Are You Consistent in Doing What You Need to Feel Healthy?

Are you consistent in doing what you need to do in order to feel healthy? Knowing is one thing, being consistent is another. Consistency is the tough part for most people.

It’s what we all have trouble doing. Consistency is the key with everything, but as we go about living our lives, being productive and being good to our families, consistency sometimes is forgotten or at least, very difficult to achieve.

The good news is, there are so many things we can do to help ourselves be our best and feel our best. One of the best things we can do, that makes us feel good, is prioritizing the time we take for exercise each and every day. And that can take many forms depending on where you fall on the activity spectrum.

Just getting out and doing something more than you did yesterday is reason to celebrate. Continue being good to yourself focusing on all aspects of you! Your spirit, mind and body!

Nursing Burnout Among Us

So, lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about us nurses. In particular, how we are in such a high burnout field. I work as a consulting nurse practitioner, in skilled nursing facilities, which I’ve been doing for years. Over the years, as I’ve gotten to know the staff better and as I’ve seen such high turnover in these facilities, I can’t help but take into account the high work demand these nurses face day in and day out.

And that was prior to the COVID-19 crisis!  Its different now, and facilities are working overtime to stay in compliance with the constantly changing rules and regulations. The stress is through the roof for healthcare workers, and being from Florida, I am now witnessing everyday the incredible demands placed on the nurses and other healthcare professionals.

It was always the running joke from staff if I, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, would PLEASE provide counseling to the staff.  Because they really need help relaxing, or someone  to vent to. Whether the complaints are work load, lack of managerial support, more and more documentation demands, all while still needing to provide great nursing care, many are finding they are managing all they can, and unfortunately all too often I walk in only to find the best nurses, the ones we WANT taking care of our aging parents and grandparents, have left. We are after all only human, yet we are pushed further and harder as we are needed to keep up with the increasing demands of the ever changing healthcare world. We are witnessing nursing burnout among us everyday.

My website focuses on stress reduction and anxiety management, and so I feel the need to begin addressing this burnout pattern occurring all too often with our nurses. We get into nursing because we want to help people, we want to feel we are making a difference, and we want to do this with our own unique personality and touch. We all know nurses are in demand, which is great as far as job security is concerned, but can become negative if we don’t learn to balance our state of wellness with our careers.

If you feel you could benefit from a Wellness Health Coach, feel free to contact me at zaffut@gmail.com.

Dr. Suplick-Zaffuto

It’s Good to Be Back!

It has been awhile since I have written, and I am excited to be back! My reasoning for being gone? I decided to further pursue my degree, and I earned my Doctorate in Nursing Practice this past May. The end result is very gratifying, but did I feel that way all throughout the program? No!

Was I overwhelmed at times? Give me a BIG YES! Were there many moments of frustration, self-doubt and even wanting to quit? Why yes, there definitely were.

I specifically recall sitting on the porch with my husband and seriously contemplating if I was doing the right thing. That’s where life balance really came into focus for me in order to achieve my goal. But more about this later in upcoming posts.

While in the program, I continued to work my job as a psychiatric nurse practitioner consultant, while raising my three school-aged children. With perseverance, dedication, ability to see Big Picture, and incredible family support, I completed it. And as I’ve heard others who have gone down that road toward their DNP say before me, it was all worth it in the end.

Thank you to all who supported me and gave me the extra pushes I at times so badly needed!