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Nurses may have a good job outlook through 2018…but maybe your budget is a little tight on your nurse’s salary alone. Or perhaps you’re looking for a fun way to relax on the weekends—and make a little extra cash on the side. We asked our Facebook fans what kind of side jobs they have (or have had) to make some extra dough; check out their answers for some inspirations and, occasionally, warnings!

Medical
I give flu shots during flu season!
—Mary Buchman

Teaching childbirth classes.
—Kelly Eisenhardt Vittoria

Gave nightly injections to someone going through infertility treatments for both of her pregnancies.
—Stacey Trapp

I work per diem as a nurse at a correctional facility. I start training tomorrow.
—Martine Levy

Doula!
—Shari Camarata

I keep a side job, always have. I like to do home care through an agency. It’s flexible—I schedule patients around my work and life!
—Mandi Fay

Retail
I worked at a local gas station in the morning making breakfast foods and doughnuts! It was quite a change from nursing, but I totally enjoyed it. I still had a lot of interactions with people in the morning on their way to work…that made it fun!
—Dena Kerschner

Walmart—hated it!!!
—Sandra Rojas Chamberlain

The Disney Store.
—Denise Adams

Business
I’ve been a tax preparer at Jackson Hewitt every year for the past three tax seasons.
—Vicki Bockheim McDaniel

I help my husband with our photography business.
—Mary K. Miller

Party planner.
—Aminah Roberts

Have my own business…stripping and waxing floors. It’s mindless and therefore enjoyable.
—Corinna Laub Barger

Food Industry
Vegetarian/vegan catering and holistic pet food rep.
—Michelle Lippe

Helping a vendor sell produce and plants on the local farmers’ market.
—Sandra Collins

I work at a gourmet cupcake shop on weekends. I make some extra money, get to do something that I enjoy and get out my creative energy (and it doesn’t involve any life-or-death decision making on my part!).
—Andrea Barnes

Cook at major pizza chain through nursing school.
—Rene W. Neville

Fitness
Certified personal trainer.
—Jeannine Quinn-Metz

Scuba instructor.
—Megan Ballard

Other
Taught English subjects (grammar, creative writing, American accent training, speech and pronunciation classes, and English as a Second Language) to foreign university, kids and adults. I loved doing it!
—Marygrace Garde

Shoveled horse manure. Top that one.
—Les Seay

Aesthetician and nail tech.
—Laura Lee Miracle

I make and sell baby quilts and memory quilts.
—Cynthia Friend Thomas

I was a CNA for years before going on to get my LPN, but I’ve also worked second jobs as an auto mechanic (helped me through nursing school—I’d find a car part that matched functions with human organs and simplify the human organ down to the same thing as the car part) and sold auto parts at a national chain.
—John Mansky

What kind of side jobs do you have (or have you had) to make some extra dough?

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Things are changing. Fast. It seems like every time you turn around at work, there’s new technology: new ways to document, upgrades to the medication-dispensing machines or a new social media platform the company encourages you to “like” or join. Is your head spinning or what?

Many days, you spend so much time fiddling with the new technology that you wonder if time and care is being taken away from the patient, or if the patient feels left out or dehumanized. But none of the changes are intended to negatively affect your patient care (as ironic as that may seem).

There are ways that a busy nurse can handle the changes and still stay safe, sane and patient-focused. Here are five etiquette tips to help you navigate around all the new gadgetry while making your patient your number one priority.

1. Scan the barcode, not the patient
People don’t want to feel like a product at the grocery store. Most hospitals now use some form of barcode/scanning system for patients’ medication and supplies. I’m sure many of us have seen nurses silently walk into a room, scan a patient and then hand the patient something. Not a good scene.

Technology is just a tool we’re using. We need to remind ourselves of this. It cannot take precedence over care, touch, presence and empathy.

Remember:

• Make eye contact
• Smile
• Introduce yourself
• Explain what you’re going to do

Sounds like Nursing 101, right? But in a rush, these highly important basics can be forgotten.

2. Remember your telephone etiquette
The telephone is obviously a major means of communication. In many hospitals, you have a portable phone you carry throughout your shift. This phone becomes the primary way for patients, other nurses, physicians, family members and others to reach you. They’re very convenient and they lower the “yell” factor—if you’re out of earshot, someone can call you instead of calling out for you or searching the halls and rooms needlessly.

