Grief is more about just physical loss but also the thought of loss itself. When someone is diagnosed with an illness or disease that is terminal, one has yet to lose but acknowledges that loss will come. This type of anticipatory grief is very common with family who live with terminal diagnosis of a loved one. Parents can also live with this type of loss when a child is diagnosed with a disease, terminal or not. They have to live with the new reality imposed by the disease or the potential future of loss. This can create an uneasy existence of hope and loss existing side by side.
Sometimes while anticipating loss, we still must enjoy the present. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
Living and dealing with grief with hope and love is a difficult thing to do but sometimes it is the best thing to do even if darker days lay ahead. One cannot deny the future, but one can definitely love the present. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
Grief that is not processed or acknowledged can cause long term mental issues. Complications in grief are due to not facing grief and processing the loss in a healthy fashion. When we purposely ignore our feelings due to loss, we open ourselves to greater damage down the road. Grief is part of healing and is essential to adjusting to the loss in a healthy fashion. If we do not grieve, we will suffer more. Acknowledging grief is an essential ingredient to recovery.
One must accept the grief associated with their journey in life. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic goals
One cannot dismiss emotion due to shame or fear of weakness, but realize that anything worth love is also worth grieving over.
The article, “The Grief We Avoid Is The Grief That We Need” by LaLaine Dawn looks at how grief is important and essential to the very reality of living. She states,
“A lot of us are so afraid to admit we are grieving for fear that people may see us as weak or stupid for feeling that way. Honestly, I can’t blame you. In my experience, there were people in my life who would laugh at my grief. They would tell me I deserved to suffer.”
To read the entire article, please click here
Grief is hence an important element of the human condition. It cannot be ignored but must be acknowledged and dealt with. To learn more, please review our Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
The field of nursing is a very diverse field. While it is primarily thought of only a career of caring for patients in a hospital or primary practice, the opportunities go well beyond these basic nursing ideals. With so many opportunities, nurses find themselves in a unique position to branch their careers beyond the basic and into multi disciplined practices that can enhance their patient care or put them in entirely different situations aside from patient care.
Nurses have numerous opportunities to diversify their career through nursing certifications and licenses
Nurses first of all can enhance their careers through licensed specialties. Many of these specialties are licensed while some are only certified, but most require more advanced education that merely a RN license. Nurses who look to pursue higher positions and better wages usually must pursue their Bachelors in Nursing, and in some cases, their Masters in Nursing.
Some specialties that require higher education include neonatal nursing, nurse midwife, nurse practitioner, and nurse anesthetist. Nurse practitioners in some states are able to even prescribe medication and see patients due to the high profile status of the position. Most usually work within a primary care facility. Nurse anesthetists are one of the highest paying nursing fields and deal with the administration of anesthesia. Nurse midwives deal with helping and aiding women through pregnancy. (1)
These positions increase annual wage considerably, with nurse practitioners earning over $100,000 a year and and nurse anesthetists earning over $160,000 a year. Nurse midwives earn slightly over $100,000 a year. As one can see these positions considerably increase the annual pay but come with more intense training and patient care. (2)
In addition to these positions, there are also pediatric nurses who care for children, critical care and trauma nursing, and also various titles within the nurse practitioner field, involving geriatrics, as well as psychiatric health nurse practitioner. Again all of these fields lead to far higher pay raises than the basic RN. (3)
Some positions do not require higher degrees but are merely certifications. Certifications differ from licenses. Certifications unlike licenses are not issued or regulated by the state but through an independent for profit or non profit professional organization. Certifications are not mandatory to operate but are are voluntary awards from a third party reputable organization that can verify a person’s excellence and knowledge within a certain discipline. Many healthcare professionals as well as nurses seek to utilize certifications as a way to validate their career and help them find a particular niche. The certifications are sometimes required by employers and help advance many nurses into specialized non licensed fields.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals has sought to meet this certification demand, as well as CE demand of nurses by offering certification programs particularly designed for nurses. The programs are all online and for some nurses in various states, not only offer a certification, but also offer CE hours through the required courses to attain certification. The certifications are all four years and are renewable after that period. The courses to achieve certification are all online and independent study. This formula is beneficial to the working professional and affords them the necessary freedom and time to concentrate on their career while also completing course work towards their certification.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals offers a wide variety of nursing certifications that do not require license. These programs are open to registered nurses. While an undergraduate is always preferred, one can enter these courses with only an RN license and achieve a professional certification that can serve them in their career.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals offers a variety of healthcare and nursing certifications that can help enhance any nursing career
One of the most popular certification programs is the Healthcare Case Management Program. Consisting of five core courses, the nurse can complete this program easily within a few months if preferred and be able to operate in the field of Case Manager. As a Case Manager, the nurse will be able to coordinate patient information with various branches of care and also ensure that proper care in and after treatment is given to the patient.
