Nursing

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    PixelRN

  • The kind of shot you can only get with an iPhone (or a panoramic X-ray machine)

    8 Aug 2010 | 12:26 pm
    Not too long ago I was in the dentist's office and I had this X-ray done in preparation for getting invisalign. The image was displayed on a fairly large monitor so I took out my iPhone and quickly snapped it. I guess if I really wanted a copy of it I could have asked him for a print. But there is something so cool about just whipping our your phone, grabbing the image and it's done. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

  • In the Weeds

    22 Jul 2010 | 6:35 am
    via flickr.com Permalink | Leave a comment  »

  • Rogue Robots: A fun little video made with iMovie and Garageband

    21 Jul 2010 | 4:04 am
    A couple of years ago I made a slideshow using iMovie. It took me a long time but I was happy with the results. Recently I was fooling around with iPhoto and realized I could have accomplished the same thing, in a lot less time. All I had to do was create the slide show in iPhoto, add music and transitions and voila! it was virtually the same result. That's when I decided to get to know my Mac a little better. I started fooling around with iMovie and Garageband and here is the result. Nothing special just a little music video made out of a couple of wind-up toys, a lightbox, a camera, and…

  • To tweet or not to tweet

    20 Jul 2010 | 7:53 am
    I felt like tweeting again. It’s been awhile.  I kind of fell off the twitter radar mainly because it had started to become a really crowded neighborhood with too many billboards. But also because as a mom I’m so busy I’m lucky if I have time to brush my teeth let alone tweet. Nonetheless, I had this hankering to tweet. I let out one measly little tweet and now I’m getting nothing but the failwhale. At one point I tried changing browsers (yeah, that makes sense) but I had forgotten my password. And now that I’ve done that it’s like I’m perpetually locked out. It won’t accept…

  • zukes

    13 Jul 2010 | 3:22 pm
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    nurses - Google News

  • GPs face fight for control of new 111 service - Pulse

    2 Sep 2010 | 10:39 am
    Mirror.co.ukGPs face fight for control of new 111 servicePulse'Triage should be by doctors and nurses, not by lay people, not by using algorithms that are prone to error. This is an opportunity. Blackburn jobs fears over NHS Direct closureLancashire TelegraphThe Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has condemned "short-sighted" plans to West BritonMedical Helpline NHS Direct To Be Replaced with NHS 111TopNews United StatesMadeForMums -BBC News -OnMedicaall 211 news articles »

  • Marathon Talks Yield Tentative Agreement With North Adams Regional Hospital Nurses - PR Newswire (press release)

    2 Sep 2010 | 9:31 am
    Marathon Talks Yield Tentative Agreement With North Adams Regional Hospital NursesPR Newswire (press release)2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Marathon negotiations over the last two days have lead to a tentative agreement this morning between the Massachusetts Nurses North Adams Regional Hospital Nurse strike looms as impasse persistsBerkshire EagleReader's view: Nursing is about the patients, not the RNsDuluth News TribuneNARH strike avertedBerkshire Eagleall 12 news articles »

  • $1.47M grant to boost nursing program - Bizjournals.com

    2 Sep 2010 | 8:31 am
    $1.47M grant to boost nursing programBizjournals.comThe University at Buffalo School of Nursing will expand higher-education opportunities for nurses with a new $1.47 federal grant. The grant from the Health and more »

  • Two Horry County nurses earn National School Nurse Certification - South Carolina Now

    2 Sep 2010 | 7:45 am
    Two Horry County nurses earn National School Nurse CertificationSouth Carolina NowSchool nurses who participate in this accreditation process do so voluntarily without any financial reward. NCSN validates professional knowledge and and more »

  • Largest Nursing Home Abuse Verdict in History Shocks Industry and Riles Tort ... - InjuryBoard.com (blog)

    2 Sep 2010 | 7:37 am
    Largest Nursing Home Abuse Verdict in History Shocks Industry and Riles Tort InjuryBoard.com (blog)Humboldt County, CA--Earlier this week, a group of California jurors announced the largest verdict in history against a nursing home accused of abuse. and more »
 
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    NurseZone.com Nursing News

  • New Insurance Finder Web Tool Simplifies the Process of Searching for Health Coverage

    August 30, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the release of  a new HealthCare.gov web tool available for download that makes searching for coverage options even easier than before.

  • Most Wired Hospitals Offer Tips and Trends

    August 27, 2010 - New technologies are constantly being developed and refined to increase the efficiency and safety of medical care and many institutions and individuals are embracing these new technologies. The days are numbered for pen and paper systems as the stimulus package’s Health Information Technology—Meaningful Use and Standards legislation is offering, first, incentives for the adoption of electronic health records in physician’s offices and hospitals and then after four years, penalizations for the lack of adoption of this technology.

  • Registered Nurses Win Victories in Washington State for Patient Safety

    August 27, 2010 - Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), representing more than 16,000 registered nurses in Washington State, has won two landmark decisions for patient safety on the issue of missed breaks for registered nurses. Cases decided in Seattle and Spokane both affirm the employer’s responsibility to provide uninterrupted rest breaks to nurses.

  • Review calls for new federal approach to medical countermeasures

    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has released an examination of the federal government’s system to produce medications, vaccines, equipment and supplies needed for a health emergency, known as medical countermeasures. The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Enterprise Review: Transforming the Enterprise to Meet Long Range National Needs reviews the process and makes recommendations for a better approach.

  • NLN Launches Jonas Scholars Program to Support Doctoral Research to Advance Science of Nursing Education

    As the National League for Nursing seeks to advance the science of nursing education through evidence-based research, it proudly announces the establishment of the NLN Jonas Scholars Program to support 10 PhD candidates as they work to complete their doctoral dissertations.
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    ALLNURSES: Nursing Articles

  • Changed Our Lives How I Fell in Love with Nursing

    acaitan29
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:41 pm
    Nursing was never really my cup of tea. I never pictured myself wearing whites and a fancy little white cap. As a child, my dream was to become an engineer, a civil engineer. This manifested as I grew up being fond of drawing different, sometimes weird, structures and solving complicated math problems. Taking up nursing never even crossed my mind. All of these changed when one day, as I was just about to take a scholarship exam in my dream university, my uncle told me that i rather take up nursing. I refused then and there. What about my dream? My aspirations? But he reasoned that nurses are…
 
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    impactednurse

  • Why we walk to emergencies.

    impactEDnurse
    26 Aug 2010 | 2:04 am
    Our departments medical emergency team (MET) consists of a senior doctor and nurse who respond to medical emergencies occurring throughout the hospital. We actually call them the MET team, which is kinda like saying: ATM machine. When their pager goes off they respond by pushing this rather large trolley bristling with advance life support equipment to the scene of the emergency. But its not like on TV. We don’t take off running down the corridor with the doctors coat flapping behind him like a Batman cape. We walk to our emergencies, Its safer that way. When I was young and stupid. I…

  • differential diagnosis.

    impactEDnurse
    17 Aug 2010 | 11:28 pm
    I was looking after this young man with pneumonia today. At one point he waved me over to him. “Doctor”, he mumbled from behind his oxygen mask..”are my testicles black?” “Actually”, I corrected him, “I’m a nurse. Just relax and concentrate on your breathing”. He wriggled around in the bed for a moment before repeating with a little more urgency: “Nurse! Are my testicles black?” I’m beginning to think something is wrong. Could he be getting hypoxic? “My testicles! Are, they, black?!!” He yelled. I’m…

  • Where (exactly) to stick a needle into your patients bum.

    impactEDnurse
    14 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pm
    Today a new-graduate nurse taught me how to give an intramuscular injection. No, really…. After studiously watching one of our senior staff give an intramuscular (IM) injection, the new-grad informed us that, in fact, she was not taught to give injections into the upper-outer quadrant. This is were I have been sticking my needles for many years now, and I have given thousands (if not millions) of injections this way. We were about to re-orient her….but as this student is no dummy,  the senior staff member and I thought we had better get our facts straight before engaging our mouths.

  • how (not) to insert a naso-gastric tube.

    impactEDnurse
    11 Aug 2010 | 4:21 am
    There is no doubt that inserting a naso-gastric tube is one of the more uncomfortable things we do to our patients. And for some strange reason, all over the world, student nurses, paramedics, and med students are keen to find out first hand just what all that gagging is about….. And Leo, wherever you may be……you are the man.

  • NG tube into brain.

    impactEDnurse
    11 Aug 2010 | 12:32 am
    The insertion of nasogastric (NG) tubes is pretty common these days. Most nurses have inserted them, and those that have had any experience with the management of trauma patients, know that attempting to insert a NG tube into a patient with a potential base of skull fracture is contraindicated due to the risk of the tube entering the cranium via a fractured cribriform plate1. However, here is something that is a little disturbing. From the British Medical Journal comes a 1996 report on a NG tube that was accidentally passed into the brain of 59 yo female patient who had no history of trauma.
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    code blog - tales of a nurse

  • Tough and Not Very Friendly

    Jennifer, RN writes: My name is Jennifer, and I am a staff nurse. Every day I enter the revolving doors at the hospital, and I am presented with a new set of challenges and experiences different from the last. Little did I know that one day in late November I would have the opportunity to care [...]

  • Some News and Some Links

    Let’s start with the links. I am a big fan of Atul Gawande.  His latest article in the New Yorker, Letting Go, had me riveted.  If you are familiar with my blog, you know that I am a big proponent of knowing when to say when where advanced medical treatments are concerned. There were many passages that [...]

  • Perspectives

    Not so very long ago, I took care of a rather young patient in her 30’s.  She had a respiratory illness that quite frankly baffled us.  We couldn’t figure out exactly why someone so young and healthy was being completely knocked on her butt by a pneumonia. The illness progressed to the point where she required [...]

  • The Kidnapped Napper

    My patient’s daughter had been up all night in the ED with her mother and by now it was just after noon.  She was very tired.  Nonetheless, I needed to find her to ask an important question. I got to the waiting room and found approximately 10 family members, but not the daughter.  I asked where [...]

  • The Case of the Mysterious Alarm…

    I received this email from a dear friend of mine recently: Hey everyone! So,  for the last 2 1/2 weeks my husband and I have been seranaded with alarm tones every day.  We thought it was the new alarm system we had installed (it does a lot of automatic things we have since disabled), then we thought [...]
 
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    Digital Doorway

  • Did I Miss Something?

    Keith, RN
    25 Aug 2010 | 7:25 pm
    The call came on my day off, asking me to go see a client who was not feeling well but was refusing to go the emergency room. So, I delayed my shopping and errands, changed my clothes, grabbed my bag, and headed cross town to her home, which was located about fifteen minutes from my neighborhood.When I arrived, she was supine in bed, the home health aide by her side. Questioning her, I could perceive nothing more than neck and leg pain, something that the orthopedist had recently confirmed as being caused by worsening chronic osteoarthritis."Have you been taking your pain medicine?" I…

  • Change of Shift, Vol. 5, Number 4

    Keith, RN
    21 Aug 2010 | 2:28 pm
    Yet another edition of Change of Shift is up and at 'em, bringing the world some of the best nurse bloggers on the web. So, make yourself an iced tea (or maybe a gin and tonic), curl up on the hammock, and help yourself to some good summer reading!

  • Of Birthdays and Death

    Keith, RN
    16 Aug 2010 | 7:25 am
    Celebrating my 46th birthday this week has been a wonderful exercise in being grateful for all of my blessings, and the need to take grateful stock of my life is underscored by the persistent presence of sickness and death that is such an intrinsic part of human existence.As a nurse, I have worked with the dying and the chronically ill for many years, and their struggles are a reminder that our hold on this mortal coil is tenuous, at best. Several years ago, my wife and I spent about three weeks living at my mother's house in New Jersey, caring for my step-father as his body slowly diminished…

  • Change of Shift, Vol. 5, Number 3

    Keith, RN
    9 Aug 2010 | 8:30 pm
    I am honored to report that my most recent submission to Change of Shift (everyone's favorite nursing blog carnival) is featured as the "editor's choice" at the top of this week's edition. I hope you can stop by, peruse this week's offerings, and praise Kim from Emergiblog for her consistently excellent work.

