Education, Healthy Living

4 dangerous careers: do the benefits outweigh the risks?

4 dangerous careers: do the benefits outweigh the risks?
Photo by Andrew Gaines on Unsplash

Want an exciting career? Whether you’re just starting out or thinking of a big change, it’s important to think long and hard about your career. While some people are happy working to live, others want excitement, progression and energy in their careers. You might want something that develops your skills or pushes you physically. 

However all careers of this nature have risks. Dangerous careers mean that you could face injury, illness or death. Here are some examples of dangerous careers where you need to decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks. 

Armed forces

There are lots of positives of going into the armed forces. You get to travel, meet interesting people and develop your skills. You’ll become physically fit and learn how to solve problems in a high risk environment. However, a career in the armed forces isn’t to be considered lightly. Burns, stress fractures and hearing problems are common (already affected and wondering: how can I receive VA disability benefits after burn pit exposure? You will need to submit an application). Plus, many veterans experience PTSD, which indicates the severity of this career. Make sure you know what you’re getting into. 

Stunts

You don’t get more exciting than working in stunts. Not only do you get to perform super cool tricks, but you’ll spend your day on a film set and meet lots of famous people. You’ll even pretend to be some of them. However, working in stunts is dangerous. Stuntmen and women face serious accidents and injuries every day, and need to be very well trained. You’ll need to be highly skilled and not phased by scuffs or scrapes.  

Police officer

Like working in the armed forces, there are lots of benefits of working in the police. If you’re someone who wants to make the world a better place and keep danger off the streets, it could be a great career choice. But, working as a police officer isn’t easy. You risk being injured or killed in the line of duty and will need to make difficult decisions. You will work long, unsociable hours and may need to do overtime. Plus, you might witness some unpleasant crime scenes. So, you’ll need to do some serious deliberating before going into this field. 

Firefighter

The thought of being a firefighter is exciting. It’s another profession that involves being highly trained and having great physical fitness. It can be incredibly rewarding, as you’ll be saving lives regularly. But, like working in the police, you might work unsociable hours and see some distressing scenes. Not being able to save someone could have a significant impact on your own mental health. And, you put your own life at risk. Facing dangerous fires and structurally unsound buildings, there is the chance of injury or death while in action, so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.  

Children's Books, Education

New Book Release – Once Upon a Pancake, Stories We Write Together

New Book Release - Once Upon a Pancake, Stories We Write Together

It’s a new book release…sort of. The stories in this book are not yet complete because it is your child’s job to write them. They get a small illustration and beginning prompt then have a few pages and more small prompts to create their own story. These books are called, Once Upon a Pancake and there are different books depending on the ages of your children.

writing stories

This is the Once Up a Pancake book for ages 9-12. There is plenty of empty space for kids this age to make their own version of these stories. They can work on the stories alone or pass the pen with a sibling, classmate or friend. These will be such fun keepsakes to pull out one day and share.

Every few pages starts a new story idea. Some stories require a middle and end. Some allow your child to add their own illustrations and some offer a comic-style writing. Once Upon a Pancake has enough variety to keep them engaged in this book for days or weeks to come and the variety introduces them to different writing styles and genres.

ceate comics

True Story

When my teen was young he wrote a lot! He is the ideal child fro Once Upon a Pancake books. I have kept all of the composition notebooks he had laying around with pages and pages of stories. 3 years ago I actually took one of those stories and sent his words and drawings into a book bound and had it made into an actual (unpublished) hard cover book. I ordered 3 copies – 1 for his Teacher, 1 for us and 1 for a special event I was to surprise him with.

He was (still is) a HUGE R.L. Stine fan and I saw he was coming for a free, local storytelling event and we got in! He not only got to sit 4 rows up from R.L. Stine as he read to the kids, he got to hand him his own version of a Goosebumps book he wrote. That book I had bounded was called, Attack of the Killer Spider (derived from Goosebumps theme). He was so nervous, walked up with a Goosebumps book and asked for an autograph and almost forgot to hand his own ‘Goosebumps’ book over. Then R.L. Stine’s wife saw me signaling him and asked, “Honey! What is that book?” That is when he explained he “…wrote it, my Mom turned it into a book and ordered an extra copy for you” R.L. Stine’s wife took it from him, he glanced at it and says to her, take this one with us…to the hotel..” my son’s face just lit up as he heard that. He got his autograph, a hug and ran back to me almost in tears, “Did you hear what his wife said?”

