Getting your RN to BSN degree has never been easier thanks to the large number of online programs that are available. Online nursing degree programs are flexible and allow you to earn your degree while working full time.

However, when going the online route, you need to make sure to select high quality RN to BSN program. Below are the 7 best online nursing degree programs according to The Best Degrees.

• Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences
• Chamberlain College of Nursing
• Sacred Heart University
• Drexel University
• Western Governors University
• Graceland University
• Indiana State University

Today Zen College Life made us aware of their 2010 rankings of the 10 best nursing schools. If you are thinking about attending nursing school and want to go to the best school possible, consider applying to several off this list.

Overall, we like the rankings that Zen College Life put together and congratulate them on having built a solid resource for prospective nursing students. Let us know your thoughts. It’s hard NOT to leave a good school out when you are only listing ten.

1. Surgeon* – $181,850 salary per year

2. Anesthesiologist* – $174,610 salary per year

3. Obstetrician/Gynocologist* – $174,600 salary per year

4. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon* – $169,600 salary per year

5. Internist* $156,790 salary per year

6. Prosthodontist* – $153,710 salary per year

7. Orthodontist* – $153,240 salary per year

8. Psychiatrist* – $151,380 salary per year

9. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – $140,880 salary per year

10. Engineering Manager – $140,210 salary per year

*Indicates a health career or job

The good news is that all over the country there are programs in place to encourage high school students to consider a career in health.   Once such program to encourage students is at the North Louisiana Area Health Education Center where students are able to get hands on experience with a health occupation in exchange for high school credit.

“Students get a feel for each occupation,” North Louisiana AHEC youth program coordinator Ashley Frazier said. “The goal of AHEC of a Summer is to help high school students gain a greater understanding of health careers that will assist them in making informed decisions concerning their professional goals.”

“Rather than going to college and spending their money and time at school, they can do this 15-day program and narrow down their options,” Frazier said. “(During the program), almost half of the students always change their mind about what they want to do.”

Source: The Ruston Daily Leader

Over the last decade, salaries for nurses have gone up much faster than most other jobs at about 48% – this growth is not only better than inflation but also better than the majority of other jobs which have either remained steady with inflation or lost ground.

Below, we include the starting salaries and averages salaries for some of the more common nursing positions:

Registered Nurse

Starting salary:  $50,000
Average salary: $64,000

Nurse Practitioner

Starting salary:  $75,000
Average salary: $87,000

Licensed Practical Nurse

Starting salary:  $35,000
Average salary: $43,000

Clinical Nurse Specialist

Starting salary:  $68000
Average salary: $76,000

Certified Nurse Anesthetist

Starting salary:  $125,000
Average salary: $140,000

School Nurse

Starting salary:  $26,000
Average salary: $48,000

Certified Nursing Assistant

Starting salary:  $22000
Average salary: $28,000

Source:  Nursing Salaries List (College Crunch)

Mental health counselors provide therapy for groups and individuals. Counselors must complete a master’s degree and licensing requirements before they are allowed to practice. Many counselors report to a high-level therapist or psychologist.
Average annual salary range – $23,500-$38,000

Substance abuse counselors provide therapy for families, individuals, and groups for drug and alcohol problems. Counselors must complete a master’s degree and extensive training for special certification and licensing. Counselors are clinically supervised by a high-level counselor or psychologist.
Average annual salary range – $38,500-$49,000

Mental health technicians work in a hospital or mental health facility caring for psychiatric patients. Technicians develop a therapeutic relationship with patients and assist them with daily care tasks. A high school diploma and up to two years of related experience may be required. Technicians regularly report to a supervisor.
Average annual salary range – $24,600-$32,100

Bereavement coordinators provide grief support services for individuals and families. Coordinators need to complete a bachelor’s degree with a mental health focus. A master’s degree is required to become a licensed bereavement counselor. Bereavement coordinators or counselors usually work under the supervision of a director.
Average annual salary range – $42,500-$57,500