  • The Point of Acupuncture on BlackDoctor.org

    Keith, RN
    3 Aug 2010 | 12:02 pm
    My new editorial on the basics of acupuncture is now published on BlackDoctor.org. Feel free to pay a visit.
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    Emergiblog

  • Change of Shift: Vol. 5, Number 4

    Kim
    20 Aug 2010 | 4:42 pm
    Welcome to Change of Shift – a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short! We have some old friends and some new additions.  Our submissions cover the best of nursing and the most difficult moments. Some share successes and others could use some collegial support. So, grab a latte, put your feet up and enjoy.. Change of Shift. I love adding nursing blogs to my blogroll! This week, thanks to his CoS submission, I’ve found Stephen at  A Nurse Practitioner’s View, where he   presents  Team Work. When it comes to patient care, check our egos at the door. Some teams we chose…

  • BlogWorld/New Media Expo 2010: Medbloggers + Las Vegas, Part Deux!

    Kim
    13 Aug 2010 | 12:57 pm
    We did it before, and we’re doing it again! The medblogger track (aka: Social Health) is on for this year’s BlogWorld/New Media Expo! WHO should attend? You! Doctors, nurses, patients physician assistants, dentists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, paramedics medical students, nursing students health care administrators, health care company employees and executives… In other words….YOU! WHY should you attend? If you have any interest in social media on a personal or professional level (blogs, podcasting, Blog Talk Radio, Facebook, Twitter, vlogging), this is the…

  • Change of Shift – Vol. 5, Number 3

    Kim
    6 Aug 2010 | 2:11 pm
    Wow – another two weeks has flown by, which means it’s time for another edition of Change of Shift! Once again, my nurse blogging colleagues have written an interesting, thoughtful group of posts for your perusal! So ready…set…peruse! Keith Carlson is the fantastic writer behind Digital Doorway, and a regular contributor to Change of Shift. This week’s post left me angry and appalled. It is also wins this week’s “Editor’s Choice”. Check out  In the ER……. See if your blood pressure doesn’t rise….. Okay, so Keith…

  • Change of Shift – Coming ASAP

    Kim
    5 Aug 2010 | 8:36 am
    Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you know I’m hard at work on Change of Shift and it will up….. As soon as get to my hotel in Las Vegas. I am participating in a highly educational pursuit, sure to elicit a profound professional growth… I’m meeting Donny Osmond. Seriously. My mature adult self is highly looking forward to this event, however my 14-year-old inner child is, like, dying! So look for Change of Shift in this spot later today! Change of Shift – Coming ASAP

  • That Does It……

    Kim
    26 Jul 2010 | 12:35 pm
    This is me, laptop firmly attached at the hip! Okay, I don’t wear white dresses (anymore) and I don’t have a 10 inch waist, either. But my laptop might as well be surgically implanted; my life is pretty much pixelated! I make travel decisions based on whether or not wireless is available. Most people sleep, I “re-boot”. In response to a funny story this week,  I said “LOL!”. As in the letters, not the words. But I knew I had gone over the edge when my nursing notes started looking like tweets: “Amb 2 BR s diff; no able 2 p; abd dist; 16F cath 4 lg…
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    Head Nurse

  • I dare you to watch this and not grin like a lunatic:

    Jo
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:02 pm
    Does anybody else have the urge to do the routine they learned as part of Strutter tryouts in high school? I hear this song, and "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and I'm transported to that two weeks in June of 1984, before I realized I. Can't. DANCE.

  • Totally not (well, mostly not) work-related.

    Jo
    31 Aug 2010 | 2:29 pm
    Walp, I learned something today.We have two Chinese intensivists at work. I had always wondered why, when they ate lunch with the nurses, things like "Pass the salt" were said as "Pass the salt", while things they said on the unit were prefaced with "please" and "thank you". Turns out, thanks, NPR! that "pleases" and "thank yous" are considered a more formal sort of address in Chinese, and that using them in a social situation (which lunch is, given that The Manhandler is showing us what she learned in pole-dancing class) is considered offensive. It's sort of the difference between "Dear…

  • Monday Morning Remedy!

    Jo
    30 Aug 2010 | 3:35 am
    Ay Ay Ay, Woof Woof Woof!

  • Sunday get-yer-engines-runnin'

    Jo
    29 Aug 2010 | 5:56 am

  • So I'm taking care of this dude who has cancer...

    Jo
    28 Aug 2010 | 6:18 pm
    ....really *bad* cancer, as in "you don't want this sort of cancer, ever" cancer, and I've just wasted about a half a milligram of hydromorphone more than was ordered in the tubing, so he's feeling pretty good.So I lean over him, and I remind him that he should let me know if he's uncomfortable--because, what the hell, he's gonna die anyhow; the graft's fighting his body--and I'll bring him more meds. Even if it's not time. He doesn't need to know that; he just needs to know that once his pain hits a four on a one to ten scale, I'll be there with the happy drugs.And he says to me, "How many…
 
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    It shouldn't happen in health care

  • More excuses to eat chocolate.

    Max E Nurse
    20 Aug 2010 | 5:53 am
    I’m sure somewhere in the deep dark vault that is the “It shouldn’t happen…” archive there is a post getting its knickers in a knot about whether wine and chocolate are good for you or not. The more intelligent of my readers… …are probably well aware that rich dark chocolate can improve blood pressure and has other cardiovascular advantages.  Now however research has found that chocolate also decrease the risk of heart failure.  Personally it seems highly likely to me, if I don’t get chocolate I get total body failure and a broken…

  • Not quite goodbye.

    Max E Nurse
    14 Jul 2010 | 7:06 am
    Just thought I should pop by quickly to let you know I am alive and well. After the initial trauma of moving, my new consulting room flooding, getting 2 complaint from patient in the first month (after not having any complaints in years). I have adjusted to the new way of life. I have more time with my kids in the morning, (not sure if that is a perk some mornings – on the subject of perks… they have a proper filter coffee at my new surgery – oh blissful bliss!!) I get home earlier in the evenings and in the school holidays the family can meet me at lunch, without having to…

  • Crying to the end…

    Max E Nurse
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:17 am
    Since handing in my notice I’ve realised the comic element has evaporated from my blog posts, and actually I make no apology for this. I’ve been here long enough for you to know I am silly so you’ll have to humour my lack of humour for the time being. This week looks like being no exception. I have 1 week left in this job and the word is out that I am off, this morning I have had two old ladies reduce me to tears already and it isn’t even 9am! One was in the form of a lovely email, thanking me for various aspects of help I’d given her and a new lease of life…

  • A goodbye letter to Sickton.

    Max E Nurse
    26 Jan 2010 | 1:53 am
    As you know if you have been paying attention over the past few weeks, I’m off to a new job and I am sad to be leaving the old one. There are lots of patients that I would like to say bye to and I don’t like the idea of them finding out I’ve left without telling them, (there will be a few I’ll be glad to see the back of!) This is obviously impossible to address, however I thought I’d send a letter to the local free paper and see if anyone reads it! This is how it went (details subtly changed to protect the guilty!)… To the people…

  • The flip side…

    Max E Nurse
    19 Jan 2010 | 3:18 am
    This post is a little premature and hopefully unnecessary but I’m going to publish it anyway. If every cloud has a silver lining, does every silver lining have a cloud? Last week I told you about my job interview and how I have accepted the job, I didn’t mention that this may have blog implications. Currently I have time in my working day to scribble out a few words a week and post them. I do this during my lunch break and a little between patients if they are running late, or indeed I am running early.   In my new job I will be having shorter breaks and certainly to start with…
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    Life in the NHS

  • What a busy August!

    Julie
    31 Aug 2010 | 2:29 pm
    Maybe I have been living in a romantic rose coloured world where August meant people went on holiday, few meetings took place and you had time to clear your inbox and do some filing (if people still file things in a place other than the bin). This month at work however has been both surreal and busy. Surreal because we eagerly await the politicians of Westminster to return from their summer holidays. I know that for some the  summer has been busy, however, except for the wife of the prime minister giving birth and the health minister announcing the demise of NHS direct it has been pretty…

  • Progress report

    Julie
    22 Aug 2010 | 12:30 pm
    A month or more on from the white paper, life in the NHS is anything but dull. Our office is now a place where people spend their day looking stressed and anxious and where possible set about the important task of winding themselves and their colleagues up. Rumours abound and any contact with the GP world demonstrates that our erstwhile colleague the primary care practitioner is either desperate to take over the world or else is hoping that someone soon will tell the Health Minister where to stick his plans to Liberate the NHS. Last week we were told not to get above ourselves (in so many…

  • Consultations on the NHS White Paper begin

    Julie
    22 Jul 2010 | 2:25 pm
    This is a good thing of course. There is a certain wordy openness about health policy these days. Andrew Lansley seems keen to find out the views of people who can be bothered to respond (it is not clear who those people will be) to he and his team’s ideas on the future of the NHS and the £80 billion budget. There are two documents; one about the role of the public, those who use the service and of local authorities and the other a consultation on the roles and responsibilities of the GP consortia and the Commissioning Board. I have not yet made a study of these documents, but they…

  • Here we go again

    Julie
    21 Jul 2010 | 2:36 pm
    So it is 10 days post NHS White Paper: Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS. The question is who will be liberated by Andrew Lansley’s document? It is 3 1/2 years since the last whole sale NHS reconfiguration kicked me out of the job I had then and lured me into the dark world of commissioning. I have spent the last 3 years or so learning about the world of the commissioner, I have learned about the pathways of maternity and child health and illness and I have applied myself whole heartedly to making healthcare a safer and more effective place for the people of the county within…

  • 1997-2010 what has changed?

    Julie
    19 May 2010 | 1:58 pm
    In 1997 I was a proper nurse; well a nurse seeing patients. My head was firmly down and the work was hard; my patients had rheumatoid arthritis. My job essentially was to start them on heavy duty medication for their disease, monitor their progress on that medication and to provide advice and support. It was a good time for me, I was competent at my job and the work while busy didn’t overwhelm me. The medications we used was reasonably tried and tested and the new wave of drugs now used to treat this disease hadn’t arrived to test our budgets. The internet was reasonably in its…
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    Not Nurse Ratched

  • Reblog: A dying patient is not a battlefield – CNN.com

    Not Nurse Ratched
    31 Aug 2010 | 1:25 pm
    I understand why physicians find these conversations difficult, why it’s preferable to focus on the good we can possibly accomplish rather than the likely futility of the struggle. But there’s another story to be told in these cases, and it’s usually the nurse who’s the observer of that narrative: the suffering caused by these well-intentioned treatments. Chemo was risky for this patient because of his age and medical history, and the damage done was unbelievably bad. via cnn.com

  • iPhone app review: Do it (Tomorrow)

    Not Nurse Ratched
    28 Aug 2010 | 2:08 pm
    In my neverending quest to find the perfect to-do/organization system, I present to my readers Do it (Tomorrow) [iTunes link; free]. This is a bare-bones to-do app akin to scribbling stuff in a notebook. The icon even looks like a Moleskine, as do the pages, of which there are two. Yes, two. Today and Tomorrow. That’s all you get. And on those two pages, you can Add a new task. Edit (meaning delete tasks) Scratch off a completed task by tapping it Send a task to Tomorrow from Today by tapping a scribbly arrow to the right of it That’s it. If you don’t do something Today, it…

  • Facebook Places has redeeming value after all

    Not Nurse Ratched
    26 Aug 2010 | 2:18 pm
    I’m not generally a big fan of Facebook, as regular readers no doubt know. I’m tired of them opting me in to things I didn’t know about beforehand, and their practice of keeping my data forever creeps me out. It annoys me to carefully and neurotically lock down my privacy settings only to find that they’ve been defaulted to something else without my knowledge. I’ve come close to deleting my account several times because of Facebook drama, too (that’s a user issue and not a platform issue). Yet I continue to use it regularly, because Facebook’s goal of…

  • Patients who know me because of social media

    Not Nurse Ratched
    23 Aug 2010 | 1:31 pm
    It’s finally happened. I’ve now twice met patients through work who I didn’t know before but do now because of social media (one Twitter, one Facebook—someone else’s Facebook account, obviously). One recognized me from Facebook photos, and the other one follows me on Twitter because she’s active in local social media and put two and two together through convoluted means involving mutual friends. As it turns out, social media geeks are ultimately technologically incestuous. One posted on one platform about how she’d met me and I was a good nurse. The…

  • Bookmarklets for iDevices

    Not Nurse Ratched
    22 Aug 2010 | 11:08 pm
    I’ve found it: the Holy Grail! I’ll share right away. Here it is: Bookmarklets for your iPad. It’s the Holy Grail because I have LONG lamented the inability to publish links to Facebook from my iPhone or iPad and have them show up as links and not status updates or some other form of gibberish. This method makes links just like from a desktop computer.
 