Harnessing your child’s love of writing is meant to happen with books like Once Upon a Pancake. It will be shared and kept forever. If they are writing, they need this series. Find the book that is right for your child’s age at Once Upon a Pancake’s website or on Amazon at Rick Benger’s Author page.

Want to see me flip through a few pages and see inside Once Upon a Pancake? Visit my IGTV post here!

Education

How to Invigorate Your Nursing Career

How to Invigorate Your Nursing Career

As a nurse, you have dedicated your life to helping and supporting others. This direct impact on the lives of others can be fulfilling and meaningful in a truly life-changing way; however, after years on the floor addressing the critical care and support of your patients, you may be looking to invigorate your nursing career by taking on new challenges. While directly overseeing the care of your patients can be incredibly rewarding, if you are looking for a change, here are a few ways that you can invigorate your career.

Advanced Degrees and Education

If you find that your brain could use a jumpstart, you may need an outlet for mental stimulation. Consider going back to school for additional education where you can stimulate your mind and love for learning. You can explore an advanced degree option that best suits you to take you to the next step of your nursing career. Whether you want to go back to school to refresh your brain or you want to use your degree to take your next step, education can be a great option.

Getting a higher level of education means that you expand your knowledge, learn additional techniques which help you to provide a higher quality of patient care. It can not only help you to make better healthcare decisions and optimize operational efficiency, but also advance your career at any level. You may want to explore a range of nursing job career options and find out the requirements that the position can offer.

Teaching and Learning

If you value education but don’t see yourself going back to school, you have other ways to infuse knowledge and education into your life. Instead of being the recipient of the knowledge, if you prefer to share what you have learned, educating others may be the right step for you. Exploring a professorship role and career profile can help you understand the responsibilities of the role, salary and expectations.

Leadership and Supervising

If you have a lot of guidance, expertise and experience to offer, you may be well suited to manage others. Providing overarching vision, supporting staff and offering your leadership to a team can be an exciting next step. If you are interested in exploring a supervisory role in nursing, talk with your manager and the leadership team to see what would be necessary to explore that path of your nursing career.

Mentorship and Coaching

Mentorship in nursing is a critical component of success in this sector of healthcare. While many skills are learned and experiences had during nursing school, nothing truly prepares you for the daily grind. Having a support system that can offer mentorship, coaching and sponsorship can prove critical and necessary for new staff. This may be a good outlet for you to embrace new challenges and energize your professional life without a formal step.

Future Paths and Possibilities for your Nursing Career

If you are a nurse who has significantly more experience, you may want to explore your executive career options. Whether you are ready to take on significantly more of a leadership role within your organization or you want to be a part of the strategic vision, you can take on more of a leadership role after pursuing executive career options. If you are someone who is a natural-born leader, this may be the perfect fit for you. You may also consider learning kore about traveling Nurse careers.

Nursing can be one of the most rewarding and enriching professions; however, that does not mean that you will want to stay in the same role forever. If you are someone who is searching for your next chapter, consider how these options can shake up your life and leave you with the results and next steps that you are searching for.

Books Reviews, Education, Reviews, Travel

National Geographic Almanac 2021 available in September

Comment: I was sent a copy of this Almanac. Affiliate links may be inside post. Opinions are my own!

National Geographic Almanac 2021 available in September

Coming next month, the National Geographic Almanac 2021 will release and boy what a year it has been! Can you guess some of the topics that will be covered for 2021? If you have not ever read through any of the annual Almanacs from National Geographic, you have missed so much from our world you probably were not aware of. The Almanac covers trending topics, big ideas in science, photos, maps and more.

From travel trends when you plan visits to Tokyo or other countries to learning what has been happening up in the sky with our solar system.

Then topics of humanity, nature, archeology and more. There is so much packed into this book with amazing photography that you would expect from National Geographic.

The 2021 Almanac is 400 pages long with quizzes and more for all ages. You can preorder your copy now for the release on September 22, 2020. Available at Amazon and other retailers.