Travel nursing is a wonderful career path and offers many benefits to those who embrace it, including adventure, challenge, and flexibility. But it can also be a challenging career, with long hours, demanding patients, and ever-changing work environments. One of the most challenging aspects of travel nursing is maintaining your health when you are away from home. With some careful planning and healthy habits, it is possible to stay healthy on the road as a travel nurse.
1. Plan Ahead and Bring Healthy Snacks For The Trip
One of the biggest challenges of travel nursing is managing your diet. When you are on the road headed to an assignment, it is easy to fall into the trap of grabbing fast food or snacking on convenience store junk food. Before you leave home, pack a cooler with healthy snacks like fresh fruit, nuts, and protein bars. This will help you resist the temptation to grab unhealthy snacks on the go. Additionally, plan your meals in advance, and pack healthy lunches and snacks that you can eat on the go.
2. Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Sleep is a critical component of your overall health, and it is especially important when you are working as a travel nurse. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule will help you feel rested and alert throughout your shifts. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on your days off. Additionally, make sure that your sleep environment is comfortable and conducive to restful sleep. Invest in some earplugs and an eye mask to help block out noise and light if you’re a light sleeper.
3. Stay Active and Exercise Regularly
Another key to staying healthy on the road as a travel nurse is to stay active and exercise regularly. Even if you are working long hours, try to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. This can be as simple as taking a brisk walk during your lunch break or doing some stretching exercises before you go to bed. Additionally, look for opportunities to engage in more vigorous exercise, such as swimming, hiking, or cycling, when you have time off from work.
4. Stay Hydrated!
Staying hydrated is crucial for your overall health, especially when you are on the road as a travel nurse. Make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially during your long shifts. If you are working in a hot environment, be sure to drink even more water to avoid dehydration.
5. Take Care of Your Mental Health
Finally, it is important to prioritize your mental health when you are working as a travel nurse. Travel nursing can be a stressful and demanding career, which can take a toll on your emotional well-being. Make time to pursue hobbies and interests that help you relax and unwind, such as reading, meditation, or yoga. Additionally, take advantage of support services available to you, such as employee assistance programs, counseling, or peer support groups.
Travel nursing can be a challenging but rewarding career path, and taking care of your health is a critical component of success in this field. By planning ahead, maintaining a healthy diet, and prioritizing your mental health, you can stay healthy as a travel nurse. Remember to take care of yourself, both physically and emotionally, and you will be able to provide the best possible care for your patients while enjoying the adventure and excitement of travel nursing.
We hope you found these tips for staying healthy on the road as a travel nurse helpful. Do you have any tips to share with fellow travelers? Comment them below.
If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:
As a traveling nurse, you’re doing a fantastic service for the many patients you see yearly. Still, while you’re helping people worldwide, you also need to keep your health in check. From staying insured to attending your regular check-ups and prioritizing your preventative health, there are many considerations to remember as you travel from place to place.
Keep Up With Regular Check-Ups
As a traveling nurse, you may be on the road a lot. However, when you’re at home, you need to follow the advice that you give to your patients and attend your regular check-ups. It’s essential so you can find any potential life-threatening issues before they get out of hand.
The importance of attending regular check-ups cannot be understated. When you catch potential issues as they happen, you’ll save money by avoiding costly medical services down the road. Most importantly, regular medical care improves your chances of increasing your lifespan, which you’ll need so you can extend your career and continue to care for others for years to come.
There are other routine check-ups that you should add to your calendar. For instance, you need to visit the dentist and attend your six-month dental check-ups. While you’re there, you can get an oral cancer screening so you can ensure you have a clean bill of health. Untreated dental issues can lead to health complications, like infections and even a risk of heart disease and other serious ailments. Being proactive is key to ensuring that all goes well.
Precautions For The Road
In addition to keeping up on your check-ups while you’re at home, you’ll also want to take the necessary precautions to stay healthy while on the road. Start by ensuring that you’re adequately insured. When you look for insurance, prioritize plans that include a complete package that provides vision and dental and offers day-one coverage so you know you’re protected as soon as you sign on.
If you regularly take medication for any issue, make it a point to check your inventory and ensure that your supply will last during your travels. It also helps to research the state where you plan to travel because if you run out, there may be limitations on how to get your refills. Consider avoiding local pharmacies and instead use a popular chain like Walgreens, which will be located in many states, so you don’t have to go through a lot of red tape if you need a refill.