Youth detention workers monitor teens with legal problems. Clients either live at home with probation services or are sentenced to a residential treatment facility. Detention workers do a variety of tasks including client observation, arranging activities and outings, helping clients with daily choices, and involving family members with treatment. They may be employed by the state government, local agencies, or private facilities.
Average annual salary range – $34,000-$54,000

Psychologists provide therapy, testing, and consultation to master’s level therapists. Professional psychologists have doctorate from an accredited university or professional school. Psychologists may report to a medical officer, but do not need clinical supervision to practice therapy.
Average annual salary range – $66,800-$87,500

Social workers help people by providing direct services and through social advocacy. With a master’s degree, social workers may also become licensed to provide counseling to their clients. Social workers are found in government departments, community agencies, and private offices.
Average annual salary range – $38,000-$46,000

Psychiatric nurses plan, document, and monitor the care of psychiatric patients. They also assist doctors with mental status exams and evaluations. Depending on training and education level, psychiatric nurses provide short term mental health therapy to their patients. They also educate their patients on good self-care practices.
Average annual salary range – $54,100-$65,200

Mental health careers come in all shapes and sizes; the same is true for their salaries. Whether you aspire to complete your PhD or start an entry-level job, mental health careers provide many people with a good living.

The therapeutic relationship is at the heart of good counseling work. Working face-to-face with another human being is how change begins. Mental health counselors work with individuals, families, and sometimes groups of clients. Counselors use therapy sessions to learn about their clients, listen to them, teach them new things, and help decrease their symptoms. These sessions are done on an outpatient basis.

Counselors do other things for their clients as well. They communicate with other professionals such as doctors, probation officers, caseworkers, and other therapists. Counselors are also responsible for writing session notes, filling out insurance information, crisis intervention, and on-call duties.

The average salary range for a licensed mental health counselor is $23,500-$38,000. This largely depends on whether a counselor works at a private practice office or an agency. Private practice offices rely on insurance claims and private payments for their income. Income can fluctuate in a private practice office as client attendance varies.

Agencies usually have multiple funding sources and provide raises with additional work duties. In a community agency or government office, counselors are usually salaried. This makes the paychecks predictable. However, salaried counselors must often meet quotas or direct service hour expectations.

At a private practice office, counselors generally have fewer meetings or extra responsibilities. A counselor can spend most of their office time doing therapy with clients and have a flexible schedule. Unfortunately, this also leaves fewer opportunities to connect with fellow coworkers.

At an agency or large facility, counselors may be expected to perform other tasks or committee work that does not relate to direct time with clients. This allows counselors to get to know other mental health and support staff in their office. Private practice and community agencies each have advantages and disadvantages. Counselors often find it valuable to experience each setting sometime in their career.

Many counselors make their practice specialized in some way. Some find a niche they enjoy for many years. Others move through two or three specialties over their career. This can happen because of a job change, life events, or even struggles in their practice. Continued education courses give counselors the opportunity to learn more about a niche population or cluster of disorders that interests them.

Patients are held in-house for increasingly shorter stays and are going home sicker, precipitating a greater need for instruction and information than ever before. The information you provide them during their hospital stay will hopefully help them gain a full recovery and decrease the risk of readmission. So how do we educate our patients effectively? Taking these factors into consideration will help you to successfully convey the information needed.

Provide a hospitable learning environment: With all the distractions of the hospital it may be difficult to find somewhere that is free from excess noise, disruption, is private and conducive to learning. While we can’t always choose the physical location where the learning will take place, we can try to provide planned learning at a time of day when those disruptions would be minimal; possibly mid-morning after breakfast, morning hygiene, assessments and rounds. Each floor has a different rhythm, choose what will work best for you and your patient.

