Nursing is an evolving profession.
According to Zig Ziglar, "whatever your passion, get involved in it at a level that is bigger than you are"

Having a passion for nursing is much different from get involved in wonderful works around the profession. One of the ways yo get involved in a greater force is to participate in nursing events around you.

One of which is the:
2018 ANNUAL NURSING CONFERENCE (LCC NSG 2018)

SEPTEMBER 24TH-26TH 2018VENUE: SHEBA HALL, IKEJA

HOLISTIC NURSING IN CANCER CARE: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
OBJECTIVES OF THIS CONFERENCE:

EMPOWERING NURSES IN MANAGEMENT  AND PRACTICE

SETTING THE PACE IN NURSING LEADERSHIP
IMPACT OF NURSING RESEARCH IN CANCER CARE

FAMILY SUPPORT AND CANCER CARE
ROLE OF THE NURSE IN PALLIATIVE CARE AND BEREAVEMENT PROCESS

NETWORK WITH OTHER NURSES AND LOTS OF INTERRACTIVE SESSIONS

PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
NURSING INFORMATICS

NURSING ETHICS AND THE LAW
AWARDING OF CERTIFICATES AND CREDIT UNITS

SPEAKERS
Mr Emmanuel Udontre
Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria

Mrs Achomadu Chiji
EKO hospitals

Mrs Julie Magbo
Family Bond Expert

Mrs Shonibare Dorcas
Director of Nursing Services, LASUTH

Mrs Shode O
Retired ADNS, LASUTH

Ms Abigail Simon-Hart
Cancer Advocate/Survivor
BRICON Foundation

Dr Asuzu
University College Hospital, Ibadan

Mrs Owums Henrietta 

Lagos State University Teaching Hospital

Emeribe Uchenna Iroh
Lakeshore Cancer Center, Victoria Island

To attend register here
It is highly affordable, why don't you be part of the early birds. Register now

"Nursing, no doubt is a fulfilling career" Ajah Kingsley says

Nothing gives a Nurse more joy than seeing a patient return hale and hearty to his family and business after a lengthy  stay at the hospital.
Knowing that a  once critical patient still  draws breath as a result of your efforts gives fulfilment.

With each day that dawns, you know you are going to touch a life and make a difference in someone else's life, whether it's in the emergency room, operating room, intensive care unit, out patient unit, labor ward, surgical suite or any other part of the hospital where health care is rendered.

However, despite the volume of satisfaction Nurses derive from providing care and reliving patient's distress, undeniable is the fact that Nurses experience burn out due to the rigorous and demanding nature of the job.

The sleepless night duties, the 8-12hours shifts, the increasing work load,having to deal with manipulative and abusive patients, the staff shortage, the high expectations, the low motivation, working without break periods, the work place tension, unsupportive management, the death of a patient whom you are emotionally attached to and the strained interpersonal relationship with coworkers such as head Nurses, Doctors and other hospital staff can even cause psychological distress leading to physical, emotional and mental exhaustion.

Some days you smile home, other days you are overwhelmed, overworked, underappreciated, worn out and even feel useless to yourself and family after the day's job as you are too tired and stressed up to do other things or even help out with home chores .

Nobody cares whether your fiancée broke up with you last night or if you have personal issues that are eating you up, as long as you are a Nurse, you are always expected to remain cheerful and pretend like everything is okay because patients shouldn't see you at your worst .

Most Nurses ignore their own health in the course of their duty. It's not uncommon to see Nurses work overtime even when exhausted especially if they are emotionally attached to the patient in question.

An exhausted Nurse is a dangerous Nurse! When a Nurse burns out:

√ medication errors occur
√ documentation errors happen
√malpractice tends to increase(just get ready for litigations and to lose your license)
√ attention and concentration are impaired
√ poor  clinical decisions are made
√ bedside manners are lost
√ inadequate standard of care is rendered
√ Nurse performance reduces
√ He/she  tends to become cold,rude,insensitive, impatient and easily irritated .
√ Patient's outcome and satisfaction depreciates
√ Nurse - patient relationship suffers.

Fellow Nurses, I know Nursing school taught us to always make patients our priority but it's time to learn how to put yourself first. There is no way you can efficiently and effectively  care for a patient when you are physically depleted, emotionally drained and mentally exhausted.

Nursing will still continue even if you wear out, get stressed up, breakdown, burn out and die. So take care of your health so you can take care of others.

Love yourself enough, learn healthy ways to manage your emotions and cope with stress.
Get enough sleep, confide in someone if you are having a bad day.
Know how to delegate and always take short breaks in other to relax and refresh if the shift turns out rough and tough.

I know we are burning with passion to serve humanity but an exhausted Nurse is a dangerous Nurse.

#KINGSpiration
#share_your_stories
#inspire_others

About the author: AJAH KINGSLEY IFEANYICHUKWU

From Afikpo, Ebonyi state.

Graduated from School of Nursing, Mater Misericordia Hospital, Afikpo, Ebonyi state

You can add him on Facebook @Amb Kings

Written by David Hebert, Chief Executive Officer, American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) | July 27, 2017 | Print | Email

Hospitals have employed nurse practitioners (NPs) for decades, but only recently have they begun to capitalize on NPs’ potential.