Another popular program is the Legal Nurse Consulting Program. This program helps nurses learn how to take their bedside skills to the courtroom. In doing so, the nurse is able to combine medical procedural knowledge with legal case law and become an important party in legal malpractice cases, helping either the patient or defending the healthcare provider. The Legal Nurse Consultant is sometimes part of a legal team and offers expert testimony or behind the scenes with the legal team.
One program that is gaining more popularity is Forensic Nursing. This certified field trains nurses to deal with cases of rape and other crimes. The Forensic Nurse is able to aid the police and other law enforcement agencies in identifying key evidence in prosecuting criminals.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals also offers a certification in Nurse Patient Educator. As a Nurse Patient Educator, a nurse is able to better educate patients about their diagnosis and also guide them through their treatment plans. In many ways, they can also ease the fears of many patients through education on what they are facing and what to expect. Numerous hospitals find this role to be very valuable in patient relations and also in follow up care.
Another program that is also growing popularity is Holistic Integrative Care Specialist. As a Holistic Nurse, one is able to guide patients with other alternative and holistic healing methods, while ensuring these methods do not interfere with any conventional medications the patient may be using. It is very dangerous for a person to pursue alternative methods without first consulting with a healthcare professional who understands both Eastern and Western medications. The Certified Holistic Nurse meets those needs.
Finally, The American Institute of Health Care Professionals has created its newest certification, the Healthcare Manager Certification for nurses. This program is designed for nurses who are seeking to become managers within their department. This program prepares them to enter into management and how to lead departments to success. This should not be confused with an healthcare executive position, but is only a healthcare manager position. With so much competition for advancement within the healthcare ladder, sometimes a certification in Healthcare Management can be the difference between one candidate and another in advancement.
With so many certifications offered by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, nurses have many different opportunities to diversify and enhance their careers
As one can see, healthcare professionals in nursing have an array of options to diversify their career and also earn thousands more. Through higher education, licenses, and in some cases, certifications as well, nurses can diversify and earn more than their basic base salary and duties offer. In seeing this, the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, has in the last 20 years answered that call and certified thousands into these fields.
If you would like to learn more about the nursing certifications offered by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, then please review our programs and see if they match your academic and professional goals.
Great article on grief and how it can affect sleep. Sleep is important to recovery from anything and sometimes loss can take such an affect on someone that sleep can be negatively affected. Whether nightmares or insomnia, it is important to find help in dealing with grief when sleep is deprived.
Sleep is key to good health. Grief can disrupt sleep and health. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
The article, “Sleeping After Loss: Understanding the Effects of Grief on Sleep” by Sleep Adviser offers a comprehensive information chart on grief and sleep. The article looks at the danger of lack of sleep and ways to regain sleep while dealing with grief. The article states,
“Losing sleep might be a normal thing that everyone goes through from time to time, especially in times of great distress or sadness, but that doesn’t diminish the terrible impact it can have on the body.”
Spiritual leaders are not perfect. In the news we see corruption at all levels of spiritual leaders. On a smaller scale, spiritual leaders may be sincere but many have imperfections. We can come into conflict with various spiritual leaders over numerous issues in the life of the church. How we approach these differences and know how to react are key. Sometimes we may need to submit to their ideals other times they may be very wrong and need admonished but in a way of charity and respect.
How do we approach the errors of our spiritual leaders? Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification
The article, “The right way to disagree with spiritual elders” by Michael Brown looks at how we can with respect, disagree and work with spiritual elders. He states,
“I write these words as an elder in the Body, as a father in the faith, and as one who despises abusive and heavy-handed leadership. So, before I talk about how to disagree with a spiritual elder, allow me to speak plainly about the role of Church leaders.”
