How to Know if You Are More Successful than You Think You Are

Here's the funny thing about success--no one can agree what the word means. The definition of the good life varies from person to person, as one individual prioritizes career glory while another values a nurturing home life.
That means there's no way to be successful without first deciding what you mean by the term. But it also means that, if you haven't spent time really reflecting on your personal definition of success in a while, you could actually be closer to achieving it than you suspect.
That's the uplifting message of a great recent Lifehack post by Carles Sabarich. In it, Sabarich contends that "lack of clarity can make it easy to believe that you are a failure, even when all the evidence in your life ... points to other conclusions." He goes on to offer a monster list of 25 tells that you're probably more successful than you currently feel. Here are 10 in brief to get you started.

1. You aren't controlled by your income.

"If you are able to go day-to-day without the worry that you won't have enough money to last until the end of the month, then you are most definitely a success!" declares Sabarich, offering readers a healthy dose of perspective.

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5 Survival Tips for Working the Night Shift

Being the night shift nurse is a grueling job. Though, it is the shift many nurses start on in their career. I have worked as a labor and delivery nurse for the last 10 years, 8 of them on the night shift. I have come up with these 5 tips that helped me get through it with two kids, a husband, and a dog.

Schedule It Right

Many nurses, like me, are mothers. As a mother, you have many responsibilities and sleep is never a priority, especially on the night shift. No one will understand. You can tell your mother that you worked last night, and she will still want to go shopping at noon, thinking that was enough sleep. Let me tell you, it is not. I tried to explain it to my husband one time by saying, “OK, so if you go to bed at 10, can you get up and start your day at 2 am, or even worse, make dinner, check homework, and chase the toddler? He tried to understand.

When I worked my twelve-hour shifts, I would ALWAYS schedule myself three shifts in a row. Was that a lot? My goodness, it was. Was I exhausted? Of course! Then why three twelve hour shifts in a row?

Your body, at least in my case, never adapts to night shift. Three in a row made it easier because my body got “used” to the schedule on the second night, and even though it was so hard to get motivated for the third night, I knew after that I would be done. Though, you have to find what works best for you.

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Turn Your Goals Into "If/Then" Statements

With any goal, pitfalls are usually inevitable. You want to eat healthier but your coworker brings cupcakes. You want to save money but your car needs work. To stay ahead of setbacks, give your goal an if-then plan.

We’ve talked about this concept before in terms of building your willpower. To connect the impulsive part of your brain with the calm, methodical part, use an if-then statement to control your behavior. For example, you might say, “if I feel angry, then I will count to ten.” It’s a simple example, but you get the idea.

Similarly, you can use if-then statements to safeguard your ambitious goals against any potential setbacks. As O Magazine editor Jihan Thompson puts it:

“Ambitious plans are commendable (‘I’m going to lose 30 pounds this year!’), but they don’t account for inevitable roadblocks. If you want to have a fighting chance at sticking to your resolutions, you would do well to develop if-then plans: if someone brings cupcakes or pizza or candy to work, then I….”

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Big Tipping: A New Holiday Tradition?

One of my family’s greatest traditions started at a Waffle House. While I wasn’t there on the Christmas morning that my mother and stepfather decided to start what we now refer to affectionately as ‘Operation Big Tip,’ I have reaped the benefits of my parents’ decision.

As a result of having divorced parents, I usually split my time between families on Christmas morning. I woke up at my mother’s house and opened presents while my step siblings at my dad’s house patiently waited for me to arrive to tear into their own parcels. One Christmas morning after my mom and Jim, my stepfather, dropped me off at my dad’s house, they decided to go to Waffle House.

In our small town on Christmas morning, Waffle House was the only place open. The service my parents received wasn’t particularly groundbreaking. But, figuring that their waitress picked up a Christmas morning shift for a reason, they gave her what could be described as an unusually large tip.