Nevertheless, basic phone etiquette rules need to be remembered. Here are just a few:

• When speaking on the phone with a patient, remember confidentiality and be aware of your physical location (in another patient’s room, in a hallway, etc.)
• Be mindful of nonverbal communication, especially if you’re in front of another patient. Do not roll your eyes or display any other derogatory behavior. This sounds simple, but sometimes when we’re busy our bodies react quickly to added pressure and stress. These reactions may include outward displays of negativity. What do you think the patient in front of you will think if she sees you rolling your eyes or crossing your arms while speaking with another patient or family member?
• Be considerate of the amount of time you are on the phone, particularly if you’re in another patient’s room. Do you need to excuse yourself to see the other patient immediately or resume the conversation after you finish caring for the patient in front of you?

Next: Tips 3-5 →

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Have you ever thought about going back to nursing school…online? It’s not as easy as it sounds!

As online learners like myself can attest, there are few breaks in online learning. The Internet is open 24/7, just waiting for us to log on and get to work. RN-BSN online learners often work outside the home. After completing a long shift (when most nurses look forward to a hot shower, clean pajamas and a soft bed), the online learner faces homework and deadlines! And how about those days off? I find myself spending them with a laptop researching topics and writing papers.

Here are some smart ways to earn your degree online without sacrificing any more of your personal time than you have to!

1. Get organized
If you’re truly interested in being a successful online learner, you must be organized. Visit your local office supply store and purchase a three-hole punch, folders, three-ring binders and dividers for each class you are taking. For the extremely organized, color coding is essential. Buy a case of printer paper—it will save you time and money. Print everything! It’s a good idea to buy an extra set of ink cartridges for your printer; no one wants to run out in the middle of the night.

Once a class finishes and you have your grades, put all of the paperwork away in a file folder. Keep it together in the back of the closet so it’ll be there if you need it later.

2. Find space
Find a place in your home (away from the dining table!) where you can leave your books open and papers scattered and have your printer in easy reach. No one wants to have to clean off the table so the family can eat a meal or find that someone spilled a drink all over your notes. If you don’t have a comfortable work area, create one. I took over the guest bedroom and converted it into a makeshift office/den. When I feel overwhelmed, I can shut the door and take a break.

3. Think cheap
The local thrift store is a great place to buy used office furniture or a comfortable chair. Remember, you will be sitting for long periods of time, so make it comfy and durable!

Look for sales when purchasing office supplies. Each fall, prior to the start of school, you can find great discounts. Many office supply stores offer cash toward future purchases or rebates—it’s a great way to save.

When you need to purchase books, buy them used whenever possible. Visit your neighborhood library or hospital library for research. Often libraries have websites where you can order books for research and they’ll notify you when your books are ready to be picked up, saving you precious time and energy.

Some employers will pay for your classes—check it out. Make sure you follow the rules and deadlines for tuition reimbursements and consider it extra pay; you just have to do the work to earn it. Free money? We all want some.

4. Allow yourself some luxuries
You know we’re all guilty of putting ourselves last. Find a few hours each week to connect with friends or family. A quick cup of coffee or a trip to the local ice cream parlor with your bestie can do wonders to lift your mood. Get a pedicure or a manicure—you deserve it. You’re working hard.

Travel—you can take your homework with you. School is as far as the nearest Wi-Fi connection. No one has to know that you’re lying in the Florida sun in February while your classmates are freezing during a snowstorm!

5. Reduce your work hours
You know at the end of a long shift when the nursing supervisor comes on the unit and asks, “Do you want to stay?” Now you have an excuse to say, “No.” Changing your hours to 2-12s and 2-8s or even 3-12s for 40 is another possibility—whichever way you go, you gain a day or two to study. One more option is to work the evening shift. While the kids are in school, you can be in school, too! Or if you can afford it, work part-time. You can always go back full-time when you finish your BSN.

6. Take time
There are multiple ways to take classes. You can stretch out your schooling to one class per semester. Take a class or two during the summer months; they are generally offered over eight weeks instead of 15.

Like all schools, there are options that will fit your schedule. If you are trying to finish your degree in two years, work full-time and a have family, you will self-destruct. Listen to your body; it will tell you when you are doing too much.

7. Use your voice and ask questions
Online learners love to be independent, but that can have negative effects. Online education can be overwhelming at first—the information that is streaming in is endless. Professors and fellow students can be a great source of help. If you begin to drown, ask for help. Professors can offer you assistance or extensions, but you have to ask. Tech support is also there for you. Use the school’s online library and librarians as much as possible.

