4 Key Work Benefits Modern Healthcare Workers Should Demand

4 Key Work Benefits Modern Healthcare Workers Should Demand

If the throes of recent health emergencies have taught the healthcare industry anything, it’s that healthcare workers deserve better. According to a recently published Shift Work Report, 96% of workers, including healthcare workers, agree that shift workers deserve more respect. Whether working on the frontlines, in emergency departments, or attending to patients in a family care clinic, nurses deserve more.

As a modern healthcare worker, you should fight for the benefits that you deserve. And as an employer, you should know what your employees want and need in a workplace in order to reduce turnover. Continue reading for four key work benefits that nurses should demand.

In Demand: The Current Climate of Nursing

Although nurses are indispensable, they are often unsupported. Unfortunately, the issue of undervaluation for nurses is worse for women and, even more so, women of color. Nearly 1.7 million female healthcare workers live below the poverty line with their children.

Many nurses continue to make minimum wage, even though their jobs require a high skill set and at least some education. This is not the only problem that nurses face today. With employers discouraging unionization, non-unionized nurses are missing out on an extra $128 per week.

In addition, nurses experience dangerous working conditions with little protection. Exposure to chemicals and illnesses due to a lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) causes millions of healthcare workers to get sick or injured on the job.

Other than pay and safety, hospital healthcare workers endure inflexible schedules and long working hours that lead to quick burnout, whereas nurses that don’t work in emergency departments are facing job insecurity due to COVID-19.

The culmination of these issues have made one thing especially clear: it is time for a change in the way that nurses are treated.

On-Demand: 4 Value Drivers for Nurses

Beyond the bare minimum of a livable wage and accommodating work arrangements, it’s important that administrators implement key changes to incentivize productivity and loyalty.

Here are four value drivers for nurses, and how employers can implement better practices.

1.    Moral Support and Job Security

Many say that nursing is a great career to go into because there are always jobs available. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected 175,900 nursing jobs to open each year. However, according to the report cited in the intro of this article, 69% of shift workers—including healthcare workers—are concerned about job security even with high growth projections.

With so much insecurity in the healthcare industry, employers should work hard to ensure that their nursing staff feel supported. Here are ways in which employers can do this:

  • Empower staff by allowing them to swap shifts.
  • Provide clear expectations about hours and job tasks.
  • Make hours visible to staff so that they know what to expect on payday.

Although employers can’t control job security industry-wide, they can control whether or not they are morally supporting their nurses.

2.    A Safe and Healthy Workplace: Fair Working Conditions

COVID-19 has brought about new concerns in healthcare workplace safety. Nurses are forced to take the brunt of health hazards as they care for the most vulnerable patients, with or without proper PPE. Although it may seem hopeless, nurses can fight for stronger ethics and workplace safety.

Here are ways that employers can make a safer environment for nurses:

  • Double-checking employee health through temperature screenings and symptom logs.
  • Use videos to share new safety protocols.
  • Implement touchless clock-in features, such as apps or keycards.
  • Ensure that employees know about fair working regulations.

It’s important for nurses to follow CDC and WHO recommendations. More importantly, employers should optimize PPE according to CDC guidelines, so that nurses don’t have to work without it.

3.    Flexible Schedules

Many nurses love shift work, with 66% of workers seeing flexible scheduling as the top benefit of their job. There are some types of nursing that offer more flexibility than others. For example, telehealth nursing offers excellent schedule flexibility due to the work-from-home aspect.

Schedule flexibility is especially important to mothers and caregivers. In fact, 40% of nurses are mothers with children under the age of 18. Without schedule flexibility, nurses may have a difficult time securing childcare or working around school schedules.

4.    Communication and Care

Above all, employers need to prioritize communication with their nurses and working towards their benefit. Healthcare shift workers should feel comfortable talking with their employers about issues like safety, pay, scheduling and benefits. Here is how employers can develop soft skills and make nurses a priority:

  • Build schedules based on employee needs.
  • Ensure that payroll is accurate and on time.
  • Connect with your team to encourage a more friendly work atmosphere.
  • Provide opportunities for promotions and raises.

