout might seem like synonyms in healthcare, but they represent different points on a dangerous continuum. We explore the subtle warning signs that appear long before you reach your breaking point - those moments when you're unusually exhausted after a normal shift, finding yourself snapping at colleagues, or losing sleep thinking about work. By recognizing these early signals, you can intervene before reaching the dreaded "I can't do this anymore" moment.<br><br>What makes this conversation particularly revealing is our examination of generational differences in approaching work-life balance. While older healthcare professionals might pride themselves on working through breaks and staying late, younger nurses often establish firmer boundaries around their time and energy. Rather than viewing this as a weakness, we consider whether this approach might actually support longer, more sustainable careers in healthcare.<br><br>The heart of our discussion centers on practical, accessible self-care strategies that fit into a nurse's demanding life. From the restorative power of a simple bathroom break during a chaotic shift to the science behind contrast therapy (alternating sauna and cold plunge), we share evidence-based techniques for managing stress. We explore how nutrition, sleep hygiene, and community connections form the foundation of resilience in healthcare work.<br><br>Technology offers both challenges and solutions in the battle against burnout. While social media can drain your mental reserves, tools like stress-tracking wearables provide valuable insights into your body's response to workplace pressure. Most importantly, we highlight mental health resources available to nurses in crisis, emphasizing that seeking help isn't weakness—it's professional self-awareness.<br><br>Join us for this honest conversation about protecting your wellbeing in a profession dedicated to caring for others. Because remember: you can't pour from an empty cup, and your mental health matters just as much as the patients you serve.
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Welcome to Nursing Life 101, the most important nursing class you never got to take in nursing school. We will be traversing different objectives, like interviewing what to do in nursing school, boundaries burnout and so much more, if this interests you. I hope you are taking good notes because class is now in session.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to another episode of Nursing Life 101. I'm Christopher, and joining me, as always, is Colby.
Speaker 3:Hey guys, we're excited to tackle this important topic on self-care and mental health for nurses. It's something we all need but often struggle to prioritize, so let's break down some strategies to help us recharge and stay resilient.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the first thing we probably need to distinguish is what is stress? And then how does that present into nursing, specifically burnout for nurses.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think stress and burnout are kind of like synonyms in healthcare. I mean, if you think about it, burnout are kind of like synonyms in healthcare if I mean, if you think about it, they can be used interchangeably, okay, I? Mean, yes, I think it's, but it's like burnout's, like another level.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I mean stress, and stress can be negative or positive, right, right, and, and that's why it's good to. I mean there, is you immediately going back to working out, you stress your body out a little bit to get a muscle gain or endurance gain, or you do puzzles to get mental clarity, mental gain, like those are little stresses that are positive. Positive and in terms of nursing. If you are actually honed in and in a stressful situation, your adrenaline increases, you can do more, and so stress is good at some point but we're here to talk about when the stress gets bad and the impact of impacts of and so when does that?
Speaker 2:when does it get to the point where it's bad?
Speaker 3:Well, personally no, just kidding I think universally, though. I think what you know. When stress is getting bad, when you're dreading going to work, you're like your alarm goes off and you're I cannot do this today we're approaching burnout.
Speaker 2:Is that really? Is that a good?
Speaker 3:Christopher, you're honestly I should have done. I think that's not the only sign. No, what are you thinking?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, that's not the only sign. No, what are you?
Speaker 3:thinking well, I mean also this wait, I'm gonna interject because I need to finish this thought. I should have recorded this podcast with someone else, because your levels of tolerance and how the ringer that you put your own body and brain through is through a much different lens than the average human being, and so I feel like anything I say you're like, you're weak. Is that your breaking point? That's it.
Speaker 2:I feel like, by the point, you're dreading to go to work.
Speaker 3:You're in burnout Too late.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:Like the early signs of stress. Yeah, I mean, that's my day to day.
Speaker 2:But is that good? That's what we're trying to figure out, right Like this is.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it's not good. I'll tell you, yeah, it's not good, but is that the inherent condition of working in health care? Hmm, so, hmm, so that yeah tricky question, right, should it be?
Speaker 2:Second tricky question? Oh, I mean, and I really and truly okay, we say healthcare, stress is done in any type of work, but there's a point where dreading to go to work or even, I think, before that is you've noticed you're more tired when you come from work. You haven't. You didn't wake up and it was like, oh man, I have to go to work, but you're getting back from home or back from work and you're like it was a normal assignment, but I'm exhausted.
Speaker 3:Right, mentally, physically, emotionally empty, like I'm on E Right.
Speaker 2:And I feel like that, that is even before the whole. I'm waking up and dreading to go to work, because then you're like the reason why you're dreading to go to work is because you're like I'm already exhausted. I know this is only a crap day because I had I was here yesterday and I had xyz yesterday and we like continuity of care, so I'm probably not have XYZ today and I didn't say anything.
Speaker 3:So I definitely don't have them. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I just feel like there's, but I don't, I don't even know how to. I'm not the right person for this particular topic.
Speaker 3:I'm not the right person for this particular topic but I don't even know what to pin before being exhausted more than normal. I think it's really hard because, again, it's kind of like the inherent atmosphere of working in healthcare. It's so like day-to-day you can feel stressed and you're doing things that make you feel stressed and then it creeps up on you because you're thinking this is just how it is, this is how working in this environment is, and you don't have many good days, but when you do, they fill your tank back up, but it's so. Then the burnout sneaks up on you All of a sudden. Like I said, you wake up one morning. You're like I can't freaking do this today.
Speaker 3:And it's really hard to recognize as health caregivers because we are just the type of people that give and give and give and we don't often get a lot of get the opportunity to receive it's very much so a thankless job. Many days not always and the days that we do have patients that are so freaking great and like they, literally all they have to say is thank you and you're like, wow, I have the sweetest patient in 7B. Let me tell you, isn't that so sad that? Like someone just being courteous, someone that shows that they respect the care that you're giving, they're appreciative of the care you're giving, like one person fills your tank up because you have so much of the opposite of that in your day and that becomes so normal to you. That's sad and that's the reality though.