It’s also wise to have a plan of action if you have an unexpected medical emergency while on the road. Before you head to a new city, check out the hospital and urgent care centers in the area. Write down the addresses so you know where to go if needed. Also, keep copies of your ID and health-related documents that may come in handy if you suddenly fall ill.
Forming good health habits early on can also mitigate some of the risks you may have from your family medical history, but having support from a doctor can also help. For example, it’s important to monitor your eye health by going in for check-ups with your optometrist once a year. During these appointments, they’ll check for common issues, like vision degeneration and cataracts. By being proactive about your health, you can avoid higher medical bills, have better long-term health, and live a more active life well into your golden years.
But how can you take charge of your health right now? Like your patients, you need to practice weight management by eating a proper diet that’s free of trans-fats. Instead, focus on smart foods that provide energy to get up and move around so you can burn calories. Foods in this category include:
Oatmeal;
Yogurt;
Spinach;
Lentils;
Fruit.
Once energized, take the time between patients to get out and get active. Take brisk walks around the neighborhood or park further away than necessary from your patient’s home so you can walk and get your heart pumping. If you only have a little time at the start or end of the day, then try a different type of workout. That might be a high-intensity interval training session. This is a way to combine heart-racing and mild activities. As an example, you might:
Run as fast as you can for two minutes;
Then walk for two minutes;
Repeat that routine for 15-20 minutes.
As a travel nurse, your patients depend on you to get through their pain. Take care of your own wellness, and you can help them to reach that goal.
Every job type differs from the other; one can be less stressful, and the other can be very overwhelming. By not trying to minimize other people’s jobs, we have to be forever grateful for travel nurses worldwide. Working long hours every day and trying to take care of everyone because that is their purpose can be truly immense. They do care for our well-being, but do they care about theirs? If a nurse is not in good condition, that might cause major problems. It is really important for them to stay healthy and on point. Because how are you going to take care of someone if you’re not going to take care of yourself first? Travel nurses who live a healthy lifestyle perform better on the job and are less stressed. It is understandable that this may be hard for them to achieve, but we can try and make some adjustments here and there, and this is how.
You Are What You Eat
No one knows this better than a nurse; however, those long hours can’t promise you’ll practice what you preach. Food has a great impact on a nurse’s life. Sometimes you just grab something from your colleague’s lunch, not because you’re hungry but because they offered. You get overworked with patients; then you suddenly remember you haven’t eaten anything but 5 almonds, an apple, and God knows how many cups of coffee. Developing a healthy meal plan for a 12-hour shift or, in the best-case scenario, a week will undoubtedly save your health. This meal plan should include a lot of fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Low-calorie diets will keep your body energized and allow you to work more efficiently. Those who consume junk food during their shifts tend to perform with less energy.
Travel nurses tend to drink a lot of energy drinks in order to gain energy and finish their tasks. They might work in the short term, but even they know that in the long term, energy drinks are very unhealthy. While you’re making the meal plan, you might want to throw some cucumber, lemon, and parsley in your blender and make some detox water. Consider switching from energy drinks to detox water. If you forgot or didn’t have enough time to make detox water, stick to just water instead.
Your body needs to be hydrated all the time, especially in the medical profession. Dehydration can lead to serious complications, and with your profession, you can’t afford to get sick. When you don’t drink enough water, even the smallest symptoms can cause an issue. For example, with a headache, it might be difficult for you to focus and concentrate, two of the most important things for a nurse. Just pay attention to what kind of water you’re drinking. You probably don’t have the time to go buy a new bottle of water every time, and you don’t want to end up drinking contaminated water. Stick to an RO water filter instead and drink only clean and fresh water.
A job in any kind of medical field is truly overwhelming. It is so overwhelming that people in those professions usually tend to forget about their well-being. Their well-being is actually essential to their job performance because a lot of responsibility is in their hands. And sometimes, this big burden they have with their patient’s well-being and long hours of work can lead to burnout. By creating a meal plan in advance, drinking lots of water, avoiding caffeine, and doing some physical activity whenever you can, will help you have a great job performance. With a healthy body and mind, you will be able to concentrate and focus better, finish your tasks perfectly, and feel more energetic.
As you ring in the new year, you may make some New Year’s resolutions. This year, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is embracing a “Start Now” theme to help nurses live healthy lives in 2023.
Learn how to take control of your health and put yourself first this year.
