The energy-boosting secret every nurse should know

It’s no secret that we here at ScrubsMag love our Nurseonalities. Brimming with stories, positivity, advice and, of course, sheer personality, our Nurseonalities help keep ScrubsMag original, authentic and very much in tune with all things nursey.
With that said, we’d like to introduce you to Alice Benjamin, our newest Nurseonality! Nurse Alice is an award-winning cardiac clinical nurse specialist with more than a decade of experience. She was the first African-American nurse elected to the American Nurses Association/California Board of Directors, served on the National Health Policy Committee for NBNA, is a former California AARP Affordable Care Act Advisor and is chairman for the American Heart Association’s Western States Multicultural Health Task Force.

We are thrilled to welcome Alice to the Scrubs family, where she’ll be sharing health tips and news that nurses need to know. Watch her very first ScrubsBeat video below!

Although the National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep every night, it’s often difficult for nurses to achieve this. Need sleep but are short on time? Try a POWER CAFFEINE NAP!

Let me explain….

As you know, during the course of the day, a chemical called adenosine builds up in our brains, causing us to become tired. When we sleep, it burns off and we feel rested. But when we can’t get enough sleep, many of us drink coffee to stay awake. We nurses love our sleep, but we LOVE our coffee.

Coffee has caffeine that increases our wakefulness and alertness. But what some people may not know is that it takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes for caffeine to reach its full effect.

So try this nursing secret: a power caffeine nap. Drink a single cup of coffee and then immediately take a 20- to 30-minute nap. When you wake up, the adenosine will have burned off, the caffeine will have kicked in and you’ll be ready to go!

Follow @AskNurseAlice on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel for great health tips and the latest health news.