Speaker 3:That's sad and that's the reality, though, and that's why so many I mean burnout people suffer from burnout across the board in all kinds of different subjects and specialties and and career paths, not even just in health care, in the medical field, but that is something that is universally felt in health care, though. I don't think I've ever met anybody that has more than five years, that hasn't more than five years experience, that hasn't felt burnt out or has actually had burnout at one point in their career. And that's only five years. If you think about it, like we in the US work until we're in our 70s these days and like, okay, so you start your job when you know, let's say, you go to a school, you get a four-year degree, you're 21 when you start and then you work into your 70s, 50 years, and, like you're five, you're feeling burnt out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's crazy yeah, yeah and wow right yeah and then, and that's why we see health care workers leaving the bedside in droves. That's why we don't have anybody at the bedside with more than five years of experience anymore, because we can't do it anymore.
Speaker 2:And but what does it? I mean, you've been here longer than five years, so At some point we will get to it. You have found a way to. At some point we will get to it. You have found a way to reduce the stress buildup, I guess, and it is. It's like the way that stress and burnout kind of presents it, or how it happens is you have a candle wick and you're burning it from one in, hopefully, but then there's some of you that will pick up an extra job, or you have a full family at home that you have to take care of.
Speaker 2:You know that's simple. Yeah, I mean simple in terms of like I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 3:I know I thought about it before we started recording. I was thinking about, like, what we should consider and I was like it's kind of funny because christopher and I are both single. We don't we're not, we don't have like partners right now. This is so sad. We don't partners. It's just us and our dog, our dogs, like me and my dog, him and his dog and our shared dog, and like we, like I. And then I was thinking, like my co-workers who are moms and dads and have full families, that they work a 12 hour shift, go home, they have to bring kids to practice, they have to cook meals and prep for, you know, the next day, and they have, you know, they have a community around them that they have to like figure out who's taking what kid where and who's babysitting Like. I can't imagine taking that on on top of what I deal with day to day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was precepting someone recently and they are a mom and have two children and um, they came and they, they worked on what they worked on their birthday because they had, because I wasn't paying attention, and scheduled them to precept with me on the day that they were born, right, so I'm a terrible. Y'all can blast me in the comments already. So her son had a baseball game and her daughter had a recital and she was missing it all that day because I was precepting for her. That in and of itself is a good stress added because she's missing my family. Rarely missed a baseball game, yeah, and then rarely missed my brother pole vaulting yeah, it was constantly on the weekends.
Speaker 2:We would go on the weekdays we would go, yeah, during the summer we would go like that was. That was a thing when.
Speaker 3:It's a lot to miss out on.
Speaker 2:It is. But. But also I remember when I was in nursing school. I worked a fulltime job and was in nursing school and then had to take care of myself too, but for some reason I did it and I was like Mom how did you do that with two children that were active?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:In not only sports but in clubs and stuff like that yeah, active yeah and not only sports.
Speaker 3:But in clubs, yeah, stuff like that, yeah, so like, so, yeah, to bring it back, it's like we have these amazing human beings who are doing so much maintaining their, their careers and their families at home, and like that's just scratching the surface, like that, like you said, simple, it's like that's the basics and like that's not even considering what else might be going on with them individually, and like and then what's happening at work?
Speaker 2:It's crazy just makes a very bad combination. That can be pretty problematic. And when you start to recognize that you are being stressed and you are going to accumulate that stress to the point where you're not emptying yourself of or, excuse me, you are emptying yourself and not filling yourself up, like, how do you? How do you step back? How do you start to pull back the reins?
Speaker 3:yeah, I think it's really hard, especially for someone who maybe isn't like, or I wasn't gonna that's not really what I want to say. I would say it's really hard for someone who's probably lucky, lucky enough to not really recognize. I would say it's really hard for someone who's probably lucky enough to not really recognize that they might be struggling because they didn't have anything like anxiety or anything like that in their past medical history.
Speaker 2:So I think, like you're at a disadvantage, and sometimes it takes like getting to a breaking point before you realize it. So I just want to clarify.
Speaker 3:It is those who have not had stress, yeah, or that don't realize it, that they're getting like the getting to of of getting to that outside of life and I'm doing too much at work, and work has been really stressful. I notice that I'm snapping at co-worker or I notice that I'm not sleeping. Well, I'm thinking about work when I'm at home. These are all little alerts or like red flags that pop off in my brain and I'm like, oh, I know why I'm so upset, like I just need to take a step back and I need to focus on more positive energy for myself. So for me that means what am I eating? What have I been doing? So I kind of like take an assessment of what I've been doing.
Speaker 3:So, if I've been eating a bunch of junk food, maybe having one too many drinks too frequently, if I stopped going to the gym and I haven't, you know, hadn't worked out at all that week or the last couple of weeks, am I prioritizing like fun time with friends and family to like blow off steam?
Speaker 3:So I take an assessment of, like what I've been doing and when I do, I notice a pattern. I'm doing all the things that I just listed, like I'm not hanging out with my friends, I'm being a hermit, I'm not working out, I'm not eating right, I'm probably drinking too much, you know, or whatever. And then I'm like, okay, well, what works for me? What has worked for me in the past? When am I happy and feeling good? I'm prioritizing my health and taking care of my body, I'm spending time with my friends, like I said, I'm learning a new hobby or, you know, just being out in nature works for me. So I think having had these issues in the past gives you an advantage because hopefully you learn from that and you know what works for you in order to kind of get you out of that, that state of mind, that funk. I think someone who's never gone through that will have will have a harder time recognizing when their levels of stress have maxed out.
Speaker 2:So stress, from what I'm kind of deducing from what you're saying, stress is not very much like pain tolerance. The more you've been in pain, the higher pain tolerance you have, so the less you recognize it. But someone who has never had pain, they would easily recognize pain.
Speaker 3:I think it's a really difficult thing to make an analogy of because it's, I think, like pain, like everybody's scale is interpreted differently so it's hard to compare it to that. And also, I mean I'm only talking from personal, personal experience whereas, like, maybe someone who has had a lot of stress in their life and has had anxiety or depression or something like that, maybe they wouldn't share the same idea as I. Whereas, like, having had those things and having to work on those things, maybe they don't share the fact that, like, having that history and that experience wouldn't positively, uh, affect them and noticing these changes in themselves, with their stress levels and work and getting leaning towards burnout okay, I get, I get you can't, in that you make that firm analogy, but like do you do you feel like we as a, what are we?