8. Let housework slide
There is nothing worse than a dirty house…or is there? Find a space where you can hide the evidence. Out of sight, out of mind, right? If there are others living in your house, remember to ask for help; they can pitch in when you have deadlines or are overwhelmed. Sort laundry while doing schoolwork, and forget ironing.

I’ve worn wrinkled scrubs for three years and no one has mentioned it once. Wash dishes while listening to an online live webcast or discussion. Unless you’re on a webcam or a push-to-talk button, they’ll never know what you’re doing.

9. Write it down and make a hard copy
If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen. Back up everything you do with a paper copy and/or to an external hard drive. Too many times classmates have complained that the professor didn’t get their most recent paper and they have deleted their original from their computer.

In the world of computers, once you delete something and turn off your computer, it’s gone forever. Purchase disks or external hard drives for computer backups. Copy everything to a backup, just in case! Always carry a notepad for logging thoughts and ideas.

10. Enjoy the journey
Find time to laugh and enjoy the process. The 24/7 learning experience can work for you if you learn to pace yourself. Everyone works differently, and since you’ve been to college before, do what comes naturally. As we have told a patient or two, don’t forget to breathe. The information highway is here to stay, so as you venture forth, have some fun and enjoy the ride!

Candace E. Finch is an orthopedics nurse at Upstate University Hospital at Community General, Syracuse, N.Y. She currently is completing her RN-BSN at Empire State College and plans on graduating in June. She loves online learning…will she do an online MSN? Maybe!

I’m currently in nursing school. It’s a challenge for everyone, but luckily for me, my mother, now retired, has been with me every step of the way, giving me direction, advice, hints, encouragement and smiles. If I make it out of nursing school, it will be because of her constantly exhibiting a “being with and doing for” attitude.

When I started, she warned me that my program wouldn’t be easy, but I would learn more than I dreamed possible. She was so right. The best part is that I never regretted the decision I made.

My first day of clinicals, I was excited and scared. Her hilarious stories of her nursing school days helped to dispel some of my fears. The first day on Labor and Delivery, I was nervous about witnessing the great event of a birth—her horror stories of her own days thrilled and delighted me.

The day I told her I was finally able to read the doctors’ notes excited her as much as it did me. When I started on the ICU, I told her how nervous I was. She smiled and told me, “Sometimes that’s best. It keeps you on your toes and more alert.” She was never more right.

I never would have made it this far without my mother. She is my support, encouraging me with every decision I make. I know she will be behind me no matter what I decide to do in my nursing career.

When I was little, I wanted to be a doctor. But as I matured more and saw my mother’s caring attitude toward others, I knew I had to be a nurse. If I can be half the nurse that my mother is, I will consider my nursing career a success.

Happy birthday, Mama, and thank you.

Catherine Perry is a nursing IV student at the Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the secretary of the student organization and volunteers in the OR of her local hospital. Perry hopes to work in surgery after graduation.

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Death is one of those topics that can make you feel a bit uncomfortable, unless you are a nurse. We are trained to inquire if a patient has an Advance Directive, often before doing a nursing assessment. Very few professionals speak so openly about death—it’s hard to imagine those in retail, banking or hospitality chatting about it at lunch over a Greek yogurt! Not so at the nurses’ station. We speak candidly among ourselves. In fact, some of our conversations are quite nonchalant. And it’s amazing the graphic details nurses and other health providers describe at the dinner table. Our own families are aghast at times!

One aspect of death that nurses struggle with, however, is helping patients who are close to the end of their lives find peace. These are the patients who carry heavy burdens and regret in their hearts. The ones with unfinished business: past mistakes or decisions that have cut them off from their families, or the loss of a child, or perhaps years of abuse and pain. One patient recently spoke of his children and that he doesn’t even know where they live. I can’t imagine the agony of such brokenness. Often I feel unable to help these patients accept circumstances that cannot be changed and to transition from this life in peace.

It’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around someone dying while leaving so much of his or her life incomplete. Forgiveness from others is necessary—we are incomplete without it. But we are even more so when we cannot forgive ourselves. Is it okay to talk of faith? Or spirituality? These are questions without absolute answers.

Sadly, there often is no resolution and no happy ending, and there we stand at the bedside of these most vulnerable human beings. We are their nurses and they are our patients. We want to help them find solace.

Sometimes it’s through our silence, our presence or just our touch that gives them space to be who they are. Perhaps that’s all we can do. Acceptance takes time, and time becomes elusive with a serious illness. But acceptance must come before peace.