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    The Nurse Practitioner's Place

  • A Nurse Practitioner's Response To Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos's Medicaid Tour

    Nurse Practitioners Save Lives
    14 Aug 2010 | 12:45 pm
    I am a rural health care provider in Branford, Florida. I would like to know how many nurse practitioners have been involved in your round table discussions regarding health care reform? I noticed that on your website it states that you want to let "patients decide" but it only says " Patients Decide. First and foremost, it is vital that patients and doctors, not administrators, make all medical decisions." This seems exclusionary of other types of providers. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are practicing primary health care out here in the trenches where most primary…

  • Change of Shift is Here!

    Nurse Practitioners Save Lives
    8 Aug 2010 | 7:27 pm
    Change of Shift is an awesome compilation of nurses who blog about their experiences from all aspects of the profession. Kim was nice enough to enter one of my blog posts for me this round. Go enjoy it here! When you come back, enjoy a video of my youngest grandson Clayton eating watermelon! I am glad that my daughter Ciara finally got a phone with a camera option so she can send me more of William to share as well.

  • Nurse Practitioner Says "I'm No Physician Extender!"

    Nurse Practitioners Save Lives
    31 Jul 2010 | 7:44 pm
     This is who I think of when I hear the term "extends". I was over at Kim's place at Emergiblog and she has a great post about Physician extenders. I, of course, put my two cents in on the subject. It still amazes me just how little people understand about how we take care of patients. The term Physician Extender gives people the impression that I am hanging onto my collaborating MD's elbow waiting for him to approve my every decision regarding my patients. Most of the time, he has no input at all. If I need some advice, I will ask him to review a chart or come into a patient's room with…

  • NHSC Conference In Washington, D.C on Aug 5-7th

    Nurse Practitioners Save Lives
    31 Jul 2010 | 6:52 pm
    I will be attending the National Health Service Corp conference in Washington, D.C. during the first week in August. Why will I being doing this? I applied for a student loan payback program in which the government pays back my student loans in return for my service in a rural area. I signed a two year contract and in return got $50,000 paid immediately off my loans. Pretty sweet deal if I say so myself! There are still funds available for nurses and nurse practitioners, doctors, dentists, mental health professionals and the such so go on over to this site and check it out. My husband will be…

  • Change of Shift Is Five Years Old and Going Strong!

    Nurse Practitioners Save Lives
    9 Jul 2010 | 8:09 pm
    I am honored to be included in the 5th anniversary of the Change of Shift. It's a wonderful compilation of nursing stories submitted each edition and will take you into the lives of those who are saving yours every day. Cheers to Kim and hope that she has many more great years to come.
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    RehabRN

  • A few of my favorite things

    RehabNurse
    1 Sep 2010 | 2:59 pm
    1. Fresh garlic sauteeing in butter.2. Nice long soak in tub with a good book and a good drink.3. Escaping work (finally) and passing on the rest of my admission duties to the next shift. Patient didn't show up until the very last minute.More to come...stay tuned.

  • Tired Tuesday

    RehabNurse
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:18 am
    I'm just way too diurnal. Working at night kills me!Now back to the old daytime grind. The bosses are driving me nuts. Our fearless leader, aka The Big Man (for literal and figurative reasons) is deciding to get crazy. Could it be that he's just got more time on his hands? Perhaps. He's just started bugging me about our presentation we'll be making very soon. The very same presentation he's done very little work on up until now, which I initiated and put together. The very same presentation he didn't want to do since too many nurses may show up. I just hope someone refills his ADD script…

  • Rainy days and Mondays

    RehabNurse
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:43 am
    This just seemed appropriate today. I'll be rejoicing later...when the day is over!

  • Not quite...

    RehabNurse
    29 Aug 2010 | 12:28 pm
    Sunday Stealing, but close. Rules below. Thanks Anonymous RN for this one...and for that blog referral, too.Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!1. Started your own blog2. Slept under the stars3. Played in a band4. Visited Hawaii5. Watched a meteor shower6. Given more than you can afford to charity7. Been to Disneyland8. Climbed a mountain9. Held a praying mantis10. Sang a solo11. Bungee jumped12. Visited Paris13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.14. Taught yourself an art from scratch15. Adopted a child16. Had food poisoning17. Walked to the top of the…

  • Swimmingly

    RehabNurse
    29 Aug 2010 | 10:12 am
    While I'm not lounging at the pool today, I'm having a good day. Going from one task to another in between the excitement that is work.School started and getting lots of inspiration from here, there and everywhere. Traveling partner and I are busy planning our next trip. Can't wait to escape the Hotel again. Just wish we weren't the Rodney Dangerfields of the unit in some ways.Where are the Click and Clack boys to dope slap a few people when we need them?More to come...stay tuned.
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    Travel Nursing Blogs

  • As a travel nurse it is import…

    Jeff
    2 Sep 2010 | 6:54 am
    As a travel nurse it is important you gain your new co-workers respect quickly. Here are some tips. http://ht.ly/2yuca

  • Travel Nursing Checklist Item #21: Squeezing your stuff into your car

    Jeff
    1 Sep 2010 | 1:39 pm
    OK. You have made all the arrangements you need to handle before you leave and taken care of all the items in Travel Nursing Checklist Item #20: Getting ready to leave for your travel nursing job. Now you are ready for the fun activity of packing your belongings into your car that you are going to need during your travel nursing assignment. Hopefully you have read this page that will help you put together a list of items you will need to pack for your travel nursing assignment. If not, check it out. Once you have that list determined, it is time to load all of it into your car. Cramming…

  • During your next travel nursin…

    Jeff
    1 Sep 2010 | 12:25 pm
    During your next travel nursing job try using humor to get through the tough parts of being a nurse. http://ht.ly/2vUvP

  • Featured Travel PICU Nursing Job in California

    Jeff
    31 Aug 2010 | 1:47 pm
    Hospital located in Southern California is looking for a 10 PICU travel nurses to work in their 30 bed PICU unit starting 9-7, 9-20 and 10-4. Travel Nurse is responsible for applying the nursing process in the care of patients ranging from neonates to adults. Plans and administers patient care according to patient needs, established standards of care, and PICU policies and procedures. Travel nurse will also be responsible for: assessing and caring for patients requiring continuous monitoring and invasive procedures. Assessing for appropriate development for age. Assessing the patient’s…

  • Would you work at a travel nur…

    Jeff
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:50 am
    Would you work at a travel nursing assignment where you had to wear an “old fashioned” nursing uniform? http://ht.ly/2szo8
 
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    Phil Baumann

  • Beware Psychosis in Social Media

    Phil Baumann
    12 Aug 2010 | 7:16 pm
    What’s the difference between passion and psychosis? Passion enables you to seek out the things that help you get things done. Psychosis drives you to see things that aren’t there, or to think in ways that are disconnected from reality. A lot of people today are passionate about social media. And there’s good reason: these media are creating new ways of connecting and sharing and communicating. There’s also a lot of misunderstanding, though, about the nature, promises and limits of these technologies which indeed are re-shaping the way we do things. That’s…

  • Health Is Social And Other Adventures

    Phil Baumann
    1 Aug 2010 | 5:40 pm
    Just a few updates on what I’ve been up to for regular readers. After spending a few years discussing how healthcare and other related industries aught to approach emerging media – and having met some wonderful people on the way – I decided to carve out some web real estate to focus on the social aspects of healthcare and the health aspects of social. I wanted to design a place where I could bring together the talents and interests of others who are playing some part in making healthcare better. I also wanted a place where I could continue to offer my views not only on…

  • A Bill of Rights for Social Media Sites?

    Phil Baumann
    19 Jun 2010 | 1:09 pm
    Should we have a Bill of Rights for social media sites? It’s something we need to consider as these software become integral parts of our daily communications. Some might say such a document isn’t needed, that we aught to take a buyer-be-ware approach. But I would argue that the core issue of the privacy threats of new media isn’t really Privacy, but rather Dignity. Having to go through fifty steps to set your privacy settings is undignified, even if your privacy is ensured. So, if we value human dignity, we aught to consider standards of Dignity. A Bill of Rights, even if…

  • Digital Pharma West in San Francisco

    Phil Baumann
    11 Jun 2010 | 2:09 pm
    I’m heading out to San Francisco where I’m co-producing Digital Pharma West where I’ll be on a panel to discuss, among other things, Pharma’s integration of emerging technologies. I’m excited because I get to meet a lot of brilliant people interested in taking the lead in forging new paths for the industry. There’s still time to register for the event and get a chance to network with a lot of talented people. Here’s the attendee list: I’ll write more about the event as it approaches and blog while there as much as possible. You can follow the…

  • Healthcare Uses of Social Media

    Phil Baumann
    3 Jun 2010 | 10:52 am
    Last week I presented at the Social Media Plus Summit and discussed the importance of understanding the nature of emerging media before just jumping into the latest craze. Healthcare adoption of emerging technologies (not just new media) needs to be done with a robust understanding of them in accordance with strategic visions. Privacy isn’t the only consideration in healthcare: dignity, content, information and excellence in communication and community-building are just a few of the others. I wanted to go beyond that typical social media hype and give a deep view of what’s needed…
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    Sinus arrhythmia

  • The very worst medication error I've heard of to date

    JustCallMeJo
    22 Aug 2010 | 4:43 pm
    Last week, a patient somewhere was given 100 units of insulin iv given over 1 hour.(Not by me, mind you. I was one of the many nurses tasked with ensuring the patient didn't die as a result.)The patient lived.And since there is very likely to be a lawsuit involved, I can't say anything else other than this:I never want to be admitted into a hospital for any reason, ever.

  • Someone needs to take care of Gramma.

    JustCallMeJo
    14 May 2010 | 8:52 am
    I'm not a neo-Luddite that thinks that we should all go back to living in huts in small communities.But one side effect of modern living is that we're so spread out. We have jobs/school that take us across the country, or we want to live away from Midwest winters and Lake Effect (my excuse). Our families are too spread out. Yes, phone calls work well for most things.The trouble is that we leave Mom/Granmma in the nursing home, where she's lived for a few years, and none of us are there to help her. Mom/Grandma thinks this sucks, because she'd like us to visit sometimes. And when she takes a…

  • Medication errors, or 320/190

    JustCallMeJo
    3 Mar 2010 | 12:27 pm
    Was doing a spin at General Hospital in the ICU the other day.Patient had fallen down dead in the hospital parking lot. He was subsequently undeadified, put on hypothermia protocol, dialysis and on vasopressors, i.e. Levophed drip. I was bringing the patient's blood pressure down, which is what I do. It was the physician's preference to go up on the blood pressure drug to pull off more fluid.His nurse, Lois, went to lunch and told me, "Jane will cover for me...let Jane know if you need anything, but I'll be in the breakroom right over there." (Lois gestures 10 feet away.) I nod and thank…

  • Back to the ICU!

    JustCallMeJo
    19 Feb 2010 | 1:49 pm
    Woo!I gave my notice today, had a good talk with my boss. I'm leavin acute dialysis and goin back to the ICU! I'm so excited to be goin back.In two weeks and two days, my (sane) self-imposed gag will be lifted, and I can talk about work again. Life is good. Life is gettin better all the time, as a matter of fact.Whee!/jo

  • Colorado nurse salaries.