A few years later, they struck again when they gave an older gentleman sweeping the floors at Waffle House on Christmas day a 50 dollar tip. The man appeared to be a veteran. My mom described him as having what appeared to be army tattoos. He seemed genuinely surprised to receive a tip for sweeping the floors, not just for serving food.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/operation-big-tip-a-holiday-tradition-that-may-make-you-rethink-tipping.html#ixzz3uo0EVXcQ

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3 Steps to Avoiding Caregiver Burnout during the Holidays

Being a caregiver for a loved one is often a selfless, thankless job. It can require extreme amounts of patience, determination and grace that many people do not have all of the time. During the holiday season, this difficult job can become even more arduous than usual.

An increase in unhealthy behavior like indulging in alcohol and a poor diet, or not getting enough sleep or exercise, can lower our defenses and magnify all of our experiences. Both the good ones and the bad ones can seem too big for us to control.


To avoid letting the holidays make the caregiving experience so hard that it burns you out, here are the steps that may help you get through this wonderful, yet emotionally and physically draining, period.

1) Know the signs of burnout
Caregivers may experience burnout at any time of the year, but the holidays can be particularly draining. If the caregiver is starting to feel apathetic, fatigued, has foggy thinking, or is dealing with emotional highs and lows, that person may be experiencing burnout. It is important to know the signs of being burned out so you can head it off at the pass before it takes over your psyche.

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What to Do if You Suspect Elder Abuse

We love to read heartwarming stories about devoted caregivers and thriving seniors. When we look at seniors who are well cared for, we think, “Of course – that’s the way it should be.”

Unfortunately, the good stories don’t tell the whole tale of senior care in the United States. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), 1 out of 10 seniors is a victim of abuse. What’s more, elder abuse is typically underreported. The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study estimates that only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse ever comes to the attention of authorities.
Here, NCEA Deputy Director Julie Schoen offers tips on how to intervene in cases of suspected elder abuse.

What Is Elder Abuse?

“Elder abuse takes many forms,” says Schoen. The major categories of mistreatment include physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, neglect, and abandonment. Elder abuse can happen at the hands of a trusted friend or family member (domestic abuse), or it can be perpetrated by caregivers at a senior care facility (institutional abuse).

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How To Avoid Drug Interactions with the Elderly

Polypharmacy refers to the taking of multiple drugs by a single patient. Doctors and clinicians usually use this term to refer to a problem which develops as a result of taking multiple drugs. As more and more drugs are being developed to treat diseases and conditions associated with aging and to potentially even extend life, clinicians are observing an increasing number of drug interactions as well as an increase in potentially adverse health-related problems due to these interactions.

Not surprisingly, it is the elderly who are most affected by polypharmacy, as older adults account for the bulk of prescriptions sales. However, prescription medications are only part of the problem. To prevent side effects caused by these interactions, patients, pharmacists and physicians must work collaboratively to regularly review the patient’s entire medication list.

There are many factors which contribute to this polypharmacy problems. Following are five of the most common contributing factors:

Multiple doctors and pharmacists. Many seniors have more than one doctor involved in their care.

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Protecting Patient's Private and Confidential Information

As a healthcare worker, it is very important to remember to keep a patient's information private and confidential. Talking with a co-worker at break time or in passing about a patient can be a potentially inappropriate time. We must always remember to be vigilant in protecting our patients rights.

Guidelines for protecting private and confidential information include the following:

• Discuss resident and client information ONLY in a place that is away from other residents, families and visitors. Report should not be given at the nurses station, as this is not a private area, with much opportunity for information to be overheard. 
• Never discuss patients in an elevator, in a hallway, cafeteria, or any other public place within or outside of the facility. Discuss resident information only with appropriate staff. 
• Do not ever release information to media or newspapers. 
• Don’t release information to the police without first alerting a supervisor. Instead refer them to an appropriate manager. 
• Do not keep a copy or make copies of resident information. 
• Destroy all end of shift report sheets after use. 
• Any item with a residents name or identifying medical information should NEVER be placed in general trash receptacles. They should be shredded for appropriate disposal of confidential information. 