Essential Workers Deserve More

Nursing and healthcare facility staff have quite literally saved the day in the past year. Their tireless efforts have mitigated major risks and helped families through a global pandemic. Many of them had more to do than ever before which caused more stress at work and at home too.

It’s now more important than ever to care for nurses as employees. It will result in higher productivity, low turnover and burnout rates, an overall higher degree of job satisfaction and, in the end, better patient outcomes. All it takes is a few changes in the workplace to make this happen.

Top 25 Nursing Employers of 2014

Top 25 Nursing Employers of 2014

For the second year in a row, we reached out to Minority Nurse readers about what they look for in a workplace—and how their current employers stack up.

Unsurprisingly, salary and benefits once again topped the list of factors respondents considered when looking at potential employers. But for many readers, workplace satisfaction was about more than just compensation. This year’s results showed an increased focus on quality of life factors, such as corporate culture, workplace environment, and flexibility of hours. Diversity and workplace size—while still important to many respondents—were less of a factor when considering potential employers.

Overwhelmingly, this year’s results showed readers were quite satisfied with their current jobs. The majority rated their employers as “good” or “excellent” in most categories, including workplace size, job perks, and benefits. The areas most in need of improvement according to this year’s survey were opportunity for advancement and salary, though Minority Nurse’s Salary Survey from 2014 showed that readers have seen steady pay increases in that area over the last few years.

This year’s responses, which were gathered through an online questionnaire sent to Minority Nurse subscribers, came from across the country, with California, New York, Texas, and Pennsylvania as the most represented states. Companies that scored well this year were mostly very large organizations with thousands of employees, including several academic-affiliated medical centers, such as Duke University Health System and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center; government agencies, such as the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service; and big urban hospitals and networks, such as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Cleveland Clinic.

Our final list of top 25 companies, presented alphabetically, scored well in the categories that were most important to our readers. We’ve provided a brief introduction to each organization, as well as contact information for job seekers.


Advocate Health Care

Website:advocatehealth.com

Location: Facilities throughout Illinois

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 10,000

About the company: Formed in 1995 with the merger of Evangelical Health Systems Corporation and Lutheran General Health System, the Advocate Health Care network is one of the largest employers in the Chicago area. It includes 12 acute-care hospitals (six of which are Magnet-certified) and more than 200 other health care facilities, including hospices. Several Advocate hospitals have consistently ranked in the U.S. News & World Report annual best hospitals, among other accolades.

Contact: Job listings are available at jobs.advocatehealth.com


Bellin Health

Website:bellin.org

Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility (approximately 750 at Bellin Hospital)

About the company: Founded more than 100 years ago by Dr. Julius J. Bellin as General Hospital, Bellin Health is now comprised of several medical and educational entities, including the 167-bed acute-care facility Bellin Hospital, two psychiatric treatment centers, and a network of family medical offices, as well as the Bellin College of Nursing, which offers the only four-year baccalaureate-nursing program in northeast Wisconsin.

Contact: Job listings are available at bellin.org/careers


California State University

Website:calstate.edu

Location: Facilities throughout California

Number of employees: Varies by campus

About the company: California State University is the largest four-year university system in the country, with nearly 447,000 students. The CSU Nursing Program offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in nursing. Nurse educators are employed at 18 of the school’s 23 campuses located throughout the state.

Contact: Job listings are available at csucareers.calstate.edu


Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Website:chop.edu

Location: Headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 3,600

About the company: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is the nation’s oldest children’s hospital, and is widely regarded as one of the best. It’s topped the U.S. News & World Report list of best children’s hospitals for the last five years, and has been Magnet-certified since 2004. In addition to its main hospital in West Philadelphia, CHOP operates more than 50 smaller practices throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and several large expansion projects are in the works, including a new outpatient facility set to open in 2015.

