Work ethic

Why We All Need Strong Work Ethics Today

The ongoing recession hitting many parts of the world demands many things from us, among them better or relatively strong work ethics to wade through these murky waters, if we are to come out of it in a better state. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic plunged the world into a series of bad global outcomes. Families were gravely affected, dreams were shuttered, economies were hit hard and corporations were forced to revise their models to operate under difficult circumstances. Jobs were grossly affected and unemployment is at its all-time highest in some countries. Organisations are fighting to stay afloat and employees have found themselves in situations that demand them to work harder but receive very little to no reward. It is an open secret that today, even though there is little to no reward for the work employees are doing, they actually need to upgrade themselves and have stronger work ethics. According to career consultants Indeed:

Work ethics is an attitude of determination and dedication toward one’s job

While still trying to escape the pandemic-induced hardships organisations have started rebuilding. This phase will be a make or break season for many organisations which will separate organisations that will survive the post-COVID-19 era from organisations that will be obliterated into the abssy by the recession or other problems bedevilling many economies. In the midst of all that, employees need to work harder and have stronger work ethics for the following reasons:

  1. In some cases to retain and keep their jobs – Companies and organisations are fighting to improve productivity, efficiency and financial performance. This means many organisations will be ready to part ways with personnel that is reluctant to work and or fulfil their obligations. Many of us are expandable at our jobs right now and if we do not display strong work ethics, we might make it easy for our superiors to cut us loose.
  2. To rebuild after the pandemic – many jobs were affected by the pandemic, and many small businesses even big corporations found themselves downsizing or even closing because of the complications that were brought about by the pandemic. It’s only natural that since efforts have been made to control the pandemic, rebuilding has to start and for us to get to the pre-COVID-19 era in performance, we have to have stiffer work ethics.
  3. To survive – many organisations are fighting to survive given the ongoing recession ravaging many parts of the world. This means all hands have to be on deck if organisations are to survive the recession and live long enough to fight through it. This means more robust work ethics are needed now than before if we are interested in staying afloat or planning on making a comeback.

Self Care

3 Self-Care Tips That Will Blow Your Mind

When we say self-care tips, we are opening an avenue that is too broad because different people have different definitions of the term self-care. However, for today we will use the World Health Organisation’s definition of self-care which states that:

The ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider

So, based on the WHO’s definition of self-care it could be right that those self-care tips we see on social media suggesting that we block our friends and relatives from nagging us and causing us anxiety are to an extent right. Because in the end, self-care is basically making decisions each minute that will better serve you on all fronts and maintaining your physical and mental health.

We have heard so much about eating a healthy diet to maintain a healthy body, trying to stay away from things that will trigger you emotionally or mentally and exercising among other self-care tips. However, for today we will talk about three things that will enhance your self-care in a way that will blow your mind.

  1. Socialising with others. A dynamically balanced human being does not live on an island. People who eat healthily, exercise, and get enough sleep but go about declaring themselves proud loners are not taking care of themselves perfectly. We all need a vibrant or at least a good amount of human interaction with others as they also help us see the world through their eyes which is good for our mental strength.
  2. Knowing when to draw the line. Many people have problems setting boundaries because they don’t want to offend others or they don’t want to be excommunicated or be branded bad names by family, friends or colleagues. As a result, many are offended and their egos are bruised in many ways but they swallow it up because they still want to appear as that nice relative, coworker or friend. Setting healthy boundaries and speaking up or letting people know you are not happy and going to bed with a smile is the most underrated self-care tip of all time.
  3. Leaving situations that are not ideal without looking back. Be it a friendship, a relationship, a home, a job, or a school, if it is causing you sleepless nights, costing you peace and making you unhappy on many levels learn to walk away and be prepared to start afresh. One sleepless night is too many to spend it anxiously looking for a solution to pacify non-ideal situations.

Remember not to mistake self-care for self-indulgence or being selfish, just like what WHO said, it is important to maintain a healthy body and mind but not by transferring it to someone else. Read more of our self-care tips on some of our previous blogs.

Nurse Aide Helping

I’m A Qualified Nurse Aide, I Can’t Find A UK Sponsor, What Else Can I Do?

