FRIDAY! I’m writing this post as I watch a beautiful sunrise come over the Chugiak range in Alaska this morning. Alaska really puts the punch in a sunrise with those snowy mountains and pretty colors streaked across the sky. This Five is PACKED. Every time I read something this week I thought I have to share this! Here we go…
YES YES YES! If you are a nurse or follow nursing, this is a huge step for the profession. Does anyone know how many nurse practitioners there are in the United States? I’ll tell you! 290,000. Yep, almost 300,000. Amazing. The compact initiative is similar to the compact licensure for a Registered Nurse in that it allows you to practice nursing in more than one state without having to have multiple licenses. In the pandemic world we live in now, this is HUGE. It means that telemedicine can truly cross state lines. And that practitioners can move easily around the states without having to renew and request licenses multiple times. The initiative has a long way to go – only North Dakota and Delaware have pending legislation at this time. I am confident we will see come to full fruition for all 50 states in my lifetime – if not the next 20 years. I also love there fun facts about APRNs if you want to brush up on your knowledge about the NP force. And the current status of the Nurse Licensure Compact states is below:
2. Healthy People 2030
Have you ever heard of the Healthy People initiative? The initiative has been ongoing since 1980! It focuses on disease prevention and set new goals each decade to help improve the nation’s health. Healthy People 2030 was launched in August 2020. You can watch the launch video here if you have about 30 minutes to listen . If you are practicing, take a look at how you can use the initiative in your own work. We’ve talked a lot about unplanned pregnancy lately here on the blog. An example of implementing Healthy People into your work could be:
- Offering comprehensive contraception counseling to your population in an effort to reduce the rate of unplanned pregnancy and increase family planning
- Screening for obesity and offering early counseling and plans to reduce weight to healthy ranges
- Offering preconception counseling
I encourage you all to print this off and put a copy on your desk somewhere. This is a decade long initiative. The success of this initiative is in the small steps of people and practitioners every day – not by leaps and bounds of policy.
3. FREE Breastfeeding Courses from Tinyhood
During the pandemic, Tinyhood is offering all of their breastfeeding classes for FREE! They have multiple ones to choose from. You guys, this is an amazing resource. If you are a mama and you haven’t had education on breastfeeding before, I highly encourage it! Breastfeeding is AMAZING for you and your babe. It’s also very hard and not always intuitive. Especially when your baby can’t always tell you what they want or need! Please pass this great resource to other women or utilize yourself while you can! Thank you Tinyhood for sharing in such a tumultuous time period.
4. FREE Educational Videos on Maternity Care from EvergreenHealth!
- Epidural anesthesia
- Spinal anesthesia
- Bathing your baby
- Soothing your baby
- Breastfeeding (multiple videos)
- Postnatal pain
5. Hear Hear Campaign – please watch THIS video.
The campaign offers a list of warning signs for women during and after their pregnancy. I love that the warning signs are listed as well as how to start a conversation about them! Download the sheet here to share with women or patients. This is the type of sheet that women need to be discharged home with.
Another great handout that all women should have is AWHONN’s (Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses) POST-BIRTH Warning Signs. The handout is available in English, Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese.
Other goodies….
- This prayer journal by Val Marie Paper (see below). I found this journal last fall and ordered one for myself and one for my sister for Christmas. They are fantastic. The journal is organized into sections for prayer – think family, friends, goals, leadership, adoration sections – and helps to guide your prayer life dramatically! I’ve been using it the past month and it has been amazing. If anyone is looking for a jumpstart to their prayer life, I highly recommend the journal.
- This article on being invested in your health and decision making as a patient!
- This post from Midwifery Business Consultation: How to Start a Midwife Practice
- A new blog recommendation – Believe in Midwifery! I hadn’t come across Madeline’s site before but love the mission. I was also pleased to see her two e-courses she offers aimed at preventing burnout in midwifery and leading a sustainable practice and life as a midwife. Want to get to know Madeline? Listen to her interview here on Journey to Midwifery podcast! It was a great interview. Madeline talks a lot about preventing burnout and making midwifery a sustainable career and living for midwives.
Many updates were made to the MAKE MORE MIDWIVES and the RESOURCES pages. I’m trying to add more content for practicing midwives as well! Check it out 🙂
Have a lovely weekend!
Jamie
1 year ago on the blog…Student spotlight: 11 tips on how to prepare for midwifery clinicals
This page may contain Amazon affiliate links for some recommended products. This means A Midwife Nation may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no increased cost to you. It is a legal requirement to notify you of these links. All profits from affiliate links support A Midwife Nation’s mission to make midwifery the standard of care for women everywhere. Thank you in advance for supporting us!