Contact: Job listings are available at chop.edu/careers


Cleveland Clinic

Website:clevelandclinic.org

Location: Headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility (approximately 6,500 at the main campus)

About the company: Known as one of the most medically innovative hospitals in the country, the Cleveland Clinic’s long list of “firsts” includes the isolation of serotonin, the first coronary bypass surgery, and the first face-transplant in the United States. It is ranked in several specialties on the U.S. News & World Report list of best hospitals. In addition to its main location in Cleveland, it operates seven more hospitals throughout Ohio, as well as affiliates in Florida and Nevada, and international outposts in Canada and Saudi Arabia.

Contact: Job listings are available at jobs.clevelandclinic.org


Community Health Network

Website:ecommunity.com

Location: Facilities throughout Indiana

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: Established in 1956 after a massive grassroots fundraising effort by Indianapolis residents, Community Hospital (now Community Hospital East) has grown to a sprawling network of more than 200 facilities throughout central Indiana. It has been named one of the best places to work by The Indianapolis Star.

Contact: Job listings are available at employment.ecommunity.com


Duke University Health System

Website:dukemedicine.org

Location: Headquarters in Durham, North Carolina

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility (approximately 3,000 at Duke University Hospital)

About the company: Duke University Hospital (since renamed Duke University Medical Center) was established in 1930 thanks to a bequest from James B. Duke. Today, the 7.5-million-square-foot facility is the flagship hospital in a network that includes the Duke Clinic, Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke Raleigh Hospital, as well as the Duke University Medical School and the Duke University School of Nursing. Duke has been nationally recognized for its several specialties, including cardiology, nephrology, and ophthalmology.

Contact: Job information is available at hr.duke.edu


Gwynedd Mercy University

Website:gmercyu.edu

Location: Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania

Number of employees: Approximately 500

About the company: This Catholic-affiliated university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing and other medical specialties at the Frances M. Maguire School of Nursing and Health Professions division.

Contact: Job information is available at gmercyu.edu/about-gwynedd-mercy/administration/human-resources


Indian Health Service

Website:ihs.gov

Location: Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, with facilities throughout the country

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 2,700

About the company: The Indian Health Service was established in 1955 to improve the health of American Indians and Alaska Natives. This division of the US Department of Health and Human Services has an annual operating budget of $3.8 billion and oversees more than 100 medical facilities in 12 areas, each focused on the unique needs of the native American tribes in the region.

Contact: Job listings available at ihs.gov/dhr


Indiana University Health 

Website:iuhealth.org 

Location: Facilities throughout Indiana

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility (approximately 29,400 total employees)

About the company: Indiana University Health is a network of hospitals and other facilities throughout Indiana affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine. Last year, IUH had more than 2.5 million outpatient visits and over 136,000 admissions. Its facilities have been nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in several specialties, including cancer, neurology, and orthopedics. Six of the hospitals in the network have been designated Magnet facilities.

Contact: Job listings are available at iuhealth.org/careers/nursing-careers 


Kaiser Permanente 

Website:healthy.kaiserpermanente.org

Location: Headquarters in Oakland, California, with facilities in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and Washington, DC

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente operates more than 600 interconnected but independently managed medical facilities in the United States, as well as a managed-care plan with more than 9 million members.

Contact: Job listings are available at kaiserpermanentejobs.org


Los Angeles County Department of Health Services

Website:dhs.lacounty.gov 

Location: Los Angeles County, California

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: Los Angeles County Department of Health Services is the second-largest municipal health care system in the country. It operates in the most populous county in the United States, and provides medical care and services to approximately 800,000 patients annually at several hospitals and other medical centers.

Contact: Job listings are available at hr.lacounty.gov 


Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center 

Website:memorialhermann.org 

Location: Houston, Texas

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 1,800

About the company: This Magnet-recognized teaching hospital (affiliated with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School), is the oldest institution in the massive Texas Medical Center and the flagship hospital in the vast Memorial Hermann network with facilities throughout Texas. Its Level 1 trauma center sees more than 40,000 patients annually, and its Children’s Hospital is one of the top-ranked pediatric facilities nationwide.