Help your patients decide who should be involved in the learning process. When considering a pediatric patient, ideally both parents would be present for the information as well as any potential caregivers to the child. However, a teenage mother who has just given birth may not be as receptive to you and what she needs to know to care of herself in the post-partum period, if her own father is present. Embarrassment and modesty may interfere. Without making judgments – help your clients decide who needs to know what.

Establish a baseline of knowledge. What do they already know? Is your patient a young woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer? Her needs will be vastly different than a sixty year older woman who was the care taker of her own mother with breast cancer and now finds herself diagnosed with the disease as well. Make no assumptions in what someone does or does not know. Ask.

Ask your client what they think they need to know. While the saying “we don’t know what we don’t know” (or unconscious incompetence) may apply, asking your patient what they feel they need to know to go home safely may provide you with a different prospective for your teaching plan. This is one way to involve people in the learning process, by allowing them to guide their learning they will be more invested and will increase their willingness to participate, motivation and ability to retain information.

What do they need to know to go home safely? Not only are patients staying in the hospital for shorter stays, our time with patients is limited as well. Staffing, complexity and resource issues all play a part in how much time there will be to educate. Establish your priorities. Decide what is vital for your patient to know upon discharge and get to that information first.

Are there any cultural, religious or beliefs and practices you should be aware of that may impact their learning or the information you are planning to pass on? Considering a family of Mexican heritage, it would be important to bear in mind that traditionally the man is considered the head of the household and any information pertaining to important decisions would need to be conveyed to him directly. Asking your client if there are any beliefs they hold that would interfere with what they are learning would be appropriate.

Assess a patient’s motivation prior to embarking on a teaching plan. With the best plan in place, no learning will happen if your client is wholly unmotivated. Remembering that illness, fatigue, depression and anxiety are all factors in motivation toward learning; they can also be readily present in a health care setting. Working with the patient and the patient’s family and team of health care givers to help promote the motivation to learn is essential.

Understand the different kinds of learners:

Visual learners learn best when presented with graphs and other illustrations, maps, written material, being close to the presenter of the information so that they can interpret their gestures and facial expressions. They like to take notes and ask for repetition of verbal instructions.

Auditory learners do their best when they can listen to a lecture or a fast paced exchange of information. They prefer group discussion where other’s point of view are discussed as well as hearing stories and/or jokes that reiterate the information; they rely on verbal cues (or pneumonic devices) for remembering information.

Kinesthetic learners prefer to “just do it” vs. discussion; they enjoy frequent breaks and hands on experience. They may shake a leg, rock in their seat or find other ways to move when being lectured to. They make hand gestures and prefer role play exercises over discussion groups.

Most people are believed to have a preference of one type of learning over others. While that may be true, information that is presented in all three ways will provide the learner with the most opportunity and the greatest retention. Keep in mind all three types of learners when creating your teaching plan as well as during informal teaching moments. Find out what kind of learner you are by taking this online test.

In considering the different kinds of learners, ask your patient in which way they prefer to learn. Do they learn best by watching a video? Returning a demonstration? Reading a handout? Do they like group discussion? They may not know which way they are most likely to remember what you’re teaching them. If not, observe them as different methods are presented. Do your best to accommodate their learning needs.

Establish special needs of your patient. Outside of the needs of different learners are other learning challenges. Is your patient literate? Are they visually impaired? Hearing impaired? There are some cities in the country with up to a 20% parental illiteracy rate – don’t make the assumption an adult can read. Consider their challenges and provide your patient with information in a way they can most effectively be taught. Learn more about illiteracy here.

Keep in mind that we as people tend to remember only

• 10% of what we read
• 20% of what we hear
• 30% of what we read & hear
• 50% of what we hear and see
• 70% of what we say
• 90% of what we say and do

Certainly these numbers will differ with individuality but the premise is: the more ways a person is exposed to the information the best chance he or she has to retain it.