Speaker 2:Are we millennials?
Speaker 3:We are. We are millennials.
Speaker 2:OK, we as millennials have a different work ethic than those that.
Speaker 3:You're so right and this is so crazy. I've seen so much stuff on social media about this. You're right.
Speaker 2:You just want to leave it there, oh do you want me to elaborate?
Speaker 3:Okay, so like what's the? So Gen Y is actually us, also known as millennials, and those individuals are generally born in the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. Gen X is 1965 to 1980, and then there's Gen Z, which is 1996 to 2012. So the stuff that I've seen, the generalizations on social media that I've seen in the past, say that like the, and they compare it to man, managerial, um styles. I guess is what you, what you'd say, that I've seen it's like gen x, who's like the older generation right 65 to 80, are very like work themselves to the bone. There's no boundary with their time. They will stay and finish a project, even if that means that they're staying till 11 o'clock at night. They're there and they don't understand why.
Speaker 3:Millennials, or Gen Y, which is us, 81 to 95-ish, we work really hard. We do, but we also respect people's boundaries and it's like a small shift. And then the comparison that I'm seeing is Gen Z, where they just don't give a shit and they're like my time is my time, I can't be bothered. So like I work seven to three, I'm done at three, don't talk to me at 301. Whereas a millennial would be like I'll stay till four. That's fine, we'll get it done. Not a big deal, but my PTO is in for next week and I'm not going to look at my email Like that's.
Speaker 3:That's like a good comparison between the two and I think with that you'll see people's tolerance Like we're talking about tolerance of stress and and the point where it takes one person to feel burnout versus another. You'll see someone in Gen X who we still work with, people obviously in the 65 to 1980s birth range. They're still out there working and they're like you weaklings, like what are you talking about? Like get tough and they don't, and they're still feeling the same amount of stress as everyone else, but they don't recognize that they don't have to. Maybe is what I'm kind of putting together here or they just retire and good for them. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But I feel like I'm in the mindset of Gen Xs.
Speaker 3:I think it also might be like how the style of how we were raised and how our parents were too, because how old were your parents when you were born?
Speaker 3:I don't know they were late 20s late 20s, okay, and then my mom was 19, so I feel like I feel like I was, I was raised by like a later gen x. You were raised by an older gen x. I think that also kind of, because like that also kind of plays in into it as well, if you think about it, because like the, the generation before gen x, was even more of like a strong workhorse human being in the us. It was like pull yourself up by your bootstraps and like put it, put in work and so like. So that means like their parents were like that. So then when you get further down the line, it just like what's the word I'm looking for? It? Just kind of like, kind of trickles, yeah, it kind of yeah, but like just smaller and smaller amounts of that. And so now we're at gen z, who are like by time is my time, which is good for them. Honestly, I wish I could, but I could never sorry, I shouldn't say that you shouldn't.
Speaker 2:I shouldn't say that you shouldn't. I shouldn't say that, but then. So the reason why I even said all of that was because a Gen X, y, z would say their stress level right, you're showing your judgment, I am not showing my judgment. It is an observation that I have noticed. Okay. And they do Schools.
Speaker 3:now they are teaching students to protect themselves to a larger extent because they're worried about complaints or the possible lawsuit, because a student went to clinical in in the winter, for when there was winter precipitation, they, they stopped. That's also very much regionally, though, coming. So you, you've only lived where, where you live, where we live in the general area. I come from a much different area, whereas, like when it comes to weather things, ha ha ha, they laugh in the face of danger. We don't care that there was three feet overnight. You can walk to clinical, we'll see you there.
Speaker 2:But also the. The department of transportation is usually a little bit more equipped or better, better.
Speaker 3:Better equipped or like better this is about to sound like really old, but like I walked to clinical in waist, deep snow, not plowed, not even attempted to, and they're like you. Better be there on time well, I think that so I think I do think, like there's some.
Speaker 3:That's a good example, though what you're sharing, like I see what you're saying it's instilling. I do agree with the statement of they're so, and this is like in every aspect of the world so much fear of being sued that people placate and then, because that's a well-known fact that like literally everyone is afraid of being sued, people use that to their advantage to do less. That's what you're trying to say. Yeah, people use that to their advantage to do less that is the managerial statement I was looking for.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:I can't believe I nailed that. You nailed it. Yes, so, but with all that you know, yes, we are Gen Y millennials. But recognizing your stress in the midst of Colby said, in the midst of Colby said, you're starting to snap a little bit more at a patient or a co-worker. You don't sleep well, you start to dread going to work, you're exhausted more when you're at work. You have the friends that you have and you've noticed that even at work, when you're hanging out with the, the co-worker friend group that you usually hang out with, you don't really enjoy like they.
Speaker 2:They start to annoy you a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're not vibing not vibing.
Speaker 2:those are things that you start to realize that it's like, okay, I'm getting to the point where I need to step back and Colby has, you know, found a way to sit back and analyze what? And Colby's introspective she does this and I feel like nurses are very good at assessing. You know, this is what we do, it's one of our wonderful skill sets. You need to assess your previous six months and see what has changed. And if you and remember what your hobbies are, find your hobbies Like, if you we've said this before get in, get in a Facebook group, search in the search bar and, you know, say whatever you might be interested in dancing yeah my state, you know, like something like that, and so that you can there's avenues for you to to de-stress and relax.
Speaker 2:So we wanted to like hit some of those. There's physical, emotional and like, um, well, and depending on your take spiritual self-care techniques that you can kind of experience, and what are? What are some that you like go to in your mind, like, what do you think of?
Speaker 3:yeah, for physical. Like I said, I think nutrition and exercise are something that, as health care workers and we've talked about this in the past is so easy to fall through the cracks because we spend so much time giving to others and we don't remember to give back to ourselves and go ahead.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like you should exercise before or after a shift?