Changes in NP licensure laws, a swiftly aging patient population and increasing pressures from Medicare to focus on care quality has elevated the profile of NPs as key players in a new age of cost-conscious, quality hospital care. Here are three reasons why hospitals are turning to NPs and improving patient care in the process.

1. NPs are the lynchpin in achieving continuum of care. While most hospitals embrace the idea of delivering a more seamless continuum of care, connecting the dots between primary care, specialists, ER teams and follow-on home health can be a complex task. Often the biggest challenge is finding the provider that can cure hospital fragmentation – someone who has the expertise to diagnose and treat patients with the consultative skills to facilitate their journey through the labyrinth of care. This role is increasingly being filled by an NP.

This is especially critical for hospitals struggling to transition patientsbetween in- and out-patient care. Approximately 20 percent of Medicare patients admitted to U.S. hospitals each year are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, running up a $15 billion hospital tab for the U.S. annually. Even more staggering, more than half of all surgery patients either died or were readmitted to the hospital within a year. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) estimates that three-quarters of those readmissions (and about $12 billion in Medicare spending) might be avoided with a better continuum of care, including better discharge planning. And therefore, Medicare is cutting payments to hospitals that experience high rates of potentially avoidable readmissions.

Increasingly, NPs are helping to reverse this trend. One studyassessing the impact of adding an NP to the oncology surgery department cited improvements in oversight and care after discharge – including a 64 percent increase in phone follow-up and a 14 percent increase in the use of home care and physical/occupational therapy services. More significantly, having an NP facilitate the discharge process resulted in a 50 percent decrease in the number of unnecessary follow-up hospital visits and $800,000 in hospital savings. In California, reducing avoidable readmission hospital stays by just one day could save healthcare programs $227 million a year ($179 million in Medicare savings plus $48 million in Medicaid savings).

A seamless handoff between hospital staff and community caregivers has proven to drastically reduce patient bounce-back. From giving detailed discharge instructions, to teaching patients to flush a gastric tube, to arranging for follow-up appointments and in-home healthcare, NPs are bridging an otherwise widening gap between hospital stay and outpatient care.

2. NPs are advancing the shift towards community care. By the year 2030, one in five Americans will be over the age of 65. The focus of these baby boomers on controlling their care and staying in their communities, along with the increasing number living with chronic disease, will put strain on our healthcare delivery system – especially hospitals. As a result, an increasing number of hospitals are looking for progressive solutions to improve efficiency.

This involves turning to healthcare providers to deliver advanced clinical and primary care in patients’ homes after discharge to improve patient outcomes and avoid readmissions, all at a reduced cost. NPs are more likely to provide home-based care than physicians, and NPs also deliver care over the widest geographical area. In 2013, NPs performed over one million home care visits, accounting for more than 20 percent of all residential visits to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries.

The potential savings realized through home health is significant and extends beyond the clinical visit. The daily cost of home oxygen for Medicare patients is 1/268th the cost of a single-day stay in the hospital. A home intravenous antibiotic program under Medicare is $122 a day, compared to $798 in an inpatient setting.

Legislation must pass congress to relieve this significant barrier to these home-based health services. Although NPs typically assess the need for and are, by and large, the provider of these services, outdated Medicare regulations does not grant NPs the authority to prescribe home health services without physician certification, resulting in provider duplication and costly delays – ironically for a service designed to eliminate these very problems. Passing new legislation would expedite patient care, prevent patients from unnecessarily seeking hospital treatment and increase access for home reliant seniors, especially in rural areas. Authorizing NPs to certify home health services will result in upwards of $275 million in cost savings by 2020, which has hospitals taking note.

3. NPs have greater practice authority and can provide care in more places. Currently 22 states plus the District of Columbia have granted nurse practitioners full practice authority (FPA) to work to the full scope of their education and training without physician oversight or collaborative agreements. More states are considering doing the same. This year, South Dakota was the latest to grant full autonomy to NPs, while Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and North Carolina continue to weigh similar licensure legislation.

Increasing autonomy and intensifying recognition from the healthcare community are driving factors in job growth projections for NPs over the next several years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates a 31 percent increase in NPs by 2024, far outpacing other professions, which is good news for hospitals preparing for a steady influx of new patients. In the coming years, more than 60 percent of the 61 million baby boomers will need treatment for one or more chronic conditions, and many will turn to hospitals for care. Currently one-third of NPs practice in hospitals, and this number is expected to rise as the number of practicing NPs increases.

As hospitals rethink healthcare delivery to meet the challenges of an aging baby boomer population and address rising healthcare costs, nurse practitioners represent a critical solution. With healthcare costs expected to reach $4.8 trillion by 2021 (compared to $2.6 trillion in 2010), reducing spending without sacrificing patient care is an obvious priority. Focusing on improving the continuity of care, transitioning peripheral hospital services into the community and increasing SOP rights for NPs will set a new standard for healthcare delivery in the next decade, and hospitals leveraging the untapped value of NPs will have a significant advantage.

David Hebert is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).