Responsibilities regarding private and confidential information include:

• Know your expected limits: Check your job description. Ask your supervisor to clarify anything you do not understand. Never discuss information that you are unsure of, and be sure of who you are sharing this information with. Not all friends and family are authorized to know information regarding your resident or client’s condition. 
• Be on the alert for breaks or leaks. Be particularly mindful of when private information becomes casual chatting. Practice care that is private and behavior that guards confidence. 
• Report to your supervisor. The best working relationships are those in which you keep your supervisor well informed and on top of things that are going on. Keep open lines of communication between your superior and yourself. 

Patient privacy and confidentiality generally refers to a patient's right to:

• Decide what personal health information can be shared with others
• Decide how that information can be shared, and with whom it may be shared 
• Not have information about resident or client discussed in areas where others could overhear 
• Privacy also refers to the right to have physical privacy (curtains pulled) 
• Patient confidentiality generally refers to a patient's trust that health information will only be shared with those who need to know, and in order to provide appropriate care. 

For care to be appropriate, authorized health care staff need full access to a patient’s medical record. But, patients may withhold important information if they fear it will not be kept private and confidential. By ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality, your facility will help patients feel a sense of trust and help assure them they will receive appropriate care.

Protecting patient privacy and confidentiality is vital to your organizations mission. It helps increase patient's satisfaction and sense of dignity. It helps ensure that patients get the most effective care.


This excerpt is taken from our Social Service Designee course. To see which courses are available in your state click here.

Today: Change Your Life With Healthy Eating Habits

Eat the rainbow
Nutrition experts dole out a ton of advice about how to eat well—and, most importantly, not lose your mind doing it. But there are some tips that stand the test of time, and that experts themselves follow. (Because, yes, they’re human, too.) Here are 10 habits they live by and that will change the way you eat.

Don’t give anything up
Eat all the foods you enjoy—but the key is to do it in smaller quantities, says Elisa Zied, RDN, who has lost and kept off more than 30 pounds since her highest weight in high school. In fact, she says it’s the number-one change she made that’s helped her maintain her smaller frame. “I didn’t want to feel deprived as I had in previous attempts to lose weight,” she says. The worst thing you can do is be too strict, then rebound by overeating because you’re not satisfied.

Always have a plan
It’s easy to get sucked into the lure of the restaurant menu when you’re hungry and everything looks good.

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Nurse Assistants: Unsung Heroes in the Healthcare Industry

Always on the first day of National Nursing Assistants Week, it is National Career Nurse Assistants Day. This day is set aside to recognize the nursing assistants who dedicate their lives to the well-being of others for 5 to as many as 58 years.

Nursing assistants many times work in hospitals and nursing homes performing everyday living tasks for the elderly, chronically ill or rehabilitation patients who cannot care for themselves.  A more in-depth training and qualification that covers a wider scope of responsibility is indicated by government certification.  The state distributes these certification exams and the classes to study for them are offered by the American Red Cross as well as other providers.

On this day, we want to THANK these people for the wonderful job that they do and the very special care that they give to those in need. 

NATIONAL CAREER NURSE ASSISTANTS DAY HISTORY

National Career Nurse Assistants Day, an “unofficial” National holiday, is sponsored by the National Network of Career Nursing Assistants.

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WeCareOnline June Staff Highlight - Cindy Gaschler

This month we get to meet Cindy Gaschler.  

Cindy has worked in the healthcare field for 15 years. She began her career as a CNA, then completed her LPN, and continued with an ADN degree.  She functioned as a Long Term Care charge nurse, Inpatient Rehabilitation nurse, MDS Coordinator, and Director of Nursing.  

Following this she re-enrolled in college to obtain a BSN while performing duties of Human Resources, Staff Development Coordinator, Risk Management, Health Information Management, and Senior Living Manager. She is a certified clinical instructor for the state of Kansas for Certfied Nurse Aide,Certified Med Aide, Activity Director and Social Service Designee. 


