We’re here to help you not only match your scrubs outfits, but we’re taking it a step further.

Consider this: The colors you wear can affect your mood and that of those around you.

Put the science of “color therapy” into practical use for your next scrubs shopping trip:

1. Sunny yellow.

DO wear white with a bright yellow top if you’re looking for a really fresh look. Yellow is considered a very energizing color that summons sunlight and optimism—maybe just what you’re looking for when you’ve got a long shift ahead of you!

DON’T mix too many bright colors. If you wear yellow, especially if it’s a brighter shade, you might want to make sure the other part of your scrubs outfit is a bit more muted in color, such as a dark green. And be sure not to confuse ‘sunny’ yellow with ‘caution’ yellow!

2. True blue.

DO treat blue scrub bottoms like a pair of jeans when choosing a top—there are so many fun colors that will look fantastic! Lighter shades of green and violet look terrific with darker blue scrub pants, and if you’re really into orange, wear a top of that color with blue scrub pants. Blue is identified with calmness—perhaps a perfect color to wear on a busy day.

DON’T go for just any orange colored top to match with your blue pants. While deep orange adds excitement, bright orange can look cheap.

3. Basic black.

DO wear black scrub pants or tops. You can never go wrong with any other color you choose to go with them. One of the trends in fashion this season is pairing black with colors such as purple, gray, bright green or bright blue.

DON’T, however, earn yourself the monicker ‘goth nurse.’ Wearing too much black day in and day out can look empty and depressing to the nurses and patients around you.

4. Green with envy.

DO add green to your wardrobe. Green is associated with growth, vitality and openness and can positively affect those around you. Good options to wear with bright green include brown, dark blue and more muted shades of red.

DON’T choose too many earthy tones as they can be associated with melancholy. Warm shades of brown encourage closeness.

5. Red hot.

DO try a rosy red, soft pink, or violet for a scrubs top as these colors have a calming effect and are easy to match. With stronger reds, you may want to try lighter colors with it, such as light blue, light green or light yellow.

DON’T go for a highly saturated blue-red since it can be disturbing in large amounts and possibly increase anger.

6. Which white is right?

DO embrace a white uniform as it often signals crisp, clean professionalism to your patients. White also imparts purity and brightness of spirit.

DON’T buy a uniform that is blue-white as it can look sterile instead of inviting.

Image: Hemera | Thinkstock

The model who used to proclaim “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,” should have also added: “And it sure ain’t cheap to be beautiful.”

As anyone who has a drawer full of cosmetics and a bathroom filled with lotions and potions knows, we spend a ton of money (more than $160 billion a year) on what we believe will make us look younger and more beautiful. But we’re all looking for ways to stay looking great but maybe for less money.

The good news: There are a lot of ways to cut down on costly products that often work just as well as some quick, easy and cheap products. If you’re looking for ways to maximize your hard-earned nurse salary and still look gorgeous, try these:

1. Multi-tasking. You often do more than one thing at a time, so why can’t your makeup products? If your gray is peeking through at the roots, you can do a quick and easy touch up with black or brown mascara. The wand allows you to put on a thin layer, just where you need it.

If your eyebrows are thinning a bit (something we enjoy as we get older), use brown eye shadow to fill in the gaps. It looks more natural than drawing them in with a pencil. And baby powder can be used as face powder: Just dip your powder brush in, blow off the excess and you’ve got a face powder that smells baby fresh!

2. Looking in the kitchen. Mixing baking soda, or sugar, with olive oil or a product like Cetaphil provides a great exfoliator without over drying the skin. In fact, you can also use your homemade product on rough feet, hands and elbows.

3. Taming expensive hair products. These days, hair products promise to do everything but the laundry, and some can be quite expensive. To calm frizzies, rub lotion on your hands, and when almost absorbed, lightly smooth your hair with your hands. This is a great trick when you’re on the go and can’t carry hair products with you.

Or put olive oil in your hair, don a plastic shower cap and sit in the sun for 15 minutes. The heat and oil will provide a deep conditioning treatment for pennies. Then wash and style as usual.