Healthy Habits for Travel Nurses
Maintain a Healthy Diet
As a travel nurse, you probably often remind patients of the importance of a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and lean protein. If you’re not taking professional advice, though, now is a great time to recommit to healthier eating habits.
Pressed for time, like many nurses are?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, these strategies may help you:
Use a meal kit or meal delivery service. These are convenient when you don’t have the time or energy to prepare a meal. All you have to do is follow the instructions.
Order lighter fare at restaurants and fast food restaurants. Vegetable-based entrees, as well as grilled chicken or baked or broiled fish, can be good options.
Watch your portion sizes. You can still indulge. Just do it in smaller amounts.
Don’t Discount Your Own Needs
If you’re suffering from nurse burnout, you’re not alone. And it may have come from prioritizing everyone else before yourself. Many nurses have internalized a mindset that they must “be a good, nice, acceptable person,” says Ann Becks, MSN, a nurse practitioner who retired so she could spend some time reconnecting with herself and mentoring others.
“When people learn the skills and tools to unhook from this conditioned way of responding and feel the groundedness of their truth, everything changes.”
So, don’t discount your own needs, physical and emotional. You’ll also do a better job caring for others if you’re taking care of yourself.
Even the small stuff counts. “It sounds cliche to say, ‘go take a walk’ or ‘build a Lego tower with your children’ or ‘read something you enjoy’ or ‘find a few minutes to gather with friends,’ but these small things truly make a big difference in your overall well-being,” says Sisk.
Get up and move more
Yes, you are on your feet a lot at work. But it would be best if you made some time to exercise to experience the many benefits that will improve your life. Research suggests that regular exercise will help you lose weight or maintain weight loss, sleep better at night, decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease, build bone and muscle strength, and improve your mood.
The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderately-intense exercise to get your heart pumping per week. And yes, you can break it up into manageable chunks of time to make it fit better into your busy schedule.
Somethings to Try
Brisk walking
Water aerobics
Dancing
Gardening
Biking
Check with your employer to see if you get any relevant benefits. Sisk noted that Memorial Hermann offers on-site gym facilities and organizes competitive activities, such as weight loss and walking competitions, to motivate employees to incorporate more exercise into their lives.
Be intentional in all you do
Whatever you choose to do to improve your health, be intentional about it. You might even replace your New Year’s resolutions with intentions to help you maintain a positive attitude and make positive changes to your life.
“An intention focuses on your core values rather than some hard-to-attain goal,” says Teri Dreher, RN, founder of NShore Patient Advocates, based in Chicago. “It can be a powerful tool for change because it is forgiving and gives you room to explore and grow.”
2023 can be your healthiest yet! You can set out to make healthier choices. We hope that this list of tips helps get you started. Have you made any changes in your life to be your healthiest? Comment them below.
Are you looking for your next travel nurse assignment? Click here to view our job board. Do you need housing for an upcoming assignment? Click here to search our housing page.
If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:
When you ask people if they have a healthy lifestyle, most will assume you’re asking if they have any vices that impact their health and well-being. If they don’t drink excessively, they think they’re automatically being healthy. Others assume that health is about their body shape. If they’re skinny, they will say they have a healthy lifestyle, even if they eat pizza for dinner every night.
Achieving a healthy lifestyle is about giving your body what it needs, not just avoiding negative influences or focusing on its shape. A big part of that is nutrition.
It Gives You Lasting Energy
While the box of doughnuts at the nurse’s station might seem like an easy, high-energy breakfast, the saturated fats actually take extra energy to digest, and the energy you gain from the simple carbohydrates gets all used up immediately. When you’re on your feet for twelve hours or more, you need dense nutrition, or else you’re going to get caught in a cycle of burnout.
Companies like Le-Vel offer multi-faceted nutritional systems that make getting all your nutrients in the morning amazingly easy. According to Thrive reviews, it’s simply three steps: two multivitamins when you wake up, a breakfast shake, and a dermal patch that lets you slowly absorb supplements through the day.
If you are looking for a food overhaul, healthier eating choices you can make include cutting out fruit juices, sodas, and other sweetened drinks and sticking to lightly sweetened tea, coffee, or water. Switch out snacks made with refined white flour with whole grain or greasy fried food with baked options. You can skip processed snacks entirely and go nuts (literally) by replacing crackers and chips with things like almonds or cashews.