She is married with 3 children and lives in a rural area 10 miles from the nearest town. Cindy enjoys the outdoors. She has horses, dogs, too many cats, and an enormous garden that always wants attention.



With her years of experience in the heath care field, Cindy believes that it is best to focus on the person. Before you help the person, take the time to enjoy him or her without distraction.

Cindy feels blessed to have the ability to work with students both online teaching the Activity Director and Social Service Designee courses and face to face during their clinical experience in Kansas. She also enjoys networking with more northern states online and by phone.  She assists with enrollments, invoicing, and basic technical issues.  She also works with marketing and directs new users in the services available through WeCareOnline.


The biggest change she has seen in the health care industry has been the shift from direct care to documentation. This also correlates with the shift to electronic documentation over paper charting.

On Cindy's desk, the one item that would be noticed without fail is her pencil sharpener. Her children felt an office is not complete without an electric pencil sharpener with the widest variety of color, foil, and decorated pencils ever noted from any party store!  (She never gets to use it because they do not allow her the opportunity to experience a dull pencil.  They are dutifully sharpened by one or all of them daily whether needed or not.)

WeCareOnline May Staff Highlight - Debbie Kohlrus

This month we get to meet Debbie Kohlrus.

Debbie has worked in the healthcare field for the past 14 years.  In 2000, she received her CNA license and started working at an LTC facility.  She then went on to get her CMA in 2001, then her LPN license in 2002.   She  became quite passionate about the healthcare field very quickly and knew it was what she wanted to pursue as a career.

She has worked in a variety of areas that have given her much experience over the past 14 years including working in an LTC facility for 4 years. She moved onto working at a VA clinic and got to enjoy a totally different aspect of nursing.  Later, she worked PRN in 12 different clinics at a local hospital.  This was a wonderful hands-on experience for many different areas in the nursing field.  She continued that for 5 years until she started working for WeCareOnline.

Debbie has been married for 10 years and has two wonderful girls.  Her husband is an insurance agent.  Her # 1 thing to do outside of work is spending time with family. She grew up on a farm and loves being outdoors and going camping, fishing, and hunting.  She likes to cook and also enjoys making birthday/special occasion cakes for family and friends.  Debbie made 300 cupcakes for her sister’s wedding, which was quite the experience!  She also likes reading and gardening in her spare time.

Debbie's best advice to anyone pursuing a career in the healthcare field is not to give up!  Whether you choose to become a CNA or nurse, everyone plays a vital role in healthcare.  Don’t underestimate yourself and what you can do or become.  Set reasonable goals for yourself and don’t give up on achieving them.  

Debbie works as the sponsor coordinator for WeCareOnline and also assists with the CNA and CMA courses.  She corresponds with state to make sure each course we offer is approved and ready to go by the start of class.  She receives students’ enrollments and corresponds with them as needed.  She also schedules and manages state testing for CMA and CNA students.

Debbie loves every piece of artwork her children make, so her desk and surrounding walls are covered in her children’s masterpieces!  Her girls also got her a notepad that sings crazy songs when the pen is removed, so that keeps her quite entertained throughout the day.

Take Control: Stop Playing the Victim with Time Management

When it comes to managing your time, many people feel like they have a crushing number of requests coming at them that make them a victim to their circumstances. "There's always too much to do. Everyone just keeps piling more work on me." Sound familiar? If so, you're not alone, but you should stop playing the victim and own the situation.

This post originally appeared on the Harvard Business Review.

They see forces outside themselves as the reason that they don't have time to exercise, can't leave work at a reasonable time, or just generally struggle to get everything done. Although there are occasionally situations that are outside of your control—that recent bout with the flu, for example—most aren't. And even though it can feel gratifying in the short term to blame others for your situation, this attitude toward your time investment will leave you truly powerless in the long run.

When you play the victim with your time, everything around you suffers.

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How to Give Your Working Memory a Tune-up

Working memory is like your brain's scratch pad, managing information as you go about your day. But our routine deluge of information can make us feel scatterbrained, like our working memory has too much to deal with. Here's how to tune-up your working memory and stay focused.