    JustCallMeJo
    10 Feb 2010 | 6:37 pm
    So I learned today that new grads in the past year were offered $2 an hour LESS than they were two years ago. (Colorado drags behind the coasts in salaries by as much as ten bucks an hour already.).....I'm sorry, did we suddenly get a recession of sick people, cos, gee, I'm not seein it. It's enough to make me want to be pro-union.
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    Lost on the Floor

  • But I’m Not Dead Yet!

    Wanderer
    21 Aug 2010 | 4:05 am
    Truly, I’m not dead, just taking a little break from the interwebs. It’s been quite refreshing. Gonna’ get rid of some cable channels, trim my social media life (what’s left of it!), start trying to live life and continue my search for the next adventure. So go check out the archives, hit some links and I’ll be back sooner than you know! So

  • Happy Birthday

    Wanderer
    10 Aug 2010 | 9:00 am
    Happy Birthday Mia Rose. You would have been 4 years old today, August 10th, but you left so suddenly and so unexpectedly. I know it’s been 4 years and maybe I should have moved on, moved past or otherwise just moved, but some days I find it hard to do, well, anything.  I still have the snippets of images in my mind when I reflect, quick flashes of memory that can take me from normal to an emotional wreck in .25seconds.  It’s changed me.  Your life changed me. I think of all the milestones you would have had, walking, talking, temper tantrums, special simple moments, that…

  • The Cheap Nurse’s iPhone app Guide

    Wanderer
    9 Aug 2010 | 11:42 pm
    I saw this article the other day via Twitter, 10 more great iPhone apps for nurses and thought, “Hey!  This could be cool!”  Sure, it is cool.  It’s a great list.  The apps are polished and nicely made.  Only 3 of them are free.  This is not a slam on the author of that piece.  I just look at things differently. I’m down with dropping cash for apps.  It encourages the authors to continue their pursuit and make more and better apps.  But what if you’re on a tight budget, don’t have a credit card or are just plain cheap?  Looking around the app…

  • Naked Time!

    Wanderer
    8 Aug 2010 | 11:44 pm
    Nothing dirty here, just a rumination of nakedness in the hospital. You know it’s not going to be a good night when the first thing you do is forcibly re-direct a naked man out of the hallway and back to his bed.  Even though he was suffering from a nasty case of Versed-itis© (odd, sometimes insane behavior in normally sane and calm people as an adverse reaction to Versed), he was jumping out of bed post-angio and running into the halls naked, as we were trying to keep him safe.  It’s always fun when the doc is yelling for some help as she is being chased by the naked dude in…

  • Five for Friday

    Wanderer
    6 Aug 2010 | 9:00 am
    This Friday it’s five songs that have been in heavy rotation on my iPod.  Enjoy! Dada – Dizz Knee Land.  Too funny, 8 years after the sing originally came out we were still singing “I just flipped off President George!” Cake – Sheep go to Heaven, Goats go to Hell.  Guess I’m a goat… Less Than Jake – Johnny Quest (Thinks We’re Sellouts!)  I think I have 3 versions of this song on my iPod right now for some reason and each one is different. Cherry Poppin Daddies – Irish Whiskey But instead I’ll Hang in there and suffer with…
 
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    Miss-Elaine-ious RN

  • Good day

    miss-elaine-ious
    28 Aug 2010 | 5:53 pm
    I had a student with me today, to observe the what's what of Emerg in our small city.We didn't do too much today, luckily it was a slower shift. Don't worry, he still got to hear the nursing-home-dump- little old ladies cry out "My God, why are you torturing me!" and "you hateful people!" when we are changing their diapers. Haha.There's something refreshing seeing Emerg in a student's eyes. Makes me feel a little better about still working here.I remember when I was so excited to be in Emerg. Now I'm thinking about a change. I still like emerg, but perhaps a different venue is needed. I'm…

  • "Sick" leave

    miss-elaine-ious
    4 Jul 2010 | 8:10 pm
    Ross from Nurse in Australia had a great post today on sick leave in winter.This triggers my own post. Yes, for the southern hemisphere it's winter, and I'm sure the flu season is kicking them pretty hard.Here in the northern hemisphere, the days are sunny and it's warm, and many people are on vacation.Lately at my work we have been very short staffed. I mean VERY. Sometimes nights are 5-6 nurses short (rare but true) and most nights we're at least 2-3 short. We have roughly a 36 bed department with about 8-10 nurses working at night. Some of the staffing problem is casuals not picking up…

  • Interesting...

    miss-elaine-ious
    22 Jun 2010 | 8:33 pm
    I was working the other day with 1 full time RN, and 2 casuals. The casuals were ++experienced but were not familiar so much with my ED.The other FT RN was busy with some sickies so I ended up being the go-to person to ask questions about different things in the area we were working in. OK I know this sounds stupid but this is the first time in my nursing career that I was the one that was knowledgeable.It felt kinda cool. If only I had time to enjoy it... wow was it ever busy!

  • I'm still here.

    miss-elaine-ious
    14 Jun 2010 | 9:10 pm
    I'm still here, keeping busy getting married and trying to enjoy life OUTSIDE the ED.Staffing issues continue, but tempers have settled down. We're still trying to manage things and people are WAY TOO SICK lately but that's how it goes when you work inside an emerg.I'm triage trained but yet to spend more than my orientation hours there. I triage at the bedside when there's no offload nurse but otherwise I'm mostly in a 3 or 4 bed assignment. It seems pretty good compared to other EDs but since we have hardly any support staff (we have someone who stocks things and another person to clean up…

  • Phew

    miss-elaine-ious
    1 Apr 2010 | 9:30 pm
    I think the other night I deserved a raise.2 of my patients needed constant blood transfusions (which requires a lot of monitoring), and one kept having a BP of 70/40 due to sepsis. Needless to say I didn't sit down EVER.I was so exhausted.. Thank god the other nurses took pity on me and took away one of my patients and gave me an easier one!One good thing: I've earned my time and have been asked to do the triage course. Soon I may be the one greeting you when you come to my ED. Yikes!
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    This won't hurt a bit

  • And what's up with you?

    16 Aug 2010 | 4:45 pm
    Ok, so here is my new standard for parental accomplishment. Helping your oldest poo in a minuscule public restroom while the youngest is strapped to your chest. Seriously, I think they ought to give out medals for that.Bobby has been officially toilet trained (at least during the daytime) for almost a month now. It is very exciting, except when the aforementioned events occur. We haven't tried nighttime yet. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to pass them along. Do you ever feel like the weather is a personal affront to you? Like, seriously 95 degrees out when I have a newborn who…

  • Dude, this is hard work

    1 Aug 2010 | 9:00 pm
    We have a minor miracle right now - both boys are sleeping at the same time! Things have been... busy recently. I was holding on ok for the 2 weeks that my parents were visiting, but the end of their help coincided with Chubs hitting his 3 weeks growth spurt (the name, by the way references the fact that he weighed 9 pounds already at his 11 day check-up). So all he wants to do is eat, eat, eat. Except that my milk pours out faster than he can swallow, so he chokes, gets angry and screams. Nothing like having your infant scream and spit out your boob when you are trying to comfort him.

  • Long, overly detailed, birth post

    18 Jul 2010 | 6:28 pm
    It's been two weeks since we welcomed our 2nd little man into the world. I have been trying to get up the energy to type out his birth story before it becomes completely fuzzy, but for one finding the time to sit in front of the computer is difficult. Also, sitting in front of the computer is difficult because my lady parts are still sore. I have vague memories of feeling much worse following my c-section for Bobby, but pushing out a 14 inch head through an inappropriately sized opening doesn't leave you feeling like daisies either. So, yeah, I had a 30 hour labor. That is if you count from…

  • Look who is sleeping in my living room

    14 Jul 2010 | 4:32 pm
    Born July 12th at 4:01 in the morning. 8 lbs 4.4 ozs, with a 14 inch head. That I pushed out of my lady-parts. Even with an epidural, all I have to say is ouch. We are all home and doing well. Complete birth story to follow...Hurray for a successful VBAC!

  • Preparing for baby

    30 Jun 2010 | 12:31 pm
    Do you think I have the essentials covered?
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    RealityRN

  • Graduated 6yrs ago never took boards

    admin
    1 Sep 2010 | 6:24 pm
    I graduated in May of 2004… \”Life\” happened and I didn\’t take the boards. I have been working in the administrative field but nursing is my passion. I find myself wondering is it too late to try and take the exam, and where do I start with studing. I took a refersher course, which was some help as far as how approach the exam…but what I really need is some content review. My friends and family all say just take the exam… Eaier said than done… Any thoughts? Delia

  • Addiction education for health care professionals, is it needed?

    admin
    31 Aug 2010 | 7:38 am
    I have been a nurse for over a decade and I have worked in a variety of settings throughout my career and one thing I have found to be a universal need within our profession is education about addiction, how to handle it whether it be a patient or one of our own and how to prescribe possible needed medication to that individual. I have seen patients walk into doctor’s offices, tell the physician they are an alcoholic and then watch a physician turn around and write for a RX for percocet or xanax without batting an eye. Xanax is nothing more than alcohol in pill form. I know what some of…

  • When should I go back to school

    admin
    30 Aug 2010 | 5:09 pm
    Hi There, I am a 22 year old new nurse of 7 months. I graduated in December 2009. I work on a surgical floor and love it. It has its ups and downs and I am obviously still new so I get overwhelmed and still feel like I don\’t know anything, but I\’m starting to feel a little more comfortable. However, I want to go back to school. While in School I was always set on being a Nurse Practitioner, but now being in the nursing world and not feeling very confident, I\’m starting to doubt myself and what I should do. I don\’t know when I should go back to school ( I was…

  • background information, apply for the first time

    admin
    27 Aug 2010 | 10:21 am
    ok so i am currently a student for an RN and when i was 18 i commited something so stupid that i now regret. i stoled a pair of jeans and i got put into a pre trial diversion program. i completed it succesfully and they dropped the charges. i was not convicted, but the arrest is still there. what do i do do i report it, and explain. would i still get the license though? thanks so much Sindy

  • starting nursing program middle-age

    admin
    21 Aug 2010 | 8:46 am
    will age play a factor if i want to enroll in the nursing program; i am 56’s? Geneva
 
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    Adventures of GuitarGirl RN

  • Floor nurses are NURSES, right?

    GuitarGirlRN
    27 Aug 2010 | 10:20 am
    I mean, they were when I worked on the floor. I'm just wondering, because lately, we're getting a lot of complaints about "unfinished business" after transferring a patient to the floor.I'm not talking about sending up an unstable patient. I'm talking about busting ass on a patient who is going to a regular med/surg floor. Listen: you have most of the same training I do. You're certainly able to give meds, and put in a Foley, and page the covering resident for order clarification. Actually, you're MORE able to do those things, because your patient load gets capped off after about 6 patients.

  • Overheard in the ED

    GuitarGirlRN
    22 Aug 2010 | 12:01 pm
    I was attempting to place an IV in a patient who was a hard stick. I had missed the first try and was giving it another go. Pt: you know if you miss this one you're going to have to give me oral. Me: What!?Pt: you know, oral medications. Instead of IV.

  • This has nothing to do with nursing

    GuitarGirlRN
    18 Aug 2010 | 9:00 am
    but I just happened to notice that typing on an iPad is a lot like playing a fretless bass. You just hope your fingers are in the right place and fly along.

  • Perhaps we should call Surgery...

    GuitarGirlRN
    15 Aug 2010 | 7:22 pm
    ...this looks like a deep one...

