Denver Needs Nurses: Here’s How You Can Help

 

The demand for nurses is increasing all over the country, particularly in Denver. Even with cases of coronavirus slowly declining, health facilities are struggling, and this is especially the case in care homes for the elderly. As the average of the population increases, the need for healthcare professionals increases making healthcare one of the fastest growing sectors in the country.

We all know how important it is to take care of our nurses, but what can you actually do? Here are some options.

Feed The Fight

Feed The Fight is a charity started by Dr Matt Montgomery, who is an anaesthesiologist at Rose Medical Centre. The idea is that the money donated will provide food to hard working health care staff who are doing long hours on the front line, and often find themselves working long hours without food.

Since its inception the movement has grown, and Feed The Fight have enlisted the help of local restaurants to help them provide food to even more well deserving health care professionals. Nurses have said that the initiative has been really helpful to them, as not only has it made sure that they don’t go hungry, it has given them one less thing to worry about when they come into the hospital for an already overwhelming day of work. It has also helped staff to feel that their communities are rallying behind them.

Denver Health Foundation

Another organization doing good work is the Denver Health Foundation, who were founded in 1998 to support the work of Denver Health. They found that federal funding was insufficient to cover all the work they needed to do for their threefold goal of patient care, education and research, so they decided to set up a way for donors to help. Denver Health joins forces with donors to provide social innovations for the growing city, such as:

• Health care delivery
• Health clinics for children in schools
• Social and community support 
• Economic development through workforce development

If you would like to support the work of the Denver Health Foundation, they accept donations, or alternatively, you could offer your time as a volunteer. Volunteers are vital in allowing the professional staff to have more time to provide quality care to patients. 

All volunteers begin as pathfinders, helping patients find their way around the huge and sometimes maze-like campus at Denver Health. Once volunteers have completed 32 hours of volunteering as a pathfinder, they can specialize in areas and do things like:

• Book Cart – visit patients on medical surgery floors and provide a trolley of books, puzzles and games.
• Medical Surgery Floors – restock rooms, meet patient needs, answer call lights and help support staff.
• Clerical Volunteers – welcome people, put together educational materials and provide administrative support.
• My-Chart Sign Up – help patients to sign up for my-chart, which allows them to access medical services such as repeat prescriptions and appointment booking online.
• Pediatric Volunteers – help organize events and care for the littlest hospital residents.
• Spiritual Care – working in the spiritual care department to help patients with matters relating to their spiritual well-being.
• Emergency Department – support patients, run errands and restock rooms in the fast paced trauma center
• Pet Therapy – provide comfort and joy to patients in the hospital if your furry friend is certified as a therapy animal.

Train as a Nurse

Training as a nurse you will not only be directly supporting your fellow nurses and helping to ease their workload, but you will also be making a great career choice.

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country, so training as a nurse is a good way to ensure that you will always be able to find work. It’s also well paid: the median salary for nurses in 2019 was $73,300.

Nursing is also an incredibly rewarding career choice, as you will directly be working with people to improve their lives and there are plenty of opportunities for progression. Nurses work in huge city hospitals or small local health clinics, and once you have gained some experience you can take the opportunity to specialize in the branch of nursing that most appeals to you. Specialization usually comes with an increase in salary, too. 

It’s getting easier all the time to retrain as a nurse. You can study online accelerated BSN programs for non nurses, which means that if you are unable to relocate, this doesn’t have to stop you from pursuing a new career. 

Look After Yourself

Looking after yourself is probably the most powerful thing that you can do to help support nurses in Denver. By looking after yourself and encouraging your friends and family to do the same, you are easing nurse workloads and improving your own life into the bargain! 

According to Web MD, there are a few simple things you can do to look after your health.

• Becoming flexitarian is a great way to get a lot of the benefits of a plant based diet without having to cut out meat and dairy completely. Studies have shown that people who eat more plant based foods may keep their weight in check and lower chances of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.
• Varying your veg is important because by eating as many varieties of fruits and vegetables as possible, you are getting a much wider variety of vitamins and minerals. A great way to do this is to make sure that at least half of your plate is made up of veg and that it has as many different colors as possible. It sounds a little simplistic, but this tip genuinely helps you to get varied vitamins into your diet!
• Cutting out sugary drinks and replacing them with water means that you will be getting far less empty calories, and you will be better hydrated. Sugary drinks have been linked to heart attacks, gout and obesity, and some studies have shown that a soft drink or two each day can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 26%.
• Move around more and it will benefit you by helping you maintain a healthy weight, keep your joints from stiffening, and keep your heart and lungs healthy. The recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes per week, but anything is better than nothing, so even if it’s just making a point of walking around the block it’s well worth doing.
• Sleep is not only lovely, but it is a must for good health. Sleep deprivation raises your odds of heart disease, diabetes, strokes and obesity, and won’t help your mood either. Make it a priority to get to bed early enough that you wake up well rested.
• Commit to managing stress by finding an outlet for it, whether it’s talking with friends, meditating, yoga, or taking up a high intensity sport. If that doesn’t work, then talk it through with a therapist or counselor to find a solution.
• Wash your hands as it really is the simplest way to prevent the spread of disease.
• Limit your drinking to one drink per day for women, and two for men.
• Don’t smoke, it’s bad for almost every part of your body and has no benefits. If you are struggling to give up then speak to your doctor.
• Attend regular checkups as they will help prevent serious illness, and give you a better prognosis if you do become ill.

It’s a good idea to focus on just one area at a time when trying to make your life healthier, as if you try to do too many things at once then it is likely to become overwhelming. You may also find it easier to make positive changes if you talk to your friends and family about what you are doing. Not only will they be able to provide you with support, but seeing the good work that you’re doing might inspire them to do the same!