This post originally appeared on the Crew blog.

Sometimes when I'm trying to focus on a single task my mind can feel a bit like a pinball machine. No matter how hard I try to keep my thoughts in focus there's all these ideas wildly bouncing around and beating away at my limited attention.

Our brains can be fickle things and I'm sure every last one of us has experienced moments where we just can't seem to hold on to an idea for more than a few seconds.

All of a sudden while you're working on a project you start thinking about what you're going to make for dinner or a conversation you had with a friend a few nights ago. It's frustrating. All we want to do is focus on what we're working on and block out the rest. So how come these unwanted thoughts keep coming into our heads?

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Pastoral Care and its vital role in health care.

National Pastoral Care Week 2014 is around the corner. This annual event (this year October 19-25) is a great opportunity for healthcare institutions to recognize the important and often unrecognized work and gifts of spiritual caregivers in their midst and to inform patients, family members, and staff that they are available to help.

- See more at: http://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/news-events/entry/2014-spiritual-care-pastoral-care-week-take-advantage-of-the-opportunity.html#sthash.mXVcnEhn.dpuf

This annual event (this year October 19-25) is a great opportunity for healthcare institutions to recognize the important and often unrecognized work and gifts of spiritual caregivers in their midst and to inform patients, family members, and staff that they are available to help. - See more at: http://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/news-events/entry/2014-spiritual-care-pastoral-care-week-take-advantage-of-the-opportunity.html#sthash.mXVcnEhn.dpuf

This annual event (this year October 19-25) is a great opportunity for healthcare institutions to recognize the important and often unrecognized work and gifts of spiritual caregivers in their midst and to inform patients, family members, and staff that they are available to help. - See more at: http://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/news-events/entry/2014-spiritual-care-pastoral-care-week-take-advantage-of-the-opportunity.html#sthash.6K16uE54.dpuf

Learn how you can become a Social Services Designee.

Tuition Reimbursement Winner for August

Congratulations, Alpine Village! 

Alpine Village one of our Tuition Reimbursement Winners for August! 

The will be getting a refund from us soon. You could be next!

"We have been offering the class for about a year now in our facility. Having the reimbursement gives us opportunity to serve another individual."
- Alpine Village

Students registered for a Nurse Aide course will automatically be placed in a monthly drawing to win reimbursement of their course tuition. The monthly drawings will choose one student to win a reimbursement.

If you want to know how to get in on this Click Here for more information.

Remember, before you can win, you have to register and pay for a Nurse Aide course - See our course catalog Click Here.

Or go to our website Click Here.

Tuition Reimbursement Winner for August

Congratulations, Holly! 

Holly is our Tuition Reimbursement Winner for August! 

She will be getting a refund from us soon. You could be next!

"I'm a single mother of three.  I work a full time job. I was really surprised when I got the email saying I was a winner.  It made my day!"
- Holly H.

Students registered for a Nurse Aide course will automatically be placed in a monthly drawing to win reimbursement of their course tuition. The monthly drawings will choose one student to win a reimbursement.

If you want to know how to get in on this Click Here for more information.

Remember, before you can win, you have to register and pay for a Nurse Aide course - See our course catalog Click Here.

Or go to our website Click Here.

What is Rehabilitation?

The following is a snippet from our Restorative Aide course - Completely online and no textbook is required!

What is Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is a program that helps a person who is recovering from illness or injury to regain as much function as possible. The aim is for Residents or clients to become as independent as possible despite his/her disabilities. Rehabilitation also aims to teach strategies for ongoing disabilities.

Common conditions that may require rehabilitation: 

• Joint replacements and fractures 
• Acquired brain injury including: Stroke (please click on the link below to see what rehab can do for a stroke victim. This is a fairly new technique offered in some areas.Of course results will vary, but rehab is very important to our residents. Click here for video on stroke
• Head Injury 
• Spinal cord dysfunction
• Amputations 
• Cardiac conditions

You can be a vital part in helping your resident gain their independence!