Speaker 3:I think I, so I also thought about this before we started recording. I think if you are able to and you fit it in your schedule and it feels good and it doesn't feel like it's adding to your stress, then that's lovely and you should do it. Personally, I've had periods in my life where I was like I don't know, I feel like I was psycho and I was like waking up far too early and I was working out, but I felt good and it was good for me at that time. Now it it feels like a burden for me to try and achieve, like a workout before work and like a lot of times after work. Anything more than just like a nice long walk with my dog feels like a burden as well. So I don't put that stress on myself. But if it's something that helps with your decompression after work is just go straight to the gym and like get it in, then that's great. So I think if it's, it's very individual. If that works for you, that's great, and I don't and, like I said, like for me personally, I think going on a long walk is more than enough. I think like it's just one. You're outside with nature and I think that's so restorative for most people. So you're walking outside, you're getting fresh air If it's in the summertime you're getting some sunlight in, which is so important when you're stuck behind those cinder block walls for so long on a 13-hour shift and you're moving your body. I mean not that we're not moving our bodies on shift, but it's like I said, it's more than just moving your body. It's restorative just being outside and being in nature. So I think, like I said, it's just very individual and whatever works for you. But I also, in addition to the physical exercise, nutrition is so important and I know we've touched on that as well in the past.
Speaker 3:We talked about meal prepping and how important it is to like put good things in your body. It just, it just is facts, like if you're eating good food, your body is happy, it's performing at an elite level. When you're eating bad food, you're sluggish, you have headaches, like. We've all seen the Super Size Me documentary, which I now realize. Oh my God, you've never seen that. Okay, well, that's a sidebar, but I know it's kind of debunked because the guy was like an alcoholic, so there's a lot of lore behind that.
Speaker 3:But I think like the sentiment, the sentiment that like eating that food is going to do horrible things to your body is still true, and I think when we're so busy and we're burnt out, sometimes like the quick fix of going through the drive through is like your answer back and you're like oh, I went to McDonald's after every shift this week. I got a cheeseburger, french fries and a huge Mountain Dew or Coke, and then, to top it off, I ate pretzels in my bed until I fell asleep, like you're not doing yourself or your body any favors in doing that. Meal prepping is so important If you can do it. The at-home meal kits like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh and all that stuff like Purple Carrot if you're vegan, is a great option and we're not sponsored, but we should be Making it as easy for yourself as you can is so important because when you're like I said, you're putting bad food in your body. You're not helping yourself, you're literally destroying your body.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's funny, sleep is important too. Yes, you know, and because I don't do it, but like I've also, I know the limits that I have and I can you push the limits?
Speaker 3:I have and I can you push the limits?
Speaker 2:I compensate in different ways. Naps.
Speaker 3:No, you don't really nap.
Speaker 2:But I do find restorative ways in like the more mental, emotional care, like I don't journal but, you know, just really spending time with the friends that I actually have, because you know I'm very I am an introvert and that's totally fine for you to be one. But finding those, that close-knit group of friends that is going to help challenge you, you, but also give you that restorative time to, you know, be introspective and think about what your day went through and why you're feeling the way you do and um, and that's important to just be self-aware yeah even just to like spend time with your community, and that's something we're.
Speaker 3:Another thing we're pretty passionate about as two people of is blue zones and there's like multiple pillars that make up what a blue zone is, and one of those things is community, and it's it like you can be an introvert but you should still spend time with your friends. It's just so friends, family, like whatever. It's just so important and having a long and healthy life.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know it's going to the like spiritual aspect. You know if you are a Christian going to church and you know that is, that is also a community. That's community. Yeah Right, that is a group of believers that have come together to celebrate the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. If you're a Buddhist, going to your community of believers and just spending time with them.
Speaker 3:if you're Muslim, of believers and just spending time with them. If you're muscled, like, yeah, all of those options are there for you and you should lean into that. If that's something that you hold, um, like close to your heart, I also feel like, even like separate from like a religious thing, like and this goes back to physical exercise but like for me, like going to a workout class, like I, I love, I love going to wednesday morning Pilates where Christopher and I go and it's usually like the few of the same couple of people that always go Wednesday mornings and like that's my Wednesday morning community. Like we laugh and giggle at each other and we like give our instructor a hard time and she loves it and we love it, and like that's fun. You leave out out there one, you have a good workout, but you feel like you spent time with, like you know, good people and you enjoyed yourself. I mean maybe not the whole time where you enjoyed yourself. You're probably trying, probably dying at some point, but it's type two fun, which is my favorite kind.
Speaker 3:We touched you touched a little bit on sleep hygiene. I think that's so, so important. I think in this day and age we are so glued to our phones, and I say this firsthand because I do it from time to time and then I have to check myself where I'm just doom, scrolling in bed. I'll get into bed and I'm ready to go and I go to turn my alarm on and my ADD kicks in and then all of a sudden I'm on Instagram or TikTok and I've been scrolling for two hours and I'm like, oh my God, and the studies behind blue work, night for sure. Phone is down and then I will either read or I play like a bedtime podcast and I fall asleep very quickly. But I think it's so important to like limit your screen time. If you like a cold room, cold room. If you like a hot room, hot room, which you're psychotic, yeah, you're psychotic. If you want to sleep in Satan's lair, but more power to you Couldn't be us. But yeah, I think you know. You just need to put a fan on, you need noise, whatever.
Speaker 3:I just think sleep hygiene is so, so, so deeply important and not enough people take it seriously and I have so many friends that are like, oh, I just can't sleep. But then I'm like you were sending me memes at like one o'clock in the morning. Put your phone down. I put my phone on do not disturb at 930. I have, I. We joke about this a lot, but I have business hours on work and like, especially on work nights. Well, no, I have the luxury of being a single person that doesn't really have any responsibilities other than my dog and then whatever I sign myself up for. So on nights where I'm not working, sometimes I stay up later, and that's fine, that's my prerogative. But on work nights I have business hours and we're closing up shop at 930 and I'll take your calls tomorrow. Calls and texts.
Speaker 2:I will make a bold statement and say for three months, three months, get rid of social media.
Speaker 3:That's a challenge and a half and I respect. I respect the challenge.