  • Why is it

    GuitarGirlRN
    8 Aug 2010 | 7:37 am
    that people take the advice of the Internet over that of their own doctor?I had to talk at least three people off the edge of hysteria yesterday for their uncomfortable but mostly benign conditions. One woman with a fever and rash was convinced she had some rare tropical disease despite the fact that her own doctor, whom she had gone to see twice in the last three days, told her she had a virus. Not Lyme disease. Not yellow fever. And no, not even strep. Stay home, drink lots of fluids, take Benadryl when you're itchy and Tylenol or Motrin for your fever. It will go away by itself in about a…
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    Pinoy R.N.

  • Oathtaking and Registration Instructions for New Nurses

    Lyle, RN
    29 Aug 2010 | 7:51 pm
    The Professional Regulation Commission reminds new nurses that they are required to bring the following when they register: Duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal,  Current Community Tax Certificate (cedula),  2 pieces passport size picture (colored with white background and complete name tag),  1 piece 1” x 1” picture (colored with white background and complete name tag),  2 sets of metered documentary stamps, and  1 short brown envelope with name and profession; Initial Registration Fee of P600 and Annual Registration Fee of P450 for 2010-2013…

  • Hospitals to Nurse Volunteers: "Show Me the Money"

    Lyle, RN
    29 Aug 2010 | 7:44 pm
    SPONSORED ARTICLE In light of the upcoming run that ALLGEN is sponsoring, we thought it appropriate to bring up the topic of volunteering.   We all know that many nurses are offering their services as volunteers to hospitals and other health institutions.  The sad truth is that majority of these institutions require nurse "volunteers" to pay a fee in order to serve.  Note the use of quotation marks on the word volunteer.  By definition, the word volunteer imparts the idea of free will.  Merriam-Webster gives us the following descriptions. As a noun:1 a person who…

  • Top Performing Schools in the July 2010 Nursing Board Exam

    Lyle, RN
    27 Aug 2010 | 1:19 am
    Here are the individual school ratings of the Top Performing Schools in the July 2010 Nurse Licensure Examination. Top Performing Schools with 100 and More Examinees - www.PinoyRN.co.nr Top Performing Schools with 30-99 Examinees - www.PinoyRN.co.nr Top Performing Schools with Less Than 30 Examinees - www.PinoyRN.co.nr Visit www.PinoyRN.co.nr now for other up-to-date nursing news and information.

  • July 2010 Nursing Board Exam Topnotchers

    Lyle, RN
    27 Aug 2010 | 1:07 am
    The following examinees garnered the highest ratings in the July 2010 Nurse Licensure Examination. July 2010 Nursing Board Exam Topnotchers - www.PinoyRN.co.nr Visit www.PinoyRN.co.nr now for other up-to-date nursing news and information.

  • July 2010 Nursing Board Exam Results

    Lyle, RN
    26 Aug 2010 | 9:42 pm
    The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 37,679 out of 91,008 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, La Union, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga last July 2010 . July 2010 Nurse Licensure Examination Results - www.PinoyRN.co.nr The members of the Board of Nursing are Carmencita M. Abaquin, Chairman; Leonila A. Faire, Betty F. Merritt, Perla G. Po, Marco Antonio C. Sto.Tomas (inhibited), Yolanda C. Arugay and Amelia B. Rosales…
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    Nursing Ideas

  • Nursing Spectrum Drug Handbook Review

    Robert Fraser
    20 Aug 2010 | 3:13 am
    At $29.99 the Nursing Spectrum Drug Handbook's 5th Edition is the most expensive app I have bought for my iPad or iPhone, that being said I would have no problem making that purchase again. The reason that I say this is it has some fantastic features. The book has many of the features that you would expect from a print version of a drug pocket guide: Basic drug information (actions, availability, indications and dosage, contraindications, precautions, administration, adverse reactions, patient monitoring, and patient teaching) Information on safe drug administration (Injection sites,…

  • You need to demand a second monitor!

    Robert Fraser
    17 Aug 2010 | 3:59 am
    This post is for any and all nursing managers, educators, directors, researchers, or executives- actually anyone working at a hospital that is given one monitor for their desk. Would you ever consider allowing you work to give you an desk the same size as when you were in elementary school? I hope I am not speaking for myself when I as ABSOLUTELY NOT. There is no way we could work on a space that small, and at this point if anyone has a desk that size I'd suggest you start looking for another job. How could we possible accomplish what we need to with that little space? So how is your digital…

  • Time is to precious to waste

    Robert Fraser
    13 Aug 2010 | 3:40 am
    Free time is not something that nurses have a lot of. Even as a student there is always to much to do and never enough time. Last summer I came across a talk that really convicted me of this. Dr. Randy Pausch became all to away of the need to manage time after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given less than a year to live. A incredible professor, father and husband he delivers a fantastic speech that is moving and packed with useful thoughts and strategies on how to protect your time. Although Randy did eventually succumb to cancer he did use ever last minute he had to dedicate…

  • The Mashup of Informatics, eHealth, and Social Media in Healthcare

    rbooth
    12 Aug 2010 | 3:30 am
    This article is written by Richard Booth a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario. Over the last decade in nursing, the discipline of informatics has seen and witnessed some exponential changes. The word ‘informatics’ had been used in practice and literature since the mid-1970s, and was picked up by nursing in the early 1980s. As nursing entered the late 1990s, the term ‘eHealth’ began to collect support as the catch-all term used to describe practically anything that crossed between health and technology. With the rise and plateau of the eHealth vernacular both in…

  • Inbox Zero

    Robert Fraser
    30 Jul 2010 | 3:43 am
    In the last four years my inbox has changed from being something I would occasionally check and infrequently get messages from friends. Recently my inbox has become something I compulsively check and that can dominates my life. The worst part is that even though I often check my email, and find things I need to do, the emails will just sit there and pile up. So this summer I am vowing to change that, or at least to try something new. That something is Inbox Zero, and was thought of by Merlin Mann. After noticing that others struggle to do what he does, continually empty his inbox, Merlin…
 
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    Nurse.com News

  • Daily News: Swedish Study Shows COX-2 Inhibitor Superior to Opioid

    31 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    For patients with moderate pain after foot surgery, the cyclo-oxygenase 2 inhibitor drug etoricoxib provides better pain relief with fewer side effects than the opioid drug tramadol, according to a study published in the August issue of the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia. The study also helps to alleviate concerns that COX-2 inhibitors and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may interfere with bone healing after surgery.

  • Kids in the ED: Guidelines Stress Rapid Intervention

    27 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    Children and infants who end up in the ED often require specialized emergency care, yet the majority of children in the U.S. are not cared for in a children's hospital ED, according to Sally K. Snow, RN, BSN, CPEN, FAEN, the Emergency Nurses Association liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

  • Focus on Farm Fresh

    20 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    A nurse at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md., helped bring a farmers market to the campus this summer.

  • Opportunity Abounds for APNs to Participate in Patient Rehabilitation

    20 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    The role of the rehabilitation nurse is especially vital today because they orchestrate care and integrate the team members that participate in patient recovery.

  • End of Shift: Warm Welcome

    20 Aug 2010 | 3:00 am
    I knew immediately by the scowl on her face that my preceptor was going to be dreadful. I was the first bachelor-prepared graduate hired by the hospital, and my preceptor was skeptical of my academic style of training. She seemed determined to prove my transition would be a struggle, and I, of course, proved her right as I fumbled with IV bags and wound dressing changes.
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    Nurse Practioners in Business

  • NPBO Video Minute #5 – Increasing Patient Base

    Barbara C. Phillips, NP
    29 Aug 2010 | 8:34 pm
    Hi, everyone.  It’s Barbara Phillips with another NPBO Video Minute.  And to day my question comes from Deb in North Carolina.  And she says, “We’re a 3 year-old primary care practice in a very saturated area.”  Meaning there are a lot of physician practices around her, and she’s still only seeing 5 to 8 patients per day.  She wants to know what kind of advice we might have for her. So, the first thing that I would suggest is start asking questions of those 5 to 8 patients that are coming in per day.  Why are they coming in to see you versus someone else? …

  • Time Saving Tips for your Practice

    Barbara C. Phillips, NP
    22 Aug 2010 | 3:41 pm
    As any Nurse Practitioner will tell you, running a practice takes a lot of time. Here are a few tips that will allow you to be more efficient, saving you and your staff time and effort. As a bonus, some of them will even increase patient satisfaction. Use templates for standard documentation. You can just substitute any changes. This is especially useful when you are doing documentation online. Use tools such as Short Keys when you document that same thing over and over again. Lab Results: I’ve found this particularly help. I have a lab results sheet that has the most commonly asked…

  • NPBO Video Minute #4 – Facebook Pages

    Barbara C. Phillips, NP
    1 Aug 2010 | 4:12 pm
    NPBO Video Minute – Facebook Pages Welcome everyone to another NPBO Video Minute.  This is Barbara Phillips and today my question come from Grace in Seattle.  She’s wanting to know, “How do I make a Facebook page?” So, I thought I would give you all a demonstration on how I did my Facebook page.  What you see here in from of you is my particular Facebook page and that’s at www.facebook.com/nursepractitionerbusiness. But on anybody’s page you can scroll down, and you will see a link at the very bottom on the left hand column on “to create a page for my business.”  You…

  • Disaster Planning for your Clinic

    Barbara C. Phillips, NP
    26 Jul 2010 | 1:37 pm
    One can hardly turn on the news today with hearing something about some natural disaster. In recent weeks it’s been about earthquakes, tornados, floods and wild fire. And of course, the Northern Hemisphere Hurricane Season is upon us. Clinicians need to be prepared for disasters…not only at home, but in your business as well. Even if you think it will never happen to you, you need to be prepared for the “never gonna happen” event. Making a disaster plan is really just a business plan for disasters. Here are a few things to address: Take a look at everything in your…

  • Are you in PECOS?

    Barbara C. Phillips, NP
    21 Jul 2010 | 2:40 pm
    Are you a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant? Do you see Medicare patients? If so, you’ll want to make sure you are listed in PECOS – Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System. CMS continues to urge physicians and non-physician practitioners who are enrolled in Medicare but who have not updated their Medicare enrollment record since November 2003 to update their enrollment record now. If these physicians and non-physician practitioners have no changes to their enrollment data, they need to submit an initial enrollment application which will establish a current…
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    NurseConnect.com General Nursing and Career Blog

  • Nurses Beware! the Ides of July?

    Shakespeare’s Caesar was warned by a soothsayer to “Beware the Ides of March.” As it turns out, Julius Caesar probably should have heeded that warning. According to the Latin calendar, every month has its own personal “Ides” midway through the month. In the case of March, and of July, the Ides falls on the 15th – about halfway through the summer.Thankfully, we’re well into the month of August. I wonder how many healthcare professionals may be secretly breathing a sigh of relief. Midsummer has come and gone, along with the lurking menace of any potential “July Effect.”…

  • The World According to Nurses

    Remember all those nursing theorists we studied in school?  I’ll never forget sitting for my first introductory nursing exam. My head was spinning with the names of countless theorists and abstract concepts. In fact, one of my earliest assignments was to choose the theorist who most represented my own nursing philosophy. This seemed much too early in my career to make such a personal choice.Now that I have a few years of nursing under my belt, I finally feel ready to revisit some of those old (and new) theories about our profession. I realize how hard it can be to mesh theory with the…

  • What’s In a Name? Nurses’ Nicknames

    I have a few nicknames at work. Like many blondes, I answer to Barbie and Blondie. One colleague simply calls me by my height, “Five Eleven.” A housekeeper named me “Two Step” because of my fondness for music.From what I can tell, these nicknames appeared before my peers actually learned my real name. I have one of those nametags that always seem to flip backwards, hiding my name and identity from the world. I have tried redoing the fastener, taping it to my scrub top and flipping it over every few hours. But, somehow it always seems to land up-side-down.A good friend of mine likes to…

  • Are Nurses Too Loyal?