It Improves Your Mood
Sometimes nurses get so focused on their patients’ health that they forget to look after their own! If you’re feeling foggy or grumpy, you might want to order up your own blood panel to see if you’re low on B vitamins, magnesium, or other nutrients, as they can directly affect mood.
You can increase these nutrients by finding out what foods they come from. For instance, if you’re low on B12, you might want to increase your meat intake or add nutritional yeast to your diet, and if you’re low on magnesium, eating some types of beans can help with that. You can also get these nutrients from supplements, such as the Thrive capsules and breakfast mix.
By increasing your energy levels with good nutrition, you can rely less on caffeine to give you a boost, reducing agitation and jitteriness. Having less caffeine in your system may also help you get to sleep quicker, increasing restfulness and improving overall stability.
It Makes You More Resilient
Adequate nutrition gives your immune system gets a boost. This doesn’t always prevent you from getting sick in the first place. However, it does mean your body is better able to fight off disease and that you’re likely to recover sooner.
Your body is constantly renewing itself from wear, and what you put into it matters. When you eat a nutritionally dense diet or take supplements such as Thrive, you are ensuring that your body has the best building blocks available to it. You can actually see the immediate benefits of good nutrition in things like the density of new fingernail growth and the lustrousness of your complexion.
A person’s genetics play a large part in the development of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and bone loss. However, while there are people that will experience those things no matter what, there are also people that get them because they aren’t making healthy choices. By focusing on nutrition now, you may be preventing issues later in life.
Proper nutrition isn’t a cure-all, and for maximum effect, it should accompany other lifestyle changes, such as cardio and flexibility-focused exercises. Systems such as yoga and pilates can also increase strength and require little to no equipment beyond your own body! Both are great choices for the nurse on the go.
In an age where everyone seems to be constantly working, there does not seem to be any time for someone to take a rest and recharge truly. As you can probably imagine, this severely impacts everyone’s health. Keep reading for four ways to improve your health while working nonstop.
While it is generally said that adults should get an average of eight hours of sleep a night, it is not realistically possible for everyone to get that amount of sleep. By this time, you should be able to tell how much sleep leaves you feeling the most recharged. If you cannot get the prescribed amount of sleep, getting some is better than getting none. Even if it is just twenty minutes, you need to take the time to rest. Remember that sitting on the couch while answering emails is not considered resting. Resting is defined as anything that relaxes you, helps you refresh, or helps you recover your strength. If you say that whatever you are doing achieves any of those three things, you are resting.
Take Care of Your Skin
The skin is the largest organ you have and the first line of defense against the elements and any bacteria that want to enter your body. It does a lot of work and is worth investing in to continue to do that vital work of protecting you so you do not get sick and have to take time off when you cannot afford to. Depending on your skin type, there are a lot of things that you will need to do to make your skin healthy and glowing. While you may be asking what Thrive is, if you investigate what you need, you will have no problem finding a skincare routine that works for you.
Take Advantage of Lunches and Breaks
Your employer is required to give you a certain number of breaks and a lunch, but many people will work through their breaks and lunches anyway. While the temptation must be very great, and you might be the kind of person that works through your lunches and breaks without even realizing it, you do need to take advantage of your breaks. This gives you time to step away from whatever project you are working on and take a moment to cater to your needs instead of the needs of your workplace. Take these breaks for the checkpoints they are meant to be, and take a breather before you go back into the chaos, especially if the breaks and lunches are paid.
You need fuel to do the work that needs to be done, and it is important that you get the right fuel in you. This involves staying hydrated by drinking water. Anything like soda, tea, or coffee actually dehydrates you, and though caffeine and sugar are sometimes needed to get you through the day, pure water is needed to counteract the effects of those dehydrating beverages. You also need to eat fresh fruit, meat, and vegetables. You can take supplements all day long, but you will not get nearly as many vitamins or minerals as you would from a diet that consists mainly of fresh ingredients.
There are a lot of ways you can improve your life and health while working nonstop. Keep this article in mind the next time you feel like you need to make a change to your lifestyle to feel better or healthier, and you will be amazed at what a few minor changes can do.
We hope you found this article on how to improve your health while working nonstop helpful. Do you have any health tips to share with fellow travel nurses? Comment below.