Leave your judgments at the door. We have established that we all learn in different ways; and when teaching, those different avenues of accepting information need to be valued. We also need to remember that our client’s culture, health choices and lifestyle choices are their own. Giving them more information to help them chose a healthier lifestyle is appropriate; judging them for their choices and decisions is not. It can be very difficult to leave our opinions behind, but it is imperative that we respect our clients. Not forming judgments is an important way to do that.

As the learning process progresses a valid way to get feedback, ascertain learning progress and retention, is to ask questions. Be sure to give the respondent enough time to formulate their answer. Use the goals you set in the learning plan to direct your questions. The patient will see what information you value and those concepts will be reinforced. For instance: when teaching a patient about a new medication, ask them to remind you of the side effects they should be looking for. Placing value on the side effects of a new medication will reinforce to the learner that those pieces of information are important.

Be open to conversation when caring for your patient. Include time for spontaneous question and answer period when doing simple nursing tasks along their course of treatment. As you help adjust your patient in bed ask open ended questions (a question that does not require a yes or no answer – “Tell me what you’re thinking about what the doctor said this morning?”) regarding their diagnosis, self care, and prognosis and treatment plan. Using those small amounts of contact with the patient as a point of relevance and information transfer can be invaluable to the patient and your schedule.

Listen. When we listen we can hear and understand where our patients are at with the information we are teaching them. Adults in particular (and some children as well!) have a rich history of experience, listening to those experiences, validating their worth and using them to teach new information will be a valuable tool. You can’t do that if you don’t listen.

Break up the time you spend educating if the topic is new, overwhelming and/or life changing. A newly diagnosed diabetic has an enormous amount to learn: understanding the disease process, dietetic concerns, exercise issues, medication (both types and methods of administration), self-care of eyes and feet and more. The complexity and depth of information this patient needs to know is overwhelming and life altering. Sitting down to do it all at once will be unproductive and dangerous. You can learn more about diabetes education here.

Adults speed of learning changes over time. Granting your patient enough time to assimilate the information is equally as important as the preparation and choice of the materials and plan you formulate. It will do little good to decode a client’s learning style and address their unique concerns without providing them with time. More information on adult learning can be found here.

Research suggests that only five to nine pieces of information can be stored in our short term memory at a time. That information has 15 seconds (or less) to be organized and stored before it will disappear. In other words, just because you have told someone something, it means nothing in the matter of their learning.

Utilize your resources. There are times when our client’s needs outreach our own experience and ability. Utilize the specialists your agency offers. Social workers, diabetic education specialists, nutritionists, respiratory therapists to name a few. When needed, call for back up.

Often our patients are in a position where their lives are changing. That can be uncomfortable (at best) for some folks. As a health care worker you bear witness to life changing medical events on a regular basis. Remembering that often not only is the experience new to the patient, the information is as well. For a forty year old male who was admitted after experiencing a heart attack, learning new health habits, nutritional concerns and lifestyle changes that he now faces will come with the uncomfortable realization of drastic change. Just because you do this every day, never forget that for your patient this hospitalization and the learning that takes place therein is quite likely a sentinel event in their life.

Evaluate the success of your teaching. There are plenty of ways to evaluate what the patient has learned from the teaching you provided. Asking questions regarding identified goals, having the patient do a return demo on any skills they learned or having the patient return the teaching to you are all great ways to evaluate the process.

Once evaluation of the client has been completed it’s important to return to those concepts that the patient had difficulty with. One definition of learning is “a change in behavior due to experience or continued practice.” Just because the teaching has been done, doesn’t mean the learning has taken place to the patient’s or nurse’s satisfaction. Remembering that learning occurs because of experience or continued practice will help you to frame a time line for learning that is appropriate for your patient. Identify what needs to be experienced or practiced more and begin again.

Return to the evaluation process once you’ve revisited the information that needed to be learned. For some clients one cycle of teaching and evaluation may be sufficient, for others many more may be needed. The goal remains that the client learns the information they need to improve or sustain their health and reduce the need for a readmission.