Over the last few months, the UK government has given many an opportunity to live and work in the UK. We have on this blog run a series of how you can migrate to the UK as a health worker. Health Care Assistants/Support Workers/Nurse Aides migrated in droves to the UK in 2021 and 2022 mainly because getting a Nurse Aide qualification is not a long tedious process. Given the recession that is blanketing many economies in the world, unemployment at its highest in most countries, many flocked to Nurse Aides training centres and obtained the qualifications.

However, after qualifying and meeting some of the requirements needed to obtain a UK Health and Care Work VISA many are still trying to find a sponsor to give them a job and a sponsorship certificate as per UK government requirements for one to obtain a VISA. Hundreds if not thousands are stuck on that stage and possibly despairing as weeks turn into months with no sponsor in sight.

Well, optimists are all for looking for a silver lining on every dark cloud and today I will try and detail 2 options that you might sparingly call silver lining to the dark cloud that might be engulfing your horizons. If you are a qualified Nurse Aide who can’t find a sponsor in the UK, you can try and find Support Work In Canada and you can use the Nurse Aide qualification and English Test you have obtained to look for a job. All you need to do is go on social media and on Google to find agents and or recruiters who can hire you and try to figure out the rest by constantly checking with the Canadian Embassy in your country or via their website. According to an officer at a Canadian Immigration firm the author spoke to, here is a checklist of the requirements for one to obtain a Home Support Worker Pilot Permit (HSWPP):

  • Language proficiency – IELTS General Training (Band 5)
  • Academic assessment – WES
  • Certification in basic first aid/CPR
  • All degrees or professional certificates
  • CV tailored to show your experience as a caregiver
  • Reference letter from your service user to prove that you are working as their caregiver
  • Questionnaire to be filled
  • 2 Passport photographs – https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-card/apply-renew-replace/photo.html
  • Police certificate (Any country you have lived in for up to 6 months)
  • International Passport of the applicant and all dependents (Must have more than 6 months validity left
  • Birth certificate of applicant and all dependents
  • Marriage certificate, change of name and newspaper publication for all applicants (If married and changed name)

Perhaps Canada is not for you, you have another option, of finding work on the cruise ships which recruit many people in different roles especially those that speak many languages and have basic first aid training. Ask your friends to give you links to recruiters recruiting cruise ship workers. If you have none of those, Google is your friend.

Psychoactive Drugs

Psychoactive Drugs, A Blessing Or A Curse?

Are Psychoactive Drugs a blessing or a curse? As Health workers, we are sometimes discouraged from expressing our opinions on most things medical because in most cases lives have been saved by those procedures, drugs etc, however, we have to discuss this paradox. Are psychoactive drugs a blessing or an ill to our society? The African country of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is endowered with rich minerals from Diamond to Gold to Chrome. However many scholars, investigators, and politicians just to name a few have agreed on one thing. Even though DRC is rich, the country is beleaguered by the plenty paradox or the resource curse. DRC is and has for years been facing political instability and most scholars have pinpointed the plenty plus resources( a very good thing) as the biggest reason for the political instability (a very bad thing). How can such a good thing lead to such a bad result is the paradox that has confused so many people who follow events in DRC. However, it can also point to one thing, in some cases, even the noblest ideas, even the purest of intentions can result in a very bad situation out of many people’s control. Could this be the case with Psychoactive Drugs?

Well, A Psychoactive Drug according to the National Cancer Institute Of America is:

A drug or other substance that affects how the brain works and causes changes in mood, awareness, thoughts, feelings, or behavior. Examples of psychoactive substances include alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, marijuana, and certain pain medicines. Many illegal drugs, such as heroin, LSD, cocaine, and amphetamines are also psychoactive substances. Also called psychotropic substance.

Given the increase in mental health matters globally, even in the UK, psychoactive drugs like Benzodiazepines which are usually prescribed for mental health conditions which include but are not limited to seizures, anxiety, insomnia, etc have helped many patients and saved many families from heartache and prolonged pain. Many psychoactive drugs have also helped people go through the infamous novel coronavirus pandemic that brought the world to a standstill. Without such modern medicines, there would have been a second epidemic if not another pandemic of people not coping with the measures put in place to fight the novel coronavirus. Mind.Org says 8% of the British population is suffering from mixed anxiety and depression, this means millions of people in the UK only need Psychoactive Drugs. Alcohol for instance is also used for recreational purposes and there are many people who are surviving and making a living because of alcohol, bearing in mind the global alcoholic drinks industry is worth a staggering US$1.49 trillion.

