Nursing Registry specializing in Per Diem Nursing, Travel Nursing, Cardiac Cath Lab, International Nurses, Allied Healthcare, Employment Services and more.

I almost didn’t do it. I almost didn’t accomplish what I had disciplined myself for. But on May 1st, I started and completed the Half-Marathon I had been training for since the first of the year. My initial goal was to lose weight, which I wrote about a couple of newsletters ago. In order to achieve my weight loss goals, I instituted the help of a running club whose goal was to train members to run a Half-Marathon. As the race date approached, I missed a couple of practices. Anticipating the pain and exhaustion of the run, I considered not participating in the race. Since there were a number of people aware of my race training, this was my motivation to keep moving forward. I would rather prepare and prevent, then repair and repent.

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Isn’t it fascinating that we think of perseverance when we are so tempted to give up? One of the greatest pleasures in life is doing what people say you can’t. When things seem bleakest, you have to carry on succeeding. In these historically poor economic times we have a tendency to want to throw up our hands when a little more effort, a little more patience, would allow us to persevere.

It seems the hospital administrations have decided that the deep recession alleviated the decade-long nursing shortage, as workers who had left the field in better times returned in droves. Nearly a quarter-million nurses entered the work force in 2007-2008 according to a study released by the Journal of Health Affairs. About half of the increase during this period came from nurses over the age of 55. Now, we are starting to see dissatisfaction in the nursing workforce in the way of strikes and threatened strikes. All relating to hospital administrations taking away benefits, disregarding staffing ratios, imposing mandatory overtime, and floating nurses to areas they aren’t properly trained for.

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February is American Heart Month. So why not make this the year you’re going to break away from the pack and set reasonable, achievable goals to keep your heart beating strong for years to come? Make this the year you’re going to get through your whole list, so you can reach even higher in 2012.

Last November my 14 year old daughter set a goal to shed some pounds and improve her health. I thought she wouldn’t be able to stick with a diet and exercise routine during the holidays, so her goal would not be reached. She chose to follow the dietary schedule of a national diet company, which set milestone weights to shoot for, until she met her goal weight. Remarkably, as of this writing, she has met her milestone weights, and is close to hitting her goal weight, by sticking to her diet and exercise routine.

Needing to shed a few pounds of my own, I was inspired by my daughter’s tenacity and I decided to see if I could follow a routine of diet and exercise. If my daughter could do it, I should also be so disciplined. I have joined a running club which has a weekly training schedule and every Saturday we go for a long distance run. The club supervises my progress and expects results from my training. This keeps me motivated to continue on. If it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t follow the routine or wake up early on a Saturday to run 6-10 miles. As a result, I am achieving my milestone weights and will soon reach my goal weight, and my incentives have kept me moving past January.

Call them New Year’s resolutions, personal goals or just your to-do list. Whether personal or professional, I am finding out goals need a clear basis and direction.Goals need to be specific – “being a better person” wasn’t enough. Before I actually set goals, I needed to consider these fundamentals:

• I needed to know what I really wanted. A goal should be a response to a stated need. I needed to drop a few pounds.
• I had to know my motivations. Asking myself how will achieving this goal change my life or my attitude? I feel better about myself if I drop a few pounds. It is a great feeling to have your clothes fit again. The by products of my goals achieved, would be health and happiness.
• I zeroed in and focused on the one area where I could make real improvements. Any goal that is too overwhelming will soon become a good intention.
• I needed to involve those around me. I let my family know what my goals were and that I would need their support. I joined a running club to train for a half-marathon. Look for support wherever you can find it, to help you face new challenges and achieve results.

Setting goals is all about taking charge of a situation. If you walk backwards you’ll never stub your toe. But you won’t move ahead either. Once you figure out where you want to be, find a path that is practical, manageable and bold enough to make a change. Reasonable, measurable goals are the difference. – Harold Sterling, CEO

There is an old saying that goes: It is easy to change things, but it is hard to make changes to ourselves. The reason I bring this up is because a good friend of mine informed me that after 15 years at the same job they had resigned, saying it was time for a change.

This is the time of year when we step back to evaluate our accomplishments and failures, and figure out what needs to change to confront new obstacles without losing our nerve. Resistance to change is perhaps the biggest threat to progress a person can face. Remind yourself that change takes time. To be successful, people must look to the future, not short-term gains and losses. Once you’ve restructured, implemented new systems, and launched new strategies, give the learning curve time to achieve the progress you want.

Susan Dunn, a clinical psychologist, observed that to survive and thrive you need to master the resilience you generally need to do these essential things:

1. Learn from experience. Resilient people reflect on what happens to them so they can move forward without illusion.

2. Accept setbacks and losses. Face the reality of what happens.

3. Recognize emotions. Resilient people identify what they’re feeling and express their emotions appropriately.

4. Keep time in perspective. Past, present, and future are separate. Don’t mix them up by, for example, letting what’s in the past determine your choices in the here and now.

5. Think creatively and flexibly. Look for new ways to solve problems and face challenges.

6. Take care of yourself. Resilience is based on good physical and mental health. Get enough rest, eat sensibly, and spend time with people who support you.

7. Ask for help. Resilient people don’t try to do everything themselves. Ask others for assistance graciously and effectively.

As another year comes to an end and we think about the changes we are going to make in the New Year, remember that nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

Best wishes for a wonderful New Year! – Harold Sterling, CEO

As we head into December, I realize how quickly this year has gone by. The holiday season is fully upon us and we will soon be celebrating the coming of a new year. Now is a good time to stop for a moment and reflect upon the past years personal and financial ups and downs.

Going forward, optimism seems to be high. And it’s not only because of the holidays. The business sector has shown signs of growth and recovery from the downturn that has been experienced over the past few months. Businesses are increasing production, reaching quotas, and some are even hiring new employees. In our industry alone we are starting to see signs of the increasing demand for nurses. Hospital systems are taking entourages’ to other states to recruit nurses, enticing them to sign up in return for iPad’s and relocation bonuses. There are indeed many reasons to celebrate, and we hope that this growth continues until the entire economy has fully recovered.

Even as the media debates over whether the recession has ended or continues on, we at Westways would like to wish you and yours the happiest of holidays as we continue to be motivated in becoming the nursing agency you expect. We always try meeting, and in many cases, exceeding our service projections for the upcoming year.

I look forward to working and celebrating the holidays with you again this year and in the coming New Year. – Harold Sterling, CEO