Be sure to document your teaching properly; including what information was covered, what resources you used, how you evaluated the client’s learning and any plans for further teaching.

Of course, all of these ideas will not fit every teaching scenario you encounter. A pediatric client’s needs will differ from an older client’s needs. Using these concepts to navigate your way throughthe teaching process will help make you a more effective and productive teacher.

Consider Leigh Hamilton, an orthopedic patient in Michigan. Hamilton was in the hospital for two joint replacements in her knuckles. She did well coming out of surgery and then developed an adverse anesthesia reaction: a severe headache. The headache was treated as Hamilton’s stay was extended from the anticipated outpatient schedule and she was held over into the afternoon shift, eventually being discharged late into the night the day of surgery. She left the hospital with no discharge teaching done at all. Hamilton, a nurse herself, was sick and in pain and did not realize until she was in trouble nearly 24 hours post-op, that she had not received any discharge instructions. By then she had spiraled into a severe pain cycle that could had been avoided had she been elevating and icing her fingers and taking the medication that was recommended by the physician as a part of the post-op instructions she never received. By her first check up 48 hours later, the pain was still severe and she had to undergo a painful bandage change because the first bandage change that should have been done at home 24 hours after surgery had been missed; because of the overlooked discharge teaching.

Whether the nurses assumed Hamilton was a nurse and therefore had an understood amount of knowledge and didn’t need discharge teaching or the teaching was missed because she was held over into the evening shift, an unusual event for that particular floor, thus interrupting the systems in place, is a mute point. The patient suffered greatly because of the gaffe in her nursing care, luckily for Hamilton the damage was not permanent, although no less disturbing. When a patient leaves the care of the hospital only to experience a decline in status, whether readmission becomes a reality or not, a major mistake has occurred.

Hard numbers on readmissions due to inadequate or missing patient teaching are hard to track, but that doesn’t make the importance of the teaching any less imperative. Part of what makes a nurse’s job unique in the health care setting is the task of patient education. Education of the patients is a parameter for professionalism in nursing and should be treated with equal importance as other nursing actions. Teaching is a fundamental piece of the nursing puzzle, without it nursing’s effectiveness as a profession is compromised. For more information on a career as a nurse educator, look here.

If someone asked you what the most important thing in your life is, what would you say? Some people say it’s their health but their actions prove otherwise – often due to misinformation or simple lack of knowledge. Here are some health and fitness tips that should be common knowledge but aren’t.

(Please note that while various health resources and professionals were consulted, this article should not be construed as medical/ health advice.)

1. Alcohol is not a food group.
The way so many people consume potent potables, you’d think it was the secret elixir of life. When you drink excessively you eat less because the caloric intake of alcohol keeps hunger at bay. This of course means that outwardly you may stay relatively trim, but inwardly you’re starving your body of appropriate nutrients. Not to mention, you’re damaging brain cells and shrinking your brain, creating water and electrolyte losses, and doing a variety of other damaging things. There is a very good reason why studies in the U.S., Canada, Britain, etc. have listed alcohol as one of the most dangerous drugs in the world.

2. You deserve a break right now.
Taking a break from work once in a while does not put you behind, despite popular opinion. It helps by letting your mind and body rest, thus preserving your health and sanity. The alternative is to keep working and burn out, which weakens your immune system and eventually sets your work back.

3. Stress will kill you.
Actually, it’s not so much the stress that will kill you, but your reaction to it and your way of dealing with it. It’s been estimated that somewhere between 75 and 90 per cent of all visits to health care providers are for stress-related ailments. Life is full of stress. There is no getting around it, but there are ways of dealing with it and finding outlets for it. Everyone is different in this respect. Some people need to find ways to let it out, others channel stress into activities, and still others need techniques that lessen it. Regardless of what works for you, the most important thing you can do is to not ignore stress and think you can’t do anything about it. Find time to deal with it; find a starting point.