On another note, our societies are seeing an increase in drug abuse. While illicit drug abuse is on the rise, (1 in 11 adults in the UK takes or has taken illicit drugs) it’s also true that even some drugs like pain medication and drugs used to manage or cure mental health conditions are being abused. On The 11th of July, each year, the World Commemorates World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day to try and raise awareness over the dangers of the prolonged use of Benzodiazepine. Some people are chronically dependent on pain medication which is also a form of addiction. We will never have enough time to talk about alcohol addiction on this blog because the cases are plenty. Can we then say that these Psychoactive Drugs are our society’s curse given the likelihood of our people becoming addicts and abusing these drugs once they have taken them for one reason or another? No, as alluded to above, these drugs have done more harm than good. They have saved lives, prolonged lives and in some cases slowed down the progression of some diseases. This is a win mostly for some families who are still enjoying brunch together on Sundays. The fact that some families were robbed of their young ones or their family members due to drugs is sad but such incidences could have been avoided if society had taken the time to fight some of the problems they are facing because of those drugs

Just like in DRC, the minerals are not a problem. It is the powerful politicians who are abusing their custodial rights to govern the land which are causing political instability leading to the plenty paradox we spoke about. Psychoactive Drugs are by far a blessing to society as they offer relief to patients in dire need and in some cases deliver that occasional recreational flair we all need to keep a balanced life. We should however fight as societies to keep members of our societies from abusing them and bringing social ills and crimes into our neighbourhoods. Awareness Campaigns and Rehabilitation Centers should be every society’s priority to ensure that drug abuse of any sort is dealt with and or managed and individuals rehabilitated. Pressure groups, churches, and civil society organisation should intensify their daily message against drug abuse because one person lost to drug abuse of any sort is one too many if we have something to do about it.

Health workers should lead from the front in raising awareness over the abuse of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs because they know first-hand how people are unnecessarily losing their lives to drug misuse.

What do you think, are psychoactive drugs a blessing or a curse? While at it check out our other blogs

Must Have Technoloy In Healthcare

3 Must-Haves Technologies In Healthcare

Technology has brought us so many conveniences, before we dive right into the must-have technologies in healthcare, let me take you back a bit. Imagine how we can now video chat with our loved ones on another continent. Long back if you needed to reach someone on another continent you had to go to them through a ship which would sometimes capsize and not reach its destinations. Nowadays tasks that usually take hours are now being done by robotic arms in minutes if not seconds. The technology wave has engulfed many if not all industries in the world and the healthcare industry has not been spared.

in the year 2022, these are must-have technologies in healthcare for a hospital, a health worker’s smartphone, a clinic, a surgery just to name a few:

  1. e-Consullting Systems – since the advent of email, and e-money, one way or the other, e-consultations were not supposed to be far behind. e-Consulting is usually used not only for consultation services but for patient remote monitoring in some cases, and we must admit, the use of such systems was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic Hospitals, surgeries, and clinics can and will benefit immensely from such systems.
  2. Artificial Intelligence-Based Medical devices – the advent of x-rays and other medical devices gave birth to so many advanced technologies that are being used in healthcare. Many devices that are connected to the internet, and are smart in terms of making use of artificial intelligence technology are being invented and they have become trailblazers in modern medicine. For example, imagine systems and those heart attack probability predicting devices have saved lives and if possible should be mass-produced and accessible in many parts of the globe
  3. Wearable Devices – Fitness trackers, wearable ECG monitors, wearable blood pressure monitors, and wearable biosensors even in their infancy have become a must-have technology as millions of these devices are being manufactured in many parts of the globe. Both health workers and patients benefit greatly from these devices which also improve the quality or frequency of patient remote monitoring and help patients know their statistics in some cases, in real-time.

Technology is however without any problems and even though it will make patient management, diagnostic and other things better, we can not deny that it has also brought some unwanted results even in healthcare.