    Do You Ever Feel Chained to Your Facility? When I first entered nursing, I remember hearing that there “will always be plenty of jobs out there for nurses.” I continue to hear that phrase, despite a currently high overall unemployment rate. There really do seem to be a lot of nursing jobs out there. So, I can’t help but wonder. Where have all the nurses gone?Theories and observations abound in regard to the ongoing nursing shortage. A dearth of nursing professors has curbed student nurse enrollment. Recruitment and retention can suffer for a wide variety of reasons. Some statistics…

  • Patients Just Want to be Heard

    Do you ever feel as if you are on a bus or taxi driver’s holiday?  What I mean by this is sometimes, perfect strangers seem compelled to launch into in-depth discussions of their most delicate medical histories. This behavior generally starts as soon as they learn that I’m a nurse.  If you’ve been a nurse for any length of time, I’m sure you know what I mean. Sure, not everyone immediately shares intimate details of their surgeries, traumatic injuries, or alterations in bodily functions or fluids. It may take a few minutes. But, this sharing happens more often than I would…
 
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    Sunbelt Staffing

  • CNA Certification

    Howard Gerber
    30 Aug 2010 | 6:00 am
    A certified nursing assistant, or CNA, is someone who completes routine tasks and provides basic patient care under the supervision of medical staff and nurses. Responsibilities may include helping a patient dress, eat, or bathe. CNAs may also serve meals, change linens, and monitor a patient’s vital signs. Usually, a CNA will work in a hospital or residential setting, such as a nursing home, but they may also be employed by home health companies to give in-home care to patients. Education The first step in becoming a certified nursing assistant is training. Federal guidelines require 75…

  • Speech Therapy for Toddlers

    Howard Gerber
    23 Aug 2010 | 6:00 am
    There are two specialties that are experiencing rapid growth in the field of speech pathology, geriatrics and pediatrics. One of the reasons speech therapy for children is experiencing such rapid growth is because of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed in 2004. This is a federal law that guarantees services to all children with disabilities who are eligible. The eligibility process requires an evaluation of the child by the appropriate authority. When a speech delay or impediment is a possibility, that authority is a speech therapist. With older children, a school official…

  • Looking at Physical Therapy Work Environments

    Howard Gerber
    16 Aug 2010 | 6:00 am
    As a physical therapist, you have a variety of work environments from which to choose. If you want a traditional office setting, that is certainly one possibility, as about 60 percent of all physical therapist jobs are located in either the offices of a health practitioner or within a hospital. However, if you would rather work with a specific demographic or if you want to work outside of the box, that is also possible. As previously mentioned, the most abundant job opportunities are those found in hospitals and doctor’s offices. In a hospital environment, you will be helping a variety of…

  • What is the NCLEX?

    Howard Gerber
    10 Aug 2010 | 6:00 am
    Anyone who wants to become a registered nurse will quickly become familiar with the NCLEX. NCLEX is short for the National Council Licensure Examination. There are actually two versions, the NCLEX-RN and the NCLEX-PN. The NCLEX-RN is the test that a candidate must past before becoming a registered nurse and the NCLEX-PN is for practical nurses. These tests are the culmination of years of study and are the final step a nursing student must take before being admitted into the world of nursing. As with any licensure test, they are extremely stressful. Before you can register for the test, you…

  • What Does the New Patient’s Bill of Rights Mean for Health Care Workers?

    Howard Gerber
    27 Jul 2010 | 7:29 am
    On June 22, the White House released a Patient’s Bill of Rights, which is actually a group of regulations aimed at helping patients find affordable health insurance. While most of the media focus has been on how these new regulations will help patients, there are measures that will be beneficial to the business of healthcare. By this, I mean that individuals will have a greater ability to choose and visit the healthcare provider they want. With fewer limits, these providers should see an increase in business which will allow them to retain, and possibly even gain, employees. With the new…
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    Soliant Healthcare Job Blog

  • The Final Word on America’s Top 10 Nursing Schools

    Tera Tuten
    30 Aug 2010 | 1:11 pm
    Wondering which nursing schools are tops to apply to, work at, or just get an acceptance to? More to the point, wondering which list of top nursing schools to trust? Don’t fret: We’ve got you covered. After analysing more than 30 such rankings, we averaged the lists together, applying editorial common sense and other subjective judgements where of [...]The Final Word on America’s Top 10 Nursing Schools is a post from: Soliant Health

  • 4 Organizations for Pharmacists

    Tera Tuten
    10 Aug 2010 | 5:30 am
    The world of pharmaceuticals is constantly evolving as new medications are added to the market. As with any medical profession, it is important for a pharmacist to keep up with the latest information and innovations. This is where trade organizations become invaluable. There are numerous national and state pharmacy organizations. Today, we will discuss four [...]4 Organizations for Pharmacists is a post from: Soliant Health

  • How To Help Your Patient Help You In Your Diagnosis

    Tera Tuten
    3 Aug 2010 | 7:08 am
    Don – a man in his 60s – couldn’t get through the night without waking up with chronic bleeding and extreme pain from a venous ulcer…until his wife researched and made contact with a wound specialist online. Identifying Don’s problem with the help of his wife’s pages of website printouts in-tow, the specialist switched Don’s [...]How To Help Your Patient Help You In Your Diagnosis is a post from: Soliant Health

  • 60+ Top Medical Conferences by Profession

    Tera Tuten
    13 Jul 2010 | 6:00 am
    60+ top medical conferences by profession In many cases, specialists and general practitioners alike have very specific conferences on their yearly hit-list. Occasionally – even yearly – an opportunity will arise to go to one or two additional conferences…But which one(s) to go to… Below is our custom-designed hit-list of some of the largest, most prominent, and [...]60+ Top Medical Conferences by Profession is a post from: Soliant Health

  • The Top 20 Most Beautiful Hospitals in the U.S. Rankings – 2010

    Ryan Winter
    29 Jun 2010 | 6:00 am
    After more than 10,000 votes to whittle down 50 entries, Soliant.com visitors have put San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital at the top of its second-annual “20 Most Beautiful Hospitals In America” list. After a 2009 list chosen by the Soliant.com editorial team, we turned the 2010 decision over to you, with an exciting roller-coaster ride of [...]The Top 20 Most Beautiful Hospitals in the U.S. Rankings – 2010 is a post from: Soliant Health
 
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    Nursing Homes Abuse Blog

  • Director Of Nursing Cleared Of Charges Alleging That She Interfered With Nursing Home Inspection

    Jonathan Rosenfeld
    2 Sep 2010 | 4:37 am
    I was frankly disturbed when I came across an article in the Press-Citizen by Clark Kauffman regarding a director of nursing at an Iowa nursing home who obviously bullied her employees into keeping quiet regarding poor care they may have witnessed at the facility. Karen Etter, the former director of nursing at Windmill Manor Nursing Home, was charged with attempting to impede or interfere with state inspections at the nursing home she was responsible for overseeing.  Despite Ms. Etter's admission that she told employees at the facility that they would be fired if they reported dangerous…

  • Following Discovery Of Injuries In Centenarian, Authorities Initiate Investigation Of Abuse At Nursing Home

    Jonathan Rosenfeld
    1 Sep 2010 | 5:08 am
    Tennessee authorities are now investigating what appears to be tell-tale signs of nursing home abuse following the hospitalization of a 100-year-old woman.  After the centenarian was admitted to the hospital with severe hemorrhaging, broken ribs and pressure sores, the hospital contacted the local police department as well as the Tennessee Adult Protective Services. Prior to her hospitalization, the woman was a patient at Boulevard Terrace Nursing Home for treatment related to a fractured femur she sustained prior to her admission. As authorities look into this patient's suspicious…

  • Even After Warnings, Reglan Continues To Be Prescibed And Cause Devastating Problems For Many Patients-- Including Tardive Dyskinesia

    Jonathan Rosenfeld
    31 Aug 2010 | 4:46 am
      In a previous post, I talked about Reglan (Metoclopramide), a drug commonly used to relieve heartburn in patients with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) or to relieve symptoms of slow stomach emptying for people with diabetes. Well, it turns out that this drug can also cause tardive dyskinesia (TD). Tardive dyskinesia is abnormal muscle movements, mostly in the face muscles, that you have no control over. TD has no treatment, and the symptoms might not go away even you stop taking raglan.  Clearly, TD is not a minor side effect. The FDA took action…

  • Failure To Use Proper Lifting Technique Results In Severe Injury To Stroke Patient In Nursing Home

    Jonathan Rosenfeld
    30 Aug 2010 | 4:23 am
    I'm always amazed at how shortcuts taken by nursing home staff can result in horrific patient injury or death. Frequently, I see the shortcuts taken by staff as a reflection the facilities failure to train their staff and the facilities decision to cut staffing levels to a bare-bones minimum. Perhaps the area where I most frequently see staff short-cuts resulting in patient injury occurs during patient transfers.   By law, nursing home patients need to be evaluated if they require assistance for transfers from their beds to wheelchair and vice versa.   Patient evaluations are…

  • Nursing Home Spotlight: Edwardsville Terrace

    Jonathan Rosenfeld
    26 Aug 2010 | 5:20 am
    On November 24, 2009 nursing home surveyors from the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) conducted an inspection of Edwardsville Terrace, a nursing home in Edwardsville, IL.  The inspection of the facility found numerous violations of federal and state laws applicable to nursing home care. In particular, surveyors discovered the following alarming situations at the Southern Illinois facility: The facility failed to have written procedures regarding patient care (Section 350.620 Resident Care Policies) Edwardsville failed to provide skilled nursing services that are required to maintain…
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    Off the Charts

  • Back to School: Team Sports and Concussions

    sfoleyajn
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:58 am
    By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief Concussions among young athletes are on the rise—are parents and coaches taking them too lightly? Photo by Dick Rochester, via Flickr My sons played ice hockey and football in their high school years, what my husband and I referred to as “collision sports.” The unmistakable sound of helmet-hitting-helmet always made me cringe, especially in hockey where a good skater can generate considerable speed (and therefore force) before impact. I’ve witnessed many players being helped off the ice. The coach, who knew I was a nurse, would sometimes…

  • Fighting HIV–AIDS with Public Health Billboards: September ‘Art of Nursing’

    sfoleyajn
    30 Aug 2010 | 11:32 am
    By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor Public Health Billboard, Guinea-Bissau (detail) On a recent trip to the capital of Guinea­-Bissau, Dawn Starin noticed numerous public health billboards urging people to get tested for HIV or to practice safer sex by wearing condoms. One of the six poorest countries in the world, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, Guinea-Bissau faces an ongoing epidemic of HIV and AIDS. Prevalence is especially high in urban areas and among pregnant women and sex workers. Starin, a writer and a research associate in the department of…

  • Neither Crime Nor Demeanor

    jm
    25 Aug 2010 | 12:05 pm
    By Marcy Phipps. Marcy is an RN in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her essay, “The Soul on the Head of a Pin,” appeared in the May issue of AJN, and she has contributed several thoughtful posts to this blog in recent months (here’s the previous one). by Van Der Elst/via Flickr My patient’s ICU stay was short, as his injuries were fairly unremarkable. Far more striking were the circumstances of his admission; he’d been injured while committing an appalling act of grisly violence. An armed police officer stood sentry at his bedside, and the nature of his crimes gave him a sinister…

  • On the Nurses Walk

    jm
    23 Aug 2010 | 10:37 am
    By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief Sydney Harbor As some of you may have seen by my tweets over the last week or so, I was in Australia attending a meeting, the International Academy of Nurse Editors gathering in Coolum (August 11 to 14). We discussed editorial and publishing matters—interesting if you’re “in the biz,” but I imagine most nurses would roll their eyes if I discussed it here. (Side note, to those interested: there was much discussion about the use and misuse of journal rankings and impact factors and the sustainability of society and clinical practice journals…

  • When Timely Nurse Removal of Urinary Catheters Reduces UTI Rate

    jm
    19 Aug 2010 | 10:47 am
    By Christine Moffa, MS, RN, AJN clinical editor Ever since we started the Cultivating Quality column at AJN, manuscripts featuring evidence-based quality improvement projects have been pouring in. There is a lot of great work being done at the bedside by practicing nurses, and this column provides the opportunity to share their ideas with others. Lancaster General's CAUTI rates, fiscal yrs 2007-2009 (click to enlarge) This month’s Cultivating Quality installment, Reducing Rates of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection, comes from Joyce Wenger, MS, RN, the infection control…
 
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    Nursing Novellas: Stories from the Human Side of Healthcare

  • Thank you, Samantha

    My grandma, Mary Rose, passed away last Sunday afternoon in a nursing home, and was laid to rest on the following Tuesday morning.  It was a bittersweet thing to say goodbye to her.  Her health had declined rapidly over the last few months of her life, and she suffered greatly toward the end.  When the [...]

