by Nursetopia on May 20, 2013
I’ve had my fair share of stale PowerPoint presentations. Trust me, I’ve given many of them, too. I find the presentations I enjoy the most have clean aesthetics, minimal text, and provide opportunities for storytelling. Considering I like those things in presentations, I choose to present this way, as well.
I had the lovely opportunity to speak on behalf of the Nurse Oncology Education Program to a group of nurses and nurse faculty at the beautiful Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth on Saturday. One presentation was directed for faculty on how to make oncology content “stick” in undergraduate curricula, something I’ve grown passionate about as a result of working with faculty over several years. The second presentation was about colorectal cancer screening.
Both topics can be rather dull, so I try to make the content come alive in any way possible – mostly with stories, vocal tone, and creative PowerPoint backgrounds. In preparation for the presentation, I couldn’t find any background I really liked, so I just made my own with simple shapes, lines, transparency settings, and colors. One of the nursing faculty members asked for the templates, so I thought I’d share, share, share in true Nursetopia fashion.
You can download the “Notepad & Tape” PowerPoint template here and the “Screen” PowerPoint template here. (Any large, unused space likely included a picture.) Enjoy!
by Nursetopia on May 7, 2013
Nurses Week is full of freebies and giveaways to spread the love among the largest healthcare profession in the U.S. Here’s a smattering of some of the FREE stuff this week:
- Lippincott’s NursingCenter.com is always on my Nurses Week favorites. I do enjoy a good nursing research article – as evidence by my frequent article reviews – and NursingCenter.com opens up all their journals for free downloads all week long. Sigh. It’s lovely. Seriously, Nursing Students, I know you always need free, full-text nursing journal articles. You should absolutely stock up on these downloads now! Nursing Center.com has more than free articles, though, including an innovation contest and free CE. Hooray!
- Dansko is giving away some prize packs across the U.S…oh, and some shoes right here on Nursetopia!
- Cinnabon is giving away one Classic Roll or Minibon Roll to nurses showing their healthcare badges. Yum!
- Buca di Beppo is offering some delicious Italian food with this coupon. (Thanks, My DFW Mommy!)
- Advance for Nurses has free CE just for Nurses Week.
- New York & Company (love their clothes!) is giving nurses 30% everything through May 8th.
- The American Nurses Association is hosting a free webinar, Innovation in Nursing Practice: Are You Leading the Charge?, in honor of the special week.
- The Gypsy Nurse has quite the list of regional Nurses Week events and discounts. Woohoo for going local!
- Scrubsmag.com has created a nifty Nurse’s Guide to Nurses Week, where nurses can find a bunch of fun articles, giveaways, games, cartoons and eCards, including a “Pin It to Win It” Sweeps on Pinterest featuring Dickies, Cherokee and products from The Code Happy Store (Opening Soon).
by Nursetopia on May 5, 2013
Want to send a resounding (and stylish!) thank you to the nurses in your life this week? Here’s a list of freebies and low-cost ideas just for you. Enjoy!
They’re free. Give, give, give this week. Spread some love. The nurses in your life need it.
by Nursetopia on May 3, 2013
Download, print, handwrite your message on the back, and give this card to your favorite triple-’threat’ nurse – perhaps during Nurses Week, which is May 6 – 12.
by Nursetopia on May 2, 2013
“You rock!” is a favorite phrase of mine. It’s my kudos sentence of choice, and it’s usually accompanied by a high five, a dance of some sort, or lots of finger pointing. It’s only natural to incorporate it into a postcard that’s perfect for Nurses Week or any other celebratory moment. Download it, print it, give it!
by Nursetopia on May 1, 2013
National Cubicle Day was April 28, 2013. That fell on the weekend, so I decided to celebrate the national day among my team, which “offices” in cubes – modular workstations, rather – today. Below is the invite I created, and all of our food was cubed, rectangle, or boxed-themed in some way. It was great fun making fun of working in a cube and all the “special joy” it brings. It brought us closer together for a small moment during our busy workday, which is always a good thing.
If you and your coworkers live worklife in the box, feel free to download and use the invite, overlaying a textbox with your party date and location in the white space.
by Nursetopia on April 24, 2013
It just makes me smile. I can think of many nurses I want to give this postcard-type card to. You can download, print, and give it to the nurses in your life, too. Be sure to write your personal-hero sentiments on the reverse!
by Nursetopia on April 18, 2013
I really love the idea of personalizing items in myriad ways. These two cards – outlined in either navy blue or hot pink – contain the same word search. You can leave the word search blank, or you can further personalize the card, highlighting or circling the specific words you want to emphasize.
All of the “searchable” words in the puzzle are: advocate, amazing, caring, diligent, fantastic, humble, intelligent, kind, knowledgeable, licensed, nurse, registered, rocking, stellar, vocational. Have fun!
You can download the navy blue card here.
You can download the hot pink card here.
by Nursetopia on April 17, 2013
Nurses Week is May 6-12. I’m certain you know a nurse (likely a lot of ‘em), and you need to start planning now if you want to let each of them know how important they are to you or to your organization.
I plan to do my part to help you acknowledge and honor the nurses around you while ensuring you don’t break the bank. I’ll publish free, printable cards until Nurses Week, so you can be sure to find one or a few cards to celebrate the nurses in your life.
Most of the cards will be broad enough to use throughout the year, as well. Bonus!
by Nursetopia on April 17, 2013
The countdown to the 38th ONS Congress is rapidly coming to an end. As Chair of the Congress Planning Team, I’ve been looking forward to this conference for over a year now, and it’s really nice to see the collective work of numerous people come to fruition.
For the first time, ONS is live-streaming three of the signature Congress sessions – the New Drug Update on Thursday, April 25, from 4:00 – 5:30 PM (Eastern Time); the Mara Mogensen Flaherty Lecture - The Patient’s Voice: Are We Hard of Hearing? - on Saturday, April 27, from 8:30 – 10:00 AM; and the ONS Clinical Lecture - Effective Symptom Management to Optimize Care with Oral Cancer - on Saturday, April 27, from 4:00 – 5:30 PM.
To view the cornerstone lectures, simply visit the live streaming area at the time of the lecture, and enjoy – free of charge! Seriously, these lectures will be well-worth your time. I look forward to each of these annual sessions, which are different each year, but hands down – my all-time top Congress moment each year is the “Mara Lecture.” It has literally changed my nursing practice annually in some shape or form. That’s saying something year after year! And, the New Drug Update session will help all nurses and healthcare professionals – not only oncology specialized ones – to remain current on recently approved medications as well as glean helpful tips to differentiate all of the targeted therapies.
Be sure to join in on the back-channel ONS Congress conversations on Twitter via #ONSCongress.
Do. Not. Miss. These. Sessions!
I had the lovely opportunity to speak on behalf of the Nurse Oncology Education Program to a group of nurses and nurse faculty at the beautiful Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth on Saturday. One presentation was directed for faculty on how to make oncology content “stick” in undergraduate curricula, something I’ve grown passionate about as a result of working with faculty over several years. The second presentation was about colorectal cancer screening.
Both topics can be rather dull, so I try to make the content come alive in any way possible – mostly with stories, vocal tone, and creative PowerPoint backgrounds. In preparation for the presentation, I couldn’t find any background I really liked, so I just made my own with simple shapes, lines, transparency settings, and colors. One of the nursing faculty members asked for the templates, so I thought I’d share, share, share in true Nursetopia fashion.