4. Targeting rough hands. One of the areas that most reveals age is our hands. Forget expensive manicures! To give hands a smoother look, put on Aquaphor before bedtime (making sure to concentrate on dry cuticles) and then wear plastic or cotton gloves to bed.

When applying sunscreen, don’t finish by wasting leftover product and wiping your hands on a towel, but by making sure your hands are equally covered. This will help keep your hands moisturized and prevent future sun damage.

iophoto | iStockphoto

If shows like Grey’s Anatomy are to be believed, doctors and nurses spend more time having sex on the job than they do treating patients. Yes, nurses and doctors DO date each other, but not nearly on the scale that Hollywood would have you believe.

The long hours and extreme situations of a medical environment can lead to more intense closeness than other workplaces. Nurses date nurses, nurses date EMTs, nurses date cafeteria personnel, nurses date custodial staff.

Somehow, though, when nurses do date doctors, that romance is susceptible to more intense scrutiny than other relationships.

Nurses dating doctors is a hot-button issue with real-life repercussions. When you engage in that romance, be prepared for gossip from coworkers, unhappy supervisors and possibly a damaged professional reputation. How? Because no matter how it ends, your colleagues could get caught up in your drama, and that can lead to long-term career damage. And as unfair as it may seem, that impact is more than likely to be felt most by the nurse in the relationship.

So, let’s go over a few rules to make sure you’re savvy about dating a doctor and don’t come away with professional regrets:

• Keep it quiet. Especially in the early days of a relationship, it’s important that you don’t provide workplace gossip fodder. Don’t text “Hey Stud Muffin” notes to your honey at work, which could actually be grounds for getting fired. Avoid any hand-holding, stolen kisses or other PDA (public displays of affection) on the job. If you go to lunch or take breaks together, help keep speculation under control by inviting other people along sometimes. When dating after hours, don’t go to the usual haunts where other nurses, doctors and medical technicians hang out. Always maintain your professional demeanor when working—no “babe” or “sweetie” when addressing one another. “It’s important to keep it out of the hospital, or wherever you work,” says Sarah Dolloff, a registered charge nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach, Fla. “People do gossip at work—especially women. They’ll talk about who they saw together and stuff like that. That’s why you want to make sure you act professionally at all times at work.”
• Check the employee handbook. Always make sure you’re cool with your organization’s policy regarding workplace dating. Most nurses don’t report to doctors, but if there’s any supervisory role between you and your honey, you may be violating a rule regarding supervisors dating subordinates. “When I worked in a university hospital, we socialized quite a bit with the male residents and interns,” Dolloff says. “But in a community hospital, it’s much more formal. You’ve got to be aware of what’s okay and what’s not okay in that setting.”
• Set some ground rules. While it may sound unromantic, make sure anyone you date from work understands that you want to be discreet, and if it doesn’t work out, you still want to be discreet. “There are some hospitals that are so big, the two people might never see each other at work. But if you’ve got an orthopedic doctor working with an orthopedic nurse, for example, they’re going to be running into each other all the time,” Dolloff says. “I’d have an issue with a nurse who didn’t behave professionally when she worked with someone she was dating.”

And while fuming silences, spats in the hallway, tears and nasty remarks after a bad breakup make for good TV, they can give supervisors digestive problems. Be clear up front that no matter how the relationship works out, you want to protect your career. Make sure that viewpoint is heard and respected before moving forward, or you could be heading for real heartbreak—both personally and professionally.

Image: © iStockphoto.com

If your hands are sore, split, chapped or even bleeding from the constant hand-washing that is a necessary part of a nurse’s life, don’t despair that you’ll never have soft hands again. That’s because a wide array of products and practical tips can help salvage even the roughest hands.

The key is that just as you’ve developed the habit of constantly washing your hands, you can also make it a continual practice to provide a little hand TLC.

To help restore your dry and sore hands:

1. Cover up. Be extra vigilant to protect your hands from the elements—and that means gloves or mittens whenever you’re outside during the cold weather, even if only for a few minutes.

