Specializing in Per Diem Nursing, Travel Nursing, International Nurses, Allied Healthcare, Employment Services and more.

With spring here and planting season, in many places, just around the corner, I particularly don’t have a green thumb. I find it hard to grow plants and keep them green. Gardeners always stress the importance of choosing high quality seeds. Plant and nurture them and be careful to keep the weeds under control. I have come up with a plan that I will consider this year by using the fundamentals and skills I have used in my profession to have a successful garden.

First, let’s plants some peas. Passion tops the list of skills you will need to excel in the garden or professionally. Passion always enhances our performance. When you love what you do, you’ll do it better. Then persistence should come next. We need to be persistent so we won’t give up.

Now, let’s plant some squash. This will promote a positive environment. Squashing gossip is necessary because the damage is not easily undone. Squash criticism that is not constructive or offered in a useful spirit.

Next, we will plant some lettuce rows that will allow our character and flowers to bloom. Let us be true to our obligations. Honoring our obligations represents a commitment to our words that our garden expects and appreciates. Let us be unselfish. These are the fundamentals to good human relations. Let us be loyal. Someone can be a great worker, but if they aren’t loyal, our garden won’t be as lush as expected, and it could put our employment in jeopardy.

We will water freely with patience and cultivate with affection. We must have fun at what we are doing and really love what we do. Remember, the width of life is as important as the length. We need to branch out to truly blossom. - Harold Sterling, CEO

As healthcare clinicians caring for a patient with a poor prognosis, we often tell the patient’s family members to not give up on hope. As if hope will reveal certain principles of truth, which when applied are the solution of all issues, and the healing of all ills. Hope has the capacity to start the family member thinking, thereby preparing the ground for the advancement of progress. Hope is what helps all of us to get through our worst days.

You’ve probably heard the tale of Pandora opening her fabled box. It seems Pandora, as Greek mythology goes, opened the box and released all the evils inside. When she realized what she had done, she quickly closed the box trapping hope inside. The Greeks considered hope to be as dangerous as the world’s other evils. She soon discovered that without hope to offset their troubles, humanity was filled with despair. So, Pandora released hope as well. In the myth, hope was more potent than any of the other major evils.

Think about the word “impossible” and what a devastating effect it has. Thinking stops. Progress is halted. Doors are slammed shut. Dreams are discarded. Hope looks at what is possible, and builds on that. Buried dreams are resurrected and a great new era of adventure, experimentation, expansion, and prosperity is born.

Even though the reality of the outcome of our patient is poor, it may be futile to council the family members not to lose hope, because all hope is lost. Remember that hope believes every cloud has a silver lining, and when that cloud rains, it makes things grow. Then the sun comes out again, and we are so glad Pandora didn’t keep hope trapped in her fabled box. - Harold Sterling, CEO

Welcome to Super Bowl 2010. I know this is Super Bowl XLIV, but what makes this one different from the others is that for the first time in their franchise history, the New Orleans Saints have made it to the Super Bowl. With Hurricane Katrina damaging the Super Dome in 2005, the Saints were left without a place to play. Prior to hiring head coach Sean Payton in January, 2006, the Saints hadn’t been a dominate offensive team. Coach Payton’s goal was to establish an offensive powerhouse around quarter back Drew Brees. The Saints are now ranked with the NO.1 offense in the NFL and a ticket to the Super Bowl.

With a new year upon us, it’s a perfect time to set your goals for the year, for the decade, or for the rest of your life. After all, if you don’t set goals to determine where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? Much like the Saints, achieving goals produces significant accomplishments. Setting goals is about plotting the incremental, but necessary steps, to start the journey. If your dream is to dance the hula in Hawaii, you will have to start saving money for the trip and sign up for a hula dancing class. It all starts with these small first steps. Instead of a remote dream that will never be realized, suddenly the trip has the real possibility of becoming part of your life experience.

While or after enjoying the Super Bowl, make your mind up as to what it is that you really want. Like Coach Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints, you need to decide what is right for you. This is an important first step toward success, both personal and professional. You’re not just wishing for success, but working steadily toward it. Remember, accomplishments will keep you motivated and moving forward. - Harold Sterling, CEO

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2010!! 2010 just seems destined for fresh beginnings, novel approaches, and ambitious resolutions. 2009 always sounded like it should be punctuated with a dollar sign and a decimal point, like a discount price tag. With the collapse of the Global Economy like a House of Cards, it affected everyone. But, 2010 seems to hold so much more potential and so much more importance than its predecessor, more hope for positive changes.

This time of year, when we step back and evaluate our lives (and any resolutions we may have already broken!), we don’t want to overdo it. 2010 should not be the number of items on our to-do lists. The last thing we want to do is pile on more stress. But, taking time to create balance in our lives should be a priority. Too often, as we struggle to juggle our personal, professional, and community personas, we drop the ball when it comes to looking out for ourselves.

No matter what your nursing setting, you have undoubtedly dealt with a lot of stress over the past year. The stress created by the landmark gains for call off cancellations, unsafe floating, staffing shortages, negotiating salary increases, high acuity patients, decreased treatment time, and scheduling flexibility all make it difficult to take care of your own needs.

Although it may seem easy to overlook your own needs in an effort to balance your available time with your numerous responsibilities, in the long run, ignoring yourself could spell disaster for your career and your personal life.

So, as you rewrite your resolutions this year, put taking time for yourself at the top of your list. It should be the one resolution that you don’t break in 2010. - Harold Sterling, CEO