At home, at work and on the go, it's important to maintain good health practices, especially on travel nursing jobs. This cold and flu season, you can help prevent the spread of germs and viruses through the use of antibacterial soaps and other products.
Products to keep on hand
As a professional travel nurse, you can't risk coming to work with a virus. The close contact you maintain with patients on a daily basis puts them at risk of catching anything you've brought in the room. So, be sure to keep these antibacterials on hand to avoid contracting an infection yourself and potentially passing it on to others:
- Antibacterial soaps: Throughout the course of a standard day, you're touching germs on door knobs, keyboards and even bathroom faucet handles. In order to kill any nasty microbes waiting to make you sick, stick to using antibacterial soaps.
- Hand sanitizers: Instant hand sanitizer that you keep in your bag can provide a great way to stay germ-free, even on the go. When you don't have access to soap and water, these gels can be used to kill off germs you pick up at the grocery store or when picking up a cup of coffee before you start work.
- Wipes: If you purchase the right hand and face wipes, you can find ones that help to prevent the spread of some germs. These products should be used when soaps and sanitizers aren't around or in addition to them. However, they can make for great quick cleanups when you're in a hurry.
Although there are plenty of antibacterials on the market today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is in the works of developing new drugs by way of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's Antibacterial Drug Development Task Force.
Other tips for prevention
There are a number of things that you can do to avoid contracting the flu or cold this season. Although both illnesses seem to plague offices and homes during the same time of year, there are different preventative measures for the two. Depending on your symptoms, here's what you can do to stay (or get) healthy and back to your travel nursing job:
- The flu: As an RN, it will be hard to stay away from those that are ill, so your best bet is to take further action. Cleaning your hands regularly is good practice at work in general, but make sure to sanitize anytime you are in contact with someone who appears to have the flu virus. Additionally, you'll want to avoid touching your face – specifically, your eyes, nose and mouth – so that you don't contaminate yourself with germs. If you do get sick, stay home. Otherwise, maintaining healthy habits such as exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of fluids, eating right and managing your stress can all help to boost your immune system.
- A cold: In some cases, you can stop a cold in its tracks, if you take the necessary steps. At the first sign of a sore throat, start drinking plenty of water and juice. Gargling salt water can help to reduce inflammation and remove any mucus or other irritants from your throat. You may want to to pick up some over-the-counter products containing zinc and vitamin C to zap that cold from your system. However, if you wait a day or two, these items are less likely to be effective. From there, all you can do is rest up and hope you caught the cold in time.
No one wants to catch a cold or the flu, and on travel nurse jobs you can help others avoid these viruses by sharing some of our tips.