2. Change your technique. When washing your hands, use warm or cold water, never hot. Ask for approval to use a gentler hand soap, such as Cetaphil, Aveeno or Dove. Avoid hand soaps that have alcohol, which can not only be drying and irritating, but can sting your raw skin. When drying your hands, blot, don’t rub. If possible, use cotton towels, not paper towels, which can be irritating to the skin and even cause some allergic reactions.

3. Use the glove treatment. For many nurses, latex gloves or those containing powder can be a real irritant to chapped or split skin. One option is to slip on thin cotton gloves, which can be found in drug stores, before putting on latex gloves.

4. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Lightweight lotions don’t cut it for most nurses, since the constant hand-washing takes a much greater toll on the skin. That’s why any moisturizing product should have a thick consistency—you should be able to put a dollop on your hand, and when you turn your hand over, it won’t budge. Some good options: Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream, Aquaphor Healing Ointment, Eucerin Plus, Bag Balm and Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. The key is using lotion often—each time you wash your hands, if possible. Buy the travel sizes to keep at your desk or in your pocket. A note of caution: Check with infection control before adopting this practice, as some lotions can affect the integrity of gloves and may even cause tears.

5. Protect split skin. While it can sting when applying, using a liquid bandage product such as one by Band-Aid can keep your hands from bleeding and prevent a split from getting worse. Remember, an open wound can get infected.

6. Practice good habits at home. Use your off hours to be extra kind to your hands. Wash with a gentle soap such as those mentioned above, and always wear gloves when using any cleaning product. Slather on a good moisturizer right before bed, then don cotton gloves or cotton socks so the moisture can deeply penetrate the skin overnight.

Finally, if your hands continue to get worse, see a dermatologist. You may need treatment that you can’t get over the counter.

Image: OJO Images | Getty Images

In 2010 you may feel like making a fresh start and getting rid of unwanted or worn-out items.

Here are some great ways to easily de-clutter your home and help someone else at the same time.

[Hint: Print out this list and post it in your break room! Maybe your entire team could de-clutter together!]

1. Swap clothing with friends. If you have clothes that are in good condition, ask friends if they have the same and then get together, throw in some snacks and beverages, and swap items. The skirt that never really fit you properly may look great on a friend, and her sweater may match your new pants perfectly! You won’t have spent a dime, but you’ll have new clothes in your wardrobe. An added bonus is the good time you’ll have with your friends!

2. Give your old storage containers to local soup kitchens. Places that serve the hungry are often in need of storage containers such as empty plastic margarine containers, ice cream tubs or coffee cans. Check with your local group to see what sizes they need and how many.

3. Help out your local high school drama department! School budgets are extra tight these days, and theater groups are always in need of furniture or clothes for their productions. Got a funky hat from the 1970s or parachute pants from your MC Hammer days? The costume department would love to have it. Or why not make a teenage production a bit better by letting them have your old coffee table or kitchen table and chairs?

4. Don’t throw your electronics in the garbage! Not only is it bad for the environment, but you need to make sure you clear your personal information from devices such as cell phones and computers before they leave your possession. You can find recycling or donation sites nearest to you through the Electronics TakeBack Coalition. Also, check out the Environmental Protection Agency site, which can help you find local organizations such as schools where you can donate your computer, cell phone and other electronics.

5. If you’ve recently received some new luggage, think of giving old suitcases to your local child welfare department. When children are removed from homes, officials often have to put their things in trash bags. Extra luggage can mean a young person has a place to store personal items when being moved from one location to another.

6. Animal shelters often need old blankets, sheets and towels to use for animal bedding. The Humane Society of the United States will accept old furs to send to wild animal rehabilitators. The old furs help comfort and warm the animals.

7. Donate extra hotel room shampoo, conditioner, soap, shower caps, lotions, etc., to a women’s shelter. These individual products are greatly needed. Many women leave abusive situations in a hurry, often unable to take the most basic personal items with them. Cosmetic counters often offer freebies when you buy a product; if they’re not right for you, consider donating them to a shelter.

