Giving

It’s Giving Week, Here Are 3 NHS Charities You May Want To Donate To

/0 Comments/in /by

After the American Thanksgiving Holiday comes giving day. On this day which is celebrated a few days after thanksgiving day, people chose to give others resources they have or resources they need to make them feel good and have a happy festive season.

A lot of us give to our families, to our friends to our communities and to our churches. A lot of us give to different causes. Given the problems bedevilling the entire world, there are a million plus causes and they are mostly looking for resources to further their causes.

While a lot of us are already making sacrifices and counting our coins in this pandemic-induced recession, the world still needs a helping hand in more ways than one. As health workers, we know some of the causes that need our help. In case we want to lend a helping hand, you may want to donate to these three NHS Charities, because, just like all 230 NHS Charities, they are helping communities in more ways than one:

  1. Musgrove Leukaemic Group Somerset (MLGS) – This charity raises funds for leukaemia and lymphoma patients and their families in Somerset. According to the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, MLGS was formed in the late 1970s to help the local children who had to travel to get treatment.
  2. The Neurosciences Research Foundation – This charity helps fund research on the diseases of the brain and spinal cord that are still untreatable and any progress in finding an effective treatment.
  3. Limbless Association – This charity helps the limp-loss community from all walks of life with support through existing services.

If you need agency shifts this December, get in touch with us, at 03303300031 or send us an email at info@myshifts.work. Meanwhile, check out our other blogs on various employment and health topics.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

3 Things Nurses Should Know About Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

/1 Comment/in /by

According to Google, the search for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has increased over the last few weeks. This probably means multiple people are genuinely interested in knowing about this therapy. As trained caregivers, nurses are supposed to educate themselves about subjects that might help their patients to better serve them whenever possible.

Since multiple people in the UK are asking about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, we have taken the liberty to make a few basic things known about the therapy. According to Healthline:

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a treatment approach that helps you recognize negative or unhelpful thoughts and behaviour patterns. CBT aims to help you identify and explore the ways your emotions and thoughts can affect your actions. Once you notice these patterns, you can begin learning how to change your behaviours and develop new coping strategies.

Healthline

In case you are asked about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as a caregiver, here are three basic things you should know about the therapy:

  1. CBT can help mental disorders that include but are not limited to PTSD, OCD, panic disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, substance abuse and depression.
  2. CBT is not a cure, it will help address the issues you are facing but it will not probably eliminate them completely and they could still persist after you stop the therapy. Also bear in mind, it is not a quick fix, results will take time.
  3. CBT can also be used to help overcome grief, loss, insomnia, chronic pain, serious health diagnosis, relationship issues, divorce or breakups and general stress.

Remember to take care of yourself first at all times. If you are looking for part-time nurses to staff your establishment call us on 03300300031 or send us an email at infor@myshifts.work

Self Care

5 Self Care Tips For Nurses

/1 Comment/in /by

Over the years, nurses who by virtue of their jobs are trained caregivers, have effortlessly taken care of generations. Nurses have taken care of societies, communities, generations and families, and they continue to do so to this day. However, nursing in 1939 where the district nurse would ride a bicycle to do community visits is now different from nursing in the 21st century.

Nurses nowadays have a lot to juggle since today’s life demands more from us with very little help coming from any direction. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation and many nurses have put aside self-care in order to carry out their duties faithfully. Self-care by definition as defined by the Global Self-Care Federation is:

Self-care is the practice of individuals looking after their own health using the knowledge and information available to them…. It involves making healthy lifestyle choices, avoiding unhealthy lifestyle habits, making responsible use of prescription and non-prescription medicines, self-recognition of symptoms, self-monitoring and self-management 

Global Self-Care Federation

it is imperative for nurses to prioritise self-care because a lack of adequate self-care will lead to outcomes like burnouts which will lead to mistakes, and in the nursing field, a mistake can result in a fatality. These 5 tips will help nurses in our communities take care of themselves so that they prolong their lives and other services to humankind in need of them:

  1. Try to avoid mental strain. If you feel you have mental fatigue rest for a while.
  2. Do not compare your capabilities and abilities to those of your neighbour, if your neighbour can manage 5 long days and 2 short days in a row, do not compare their strength to yours. Pick a schedule you can manage.
  3. Prioritise your mental health, if anything has the ability to temper with your sanity even by a small fraction, find a way to cut it off.
  4. Try by all means to avoid an unhealthy lifestyle.
  5. Rest, whenever possible take some time off and rest your mind and body.

If you are based in the West Midlands and looking for extra shifts, call us at 03300300031 or send us an email at info@myshifts.works

3 Things Nurses Can Do To Raise Cancer Awareness

/0 Comments/in /by

Cancer has over the past century wreaked havoc in our communities and families. Nurses are at the epicentre of fighting this disease because we treat cancer patients daily. We have seen families torn apart, and children orphaned, and we interact with heartbroken spouses and partners every day because of cancer.

While our duty is to treat patients that come to the various medical facilities we provide our services to, we cannot overlook the fact that we live in communities and we probably have seen neighbours and people we care about battling this deadly disease. This means we have seen first-hand how deadly cancer is, and if it were up to us, the onus would be on us to raise awareness against cancer.

Some if not most cancers according to the National Library of Medicine are diagnosed at an advanced stage, this usually limits the chances of a patient surviving. The progression of some cancers can be slowed down by changing a patient’s lifestyle. Most patients do not know this. As a nurse, if you are willing to raise awareness against cancer here are some of the things you can do in your society.

  1. Encourage peers, friends, neighbours and relatives to go for cancer screening.
  2. Research more about the different types of cancers and how to slow down disease progression, this will help you whenever you are helping people in your circle who are battling cancer.
  3. Do awareness campaigns or encourage people in your community, family, and friends to participate in those awareness campaigns as they will learn more and more about that dreadful disease.

In case you want to become an agency nurse and you are based in the West Midlands please get in touch with us at 03300300031 or send us an email at info@myshifts.work