So often in healthcare, we celebrate the nurses who always pick up extra shifts, take on more responsibilities, care for more patients, stay late, and never ask for time off. We as nurses brag about how long it has been since we went pee, ate food, or drank water. We joke about how we are running on a few hours of sleep and are fueled by lethal levels of caffeine. "Nurses don't get breaks." "Nurses don't eat lunch." "Nurses don't cry." "Nurses never say no."

What are we doing?!

We could go on forever speaking about all of the ways that we sacrifice ourselves for this profession. I say we stop glorifying this way of existing and stop perpetuating this madness. No wonder we are burning out so quickly. How about we celebrate self-CARE instead. Let's chat about how we can shift our perspective and change nursing culture for the better. 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing! 

Introducing Wellness Wednesdays! In addition to our Monday episodes, every Wednesday we will be talking about some aspect of mental, emotional, and physical health, especially for us nurses. We are notorious for sacrificing ourselves and our health for others, so I am hoping these conversations can shift our perspective and bring the focus back to self-care.

On our first episode, I discuss my own health journey and the current state of my health (SPOILER: I am still working on my shit). This was a challenging episode to record, and honestly felt pretty uncomfortable, but I want you guys to know who is speaking behind the mic. I do not have this all figured out and I am certainly not the "perfect example" of health. Far from it. But I want you to know that you are not alone in this journey, and I want to normalize these types of HARD conversations. 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

This week we chat all thing nurse retention contracts, including how best to understand them, questions to ask your manager, and options to protect yourself if you ever choose to break your contract! These contracts are being offered around the country in an attempt to retain staff in a world where there has been a mass exodus of healthcare workers. But we really should understand these contracts well before jumping in. So lets chat about it!

Also...Happy Mental Health Awareness month!! I hope that you are putting some much needed time aside to focus on your own mental health this month (and always). In addition, I am happy to announce that you can now expect TWO episodes per week! 

On Mondays we will continue on with our regularly scheduled programming (aka nurse chats), and now on WEDNESDAYS we will chatting all things WELLNESS! Yep, for all of you alliteration lovers (like me), you can look forward to Wellness Wednesdays every week. Keep an eye out this week for our first episode, where I will share more about my own health journey. And trust me, this is likely the most RAW and VULNERABLE episode I have ever recorded. So don't miss it! 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

Have you ever felt completely undervalued and overworked in your nursing career? Yeah, me too. We all are facing difficult situations in nursing, especially in our current predicament. Every unit is hurting for more nurses, with no shortage of patients. And it is obvious that the bottom line, money, is on the forefront of every hospital administrator's mind. But you know what they aren't considering? YOUR mental health. That one is solely up to you. 

Today we chat about a few things that you can do to prioritize your own physical, emotional, and mental health during times of struggle. At the end of the day, YOU are the only one who is going to care about you. So be your own advocate. 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

On this week's episode, we discuss 5 practices to implement to help protect your professional license. It is up to you! We have to be our own advocates to properly protect our careers.

These practices are especially important right now, when we are working through complex conditions as nurses. Nursing staff today is consistently understaffed and overworked, and this is the perfect environment for errors to occur. Let's chat about a few easy ways that you can keep yourself safe in this landscape. 

To check on your state Nurse Practice Act, head to:
https://www.ncsbn.org/npa.htm

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

Today we chat about the nursing rules that no one tells us, but everyone expects of us. These aren't lab values from your textbook, or nursing diagnoses, but instead, these are common courtesies that are the backbone of a well-functioning nursing unit. These expectations may sound like common sense, but they are often forgotten, especially by newer nurses who are just finding their footing. So let's finally just say them out loud, so that we can all be on the same page. At the end of the day, it comes down to treating others as you would like to be treated. 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

On this week's episode, we are revisiting our most popular topic: the nursing interview! But this time, we are chatting about interviewing as an EXPERIENCED nurse.

We discuss your resume, general interviewing tips, interview anxiety, questions to expect, and how to interview your interviewer. You are no longer a brand new nurse, so they have to sell the job to you just as much as you need to sell yourself as a candidate.

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!


RESOURCES:
-Anxiety tips: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/interview-reframing-anxiety-establishing-boundaries/id1521777150?i=1000538901275
-New nurse interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-003-nursing-interview-tips-and-insights/id1521777150?i=1000484643798

Unpopular opinion: sometimes being a quitter is a STRENGTH, not a weakness. It takes courage to quit situations, behaviors, and people that are no longer aligned for you, that are hurting you, or that are preventing your growth. Quitting is about self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-love. If you are contemplating taking that leap-of-faith, leaving that toxic unit, or changing careers for something more aligned, this episode is for you. 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we chat about some key interventions you can use when your patient is desaturation. We discuss different devices and their specifications, who to call, and how to assist your patient while waiting for help.

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!

Does is it ever feel like your job is taking over your entire life? After your work days, do you find that you have no energy life to give to your loved ones, or to yourself? Are you finding that your health is falling through the cracks? If you said yes, this episode is for YOU! 

Screw that elusive idea of "work-life balance." Balance implies perfect harmony, equal time spent in every area of your life, and a completely compartmentalized existence. We know now that this is impossible. Life is constantly shifting and changing. We live through seasons where priorities shift, availability changes, and obstacles arise. So let's talk about how to integrate your work and your life, and ensure that both FIT in meaningful ways. 

Follow along and join the Nursing Co-op community on Instagram @ashley_nursingcoop and on Facebook in The Nursing Co-op Huddle! We would love to see you there! As always, message me with any feedback, comments, or questions on Instagram, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Happy Nursing!