  • Unsung Heroes

    Unsung Heroes The front page of last Sunday’s Fayetteville Observer newspaper featured the story of Specialist Clayton McGarrah of the United States Army, killed at the age of 20 in combat in Afghanistan on July 4th.  The picture of his young widow standing over his casket stopped my heart for a moment.  I literally had [...]

  • If the Shoe Fits: Red Heels for Nurses?

    At a recent conference I attended, I went out to dinner one night with a group of nurse educators.  Two of them were faculty from a school of nursing, and had plenty to say about the new class of nurses that they had just graduated. “They wanted to wear red shoes to their pinning ceremony,” [...]

  • Nursing Novellas Review: Journal for Nurses in Staff Development

    Susan L. Bindon, MS, RN-BC has published a favorable review of the Nursing Novellas series in the May/June 2010 Edition of the Journal for Nurses in Staff Development. She describes Nursing Novellas as a “fresh approach” to continuing education and a “welcome change” for staff nurses and nursing educators looking for new ways to teach about interpersonal issues [...]

  • A SIGN OF THE TIMES

    CONGRADULATION, says the marquee outside of a hotel at a nearby college campus.  One has to wonder, was it an attempt at a play on the word ‘congratulations’ combined with ‘graduation?’  Or was it the handiwork of someone who fell asleep in English class a time or two and didn’t make it to their own [...]
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    Nurse Story

  • Looking for input: The librarian's work in online courses and in BSN completion programs

    Terri Schmitt
    8 Aug 2010 | 12:28 pm
    I am looking for literature articles, personal anecdotal information, and input from faculty and librarians as to what works and what you are dreaming of doing to support online education from the perspective of library science and nursing. I am looking for input as to where I should look for studies, or even designs for the online library. If any of you have input feel free to comment here or DM me on twitter @onlinenursing. Also, how are you all teaching your students to search and utilize electronic library resources?

  • Part 2: Drooling, Sharing, Playing…. communicable diseases that can plague the preschool ministry

    Terri Schmitt
    22 Jul 2010 | 1:31 pm
    Part one of this series covered some basic suggestions for maintaining health, safety, and developmentally appropriate church preschool areas. In this posting, I will briefly review common communicable childhood illnesses, basic signs and symptoms, how these illnesses are passed on to others, and, more importantly, how they can be prevented. This posting is not meant to be medical advice, leave that to the families you serve and their health care provider. Instead, this posting is meant to be more of an informational… ‘what to watch out for and help prevent’. After all, if…

  • Ecuador Trip 2010

    Terri Schmitt
    12 Jul 2010 | 9:59 am
    We went again, we changed focus some, we learned a lot. Again this year 15 student nurses, nurses, and lay people gave up time, money, and their common creature comforts to follow me to areas around Quito, Ecuador for health care mission. This year it was just us nurses. I was quite proud. We saw over 400 people in 4 days, but the clinic and health screenings were not the most important part. This year, because we are nurses, we did public health. Hand washing and dental hygiene education, handing out anti parasite medications, and providing tooth brushes, tooth paste, and vitamins to entire…

  • Drooling, playing, sharing… a nurse's recomendations for church preschool ministries

    Terri Schmitt
    17 Jun 2010 | 9:40 am
    I am going to start a series of posts about health, nursing, and church preschool ministries. For those of you who serve in the preschool area, be it volunteer, baby holder, teacher, or preschool minister…. GOD BLESS YOU! There is an art to that service, and a lot of sharing, putting things in one’s mouth, snacks, diapers, hand washing, separation anxiety, hitting, biting, … you get the idea. Preschool workers must have the patience of Job! After doing an extensive internet and literature search on “church health”, “preschool ministry health”, and…

  • #RNChat and Social Media: Future of Nursing from RWJF

    Terri Schmitt
    25 May 2010 | 12:26 pm
    The great people at the RWJF, who use social media to inform nursing well, posted an article this week with some great insight by Phil Baumann on social media and nursing. They asked me a few questions too, but Phil did a wonderful and eloquent job of clearly laying out why nurses need to be social media savvy. Thank you RWJF and INQRI!!!!! http://www.rwjf.org/humancapital/product.jsp?id=63768&cid=xtw_rwjf
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    Nursing

  • The Ideal Text for Graduate Nursing Students and DNP programs!

    Katie Hennessy
    20 Aug 2010 | 8:06 am
    Jones & Bartlett Learning is pleased to announce the recent publication of: Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice Janie B. Butts, DSN, RN, The University of Southern MississippiKaren L. Rich, PhD, RN, The University of Southern Mississippi ISBN-13: 978-0-7637-7986-3Paperback • 650 Pages • © 2011  Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice is designed for the advanced practice nursing student and is an essential resource for graduate and DNP programs. This comprehensive text covers all of the major nursing theories and includes a…

  • The Perfect Resource for Nursing Capstone Courses and Nursing Professionals!

    Katie Hennessy
    19 Aug 2010 | 11:14 am
    Jones & Bartlett Learning is pleased to announce the recent publication of: Project Planning and Management: A Guide for CNLs, DNPs and Nurse Executives James L. Harris, DSN, APRN-BC, MBA, CNL, FAANLinda Roussel, RN, DSN, CNAA, BCSandra Walters, DNP, RNCatherine Dearman, RN, PhD ISBN-13: 978-0-7637-8586-4Paperback • 328 Pages • © 2011 Project Planning and Management: A Guide for CNLs, DNPs and Nurse Executives provides a step-by-step approach to developing, implementing and evaluating a project plan. It serves as a guide to refining the idea or question, reviewing relevant…

  • A New Text to Help Students Flourish as Nursing Professionals!

    Katie Hennessy
    17 Aug 2010 | 7:56 am
    Jones & Bartlett Learning is pleased to announce the recent publication of: The Making of Nurse ProfessionalsA Transformational, Ethical Approach Nancy Crigger, PhD, MA, ARNP, BC, Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, William Jewell CollegeNelda Godfrey, PhD, ACNS-BC, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Kansas School of Nursing ISBN-13: 978-0-7637-8056-2Paperback • 150 Pages • © 2011 The Making of Nurse Professionals: A Transformational, Ethical Approach is a philosophical inquiry into the current state of…

  • New Edition of Case Studies in Nursing Ethics!

    Katie Hennessy
    16 Aug 2010 | 11:28 am
    Jones & Bartlett Learning is pleased to announce the recent publication of:Case Studies in Nursing Ethics, Fourth Edition Sara T. Fry, PhD, RN, Boston CollegeRobert M. Veatch, PhD, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown UniversityCarol R. Taylor, PhD, RN, Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University ISBN-13: 978-0-7637-8031-9Paperback • 506 Pages • © 2011  As the healthcare professional in closest contact with both the patient and the physician, nurses face biomedical ethical problems in unique ways. Accordingly, Case Studies in Nursing Ethics, Fourth Edition…

  • Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week

    Katie Hennessy
    9 Aug 2010 | 9:22 am
    Did you know that last week was the 20th anniversary of World Breastfeeding Week? Celebrated internationally each year from August 1-7, World Breastfeeding Week advocates the importance of mothers, educators, advocates, and supporters to the health and welfare of babies, their mothers, and the community at large. This year, the theme of World Breastfeeding Week was Breastfeeding: Just 10 Steps – The Baby-Friendly Way. According to Jones & Bartlett Learning author Cindy Turner-Maffei, MA, IBCLC, this year’s theme celebrates: the more than 20,000 birth facilities…
 
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    The Nursing Site Blog

  • Students Not Exploring Health Careers

    26 Aug 2010 | 9:29 pm
    The nursing shortage may seem stalled since the economy tanked, but as the economy recovers and health care reform becomes a reality, that shortage is going to come back with a bang and we're going... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • NursingSiteNetwork Will Close Today

    20 Aug 2010 | 3:30 pm
    I'm sorry to say that the Nursing Site Network at Ning.com will close today. Ning.com has decided to charge for hosting these networks and at this time I cannot see my way to charge readers to join... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • NY Nurse Practitioner Helps Shape Lives

    29 Jul 2010 | 11:44 am
    Miraclebody Jeans ran a contest in April 2010 to search for women who make a difference and help shape lives. Megan Sikorski of New York was one of the four women chosen. Megan is a Nurse... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • FREE Web Seminar on Retirement for Nurses

    22 Jul 2010 | 6:20 pm
    A FREE web seminar on Planning for Retirement: A Guide for Nurses and Other Busy Women will be held next Thursday, July 29 at 2:0 PM EDT. According to the sponsors, the US Department of Labor,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Changes

    20 Jul 2010 | 7:22 pm
    The Nursing Site Blog will be restored in the next few days. Please be patient Thanks Kathy©2009 Kathy Quan RN BSN PHN All Rights Reserved. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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    Scrubs - The Nurse's Guide to Good Living

  • 10 ways you’re annoying fellow nurses

    NursingLink
    2 Sep 2010 | 10:37 am
    Image: NL Shop | Veer + ScrubsEveryone has something (or someone) that annoys him or her at the hospital. It could be faulty medical equipment or nurses who don’t pull their own weight. But nobody’s complaining about you, right? Not so fast. Even though your mom, friends, or significant other may worship the ground you walk on, there could be some people you work with who are far from your biggest fans. Your dirty jokes may be a hit at home, but that doesn’t mean they sit well with the Chief of Surgery. Here are 10 things that you might be doing to annoy your fellow nurses — consider…

  • Doctor apologizes for attacking nurse

    Jennifer Fink, RN, BSN
    1 Sep 2010 | 10:28 pm
    A Colorado nurse was stabbed earlier this year by a doctor who works at the same hospital. The physician, Dr. Grady Michael Holder, was a patient in the ICU at the time of the attack. Holder was hospitalized due to conditions related to alcohol abuse when he summoned the nurse to his room. When she arrived, the curtains were drawn around the bed. As she pulled back the curtains, Holder used a knife to stab her in the upper arm. Holder, who lost hospital privileges as a result of the attack, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, menacing and second-degree assault. However, a further…

  • Nursing school finals frustration

    Ani Burr
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:59 pm
    Image: Corbis Photography | VeerIn less than 4 days I will be taking my one and only final of the quarter and FINALLY starting my 3 week summer vacation. That cloud 9 is still lingering and floating around, but the haze of it is wearing off and the panic is starting to set in. I feel like every quarter, my study habits change, I do something differently and it changes the way I have to approach studying. This quarter, we had an instructor who recorded lectures for us, so I can re-listen to anything I didn’t catch. I wrote out my class notes in a notebook, I have a text-book outline of…

  • A doctor in nursing uniform?

    Nicole Lehr
    31 Aug 2010 | 6:54 pm
    Image: Jupiterimages | Polka Dot | Getty ImagesBeing a nurse that is interested in continuing my education in upcoming years, I obviously love hearing/reading about how the nurse practitioner is the “next best thing” in the medical profession. The autonomy is yearned for, the medical malpractice burden is less than that of an MD, the opportunities for research are endless, and the pay is great. Some people even prefer seeing a nurse practitioner to a doctor. So if you are returning back to school for a Masters degree, who wouldn’t want to be a nurse practitioner? Well, what if you…

  • The nursing “trade”

    Sean Dent
    31 Aug 2010 | 11:08 am
    Image: Stockbyte | ThinkstockYep, you read that right. The nursing trade. I recently read an article that posed the question : Is nursing considered a career or a trade? So, you know me. Let’s ‘Google’ some terms. Trade: An occupation, especially one requiring skilled labor; craft (Free Dictionary.com) an occupation that requires some particular kind of skilled work.(Wikipedia) Career: a profession or occupation chosen as one’s life’s work (Free Dictionary.com) an individual’s “course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)”. It…
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    Scrubs - The Nurse's Guide to Good Living» Rebekah Child

  • Work rage

    Rebekah Child
    16 Aug 2010 | 3:17 pm
    Image: iStockphoto + Photodisc | ThinkstockI suppose you’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the Jet Blue flight attendant who had an altercation with a passenger and ended up flying off the plane…literally, down the emergency chute. He also grabbed a couple beers on his way out which makes me wonder if he might get in trouble for drinking on the job or even “Drinking and Sliding.” This man has now received quite some notoriety for this stunt and I have to say I applaud his creative problem solving skills! I know that there have been a few times where I…

  • Pet therapy?