4. Most people don’t know the symptoms of a heart attack.
It’s surprising but a U.S. report shows that about one in four adults know the symptoms of a heart attack. With the incidence of heart problems in both sexes growing due to stress, poor diet, and thyroid disorders, it’s important to be aware of all the symptoms.

5. Having a pet can reduce stress.
It’s not a new belief that having a pet such as a dog or a cat can be good for us, especially if we’re single and lonely. That might stave off depression. New research shows that having a cat might be more beneficial than having a dog, and that this might reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. (The fact is, dogs are also more work to take care of in general, and .)

6. Sex can help relieve stress.
People sometimes say “no” to their partners if they’re feeling stressed or have a headache. Some people have other reasons for not having sex. But because orgasm causes an all-body relaxation, having sex can actually help you through headaches and stress. So be like Madonna and have lots of sex. Just not with Guy Ritchie, or you might end up talking like Brad Pitt’s mumbling Mickey O’Neil character in Snatch.

7. Thyroid disorder can reduce libido.
If you are saying “no” to sex because you just don’t feel the urge, you might have a thyroid problem. This can reduce your libido and fertility, male or female. (Obviously, this is not a problem that Hollywood is having, considering all occupied celebrity vajayjays out there.)

8. Thyroid disorder can cause depression and debilitate you.
In addition to lowering libido (mentioned above), thyroid disorder can also cause weight fluctuations, hair loss, severe depression, heart problems and numerous other problems. While having any of these symptoms does not necessarily mean you have a thyroid problem, it is a growing health issue – possibility due to accumulated fluoride use.

9. Depression can cause heart disease.
This is tied in with thyroid disorders (above), but depression can come from other sources as well, and is now being tied to potential heart disease, heart attacks and stroke.

10. Happiness does lead to good health.
Seems pretty obvious, right? And, I can hear many of you saying that if you had more luck, more money, less stress, etc., you’d be happy. Wrong! You wouldn’t, not necessarily. Being happy is a way of looking at life. The happiest people in the world are not always the luckiest, they are the ones who are able to deal with whatever comes their way and not let it get to them. Have you ever noticed that you actually feel better when you’re happy? That’s because your body’s systems respond to your emotional state.

11. There is no quick way to get fit.
One dangerous development in the area of health over the last 20 years has to be the proliferation of pseudo-health professionals. This includes annoying celebrity spokespeople spouting inane gibberish about how easy some idiotic new workout is, and how it will quickly and easily get you fit without ever having to change your lifestyle. Bull! Nothing in life is easy. Well, except maybe avoiding the truth. Getting fit requires hard work, dedication, time, and consistency. It does get easier once it becomes part of your lifestyle, but it can’t ever be truly easy or it would have no actual benefit. There is an old saying that you cannot get to “there” by standing where you are. If you want to become something else, you cannot hold on to what you are right now. Getting fit requires giving up old habits and replacing them with healthy new ones that will continue on throughout your life – something no fad workout you see on TV can do, because you’ll get bored with it just in time for the next new craze.

12. There is no easy way to lose weight.
This is not the same as the last tip. Getting fit and losing weight are two completely different things. In fact, if you want to get fit, throw out your weigh scale. You’ll never need it again because you’ll be forever enraged to discover that you’ll probably be heavier as you get fitter. (Note: this tip only relates to those people who are within about 10% of their target weight, not for people who really do need to lose large amounts of weight). Muscle weighs more than fat, even lean, toned muscle. Losing weight has absolutely nothing to do with getting fit. That’s why you hear all those fad drugs, diets, etc., talking about losing weight without exercising. They are all part of the group of people who feed your misconception that thin is healthy, or if you’re not thin, you’re ugly and worthless.