The Rehabilitation Unit and How it Functions

A rehabilitation unit can be in:

• Hospital where many patients need rehabilitation after an illness or possibly a surgery. 
• Outpatient clinic has patients who come in from home to rehabilitate. They made need to come for a few visits or long-term. 
• Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) can be in a hospital area or community nursing home 
• Nursing homes most always have a rehabilitation program. 
• Rehabilitation hospitals used primarily for rehabilitation. 

Team members of a Rehabilitation Unit

Physician - Will assess and identify the issues to assist with planning the rehabilitation. They will write specific orders to follow for the rehabilitation.

Nurse - Provides the health monitoring and education as required and will talk with your physician where appropriate.

Speech-language pathologist - Concerned with any problems relating to understanding language and speaking, as well as reading and writing, memory and thinking and social skills. They also assess and manage problems with eating and drinking.

Occupational Therapist - Aims to help you to become as independent as possible in all daily occupations including eating, showering and dressing, cooking, shopping, driving, leisure activities, work and hand and upper limb function.

Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant- Follows the treatment plan as determined and supervised by the occupational Therapist.

Restorative aide - Usually a nurse aide that has received additional training in rehabilitation. Supervised by a registered nurse or PT or OT. 

Nurse Aide - Covers all resident or clients ADL?s.

Podiatrist - Manages any problems to do with your feet. This may include making orthotics and nail care.

Social Worker - Offers residents and their families support during a time of change as well as other services. 

Dietitian - Addresses any nutritional needs of the client including the management of diabetes, cholesterol, and weight loss or weight gain. The dietitian plays an important role in the education about these issues.

Types of Rehabilitation

Skilled Therapy - Services is provided by the Physical Therapist, Physical Therapy Assistant, Occupational Therapist, certified Occupation assistant, and Speech Therapist. Requires a physician order 

• Client must show consistent improvement 
• Time frame based on client?s progress or lack of progress 
• The Goal is for the client to return to their optimal mobility status. 
• Documentation includes the initial assessment, notes, progress notes and discharge summary according to your facility policy and/or State regulations

Restorative Nursing - Services can be done by a Restorative Aide under the written program from the nurse or therapist. Requires a physician order 

• Client should show consistent improvement 
• Time frame is based on the client progress 
• Goals are set by the nurse or therapist 
• Documentation include daily and weekly progress notes, according to your facility policy and/or State regulations. 

Functional Maintenance - These services can be done by a certified nurse aide. May or may not have a physician order 

• Does not need to show a consistent improvement 
• Your goal is to maintain the clients optimal level of functioning. 
• Most documentation will be done on a flow sheet. 

To enroll in the Restorative Aide course (It's completely online!) just click here: Restorative Aide Course

Tips for a Safe Fourth of July

Be a safe swimmer. Water sports and fireworks are two of the biggest pastimes for Fourth of July celebrations, and these are both linked to numerous deaths and injuries each year. Never swim alone, and make sure that kids' water play is adequately supervised at all times. Many drownings occur when parents and other adults are nearby, so always have a designated chaperone for water play and don't assume that others are watching the kids. Statistics show that most young children who drown in pools have been out of sight for less than five minutes.

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The Best Way for Nurses to Thrive

The practice of nursing is ever-changing. There are always new guidelines and regulations that nurses are asked to adhere to, often with little information to accompany it. Nurses sometimes feel like they are just surviving because they are being asked to take on new challenges and aren’t completely sure of themselves. This is because many organizations will give out new job requirements without following up with the nursing staff and providing ongoing feedback.

These actions can be detrimental to the moral of the nursing staff, reduce the level of patient care provided, and increase turnover in staff. In order for nurses to be receive the feedback they need to be successful, it’s important for healthcare organizations to consider the followings:

Feedback is Necessary to Retain Great Nurses

Any nurse who doesn’t love nursing will not last long in the profession.

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