Contact: Job listings are available at memorialhermann.org/careers 


NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital 

Website:nyp.org 

Location: New York, New York

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 5,000

About the company: This multi-campus institution is affiliated with two Ivy League universities, Columbia and Weill Cornell. It is the largest private employer in New York City, and one of the largest hospitals in the United States. It’s ranked sixth overall in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals survey. In addition to its two main facilities in Manhattan, the Columbia University Medical Center and the Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork–Presbyterian operates the Allen Hospital, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, and a psychiatric facility in nearby Westchester County. In July 2013, NewYork–Presbyterian expanded its reach when it merged with New York Downtown hospital, establishing the Lower Manhattan Hospital.

Contact: Job listings are available at careers.nyp.org   


Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center 

Website:ololrmc.com

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 1,300

About the company: A Catholic teaching hospital established 90 years ago, OLOL is one of the largest privately owned hospitals in Louisiana, as well as the largest of four hospitals in the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. Today, this Magnet-recognized facility serves 11 parishes, and has more than 1,000 beds.

Contact: Job listings are available at ololrmc.com/greatplacetowork 


Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Website:pennstatehershey.org

Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 1,800

About the company: This 475-bed teaching hospital affiliated with Penn State College of Medicine and College of Nursing is one of the largest and most respected hospitals in south central Pennsylvania. Its Children’s Hospital is ranked among the nation’s best in U.S. News & World Report’s top hospitals list, and it features the area’s only neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital’s Cancer Institute opened in 2009, and the volunteer-run LionCare clinic has been providing free health care services since 2002.

Contact: Job listings are available at pennstatehershey.org/web/humanresources/home/searchjobs


Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Website:rbhs.rutgers.edu

Location: Facilities and institutions throughout New Jersey

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: Part of the vast Rutgers University system in New Jersey, RBHS was established as an umbrella organization in 2013 after the dissolution of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. It comprises several medical and educational institutions, including the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, University Behavioral HealthCare, the Rutgers School of Nursing, and both of the Rutgers graduate schools of medicine: New Jersey Medical School and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The primary teaching hospital for Rutgers is the state-owned University Hospital in Newark.

Contact: Job information is available at uwide.rutgers.edu/about/employment-rutgers


SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Website:downstate.edu

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 650

About the company: Founded in 1860 as Long Island College Hospital, SUNY Downstate is now one of three medical centers in the State University of New York system. Today, it includes four patient-care facilities, as well as medical, nursing, and public health schools, among other academic programs. It’s the fourth largest employer in Brooklyn—a borough of New York City with more than 2 million residents—and its alumni network is impressive: More physicians practicing in New York City graduated from the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine than any other medical school.

Contact: Job listings are available at downstate.edu/human_resources


UNC Health Care

Website:unchealthcare.org

Location: Facilities located throughout North Carolina

About the company: UNC Health Care is a state-owned network of hospitals affiliated with the prestigious University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. In addition to 12 hospitals, which include several Magnet-recognized facilities, UNC Health Care provides services at family health practices, ambulatory care facilities, and urgent care units throughout the area.

Contact: Job listings are available at unchealthcare.org/site/humanresources/careers


University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Website:uamshealth.com

Location: Little Rock, Arkansas

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 1,400

About the company: The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has six academic divisions, including pharmacy, nursing, and public health schools, as well as the only medical school in Arkansas. The school’s main patient-care facility is UAMS Medical Center, though it expands it reach through smaller clinics located all over the state.

Contact: Job listings available at jobs.uams.edu


University of Maryland Medical System

Website:umms.org

Location: Facilities throughout Maryland

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: One of the largest hospital networks in the Mid-Atlantic region, University of Maryland Medical System is made up of nine hospitals, including one pediatric facility and several teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Maryland.