As a nurse, I am powerless to change the circumstances, but remain willing to hold this space for my patients. This requires maintaining some emotional detachment. A delicate balance indeed. Paradoxically, through these patients I am indirectly taught the greatest lessons of all: the value of human life, the importance of family and that in each day there is a treasure—it only needs to be found.

Teri Blackadar has been practicing nursing, primarily in emergency rooms, for more than 20 years. Currently she is the Swing Bed Coordinator at Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, Maine, as well as the Adult CNA Instructor for the Waldo County Technical Center. Her nursing background also includes training in sexual assault, forensic exams, cardiac rehab and a bit of home health and hospice. She believes wellness and nutrition education are critically important for healing. Blackadar is a 500-hour trained Kripalu yoga instructor and enjoys sharing yoga modalities for therapy.

You can protect yourself by improving the strength and flexibility of the three main muscle groups that bear the brunt of nursing-related abuse: the core muscles in your back and abdomen; the gluteals and hamstrings on your backside; and your upper back and biceps.

The following eight exercises target these areas. The routine is short and should take you only about 15 minutes. For best results, do it three times a week, working up to every day, and before you know it you’ll be stronger, more stable and more resistant to injury. Remember, fitness is an ongoing process; you’ll get better as you progress.

Keep in mind these key training points:

• “Start low, go slow.” Take your time and use proper form as you do each exercise. Start with the lower number of repetitions indicated and work up to a more challenging set.

• Use “focused activation.” As you go about each exercise, visualize your muscles becoming stronger and more efficient each time you squeeze, then relax.

• Make each repetition better than the last. As soon as you lose form or can’t keep the muscles activated, stop, rest, then move on to the next exercise. Two perfect repetitions are better than 10 lousy ones.

CONTINUE TO NEXT PAGE–>

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Well, phones were ringing and I was being called to the desk to be asked, “Do you have any beds yet?” for the millionth time. I said, “That’s it!” and I LAY DOWN ON THE FLOOR IN THE NURSE’S STATION!

I just did it, and everyone around was so shocked—and then they started laughing, and I did, too. And so I got up (with a little help from my friends), and took a deep breath and went back to work. From then on, whenever I looked stressed, they would all say, “You’re not gonna lie down on the floor again, are ya?”

So anyway! Gotta deal with stress somehow—why not laugh while you’re at it?

—M. Louise, RN

Ryan McVay | Photodisc | Thinkstock

It’s the right move for facilities
I didn’t consider the aspect of “we look healthy, you should also.” For me, an obese employee in a patient care area may not be able to physically handle the repeated stresses on the body, and is at a higher risk for injury.
—Doug MacLeod

If hospitals refusing to hire smokers isn’t discriminatory, then neither is this. Both are huge health risks and cost a lot of money in healthcare benefits.
—Eva Kumor Zakrzewski

Anyone or any company should be able to hire whoever they want. They should not have to fill politically correct quotas. No matter how someone got fat, it’s unhealthy to be fat and they are more likely to have multiple health problems keeping them out of work.
—Suzan Johnson Bargen

I think this all ties back into incentives. I’m sorry, but being overweight in the healthcare setting, just like smoking, discredits the nurse. We are supposed to be role models for our patients, not reasons for noncompliance. I may not personally struggle with my weight, but I also make a point to exercise three to five times a week and eat reasonably. It goes back to the old adage “If you cannot take care of yourself, how can you care for your patient?” I have an obese mother who I’ve watched struggle for years with yo-yo diets, so I am not un-empathetic. But I’m a firm believer in exercise and correct eating habits. I have a nursing friend who is overweight and she is losing weight CORRECTLY by doing Weight Watchers. I recently read a research article that says 76 percent of nurses don’t address an obese person’s weight while they are under that nurse’s care, thin and overweight nurses alike! What a discredit we are doing our patients by not addressing a health issue that balloons into so many other problems, like diabetes and heart disease.
—Tonya Sue Dietz

It’s discriminatory
If the true goal is to make changes in peoples’ lives, they should implement weight loss/fitness and smoking cessation programs and incentives. Better than beating people down by discrimination! That worsens the problem in so many ways. Aren’t we all judged enough in so many other aspects of our profession?
—Anna Baumann Alexander

I think they should only hire people who eat fruits and vegetables every day, wear their seatbelts, get their yearly physicals, brush their teeth two times a day, floss every day, do 30 minutes of cardio four times a week, read journal articles and volunteer.
—Tiffany Tomkowitz