Respect is very important whenever we come into disagreement with our spiritual elders. It is essential we discuss the error or issue in a charitable, private and respectful way. Please also review our Christian Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.
Palliative care helps individuals face life threatening illnesses with compassion and care. Hospice helps those who are terminal. Both can give the comforts of home during an illness or near death. Is dying at home overrated or is it truly better?
Dying at home is a luxury not all have. Please also review our pastoral thanatology program and see if it meets your academic needs
The article, “Is Dying at Home Overrated?” by Jon Han looks at this question in detail. He states,
“It is emotionally and intellectually compelling that patients should die in their own homes, surrounded by loved ones in a comfortable, familiar environment. For patients dying of end-stage disease, be it cancer, heart disease or something else, even the best hospitals are unlikely to be able to “fix” the underlying problem.”
Dying at home has many benefits if possible. It can give the emotional and spiritual needs a person needs. Please review our Pastoral Thanatology Program and see if it meets your educational and professional needs.
Divorce naturally creates loss and grief. Grief is a natural bi product of divorce and adjusting to this type of loss can take years. While numerous stresses can occur, some divorces can create complicated grief reactions. In these cases, extra help and counseling is needed.
Divorce always leads to some type of grief. Sometimes it can more serious than other times. Please also review our Grief Counseling Training Program
The article, “Grieving After Divorce Is Normal, But This Kind Of Grief Isn’t” by Karen Finn discusses when grief and divorce can go terribly wrong. The article states,
“After all, divorce is the end of a way of life and of your dreams. It makes sense that you’d feel sad about it, mourn who you were in your married life and are no more, and be grief-stricken that all of your plans for a happily-ever-after have come to a screeching halt.”
To learn more about divorce and how to help individuals through it, review the entire article by clicking here
Divorce is never easy. A trained Grief Counselor can help. Please review our Grief Counseling Training Program to see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
A stillborn birth is a terrible experience for the parents. Still in the shuffle of loss and pain, other family members are also forgotten. Potential grandparents suffer the loss very hard as well. Grand parents share in the lives of their children and seeing their adult children lose a child and also be denied a grandchild is also very painful.
Grandparents also suffer the loss of a grandchild due to stillborn. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic needs
The article, “When a baby is stillborn, grandparents are hit with ‘two lots of grief’. Here’s how we can help” by Beth Daley states,
“Six babies are stillborn every day in Australia. This significant loss affects parents for years to come, often the rest of their lives. However, stillbirth also affects many others, including grandparents.”
Grandparents definitely have much to suffer when they lose a grandchild. They have to not only mourn themselves but also be there for their children. To read the entire article, please click here
Child grieving is unique and different than adult grieving. Child grief is multi dimensional based on the child’s age and maturity. Children grieve differently and understand reality and death and loss differently. Due to this, it is critical to discuss loss with children and expose them to the reality of it in a good way.
It is important to understand children and how they grieve. Please also review our Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Program
The article, “How to Help a Child Cope With Grief” by Jen Chesak looks deeper into how one can better discuss loss and grief with children. She states,
“Let’s be real. Grief is tough enough for adults — even though we understand that death is an inescapable part of life. The loss of a loved one is never easy, regardless of our age. That’s why when it comes to explaining grief to kids, we can get a big knot in our throat.”
To learn more about child grief and loss and to read the entire article, please click here
Stress and eating can go hand and hand. Many people cope with stress in different ways. Eating can be a very unhealthy way to deal with stress if it is consistent and in large amounts. It can deviate one from regular exercise and lead to bad dietary habits.
Does stress lead you to unhealthy eating habits? Please also review our Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it meets your academic needs
The article, “Stress-eating: Five strategies to slow down” by Kelly Bilodeau states,
“Weight gain has many underlying causes but one of the most common is something we all experience: stress. Whether it’s the, mild temporary kind caused by a traffic jam or major and chronic, triggered by a traumatic life event — stress is no friend to your waistline”
To learn more about stress and eating, please review the article by clicking here
Please also review our Stress Management Consulting Program, as well as our Holistic Nurse program and see if they match your academic and professional goals.