Contact: Job listings are available at umms.org/careers


University of Michigan Health System 

Website:med.umich.edu 

Location: Headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: This integrated health care system located in southern Michigan comprises three hospitals (University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital), 40 outpatient centers and more than 120 clinics, and a large home health care division.  It also includes the University of Michigan’s Medical School and School of Nursing, and it partners with other medical centers throughout the state via the Michigan Health Corporation. The Detroit Free Press has named UMHS one of the “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.”

Contact: Job listings are available at umhscareers.org 


University of Texas Medical Branch

Website:utmb.edu

Location: Galveston, Texas

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: This division of the University of Texas is located in a 70-building, 84-acre complex, which includes several hospitals and clinics, four schools, and numerous research facilities. In 2008, many of its buildings were badly damaged by Hurricane Ike, but it’s made a strong comeback and expanded its reach since.

Contact: Job listings are available at utmb.jobs


US Department of Veterans Affairs 

Website:va.gov 

Location: Headquarters in Washington, DC, with facilities throughout the United States

Number of nursing employees: Varies by facility

About the company: The US Department of Veterans Affairs was established in 1930, consolidating several agencies that provided services to veterans of American conflicts. Today, the Veterans Health Administration, the wing of the VA focused on health care, operates 171 medical centers, as well as hundreds of outpatient clinics, nursing homes, and other facilities.

Contact: Job listings are available at vacareers.va.gov 


Vanderbilt University Medical Center 

Website: vanderbilthealth.com 

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Number of nursing employees: Approximately 3,700

About the company: This organization contains several hospitals and clinics, as well as Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Vanderbilt has been well ranked in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals surveys, and Vanderbilt University was once named one of Forbes’s “100 Best Companies to Work For”  (more than 80% of Vanderbilt’s employees work at the Medical Center).

Contact: Job listings are available at vanderbilt.edu/work-at-vanderbilt

Family Scholar House: Helping Single Parents Leave Welfare Behind

Family Scholar House: Helping Single Parents Leave Welfare Behind

When welfare reform, also known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), became law in 1996, direct funding from the federal government turned into block grants each state spent at its discretion. All states had to follow federal regulations, such as lifetime benefit limits for each welfare recipient. Some states, however, placed heavy emphasis on a concept called “self-sufficiency,” getting welfare recipients into salaried and self-employed positions as quickly as possible. With this emphasis on self-sufficiency, certain types of higher learning became preferred over others.

According to Joron Planter-Moore, a representative with the Virginia Department of Social Services in Richmond, Virginia, education for TANF recipients includes studying in vocational programs for up to 12 months. Vocational programs, such as trade schools, community colleges, and four-year institutions, should prepare the student for employment. Simply put, people on TANF who want to study liberal arts at the University of Virginia would be out of luck.

“Working towards a degree in philosophy would not be considered vocational education,” explains Planter-Moore, “because it is not directly related to employment.”

Nia Gilmore, RN, of Louisville, Kentucky, currently works as a registered nurse at a local hospital. She also earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Louisville. She heard her mother say a common refrain: Blacks, especially black women, had to work twice as hard to succeed in America. Her mother’s emphasis on high standards extended to getting high grades.

“In Kentucky,” says Gilmore, “an A is a 93. My mother would always say ‘do better.’” Medical tragedies in her family led Gilmore towards nursing. Her mother suffered from chronic illness through much of her childhood, and her nephew has sickle-cell anemia. During her numerous times at the hospital, Gilmore noticed the bedside manners of the nurses.

“The care they gave made a big difference,” she says. “I wanted to do the same when I became older.”

Ruth Aina, a current member of Family Scholar House, looks forward to December 2014, when she’ll receive her BSN. A busy single mom and a devout Christian, Aina says that she has always been drawn to caring for others.

“I’m thinking of specializing in pediatrics, neonatal,” she says. A typical day for Aina includes waking up at 6:30 a.m., preparing breakfast for herself and her child, dropping her child off at school, attending classes at the university, studying a lot, running back home to pick up the kid, cooking dinner, and then a little bit of solitude before sleep.