8. Habitat for Humanity will take used cars, trucks, boats or RVs—running or not. The donation can possibly be used as a tax deduction; you’ll need to refer to IRS rules or confer with an accountant.

Image: www.eatingwell.com

As a nurse, you know the importance of eating healthy foods and taking advantage of fresh ingredients, but avoiding all the sugar and junk food during the holidays can be tough.

Luckily, there are delicious, easy dishes you can whip up using the ingredients available now in stores, along with wonderful spices to entice your family and friends to eat nutritious foods. The bonus is that these recipes will fill your heart and home with the inviting aromas of the season.

Mississippi Spiced Pecans

Nuts are a great source of nutrients. They contain essential fatty acids, linoleic and linolenic acids, which are vital for growth, healthy skin and hair, blood pressure control, immune response and blood clotting.

The mild taste of the pecans get an extra zing from the combination of cayenne pepper, rosemary and thyme found in this great recipe from Eating Well.

Your shopping list for this recipe:

1 pound pecan halves, dark brown sugar, kosher salt, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, ground pepper, cayenne pepper or piment d’Espelette (see recipe), extra-virgin olive oil

Carrot and Spice Quickbread

Getting kids to eat their vegetables is sometimes a challenge, but the carrots in this recipe are combined with spices and other ingredients to make it a real treat!

The lemon/citrus taste of the ginger combined with the zest of the grated orange rind and the sweetness of the cinnamon make this flavored bread a warm blend of holiday goodness. Check out this taste sensation from the Mayo Clinic staff.

Your shopping list for this recipe:

All-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, trans fat-free buttery blend, brown sugar, fat-free milk, unsweetened orange juice, egg substitute, vanilla extract, grated orange rind, shredded carrots, golden raisins, finely chopped walnuts

Green and Yellow Beans with Wild Mushrooms

Green beans are a great source of vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A and manganese. They’re also a source of dietary fiber, potassium, folate and iron, and help promote colon health and have anti-inflammatory nutrients.

The strong flavor of garlic really pumps up the flavor of these green beans in this recipe from The Food Network.

Your shopping list for this recipe:

1 pound green beans, 1 pound yellow wax beans, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, wild mushrooms, kosher salt, ground pepper

Magic Cookie Bars
Dark chocolate is a potent antioxidant and can help lower high blood pressure. If you’ve just got to have chocolate for the holidays, consider a healthier—but still sweet—version of these cookies with reduced butter from Healthy Cooking at Suite 101.

Your shopping list for this recipe:

Graham cracker crumbs, butter, canola oil, sweetened flaked coconut, nonfat dry milk, white sugar, dark chocolate chips, peanut butter

Makeover Veggie Pizza Squares

This favorite appetizer has been remade by the folks at Taste of Home and now has good-for-you vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. Broccoli and cauliflower, both members of the cabbage family, contain lots of phytochemicals, substances believed to block the action of cancer-causing free radicals. The subtle, anise-like flavor of the dill weed adds just the right bit of sweetness to this recipe.

Your shopping list for this recipe:

Refrigerated reduced-fat crescent rolls, reduced-fat cream cheese, fat-free cream cheese, plain yogurt, reduced-fat mayonnaise, fat-free milk, dill weed, garlic salt, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, green pepper, mushrooms, olives, sweet onion

As the holidays approach, there are ways to continue that spirit of giving.

You can ask for gifts where the proceeds will go to worthy causes or give presents that provide needed resources to charities.

1. Proceeds from The Hunger Site go to Mercy Corps, Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) and Millennium Promise. Check out the children’s hand-knit bumblebee hat and mittens starting at $10.95 or a hummingbird feeder that attaches to your window for $12.95.

2. One of the world’s largest fair trade organizations, Ten Thousand Villages “strives to improve the livelihood of tens of thousands of disadvantaged artisans in 38 countries.” Available gifts include disk and bead earrings from India for $14 and a silk wallet from Cambodia for $38.