13. The term “diet” is often misused.
A diet is the entire scope of the food you consume, not a quick way to lose weight or get healthy. If you learn nothing else in respect to your health, learn this: fad diets are harmful and will end up making you fatter and less healthy. In fact, changing your diet to “lose weight,” without adding in the appropriate amount of exercise, will likely reduce the amount of muscle mass you have (and may even raise the amount of fat). So you might weigh less, but it’s not exactly the result you’d want. Getting healthy requires changing bad habits, including the way you eat, and the amount and kind of exercise you get. This method may take longer, but it will also last longer – mainly because it is a permanent, positive change in the way you do things.

14. Being thin does not mean you’re fit.
Just because you’re thin doesn’t mean you’re fit or healthy. Case in point, many alcoholics and drugs addicts are very thin, but you’d never call them healthy or fit. Genetics, body structure, and the amount of fat cells you developed as a child will determine just how thin you can become, it has nothing to do with how fit a person is. Fitness is cardiovascular fitness, muscle stamina and strength, flexibility, etc. Learn to accept your body type and concentrate on getting or staying healthy enough to do the things you want to do, and should be able to do for your age group.

15. Extra pounds does not mean you’re unfit.
If you’re carrying a few extra pounds, it doesn’t mean you’re not fit. It’s human nature to get hung up on one thing and ignore all the rest. If you’re an active person who eats well, and looks after themselves in other respects but still can’t lose those last few pounds, don’t discount all the good things you’re doing to stay healthy. The worst thing you can do is look in the mirror or weigh yourself and become discouraged. Don’t give up all the good you’re doing.

16. Celebrity beauty is often an illusion.
Models, actors, and other celebrities don’t necessarily look that beautiful without makeup. Jamie Lee Curtis did an incredible photo shoot a few years ago where she allowed herself to be deconstructed on camera. She wanted to show how she looked all made up, tucked in, etc., versus how she looked for real underneath it all, in a bra and panties, with no make-up, no cinchers, no help of any kind. She wanted to show men and women that Hollywood and fashion are a world of make-believe. No one really looks the way you see in magazines, theatres, or television. Even in the days before digital technology, no photo of a model was ever shown to the public that hadn’t been retouched in some way by a very skilled artist.

17. Obesity is becoming an epidemic.
It’s all over the news but some people just aren’t getting it. It might be “your body” to do with as you please, but loading up on the wrong food can trigger Type 2 diabetes – which is as terrible and painful a disease as any other. This applies to both school-aged kids and adults. Even several celebrities of late, including Russell Crowe and Val Kilmer, have been photographed bearing a lot more weight than you’d ever see them with onscreen.

18. Just a little exercise goes a long way.
A thirty-year U.S. study shows that moderate aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of stroke. Just 30 minutes of daily brisk walking or something equivalent can cut risk by almost 40%.

19. Dance, little sister, dance.
Guys, too. If you don’t like exercise, try dancing. It’s and an aerobic exercise that doesn’t feel like one. And unless you’re a total grinch, dancing is fun and social besides. One health network held a dance for health event in late February that over 60 U.S. cities participated in.

20. Don’t treat your body like a forklift.
Whether you’re lifting weights while working out, or heavy objects at work or around your home, knowing proper technique is essential – especially if you’re stressed out. Do you know your limits, and know what equipment and supports you can utilize to help you, especially when your body is in an awkward position? Consider weight belts (even if you’re not working out), wrist straps, motorized dollies. Carry smaller amounts in repeated trips to minimize the stress and strain you put on your body.

21. Damage is cumulative and subtle.
It’s easy to get caught up in our busy lives and do things to our body that we know is wrong. Nothing may appear wrong. At least not for years to come. Those aches and pains you’re suffering from right now might actually be due to events from years ago. Whatever you’re doing now, you may not feel the repercussions today, but months or years from now, when you have a noticeable injury, you’ll wonder what happened. Maybe it was that day in high school or college when you and your buddies tried to carry the teacher’s car and high-sided it on a concrete barrier. Also, damage is cumulative. That one event may not have caused you any serious damage, but what it did do was teach you a bad lesson that you could get away with doing stupid things so that each successive stupid thing built on the damage the first one created.