Written by: Christine Purviance, BSN, RN, Director of Clinical Services at Medical Edge Recruitment
It is no secret that working night shift can cause weight gain. We have all been there—it is 02:00 in the morning, and you have hit the wall where you struggle to keep your eyes open. You find yourself ordering delivery from the nearest fast-food restaurant, or you are at the vending machine getting a candy bar. You might grab a soda for a sugar rush or sneak an ice cream from the nutrition room. Next thing you know, it is a few months later, and your scrubs start to feel tight. You are screaming on the inside while reflecting back on all the poor eating choices you made over the past weeks, thinking to yourself that if you were on days, you wouldn’t have made those choices. You know that you are in a contract and start to feel like you will never get out of this cycle.
As a former travel nurse, I promise you that most of us have been there. After a year on nightshift in the ICU, I found myself needing larger scrubs and constantly craving sugary snacks to keep me awake. I consumed a ridiculous amount of candy, leading to recurrent binges every night that I worked. I finally committed to creating better habits for myself, losing the night shift fifteen, and improving my energy levels. These habits are for anyone who may be struggling on nightshift and wants to make healthier choices, drop a few pounds, and prevent weight gain! It may not be easy, but it will be worth it!
How To Avoid Weight Gain While Traveling On Night Shift
Exercising regularly can be challenging while working travel assignments and working night shift. Finding ways to move your body that you enjoy is crucial to staying committed. There are many ways to exercise while on assignment, including:
Weightlifting
Running
Yoga and Pilates
Walking
Fitness classes (F45 and Orange Theory)
Spin
No matter who you are, there is a type of exercise for anyone and everyone. If you are worried that you do not have time to exercise on the nights that you work, invest an hour of time on your off days to get moving! Once you start exercising regularly, you may find that exercise before your night shift will increase your energy levels like it did mine!
Finding places to exercise while on a travel assignment is challenging, especially if you are not near a big city. If you do not have access to your preferred means of exercise, or if your hotel does not have a fitness center, increasing movement can be done from the comfort of wherever you are staying. Grab yourself a pair of dumbbells and find a YouTube workout you enjoy! There are dozens, if not hundreds, of apps and videos you can access for free to increase your activity level at your temporary home! A little bit goes a long way, and your body will thank you later!
Eating a balanced diet as a night shifter is hard enough, but when you add in travel, it is a whole different ballgame. Fortunately, there are many ways to eat healthy-ish while on the road! Whether it be meal prep delivery services or bringing your own meals to work, there is always a way to improve our habits! Meal prep companies are great if you do not mind spending up to $10 a meal. For this former travel nurse, I prefer to make my own healthy recipes that are convenient, wallet-friendly, and easy to make with minimal equipment.
Selecting pre-cooked protein for lunches and dinner is not as hard as most of us may think. Rotisserie chicken, turkey sausage, frozen fajita beef, and lunch meat are some of my favorites! Make it a meal by microwaving frozen veggies, frozen rice, or even making a baked potato in the microwave (it is super easy—just google it)! For even simpler meals, make wraps or sandwiches for your shift with your favorite lunchmeat and toppings!
Are your shifts so absolutely nuts that even sitting down for a sandwich is unlikely? Try packing fast, easy snacks that will keep you full and can be consumed while you are walking to the med room or even hiding in the supply room! A few of my favorite snacks for busy shifts are:
Oatmeal bars or dried fruit bars
Bananas
Protein shakes
Peanut butter packs
Hardboiled eggs
String cheese
Remember, the way we feel internally is strongly related to the foods we consume. Fueling your body with healthy foods is key to feeling your best.
Don’t Drink Your Calories.
One of the easiest ways to drop a few pounds is to avoid drinking your calories! Did you know that drinking a 20-ounce Coke daily can result in a 2-pound per month weight gain? A Grande Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks has almost 350 calories, even more than a soda! Although we may not realize it, these sugary drinks we have for energy on nightshifts contribute to unwanted weight gain! Being mindful and selecting low-calorie, or calorie-free, swaps can help you prevent unwanted weight gain, avoid a sugar crash, and even shed a few pounds! My favorite swaps for high-calorie drinks are:
Diet-soda
Flavored water (sparkling, Mio, Crystal Light)
Coffee with sugar-free coffee creamer
Stevia, instead of sugar
A splash of a protein shake instead of cream and sugar in coffee (Premier Protein is my favorite)
Light Body armor or Gatorade Zero
Iced tea with stevia
Prioritize Sleep
Have you ever noticed that when we are running on little sleep before a night shift, our cravings for carbs, candy, and sugar exponentially increases? It feels like our bodies are running on E, and we need a pick-me-up to improve our energy levels. We grab a candy bar or soda, and that sugar high perks us up for an hour, but then we feel even worse. The cycle continues; before we know it, we have consumed a very unhealthy amount of sugar.