3. Original Good is a new product from World of Good, which provides loans at no interest to artisans throughout the world. Up to 70 percent of the artisans providing the handcrafted products are women. Offerings include recycled paper journals from Bali for $17.

4. Twenty-five percent of sales of Luv-a-Pet holiday ornaments and ten percent of sales of a collectible dog toy named Chance from PetSmart will be donated to help save the lives of homeless pets.

5. The Gap’s RED products, such as women’s T-shirts for $28 and up, benefit the fight against AIDS in Africa.

6. If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and If You Give a Moose a Muffin are just two of the children’s books available at Kohl’s, where 100 percent of the net profit is donated to children’s health and education programs. The books also come with a stuffed animal, all for $5.

7. The limited-edition, celebrity-designed  “Whatever It Takes” mugs, priced at $19.99 each, benefit a charity of the designer’s choice. Designers this year include George Clooney, Coldplay, Heidi Klum, Giorgio Armani, Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman.

8. All proceeds from M·A·C’s Viva Glam lip palette, $23, go to HIV/AIDS charities here and abroad.

9. Retailers such as Target, Brooks Brothers and Williams-Sonoma are participating in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital “Hope Gift Book.” Gifts range from boxer shorts to candles to a brightly colored umbrella for $22.

10. To help protect young people from sex trafficking, The Body Shop offers products for which 100 percent of the profits are donated to ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Child Trafficking) International. The “Soft Heart Kind Hands Hand Cream” sells for $10.

image: © istockphoto.com/kutay tanir

The holiday season is often a whirlwind of activity, and finding the time to shop for everyone on your list—including coworkers and friends—can be challenging when you’re a nurse with a busy work schedule.

At the same time, you may want to focus on gifts that are affordable and eco-friendly. The good news is that there are lots of great options this holiday season, including the following:

1. Strawberries: This windowsill planter from Clean Air Gardening comes with everything you need to have fresh strawberries year-round: a 13-inch galvanized windowsill tray, seed packets, potting soil and growing instructions. Just water the seedlings and leave them with plenty of indirect sunshine. Growing produce at home or the office reduces your carbon footprint, filters your indoor air and releases fresh oxygen. Price: $9.99.

2. Organic tea: Ineeka Whole Leaf Organic Tea comes in attractive, reusable 1.1-ounce tins. The tea is certified organic, Fair Trade certified and grown in India on an ecologically balanced family farm in the Himalayas. Its single-serving system eliminates the need for pots and strainers. Comes in a variety of flavors. Price: $9.99 and up.

3. Drink bottles: Klean Kanteens are made from #304 stainless steel and are toxin-free and non-leaching. The bottles come in a variety of sizes and fun colors, are toxin- and BPA-free, and are recyclable. The wide mouths allow ice cubes or the easy pouring of smoothies. Price: $9.25 and up.

4. Soy candles: DANI soy wax candles are a combination of 100 percent soy wax with essential oils. The candles are made from nontoxic, food-grade ingredients free of paraffin, petroleum, pesticides and herbicides. They contain no genetically modified materials. The 7-ounce candles are available in numerous essential oil blends such as grapefruit ginger and lemongrass lavender. Price: $16.

5. Reusable bags: These bags can be folded to about the size of a baseball so they conveniently fit in a purse, backpack, briefcase or glove compartment. Made of lightweight, ripstop nylon with a padded shoulder strap, the bags come in six colors and can hold up to 25 pounds each. The carry pouch becomes a small pocket when expanded. Price: $8.99.

Image: © iStockphoto.com

Nurses are trained to take note of expiration dates on medications and supplies. When it comes to their own makeup, however, it can be tough to determine what has “gone bad”—a problem that can have health implications.

Currently, cosmetics are not required to carry expiration dates, and there are no clear-cut guidelines from experts about when to toss a mascara or lipstick. Additionally, your busy lifestyle may have you keeping makeup in various places—in your locker at work, a purse, a bathroom drawer at home—and you may soon forget when you bought what!