Speaker 2:Get rid of it All of it. Tiktok, snapchat, instagram, x slash, twitter, whatever it is, facebook, all of it. Get rid of it for three months.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And see, just just see, how it helps your sleep, because I can guarantee Helps overall. Not but just your sleep. Sure, I'm just talking about the sleep. I I'll let them experience the benefits later of the other things.
Speaker 3:But honestly, three months is a long time. But if you do want to do this challenge, I suggest two weeks. Start with two weeks and when the first two weeks are done, you're gonna be like I can do two more weeks well, I'm gonna be honest, the reason why I said three months.
Speaker 3:It takes about that long to build a good habit To build a good habit. Yes, I will say, though, like you think my number was right yeah, we both read Atomic Habits. I will say that, like that sounds absolutely insane, but I have slowly started deleting my apps. I'm it's. It's an addiction, fully, I will admit, it's fully an addiction, and it's such an easy way to step out, like, and this is like not the healthiest coping mechanism, but it is one for for burnout, like it's. You just get sucked into that and you can remove yourself from reality and you're like what's actually going on now? Is that actually helping you in the long term? No, that's true. I'm just saying this is what people do myself and this is my argument against it and I agree with you.
Speaker 3:But like I deleted tiktok from my phone yeah, I got rid of tiktok and like I hardly ever go on it. Now, the only time I go on TikTok is if a friend sends me one and I watch it, and then I will certainly get stuck in a TikTok hole, but I don't go looking for it. But that doesn't mean I'm not on Instagram. I am on Instagram, so it's like the same thing and I really need to give that up. But again we are digressing.
Speaker 2:No, I believe, because I don't know. I don't have them. So this is coming from someone who is pretty ignorant in terms of majority of what you feel, but I feel what I feel like, where I have observed that people believe their friends are on their social medias Some are, but your true friends are the ones that actually have your number and are going to text you and actually come to you when you need something, and I don't wish this on anyone, but I let something bad happen to you. I guarantee you a good 75% of those people that you have friends on whatever social media. They don't care.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it's just, it's an observing thing, it's a very weird. Social media is very weird and I don't think I don't really think that it provides as much positivity as it was intended to or maybe did at one point. I think now that where we are in the world, it brings a lot different, a lot different things to the table than it used to.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So mind your social media intake. I think that you know that could be a really good piece of advice as well. You know that could be a really good piece of advice as well. If you're feeling more stress, be mindful, because it brings in like inherent judgment and like you feel judged. You're judging yourself against peers or others and that's not going to really help your situation.
Speaker 3:I think some practical tips for squeezing in self-care into an already jam-packed schedule can start very small, and I think you know some of these things that we listed seem like big things to tackle, but some of them are really easy, like the sleep hygiene, I think, stressful moments in work. So what are some ways we can stay grounded during a tough shift? Like you know, in the moment, we're going to have many stressful moments throughout our shift hopefully few on a good day, but the reality is that there's probably going to be more than one and it's going to be overwhelming. There's going to be days where you're like I could cry right now, or I am crying right now, and what? What should you do in the moment? I'm crying right now and what should you do in the moment?
Speaker 3:My first, go into the bathroom, because that's the only place you're going to find even a second of peace and take some deep breaths, like literally, that's so simple and you can do that, like you can get to the bathroom. No one's going to stop you from getting there and I think it's so important to just get in there so you can have two seconds of being by yourself, because the alarms the constant phone ringing, patient call bells, bed alarms, tele alarms Go into the bathroom. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths. There's a lot of things in the bathroom that can help, kind of ground you, turn the water on. It's cold. Put your hands in the water, feel the cold, recognize like just bring it down to like what you're doing in that moment. It really just resets your clock, like resets your clock, resets your body, kind of like focusing down, grounding yourself. Then it's what's most widely available to you in any situation. That's my tip. What would you share?
Speaker 2:That's interesting. I definitely don't have one.
Speaker 3:Mini bricks are so important. One of my friends, she will leave the unit and just go for a walk. She checks in with me. She's like, hey, my patients are all good, I'm just going to do a quick loop. She goes downstairs, does a walk around the lobby, walks to the cabin, just to get off the floor for a minute and she's back within five minutes. She's just getting off the floor for a minute and she she's back like within five minutes. She's just getting off the unit, changing the scenery real quick, coming right back, and that works for her. Kind of helps her like reset, refocus, ok, I'm back in.
Speaker 2:Right and I mean, but ultimately you have a 30 minute break.
Speaker 3:Use your break.
Speaker 2:Use it Like. Use it.
Speaker 3:Shouting it from the rooftops. It is so, so important, coming from two people that don't yeah, but I also. But it is important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I realized that it's important and even if you're like man, I've missed my quote unquote lunch hour If you don't want to eat because it's closer to dinner still.
Speaker 1:Just get off the floor, get off the floor for 30 minutes. At 530.
Speaker 3:Leave the unit Go leave, go, do something.
Speaker 2:I don't want to see you For 30 minutes.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, that is government mandated, so no excuses.
Speaker 2:Get out, get off the floor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what do you do after work, after a really hard shift like outside of work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean most of the time I just come home. I really am just not the right person for this conversation.
Speaker 3:No, because he's going to say I come home and I do more work for my other job or for my job or for my other job. Christopher deals with being stressed at one job with a different job's stress. That's okay. No, that's not true. Though At a particular, I'll tell you and we've already mentioned these things like in a particular challenging day, like we get together, like me and you will get together and we'll go and get food, like with some of our other friends, like we, you reach out to friends to hang out. We're like, hey, what are you doing? Let's go get some food.
Speaker 2:Like today sucked, and then we do and it's fun, especially since and we do have a little bit of a community right now, because we all live very, very close to each other yeah, it's like friends yeah yeah, yeah literally it's like friends.
Speaker 3:It's so fun. I've never had, I mean, the TV show. Yeah, we all there's a bunch of us that live in the same community, like apartment complex but also town and not just complex and we see each other and it's it's just fun to see each other outside of work, but also know that, like if we need anything, like oh, will you walk my dog for me? Oh, my package is downstairs, do you mind grabbing it so it doesn't get stolen, like it's just like that, like having having a community. Again, we're going back to the same thing we've already said, but it's true is so important and it's so good Knowing that you have those people take stress off of you yeah, it does it really does.
