On this episode, we talk about what to do if you are feeling stuck in your nursing career. Do you ever question why you became a nurse in the first place? Do you constantly wish you had a reason to leave your current position? Do you dread going to work? Maybe you just don't feel PASSIONATE about what you do. If these things are true for you, know that you don't have to stay STUCK! We spend an average of 90,000 HOURS working in our lifetime (that's 3,750 DAYS). Can you imagine if someone told you that you had to spend that much of your life miserable? This is not the way! 

We discuss common mindset blocks that exist in nursing culture, the versatility of your nursing degree (and some directions your career can take), action steps you can take now, and a few resources you can use in your journey. 

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about making a career pivot. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

Resources: 

-Do Over -- Jon Acuff (book)
-Quitter -- Jon Acuff (book)
-Don't Keep Your Day Job -- Cathy Heller (book and podcast)
-The Art of Work -- Jeff Goins (book)
-Ultimate Career Guide for Nurses -- Donna Wilk Cardillo (book)

@nurselifern
@wholelifenurse

On this episode, we discuss some tips and things to remember if you are a new nurse in the COVID ICU (or any COVID unit). We talk about flexing that "asking for help" muscle, swallowing a little pride, time management tips specific for COVID, and clinical expectations for these patients. Newer nurses are certainly being thrown into the deep end between shortened orientations, surged assignments, not enough staff, and disaster practices (let alone starting their careers amidst a global pandemic). So I hope this episode might help you get more of a handle on a few things and give you a heads up on what to expect. Remember that you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. And don't forget that we are all in this together!

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about caring for COVID patients in or out of the ICU. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we discuss my tops tips to mastering delegation. I prefer to think about delegation as asking for help, and being assertive when needed. Delegation can feel uncomfortable at first, especially when you are new to a well-established unit. It can feel weird to delegate tasks to someone who has been doing this for 10 years while you have only been on the unit for a week, but it is such a critical skill to master. Delegation enables you to get a seemingly impossible amount of tasks done in your 12 hours, especially while you get a handle on your time management skills. We discuss key factors like building rapport, clear communication, and establishing a start-of-shift huddle with your techs or CNAs. 

***My instagram handle has changed as I combined my personal and podcast pages. Our community is now @ashley_nursingcoop ***

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about delegation. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, I give you some tips and tricks to master prioritization in your patient care. Prioritization is key for efficient and effective nursing, but is often a tough skill to tackle. We discuss using your ABCs, adopting the CURE hierarchy when ranking your tasks, and some important questions to ask yourself while deciding what to do first (Which task can I get done quickly? If I delay this task, what impact will that have on my patient? Is there a task that I could delegate? What can I do as the nurse?). Prioritization can be challenging, but I hope these tips can help you gain confidence and become more efficient in your practice!

***My instagram handle has changed as I combined my personal and podcast pages. Our community is now @ashley_nursingcoop ***

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about prioritization. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we discuss how to build and maintain strong relationships with your significant other, family, or friends as a nurse. Especially for those of you who are new, this can be a tough challenge as you transition into the profession. 12 hour shifts, working nights, exhaustion, and overwhelm can test any relationship. We discuss strong communication, patience, and even how to navigate sharing your gross stories as a nurse. Our support system is CRITICAL to our mental health and sanity as nurses, so we need the strongest relationships possible. Hope this helps!

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about managing your personal relationships. Message me @thenursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

Also for a good laugh, check out: https://youtu.be/jKL0yndVrvg

On this episode, we discuss the science behind the stress response, how stress can actually HELP us, reframing our thoughts, and managing stress and overwhelm (rather than trying to eliminate it). During this season, we all have a million reasons to feel stressed. Between a pandemic, working too many hours, and the holiday season, it can all feel like too much to handle. On today's episode we discuss tangible tools to manage these feelings of overwhelm and changing our mindsets surrounding stress so we can recognize how it can be beneficial in our lives.

***My instagram handle has changed as I combined my personal and podcast pages. Our community is now @ashley_nursingcoop *** I would love to answer ANY questions you have about managing stress. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we talk through a full patient case (2 patients) in the COVID ICU on a busy night. Unlike our last "night in the life," this was the type of night where there was no time to get organized, review charts, or plan the day as we normally like to. This was a "put out fires and keep your head above water" type of shift that would not have been possible without an incredible team and a lot of asking for help. These are skills that all of us new nurses need to perfect and practice in our careers. There's a major difference between managing your time during a "stable" shift, and managing your time during a crazy shift. That is what we break down on today's episode. 

***My instagram handle has changed as I combined my personal and podcast pages. Our community is now @ashley_nursingcoop *** I would love to answer ANY questions you have about time management during crazy shifts, handling emergency situations, and prioritization. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we have our FIRST interview with Emily Mazurak of the Fill Up Your Cup Project!! Get to know Emily, hear her story, and  learn about her incredible company. We talk burnout and recovery, tips for new nurses, personal development, setting boundaries for work/life balance, and MORE! This was such a valuable conversation and I think it provides so much meaningful content. 

Emily and I would love to answer ANY questions you have about our conversation, burnout, and more. Check out her website at www.fillupyourcupproject.com for more information. We would LOVE to hear your takeaways and feedback! Tag @ashley_nursingcoop and @emily.mazurak or message with questions and comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we discuss signs that you might be struggling with time management and tips to improve on this much-needed skill. Time management skills are vital in the nursing profession as we attempt to fit SO MUCH into 12 hours. That's why those hours often fly by. So let's talk about how to make the most of each shift. We talk planning your shift, developing a stellar shift routine, clustering care, delegation, and more! 

***My instagram handle has changed as I combined my personal and podcast pages. Our community is now @ashley_nursingcoop ***

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about time management. Message me @ashley_nursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!

On this episode, we talk about what I have learned during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to treatments, and how we have adapted in our care for these patients. We will discuss paralytics, COVID codes, proning, long-term ICU stays/intubation, PTSD, cardiac damage, new drug treatments, and loss. We also continue our discussion regarding burnout. This episode is part 2 in our COVID series. 

I would love to answer ANY questions you have about the COVID-19 pandemic and response. Message me @thenursingcoop or shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions, feedback, or comments. Happy Nursing!