It’s important to try to get a handle on when your cosmetics need to be tossed. Using overdue products can cause infections, such as conjunctivitis. Expired, bacteria laden products could also exacerbate conditions such as acne. Take note that the warm summer temperatures can also speed up the breakdown of these products and allow bacteria to form. A good rule of thumb is: If it smells, feels or looks funny, throw it away. No matter when you purchased it.

In order to keep track of your beauty product expiration dates, simply take a permanent marker and write the date directly on the product, or on a piece of tape that can be placed on the container. That way, it will be easy to see when it’s time to pitch it into the nearest garbage can.

Here’s a rundown of various cosmetics and their expected shelf lives:

• Mascara: Don’t use for longer than three months. Remember not to pump the wand in and out, because that just brings more air into the tube and deteriorates the product faster. To get more mascara on the wand, twirl it in the container. Don’t share mascara with anyone, as that can help spread infections.
• Eye pencil: Okay to use from one to three years, although you need to make sure it’s regularly sharpened. Never touch your eye pencil (or eyebrow pencil) with saliva, as anything like water or saliva on a makeup product is bacteria heaven.
• Lipstick: Can last from one to four years, although most women with a favorite tube will say they deplete it in less than a year. Lip gloss lasts about a year. Remember that keeping your lipstick in your purse and then storing that purse in a hot locker or car will break it down more quickly.
• Foundation: Needs to be thrown away after three to six months. If the product begins to “settle” or smell rancid, get rid of it right away.
• Concealer: Can last up to a year.
• Eye shadow: This lasts the longest—up to three years.
• Powder: Good for about a year.Remember: You also must be vigilant in keeping your makeup tools clean. That means your brushes should be washed with a makeup soap or mild shampoo every three months. Lay them flat to dry. Sponges should be washed after every use and discarded after using for about a month.Finally, one of the best ways to protect your health is to practice what you do at work every day: Wash your hands well with soap and water before applying any product.

Image: © iStockphoto.com

A crisp, nutritious salad can be surprisingly filling and the perfect food to keep you moving and energized through your shift.

These sister salads are packed with crispy greens, succulent fruit and a yummy dressing. They also use some of the same ingredients, which means you can get variety out of one shopping trip! To keep your greens crisp and your fruit plump and juicy, place your dressing, fresh fruit and salad in separate containers. Toss all the ingredients together right before serving and enjoy a healthy salad that is quick and easy, and provides you that pick-me-up burst of nutrition to keep you operating in top shape during a busy shift.

Blackberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

2 cups fresh spinach
8 to 10 fresh blackberries
4 large strawberries
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
5 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans (optional)

Toss ingredients together and serve with bottled balsamic vinaigrette dressing, or try this homemade version:

¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ clove garlic (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk all ingredients together and serve.

Shopping list for Blackberry Spinach Salad:

1 bunch fresh spinach
1 container blackberries
1 container strawberries
1 container cherry tomatoes
1 small container feta cheese, crumbled
1 small package of chopped walnuts/almonds/pecans
1 bottle balsamic dressing OR olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 1 clove garlic, salt and pepper
8 cooked and peeled medium sized shrimp

Fresh Berry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

2 cups baby spinach or mixed salad greens
5 to 7 large strawberries, sliced
2 to 3 ounces blueberries
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans (optional)

Toss together and serve with bottled poppy seed dressing, or try this tangy, sweet homemade version:

¼ cup white sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
½ cup vegetable oil or olive oil
1 tsp. poppy seeds

Whisk all ingredients together and serve.

Shopping list for Fresh Berry Salad:

1 bunch fresh spinach salad
1 small container strawberries
1 small container blueberries
1 small package of walnuts/almonds/pecans
1 bottle poppy seed dressing OR white sugar, white wine vinegar, olive oil or vegetable oil, poppy seeds, salt

Last but not least, add warm corn bread, a whole-grain baguette or a slice of crusty French bread to turn your salad into the perfect comfort food that will keep you energized all day long.