Photo Credit: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center
September is Suicide Prevention Month. Have you taken a moment to check on your family and friends? How about checking on the “strongest person that you know?” They need to be checked on as well. We have all been trying to get through this pandemic while still going to school, working, and taking care of home. Stress, anxiety, and depression levels have skyrocketed! Take time out each day for a “mental moment.” Meditate, go for a walk, listen to music, paint, etc. Engaging in these types of positive coping skills can help improve your mental health. If you find yourself participating in negative coping behaviors, please seek help from a mental health professional. There is no shame in doing so!
Well y’all I did it! I got my first Covid-19 vaccine! One more to go.
I will admit that the quick development of the vaccine was the main reason why I did not want to get it. However, pandemic anxiety and my children wanting to return to in person class instruction were my determining factors for getting the vaccine.
I have never been a person to get anxious, but ever since the pandemic started I have experienced the worst anxiety ever in my life! I mean, I was terrified to leave the house and be around other people. I am hoping that two weeks after receiving my second dose when I am considered “fully vaccinated” that this will change. We should not live in fear, but we should also be cautious and careful.
I have not experienced any serious side effects after receiving my first vaccine. I only had soreness at the injection site for a day or two. I will keep you all updated on my second 💉 dose. Have you gotten yours? Let me know your experience below.
Happy New Year! I can’t believe that we are at the end of the first month of 2021 already! How many of you have already broken your resolutions by now LOL? Instead of making a New Year’s resolution this year I decided to start a new venture in my nursing career.
For those of you who do not know my story, I started working with patients at the bedside as a teenager. I worked as a patient transporter and a dietary aide in the hospital. I then became a patient care tech and a home health/hospice aide. I love caring for others and truly believe that nursing is my calling!
As a nurse, I am a true advocate for my patients. I stand up for them when they are not able or afraid to do so. I help them access the healthcare resources that they need when they don’t know how. I am their shoulder to cry on, and their available ear to listen when they are lonely.
Photo Credit: Baptist Physician Partners
I have worked in a wide arena of nursing including correctional facilities, assisted living, inpatient and home hospice, OB/GYN and adult medicine medical offices and most recently tele-health due to the pandemic. Through tele-health visits I was able to touch bases with my elderly, immuno-compromised, or chronic condition patients who were instructed not to come into the office unless absolutely necessary.
I was able to coordinate their care from a distance. Let me tell you, getting my patient’s the resources that they needed to withstand this pandemic felt amazing! I fell in love with care coordination so much that I’ve moved into this as my new nursing position. Being able to follow my patients after they have had a doctor’s appointment, hospital or rehab stay and giving them the tools that they need to prevent being readmitted feels so fulfilling! This is where I need to be. Helping my patients take better care of themselves! I am doing what I was born to do!❤️
The Nurse Niche 