It is no secret that sleep is essential, and the amount we need varies by person. However, the choices we make are significantly be impacted on the amount of sleep that we get! Improving your sleep schedule can result in better habits. If you are a new night shifter, finding a routine that works for you can be a process when you are training your body to sleep during the day. Blackout curtains, white noise, an eye mask, and melatonin are a few ways that work for most of us!
Find What Works for You
We are all so unique, from the foods we enjoy to the hours of sleep we need. These tips are what worked for me, and hope that they work for you! Finding balance in your life while you are traveling will be a learning process. Just because you are working away from home and working nightshift does not mean that your health must suffer. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Taking care of yourself means you are better equipped to care for others!
We hope you found this article on ways to avoid weight gain while working night shift as a travel nurse. Do you have any tips to help fellow travel nurses avoid weight gain while working night shift? Comment below any tips you have to avoid weight gain.
Medical Edge Recruitment is the premier travel nursing recruitment agency specializing in providing top talent to clients in the healthcare industry. We connect clinical and allied providers to their ideal opportunities, focusing on building long-lasting relationships through honesty and transparency. In travel nursing, bigger does not always mean better. While we have an extensive network of job opportunities, our experienced team is dedicated to making your personalized provider experience a priority. There are a lot of moving parts in getting set up for a new assignment, but we take care of all the details along the way. Adventure awaits; let Medical Edge Recruitment show you where to go next!
If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:
On average, travel nurse assignments are about 13 weeks long. However, some contracts can range anywhere from 8-26 weeks. Typically, it’s not the length of an assignment that matters but what you’re doing to make a difference while you’re there.
That’s why so many travel nurses love what they do – every day can be a little bit different, and you never know what a new assignment will bring. That kind of fulfillment is second-to-none, and knowing you’re doing something that matters all over the world while meeting new people and experiencing new places makes your job truly incredible.
However, managing your health can be difficult when you lack stability. While your job is to take care of others and put them first, doing so at the risk of your own health isn’t helping anyone.
So, how can you manage your health as a busy travel nurse, prioritize your well-being, and enjoy what you do even more as a result? Let’s cover a few tips.
Don’t Ignore Your Own Medical Care.
When you’re dealing with a busy schedule and never in one place for too long, it can be easy to forget to schedule routine medical appointments for yourself. Or, you might have the best intentions but “forget” to keep the appointment because something else came up.
Nurses still need medical care. You might not be able to see a primary care physician consistently, but you can use technology to your advantage to make sure you’re getting the healthcare you deserve.
Consider utilizing telemedicine. You can check in with a physician no matter where you are, whether you want to talk about test results, bring up a health concern that’s been bothering you, or even speak with a specialist. Nowadays, you can take advantage of telehealth services for everything from therapy to dermatology. Yes, the selfie you take of that mark on your arm can make it to your dermatologist halfway across the world.
When you utilize telemedicine, you can connect with doctors on your own time and schedule your appointments when they work best for you without having to show up in person.
Get Enough Sleep
Travel nursing is notorious for long, busy shifts. As a result, you might feel like you can’t prioritize sleep the way you should. However, it’s essential to perform your best and take care of your patients properly. Consider setting sleep goals for yourself. It can make it easier to take “baby steps” to improve your overall sleep hygiene. If you’re not sure how to get started, try some of the following tips:
Avoid using digital devices an hour before bed
Limit caffeine later in the day
Try to wake up around the same time each day (if possible)
Practice relaxation techniques before bed
You might not be on a consistent schedule where you can go to sleep at the same time each night and wake up at the same time every morning. However, do your best to keep your circadian rhythm in a routine, and whenever you get the chance to get a bit of extra rest, take it!
Practice Self-Care
Getting enough sleep is one component of self-care, but there are so many other things you should be doing to prioritize your well-being. Self-care isn’t selfish, and it won’t take away from your patients or your experience.
You don’t have to take a lot of time out of your day to practice self-care. Making small changes and choosing to do things that reduce your stress levels will make a big difference. That includes things like eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and staying hydrated throughout the day. Something as simple as drinking more water can help you feel better and give you more energy on long shifts. If you have a hard time getting the hydration you need, use these “hacks” to drink more water each day:
Set a daily goal
Set reminders on your phone
Carry a water bottle with you
Replace other drinks with water
Try sparkling or flavored varieties
These tips are just the beginning. There are so many “little things” you can do to manage your health as a nurse, no matter where you are. However, you can use these suggestions to get started and commit to prioritizing your well-being when you’re away from home.