Speaker 2:And it goes back to what I was saying those are my friends. Yeah, the real friends not the social media guess what? I don't have social media, like I'm still okay, um, but yeah, I I am one to reach out to friends and be like hey, let's go hang out A good drink, or so you know I have never.
Speaker 3:Yeah, everything is fine in moderation, Right yeah, what are your coping skills?
Speaker 2:I don't get blackout drunk.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, a cocktail or two with friends is fine.
Speaker 2:You got to try the new seasonal menu of cocktail.
Speaker 3:Our favorite restaurant.
Speaker 2:There's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 3:No, you know, during 75 hard I was a fan of getting up and exercising before I don't feel work yeah, the first time I did it I was, that's when I was working out before work and I just like felt like a million bucks.
Speaker 2:But when I tried it again I was like, oh, I cannot do this this is too much, but also and we're specifically just after work because they're going to a baseball game, you know like but I'm also one to literally just lay down on a ground outside and just watch clouds move, or when I'm walking Roman.
Speaker 3:I love the stars.
Speaker 2:So, just like admiring the stars, I was driving home one day and was looking up at the sky and saw this Starlink.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, the Starlink thing.
Speaker 2:I thought we were being invaded by.
Speaker 3:He took it to the group chat and was like what is this?
Speaker 2:I was like freaking out y'all.
Speaker 3:That was funny. Yeah, I agree, I think sometimes driving is very restorative for me, like I think I do a lot of decompression after work. But yeah, I do think I think driving is a really good time for me to is very restorative and decompress. I I'm really good at compartmentalization, almost to my detriment, and so I often like, as soon as I give report and I walk out those doors, the hospital, you couldn't. If you ask me the person's name that's in room six, I couldn't tell you. I don't know. I don't even know if they're a male or a female. My brain just went blank and so that's great. But sometimes it's not so great for other life aspects and sometimes, when I am holding on to my day and I'm thinking about it, sometimes it's a positive thing, sometimes it's a negative thing. Recently, because I'm so good at compartmentalization, I usually remember when I'm having these moments, when I'm thinking about work on my way home because, like I said, that doesn't usually happen for me, but I was thinking about it and and it was actually all positive things and I was reflecting on my day and how it was a typical busy day in acute cardiology. But we I was just like so happy, positively thinking about like we had. I worked with like a lot of Clin 1s that day. There were like a few like seasoned people on the floor, but I was just like they were all killing it. My Clin 1s were doing so good, they were navigating difficult situations and using their resources but like doing a lot independently and they're well on their way to be Clin 2s and I was just like I need to shout them out, like I was just like I need to shout them out, like I was like I think that they we just killed it today, like as a team.
Speaker 3:Like I got there that morning, I felt like I killed it as a charge nurse. I got there that morning. Not a single patient had been rounded on. So we have to do like leadership rounding and I went and I talked to every single patient on the floor that day that I could. I think there was like a handful of people that just weren't in the room when I was doing it and they were giving us so much positive feedback Like like it was awesome to see, and it was like, like I said, a lot of new grad nurses, clin 1 nurses, and they were just like we love this person and this person, these patients, are giving me all these examples of ways that they're going above and beyond, and I was just like they like this is a good day, like and that that filled my tank up. So the actually like me thinking about all the positive things that happened at work that day, like it filled my tank up and I think it's so important for for you to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, just kind of a sidebar on Shotting people out, it's Nurses Week, y'all.
Speaker 3:It is Nurses Week.
Speaker 2:Congratulations on being a nurse, congratulations on getting into nursing school, congratulations on making it past the first semester. Yeah, everything You're doing, the things, that's awesome. Keep up the good work and that is not a plug in any sense of the word. Like seriously, keep it up.
Speaker 3:Thank you and congratulations and good job and good work and keep going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean because this is hard and this is why we're having these conversations and, you know, sometimes even as management. Now, like finding that way to shout people out is difficult, but that could also just help stress. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, and trying to figure out a way to do that is important too for those that might be a little bit more seasoned and is in a leadership role, like you also should be thinking about ways to shout out those that are doing good work, because they are doing good work and it's not easy. All right, so our segment break. So you know, we we briefly talked about different biohacking things, okay, but you have now gotten an aura ring. Yes, and it talks about stress.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I also have stress in my aura ring and also my whoop, okay. So I wanted to take a moment just to talk about our different stress, like moments. Okay, have you recognized any moment? That is like midday? You're usually more stressful than the other, or?
Speaker 3:you know, it's weird because I actually have spent some time looking at mine and I feel like I'm always wondering, like, like, what is the correlation? Like, why am I having these moments of stress? Like, why is it recording that I'm stressed? I will say, like when I'm working out my body's under stress, so I'll be in the stress spike area.
Speaker 3:Which makes sense, which makes total sense. But then there's some days where I'm just sitting on the couch and I look at it and it and it's like you're stressed right now and I'm like, why am I stressed? But I think it's my anxiety fair, okay. And I will also say, one day I looked at it right after we had a code and I was like in funny, because it'll give you there's four zones restored, being like your body is in a very, such a chill moment that it's actually like reducing your stress, like it's actually restoring you Relaxed, which is like you're just chilling, engaged, and then stress. So my body, before the code was in, relaxed.
Speaker 2:It was in, relaxed, I went straight to stress and and then afterwards, like my adrenaline came down, I went back to, I went engaged and then relaxed again do you think you'll ever get to the point where and maybe this not specifically in a code, but you'll be in the zone right and kind of come back down to like you should be stressed, but you're oh, but I'm still in the zone, but like my body is just compensating, so much from like you're, I don't know, relaxed or maybe even restored I don't.
Speaker 3:Well, I think that I don't know because, like in a code, probably, no, never, because you're not always like, you're never expecting a code like you could have like an inkling like, oh, this person's really sick, like it's making me nervous, I need to. You know the doctors aren't taking me serious and we need to do this is in this. But you can you never like, oh, this person's, this person's going to code like I'm ready for it, like I don't even think an ICU nurse can say it like in the mic. You could be like, yeah, I'm ready for it. Well, maybe they can, I don't know.