Lots of prayer is included. “I ask the Lord for strength,” says Aina.

Gilmore received public assistance to support herself and her daughter. She’s aware of the vicious stereotypes.  “Some people think people on welfare are lazy,” she states. “That we have no plans for the future. That most of us are black.”

She took a while to sign up for TANF, having had internalized the stereotypes. Eventually, she realized that she and her child needed the help.

According to Stephanie Rowe, relationship coordinator and director of program support integration at Family Scholar House, breaking the cycle of poverty and dependency is about environment and support.

“Through our comprehensive programming,” she says, “which includes, but is not limited to: academic advising; supportive housing; family support services/case management; children’s programming; childcare; counseling; mentoring; tutoring; life skills building; financial education; family nutrition and wellness programming; peer support; assistance with basic needs; and community referrals, our participants are empowered to break the cycles of poverty, homelessness, and dependency—not only for themselves but also for their children—by earning a college degree, achieving career-track employment, and attaining self-sufficiency.”

Nursing students especially need the supportive environment Family Scholar House offers, according to Rowe. “Further, we assist with childcare, which is important for nursing students who have classes in addition to hours in the hospital for clinical experience. We connect participants with tutors, as necessary, and internship/networking opportunities through our strong network of health care supporters and board members in the field.”

Gilmore joined Family Scholar House as a high school senior. “My guidance counselor informed me about this program,” she says. “It was called ‘Project Women’ back then. Same program, but only 16 women.”

Since its beginning in 1995, Project Women has grown into the current Family Scholar House. The originally all-female student body now includes single fathers.

Gilmore praised the support system at Family Scholar House. “It’s people working for people,” she says.

Welfare remains a heated topic, with activists for and against government entitlements stating their opinions, loudly, on the nightly news. For Nia Gilmore and Ruth Aina, whether the government has a safety net or not isn’t about abstract theory in a book or slogans for taxpayers. It’s about feeding their children and eventually standing on hard ground, so they can contribute to the vital field of nursing.

As Nia Gilmore points out, single moms—in and out of the public-assistance system—should focus on why their nursing education matters. She knows why her degree matters.

“I didn’t want to become a statistic.”

Behlor Santi is a freelance writer based in New York City.

 

Five Ways To Burn Fat and Tone Up at Work

Five Ways To Burn Fat and Tone Up at Work

Do you find yourself too pooped after work to exercise? Get in line. And it is a rather lengthy one.

About half of the adults across the nation say they fail to get the suggested 30 minutes, five days a week of moderate activity or the suggested 20 minutes of vigorous activity three times week, according to a survey by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Don’t be one of them. Start by exercising where you spend eight hours or more each day: your job. You already know that a sedentary lifestyle is no bueno. Here are five ways to work out [without advertising] while at work:

☛ Take the stairs. Ideally two at a time, several times each day. If it has been a while since you navigated floors without using an elevator, start off by walking down the stairs. Make it a goal to climb stairs in a designated time.

☛ Walk more. This classic exercise is ideal for the workplace. Split your lunch time between eating and walking. Visit a co-worker instead of emailing or calling. Or walk to a restroom or water fountain that is not nearby.

☛ Do seated leg lifts. Sit up tall in your seat. Lift one leg until it’s straight and parallel to the ground. Hold for a count of five, then lower. Repeat 10-15 times, and switch to the other leg.

☛ Try the “Wooden Leg.” While seated, extend one leg out in front of you. Hold for two seconds. Then raise it up as high as you can, and hold it again for two seconds. Repeat with each leg 15 times.

☛ Stand up and stretch your arms, legs and torso.

Increasing your activity at work provides benefits and not just for you. On-the-job exercises can boost concentration and productivity, making it a benefit for your employer.


Robin Farmer is a freelance journalist with a focus on health, education and business. Visit her at RobinFarmerWrites.com.

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