Simply said, when we are healthy, we perform at our best. But is keeping up a great state of health really so easy? There are many temptations that we must resist, including those to watch TV, eat junk food, and check social media while lounging on the sofa. You must alter your lifestyle if you want to keep it healthy. You could first find it challenging to adjust, but as you see the difference, you’ll be persuaded that it was worthwhile. Together, let’s learn how to have a healthy lifestyle by adopting a few clever changes.
Choose a healthy diet.
Even if choosing a healthy diet may be challenging for you, you can do it with some effort. Increase your diet of fresh fruits and vegetables by visiting your neighborhood farmer’s market and purchasing seasonal produce. Lean meat, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains should all be included in your diet since they help the digestive system work properly.
Try to cook at home, and while dining out, pick meals made with fresh ingredients. Without looking at your phone or the TV, eat your food and enjoy it. Also, keep in mind that we are what we consume. We need to eat healthily if we want to stay healthy.
Get moving
We spend a lot of time indoors in our contemporary lives, frequently working long hours at a computer. You need to get up and start moving as one of the first stages to becoming healthy. Whichever exercise you choose, as long as you are moving your body, strengthening your muscles, and lubricating your joints, it doesn’t matter.
Getting moving can help with a number of ailments to improve their symptoms. When modified, it can lessen the symptoms of illnesses like plantar fasciitis and assist with poor muscle tone.
If you experience such issues, you may always think about further therapeutic options. You might select a foot massage, foot spa, or foot roller, for instance. All of these items are designed to relieve the area’s strained muscles and provide much-needed pain relief.
Take in a lot of water.
One of the primary elements that might harm overall health is dehydration. We are really stopping our organs and systems from working properly when we don’t drink enough water.
Eight glasses of water each day is the bare minimum advised. The most important thing is to drink water and limit our intake of tea, coffee, and sodas. Some of these drinks have diuretic qualities, which exacerbate dehydration. Others are high in sugar and provide empty calories, which raises the risk of diabetes and hyperglycemia. Regular water hydrates us and soothes our thirst. That is all there is to it. And we perform as we should when we are well hydrated.
Sleep for 7-8 hours every night.
There is a circadian rhythm that governs how our bodies work. We were created to sleep at night and be active throughout the day. In the present day, we often work long hours and forgo sleep. We also spend more time staring at bright displays and complain of sleeplessness. Lack of sleep can make it difficult for us to maintain a healthy lifestyle, raising the possibility of developing chronic health issues and impairing our productivity.
The simple fix is to get the recommended seven to eight hours of shut-eye each night. Paying attention to sleep hygiene is also crucial. For instance, you shouldn’t have a substantial meal just before night. You won’t be able to sleep since your body will be too busy digesting all that food. Spending excessive amounts of time on your phone or watching TV might stimulate your brain cells and keep you from falling asleep. Last but not least, check to see whether the air is too dry or the place is too hot.
Every day, floss your teeth.
In order to maintain proper dental hygiene, how frequently should you floss your teeth? It’s not always obvious how frequently we should floss our teeth for the best results, but doing so removes plaque and food particles from difficult-to-reach areas between your teeth and around the gum line, says a dentist in Carefree.
Plaque is made up of bacteria that like feeding on the sugar and leftover food that has been left on your teeth. This bacterium then releases an acid that damages the enamel, the tooth’s outermost layer. The toughest material in the human body is enamel, but if it is damaged, you might get cavities, gum disease, or even toothaches.
Put an end to being busy.
This is possibly one of the most significant causes of chronic health issues. No of the repercussions, working nonstop has become the norm for us. We spend less time outside and are always plugged into some form of gadget. While it is important to recognize the advantages of technology, moderation is the key to leading a healthy lifestyle.
When you go home, do something instead of browsing social media and worrying that you missed anything. Visit the gym, play tennis, or go for a swim. A great method to maintain your health and feel fantastic mentally is to engage in active fun. Being busy will make you feel anything but healthy and is not as glamorous as it might appear.
Finally, make an effort to maintain a healthy weight, drink lots of water, get adequate sleep, work effectively and moderately, and keep active. Also, keep in mind that having fun is a great method to relax and unwind.
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