Speaker 2:But I can. I'm getting pretty good at like hospice, hospice, deaths. I can, I can use it yeah, that doesn't bother me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like a hospice, when you when I don't have to jump into action. Yeah, for sure, I'm like okay, meanwhile, or pawpaw, it's time for you to go and that's okay, yeah, and then you just try to, you know, gently, let them go as carefully as we can. But I think that I don't think my body will ever just be like comfortable during a code and like and I don't know. I guess I've never really tried, but I it's weird because mentally I go into the zone, which is weird.
Speaker 3:That's why I was like, oh, she's gonna actually be like in a relaxed state but my heart, and I don't even notice it until afterwards, like after we get roscoe, after they call it. Then all of a sudden, my I become aware of how my body actually is and like I'll have like shakes, not because like it's not an emotional response, but it's just like I flip a switch and I'm back out and I'm like, oh, I just went through something crazy.
Speaker 2:I don't know my body's weird trauma yeah, I mean it's interesting to see that and the way that aura does it is it kind of monitors the heart rate and then also your movement, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it kind of has an algorithm to kind of put it all together. Same thing with the whoop. It monitors your heart rate and your um, your movement, but it doesn't have the four stages, it just has low, medium and high and it goes one to three and I, I don't know, I've noticed, interestingly enough, it's like mid afternoon, it's not like midday, it's mid after, it's like two to three o'clock. I'm like extra stressed, I'm like and for some your body's just tired at that point. Oh yeah, because-.
Speaker 3:I think it's like we're puttering out man.
Speaker 2:I'm like Hulk, I'm always angry, except I'm always tired.
Speaker 3:And at that point that's your body's breaking point.
Speaker 2:So it's like we're under stress, yeah, which is wild body's breaking point. So it's like we're under stress, yeah, which is wild, um. And I think you know if you are able to find ways to use your hsa to to get either the aura or the loop um, or, you know, find ways to monitor your stress level in some facet. I think it is good to kind of keep in track if you have those moments where you're like I had a I had a um, a code on the floor and it was a pretty stressful day.
Speaker 2:Or going back to recognizing those early signs you got home and you feel a little bit more exhausted than normal. Or you, you're starting to snap at your friends a little bit more. Or yeah, you know things are not going the way that it's supposed to. You know.
Speaker 3:Checking on your stress level, see, especially if you have that ability yeah, with that information that the aura ring gathers, it can also like it also judges your resilience based off like some sort of algorithm they have in there and it'll tell you like if your body's having a hard time snapping back into like its best self and it'll say, like your resilience is score is going down, like you, like you should consider it, like it gives you, like it actually is pretty cool because it'll like give you evidence-based practice, like ways to get back on track and like makes you ask you questions about what might be making you, making you have this, this decline in in numbers and and all of that contributing to like a lower resilience score. So the amount of information that you really can track it. It makes you like, if you pay attention to it, you can become so intuitive with your body and avoid like a lot of, a lot of the burnout that people experience because you have so much data coming in it's, it's good, it's good data yeah it really is, um.
Speaker 2:So that that's the little segment break. But for real, if you have a way to have a like self-care routine or any self-care tips that we haven't mentioned already, give us a shout out, let us know at NursingLife101 and. Nurselife101 on Twitter.
Speaker 3:Yes or.
Speaker 2:X, and it's life with a Y, not an I. Now we've told you the things we've said how to recognize and what. What are things that kind of trigger you to notice that you're being a little bit stressful? But how do you build all that together to make a slight self-care routines despite? I mean, we work 12 hour shifts, seven to seven, three times a three times a week.
Speaker 3:Excuse me, yeah, if you're working in the hospital setting, then you're working three, twelves or four tens, so you get a couple extra days off than your normal nine to five. I think I love a dolly shout out, but I think, you know, we're lucky that we work a schedule like that. I like to think of it in that term, that we're lucky to do that and that we do have those extra days off, and so we can prioritize, like our self-care on the days that we're off, if squeezing it in on a day that you have a jam-packed 12, 13 hour shift. I do think it's important to fit something in on our days, though, and I think we've touched on a few ways that you can do that. But I know like, again, we're not parents and we don't have partners that are also having to dedicate time to, but I think something I've read recently is like, even when you're a mom, like it's really hard, or a dad, it's really hard to find, like time for yourself.
Speaker 3:So even if that means like closing yourself in your closet and just take five minutes for five deep, you know, or just even five deep breaths, like something small, like that actually is, it goes a long way, way more than what you'd think and I think you know if you have to start somewhere, that's a good small step to start your practice with. And I do say practice because it's something that we need to work on every day. It's something we need to practice every day is taking care of ourselves and giving ourselves TLC, starting small with just five deep breaths and recentering yourself so you can move on with your day. But I think you know if we're thinking bigger scale, find some way to move your body at least 30 minutes a day on your days off or, you know, after work, whatever, and that could be like a family walk, it could be bringing your pet for a walk.
Speaker 3:It could be going to the gym, it could be joining some workout class. You know, there's a lot of different options and I think it's again so, so important Get a walking pad if you don't want to like socialize with human beings and you walk at home. I just think there's so many options and Amazon is at the tip of our fingers, so there's so many things that we can. Yeah, exactly, also not sponsored, but we should be. So I think. Yeah, I mean, start small, do little things, and then you'll realize, oh wow, that was really easy for me to squeeze in. And then for me personally, it becomes like a little like challenge to work, to work on. I think also, like we spoke about on our holiday episode, we had the bingo cards we would like fill out, like our goals and stuff, and so having that like gives me something to work on as well. So I like to like check back in with that and see what things that, like, I could cross off, or something that I can do to work towards getting something crossed off, and like those were things that I brought like to the table that are filling my cup, that are filling my tank and those, like I get to concentrate on those, and those are things that bring me a lot of joy.