22. Keep active medical records and family histories.
Even thought this seemingly benign tip can stir up heated debate, the core of what it does is never really in dispute. The idea that every patient should keep an active record of their medical conditions, treatments, and family histories, is not a new one, but with technology, changes in lifestyle, treatment options, etc., it has become a very important one. With people traveling more and seeing a variety of health care providers, these records would not only aid in diagnosis and treatment, but would help reduce incidences of “medical misadventure.”

23. Going to a doctor does not make you look like a weenie.
Men in particular seem to have a hang up about looking weak, which is odd since most men look up to their favorite athletes. Athletes see doctors almost daily. They have to because the stress and strain of their job requires it. So, if athletes are not weenies for getting every ache and pain checked, why are you? You’ve heard this before: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Just make sure you follow it.

24. Pharmaceutical drugs are not always the answer.
As much as society and many allopathic physicians have fallen into the trap of having a pill for every ailment, many doctors will tell you that they’d rather not prescribe medication unless it’s absolutely necessary. Pharmaceuticals, even the most benign and necessary ones, have side effects and can cause long-term issues that occasionally surpass the illness they were trying to resolve. Worse, they become a crutch and absolve the patient of having to address the issue that caused their ailment in the first place. Like someone who eats twice as much of a “light” food, patients often continue or worsen their bad habits when they know a pill will “cure” them. Pharmaceuticals also complicate a doctor’s life because it can mean there are fewer options for treatment when a patient develops a condition that really can be effectively and safely treated by a drug, but that drug can’t be used because it contraindicates another drug the patient has been taking.

25. Give yourself a starting point for change.
With our lives so busy these days, it’s often frustrating trying to find time to do something we want to do. That includes exercising, eating right, lessening stress, and so on. If you wait until you “have the time,” you’ll never have the time and you will never start. Set aside the time today to start doing things that improve your health and wellness. Start small so there is less chance for failure, but start somewhere. That small success will build and allow you to take a bigger step tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

For more health and fitness tips, check out One Big Health Nut.

This group of the population is increasingly at risk for being uninsured as the policy stands now. Insurance costs are soaring and with minimal incomes, people in this segment of the population are making the choice to go without health coverage, leaving them open to health and financial risk.

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) is an organization built of state legislators from across the country whose main focus is insurance policy and legislation. At their spring meeting the group will vote on approving the recommendation that all insurance companies should be held responsible for providing insurance for children of insured up to the age of 23. State legislators around the country look to the NCOIL for counsel on which policies should be adopted into practice.

Opponents of the plan believe the excess cost to cover the additional insured would ultimately fall to the business’ who are providing healthcare to their employees. Insurance companies would be unable to provide the additional coverage without passing on the additional cost to those companies who are providing the insurance. Healthcare costs are already sinking many companies, some worry that the additional cost would prompt more companies to limit or drop available insurance plans all together.

Another concern is that of pre-existing conditions. Generally, younger people have better health; however, health issues do arise. If a health condition is established while they are covered under their parents’ policy, getting their own insurance policy to cover that pre-existing condition may prove impossible once they reach an age of ineligibility for their parents’ policy. Getting out and getting a policy of their own as early as possible would help insure them of coverage irregardless of health conditions.

Obviously, our ailing health care system is in need of desperate reform. Mandating insurance companies to increase the net of those they cover without certainty on who will pay for the increase in cost of that coverage is irresponsible at best. Certainly the problem of the uninsured and underinsured should be on the forefront of our national plan for the future, significant discussion needs, and is, to take place on how to fund, provide and distribute adequate healthcare while providing choice and option for that health care. We need universal healthcare, we also need to be responsible about the cost of that healthcare.