There are a few comments here that suggest an overweight employee can’t do the work. I’m an overweight nurse and I do my job just fine. I struggle with weight; however, I am working on it. I find this idea offensive and I doubt it would be effective in changing the health of patients. Perhaps encouraging the wellness of employees through health programs and incentives is a better path, as my institution does. As for patients, maybe an overweight nurse who eats right, is doing things to improve his or her weight, is fully capable of performing the job’s duties and can speak from personal experience is a resource this idea overlooks. As an overweight person, I know I prefer health tips from previously obese people rather than someone who has never struggled with weight to begin with. What I see as unsupportive is the multitude of candy and baked goods readily available at the nurse’s station on a daily basis.
—Shannon Hoffman

This is getting ridiculous. So will they quit hiring near-sighted nurses? Redheads? Nurses with moles or knock-knees? Give us a break!
—Cyndy Robinson Taylor

Those who are saying that as nurses they need to be good role models for their patients are laughable. Let’s get real about a few things here, mmkay? 1) In the hospital setting, most of the patients are only doing what we advise begrudgingly in the first place in the hopes that they might get discharged a bit quicker. 2) This policy is driven by only one or two real issues—it is a way to keep their ballooning insurance rates down and/or an attempt to perpetuate the fallacy that the cute little nurse is there just waiting for someone (like them) to play grabass with. Disgusting! I am in no way overweight, but I wouldn’t work for a hospital like this for all the money in the world. If they were to suddenly lose all of their nurses and had to hire nothing but agency nurses, they would soon change their tune, as there would be no economic benefit to them all of a sudden…hrmm?
—Carl Dorrance

The problem on everyone’s mind
Good provocative question. This needs to be considered as we consider a new paradigm to replace the “dead horse” we are still beating: trying to make an unsustainable healthcare system work, because we cannot quit.
—Susan Yeaton Butler

What do you think about the issue?

Paul Katz | Photodisc

CNAs, we love you…and the hospital couldn’t run without you.

But what do you need to take care of yourself?

1. A pencil to remind you to list your blessings.
2. An eraser so you can make your mistakes disappear.
3. A rubber band to stretch yourself beyond your limits.
4. A string to tie things together when everything is falling apart.
5. A marble in case someone asks, “Have you lost your marbles?”
6. A stick of chewing gum to stick with it and accomplish anything.
7. A tea bag to remind you to relax and take a moment to breathe.
8. A candy kiss to remind you that someone, somewhere cares about you.
9. A toothpick to remind you to pick out the good qualities in people.
10. A Band-Aid to heal hurt feelings, whether yours or someone else’s.

This list, by Connie Jones, CNA, is the winner of our “Win Your Top 10 List on a Mug!” Giveaway. See all of our winning mugs here!

iStockphoto + Scrubs Magazine

For a nurse, inspiration is as important as breathing—we need oxygen for our souls. Just as we check to see if our patients are breathing, checking our own emotional pulse is essential. We need to feel inspired; it’s a critical component to a nursing career.

For us to keep going shift after shift, we must be reminded from time to time of those special moments—we all have them in our careers—when we’ve stopped and thought: This is why I do it.

So just what are some things that keep a nurse breathing? The following are presented randomly, not in any particular order of importance. All of them, however, provide oxygen for our souls!

• Passion: Recollection of what called us to nursing in the first place. Our initiative to continue education, join a committee at our workplace, volunteer in our community at a health event and stay fervently committed to quality patient care. It’s contagious!
• Respect: For our profession. For human life. For dignity’s sake we undertake enormous responsibility.
• Humor: It’s a well-known fact that laughter is great medicine for our patients and for us! A colleague once boasted of eating an entire Thanksgiving dinner in six minutes while standing up during a busy ER shift! Then there are certain things that we find comical (perhaps even hysterical) that only another nurse would understand!
• Gratitude: This attitude on our part recognizes that if it were not for our own good health and intelligence, we would be unable to serve those in our care. We’re also grateful for our patients who appreciate our time and patience…for our families who often miss us at the dinner table—especially on holidays (oof!).
• Teamwork: As nurses we need each other, depend on one another and have each other’s backs. I know, I know…nurses historically eat their young…but it is and always will be the teamwork that energizes and fuels us. Not to mention the snacks and dishes we bring in to share!
• Doctors: As much as we often complain about them or are intimidated by them, we thrive on their trust in us. It helps when they’re charismatic and good-looking, too! Doesn’t it? Be honest.

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