Speaker 3:I think if you think about it in the ass I know I've said to fill my tank a lot. That's a term that I got from a therapist when I was, when I've been in therapy you have to think about yourself as a car, or you can think about yourself as a car, and if the car doesn't have any gas, how is it going to go? It's not going to go anywhere. And so what are the things that you that fill your tank, what are the things that bring you joy to help you keep going? And when you prioritize those things, you can keep going and keep doing more and your performance will be better, your patient satisfaction scores will be better, your manager will be happy, your friend, your co-workers will be happy, like if you're taking care of yourself in turn, that is, taking care of everyone around you yeah, um yeah, and one thing I didn't realize but I I do fairly frequently is sometimes just going into a shower yeah turning off the lights and just sitting in the noise, the, the white noise of water just hitting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's something about that and I guess it goes back to like the grounding you're just focusing on. You've taken all your practically all your senses away, except for, I guess, smell but not really.
Speaker 3:You can have your body wash like you can. You can make that and like everybody should be showering, so like you can make that your moment. Like you have five minutes to take a shower. Smell like close your eyes, feel the water, feel the temperature, your body wash, your shampoo, what is that smell like? Just concentrate on those small things and it's so restorative. There's actually like a important exercise that you can do, and I've done it sitting at a table, but it's again, it's just grounding and it's peeling an orange.
Speaker 3:But I've been told like you should try this in your shower, because then the essential oils from the orange are, you know, are in the, the water molecules and the air and the steam, and it accentuates all of that and you just are concentrating. How does the orange feel? What does the outside feel like? Then you start peeling it. What does it smell like? What are the textures? And it seems silly. It seems like, okay, that's a little woo-woo, but it works. Your whole body is resetting when you're focusing on something in that manner. I don't know what it is, but it works like your, your whole body is resetting when you're focusing on something in that manner. I don't know what it is, but like something gets triggered and you are just hitting the reset button and it's feel amazing afterwards yeah, that's very true and you know.
Speaker 2:Interestingly enough, cryo and sauna therapy also do that, yeah, in very extreme ways, but like you can do that too, like Like those are important.
Speaker 3:And those are generally, I mean, like people tend to spend more time in a sauna than cryo. But like when I was doing cryo regularly, it felt like I was getting like this. It felt like someone was just like shooting me with happy medicine, like I'd get out and I'd be like, oh, I feel so great and it was three minutes of like below freezing temps and that sounds crazy. But you do, you walk out and like I told the person who was who owned the place that was doing it for me. I was like I feel amazing. I feel I took like an antidepressant on steroids and she's like that's how everybody feels. Everybody always says that, so you can trust us. I know it sounds crazy, but if you want to get a little wild, try something you've never tried before cryotherapy or cold plunges. Cold plunge, it really does Like something happens. Okay, I will share this.
Speaker 2:It legitimately resets the mitochondria. It does.
Speaker 3:We have both done contrast therapy, where you do sauna and then cold plunge, and then sauna and cold plunge, and my experience that I shared with Christopher and I think kind of led to him being super interested in doing it is when I was done my body felt so relaxed. I felt like I'd just gotten back from a month-long vacation. I was talk about being restored, renewed. I was a whole new person and I love it. I've done it twice now and if I could do it like once a week, I would, but that would be very expensive yeah, well yeah, but I highly recommend it if you guys want to try something new.
Speaker 3:Yeah, contrast therapy is cool.
Speaker 2:Sometimes even trying something new is a good stress relief. Yeah, I, yeah, I'm not. I'm not doing a hard point. So there are mental health is important for anyone and you know there was a a couple years ago, a tv show that came out on netflix. I'm just gonna leave it there because probably majority of you know what that show was, but it it really brought suicide up, to like the forefront of people's thoughts yeah, um and people.
Speaker 2:People battle depression and anxiety and um suicidal ideation, and some of them can be nurses and some of them could be sitting right beside you and it is important for us as health care providers to continue to fill our cups so that we don't get to the point, because, interestingly enough, the whole being present in the moment of an orange is almost the same thing as cutting yourself. You're in that moment of feeling the pain of whatever breaking your skin. You notice the pain, you notice the blood. You know there are things I'm not endorsing. Any of that Like that's not what I want you to do, because I want you to be happy and present and excited about what you do because you save lives. So what mental health apps or mental health therapies do you suggest would be like something you would encourage friends and our wonderful listeners to?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think we live in a day and age where we're talking more and more about mental health and ways to help ourselves and help others, and I think today, in comparison to even 10 years ago, it's a lot easier to find resources and get help. I have a number of suggestions. I think there are multiple apps that you can download on your phone and talk to a therapist within minutes. Betterhelp, cerebral Talkspace are all good options. You can make same-day appointments. A lot of times. There are options through your work, through ours.
Speaker 3:We have something called like faculty and something employees faculty and employee assisting assistant assisting program assistant program, yeah, and so it's like therapists and programs and all kinds of resources to help with mental health and stress and everything that encompasses that. So see if you have anything that your healthcare system can offer I think most do. If not, it might be required by law. That might be made up, but I'm not sure. I feel like every place that I've ever worked at has had resources for that. So I'm going to assume there's some sort of thing, but maybe it's not safe to assume.
Speaker 3:But either way, and there are so many apps out there that help with meditation you can try Headspace. There's YouTube videos for guided meditation. I mean, truly, youtube is an endless resource for that sort of thing. And then, ultimately, we do have a national suicide and crisis lifeline, which is 988. And it's a 24-hour service that you can call any time of day if you are in crisis and you just need to get it out and you need resources to help yourself. So I think you know that's something that's really wonderful that we have as a country. But, yeah, like I said, I think that we are so lucky to have so many options at our fingertips this day and age, and knowing that is so important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, because you are important.
Speaker 3:You are important. It's important to take care of yourself, and we fully recognize that it's easy to lose yourself in all the chaos and it's easy to get overwhelmed and it's scary. And just know that you're not alone and we have options. We all have options for help and the resources are there for you.
Speaker 2:All right class dismissed. That's a wrap for today's session of Nursing Life 101. We hope you found some useful takeaways to bring back to the fore. Remember, nursing is a lifelong learning journey and we're here with you.
Speaker 3:If you want to connect, find us on Twitter at NurseLife101, or on Facebook at NursingLife101. And don't forget to share and subscribe with fellow nurses. Until next time, take care of yourselves and keep making a difference out there. Bye.