    Rebekah Child
    5 Aug 2010 | 1:47 pm
    I just read online about a dog that had a mid night snack of his owner’s big toe. Apparently, the owner was passed out drunk and the would be surgeon terrier set about chewing off this guy’s toe which later turned out to have a gangrenous infection. The owner, so the story says, had undiagnosed Type II diabetes and didn’t follow the old adage “Shoes and socks, take them off” when he went to his doctor’s appointments. The dog was a hero and was credited for saving this guy’s life. Considering my dogs eat trash and all the random and disgusting things…

  • A good nurse…

    Rebekah Child
    2 Aug 2010 | 2:54 pm
    Image: Corbis Photography | Veer My friend’s friend just had a baby. Apparently the baby had some trouble coming out and the doctor wanted to use those suction cup thingies (what is their official name oh esteemed L&D nurses?) and the patient didn’t really want a cone-shaped head baby. The nurse told the doc they should wait a little while, she thought the patient could deliver without those. And sure enough, an hour later, my friend’s friend pushed out a healthy, normal head shaped 8 pound 6 ounce baby boy. She remarked to our mutual friend later “I didn’t know how much…

  • Wasting away in Margaritaville, I mean, your doctor’s office…

    Rebekah Child
    21 Jul 2010 | 8:41 am
    Image: Jochen Sands | Digital Vision | Thinkstock There’s a new internet based tool that is supposed to help patients curb wait times by allowing them to see if their doctor is running late. You know, kind of like checking to see if your plane is on time. If your plane is running late, you know you can have another drink at the airport bar! But since you (hopefully) aren’t drinking, driving and going to your doctor’s appointments, I suppose this is the next best thing. Just in case your doctor isn’t part of this program, here are a few other ideas to keep you entertained while waiting…

  • Nurses and patient satisfaction

    Rebekah Child
    19 Jul 2010 | 12:13 pm
    Image: Nuno Santos | Veer I don’t know how much emphasis your hospital places on patient satisfaction scores, but the government sure is starting to weight in heavily. In fact, soon reimbursement will be partially tied into what’s called your HCAHPS score. This stands for Hospital Care Quality Information from the Consumer Perspective. The goal of the HCAHPS instrument is to be able to compare hospitals on the same playing field. The survey has 27 questions about perspectives on care and patient rating items that include eight key topics. These topics include communication with nurses and…
 
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    Scrubs - The Nurse's Guide to Good Living» Rob Cameron

  • Stranger in a strange land

    Rob Cameron
    26 Aug 2010 | 8:00 am
    Image: Hemera | Thinkstock I started my new job this week in a cardiology office.  No management stuff, just back to good old fashioned patient care, sort of. With the exception of the four years that I worked as a CNA in a nursing, I have been a hospital nurse my entire career.  I have always thought that clinics are where old nurses go to die.  But, I thought I would give it a shot and hopefully learn something new along the way. Here is what I have learned in the past two weeks, clinic nurses are amazing.  They have developed relationships with their patients that are unbelievable. …

  • Not enough time

    Rob Cameron
    20 Aug 2010 | 8:28 pm
    I have not been on here blogging for a couple of weeks, I have been so busy I am going out of my mind.  I started my new job, which is good, but from the minute I get up in the morning until the minute I go to bed I am rushing.  I know you all have lives like this, but for some reason I feel like I can never get caught up. I have tried changing things up.  Instead of going to the gym in the even after work, I have been going at 6:00 in the morning.  Trouble is, I just traded rushing home from work to get to my workout, to rushing to get to work after my workout.  I tried making my lunch…

  • Changes

    Rob Cameron
    31 Jul 2010 | 12:03 pm
    Image: Keith Brofsky | Photodisc | ThinkstockNext week I start a new job.  In the past I have been an inpatient nurse in medical-surgical units, critical care units and primarily in the emergency department.  I have been an educator and then a manager for a medical-surgical unit.  This new job I am starting next week is in a clinic.  I am making a complete change in what I will be doing in nursing. Next week I will be in orientation.  I haven’t been in a real orientation in many years.  Whenever I would change jobs in the past, I would move from one ED to another ED.  I would get a…

  • Nursing unions

    Rob Cameron
    29 Jul 2010 | 1:47 pm
    Image: Hemera | ThinkstockA month ago or so I wrote an article about the nurse’s union in Minnesota and the ridiculous strike they participated in and how they abandoned thousands of patients in need.  I talked about how I felt that unions are only out for one thing, that is to increase the power of the union.  Not the power of its members, the nurses, but the power of the union leaders. As I stated in my recent blogs, I am in the process of changing jobs.  I did get a new job that I start in about in a week.  I am really excited about this new opportunity and the new challenges this…

  • Married to a non-nurse

    Rob Cameron
    17 Jul 2010 | 12:00 pm
    How can life at home be for a person married to nurse?  I mean we sit around and talk about bodily functions, fluids and pretty disgusting stuff while we are eating and don’t think twice about it. But if your partner is a non-nurse who is an accountant or something like that, it may not go over very well. We see a lot of crazy stuff every day at work.  Patients with huge wounds, full of pus and necrotic.  Patients with various household items found in various parts of their bodies.  And even the crazy stuff that patients or families say to us.  We think that stuff is great, but not…
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    Scrubs - The Nurse's Guide to Good Living» Sean Dent

  • The nursing “trade”

    Sean Dent
    31 Aug 2010 | 11:08 am
    Image: Stockbyte | ThinkstockYep, you read that right. The nursing trade. I recently read an article that posed the question : Is nursing considered a career or a trade? So, you know me. Let’s ‘Google’ some terms. Trade: An occupation, especially one requiring skilled labor; craft (Free Dictionary.com) an occupation that requires some particular kind of skilled work.(Wikipedia) Career: a profession or occupation chosen as one’s life’s work (Free Dictionary.com) an individual’s “course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)”. It…

  • Chocolate…as a protein substitute

    Sean Dent
    31 Aug 2010 | 9:09 am
    Image: Blend Images Photography | Veer “Is it true that when you’re craving chocolate it means you’re protein deficient? I heard that once and started eating more chicken and peanut butter and I swear I still don’t crave sweets as much…” This particular ‘myth’ struck me as interesting and (honestly) funny. Craving chocolate linked to your body wanting or needing protein? Hmm… This led me on an interesting search. Everything from chocolate, cravings, sweets, protein-rich foods, hunger, diet, etc. I then started thinking about protein…

  • Hospital-wide dress code?

    Sean Dent
    31 Aug 2010 | 8:37 am
    Image: iofoto | Veer + Hemera | Getty Images So I was at work the other day. I think it was the weekend (I can’t remember). I happened to notice a physician making rounds on a patient (in this case, not part of my assignment). What the physician wore rather startled got me thinking. I’ve seen physicians (PCP, specialists, surgeons, etc.) come in for their daily rounds (weekend, holiday, weekday, etc.) wearing something ‘other’ than what you would expect. I’m not talking about just the absence of the ‘traditional’ white coat. I’m talking anything…

  • Times…they are a-changin’

    Sean Dent
    24 Aug 2010 | 3:00 pm
    Image: cultura Photography | VeerI thought I’d share an old blog post concerning new versus experienced nurses and where they ‘should’ work fresh out of nursing school. Of course I’m now a 5 year veteran, but the blog post still holds true for me. I think today’s economy has definitely impacted the amount of nursing jobs out there for new graduate nurses, but I still believe that a nurse’s ‘time in grade’ does not determine their ability or capacity to excel. The one and only constant thing in life is CHANGE. Everything else is CHANCE. I’ve been a nurse…

  • Weight loss calorie burning foods?

    Sean Dent
    17 Aug 2010 | 8:58 am
    Image: Somos Photography | VeerHere’s another wonderful myth out there. The idea that there are actual foods out there that ‘help’ you lose weight. That by some sheer miracle, when you eat these foods the weight melts off your body. Everything from ‘fat burning‘ foods, to the infamous ‘negative calorie‘ foods. Both of these ‘advertisements’ are trying to convince you that it takes more energy to consume these foods or the food itself is boosting your ‘fat burning ability’ (your metabolism). So you either have to burn more…
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    St Vincent's Hospital Darlinghurst - Male Nurses

  • Ten steps to happiness

    27 Aug 2010 | 3:04 pm
    You'll need to visit my blog to get the picture. Hint: Then move your cursor over each image Top images courtesy of Wiki Commons You might also like: Isn't life just grand Thank God You're Here Father's Day Howzat

  • Expressive Suppression

    19 Aug 2010 | 6:21 am
    Suppressing the urge to openly express emotions while dealing with critical incidents, especially those that involve death, is all part of the job for nurses, doctors, paramedics, rescue and other emergency service personnel. In the beginning you learn quickly from experienced staff, and it becomes second nature far quicker than you would think for the majority of new comers. The case for expressive suppression (keeping a stiff upper lip) is that by controlling reactions to emotional events the job at hand can be done more efficiently and effectively. Although this sounds harsh, it’s does…

  • Hidden Carers

    5 Aug 2010 | 6:00 am
    As I skip through two decades of images I can only imagine the struggle this absent single mother has had to endure bringing up a child afflicted since birth. Now a young adult, he portrays all the hallmarks of a mischievous child as he plays in a corner waiting the return of the one that has cared for him for so long and who will no doubt do so well into the future. In New South Wales (NSW) 72% of primary carers are women Having come under notice for festooning the footpath with an arrangement of toys and other objects from the families high-rise balcony, he is not at all confronted nor…

  • Workplace conflict

    21 Jul 2010 | 11:30 pm
    Being a baby boomer born and breed to adhere to the letter of the law, I’m disappointed by the increasing workplace trend to openly ridicule decision makers. No matter who’s around. Yes, it is important to listen to what others have to say but a final decision has to be made, with the responsible members knowing full well they will be held accountable. Something the dissenters will experience for themselves when the time comes. Having witnessed and experienced this first hand, I am at a loss to explain this type of behaviour, other than to think things are not what they used to be due to…

  • Open Source Social Networking Widget

    15 Jul 2010 | 12:52 am
    The reliance on social networking to communicate can be confusing for others when you’re a member of multiple social networking websites. To get around this many exhibit a social networking widget. Social networking widgets however, in these days of Google’s need for speed, will slow down your blog. This post will reveal to you how you can get around this by making your own social networking widget, by way of HTML tables. Below is the code you need to get started. <div> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"…
 
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    Those Emergency Blues

  • Some Days You Just Gotta Post Links

    torontoemerg
    2 Sep 2010 | 7:20 am
    Sorry. No new content today. Just links. Sore brain. In my quest to bring you the worst, unhealthiest known food, this deserves a prize. And so does this. There’s even a museum. Needs CPAP, maybe: Snoring nurse suspended from care home. Quote: “On one occasion the night of 18 January 2008 every single member of staff took a nap at the same time.” Personally, I would be amputating first: Nurse trapped in ironing board freed by fire brigade. Blindingly obvious statement of the week: “Caring for patients can be quite stressful and take a toll on nurses, unless they learn…

  • More on the Gun Registry, and Some Other Unrelated Observations

    torontoemerg
    1 Sep 2010 | 8:12 am
    Someone the other day on Twitter referred to my post on the long gun registry (and by implication, me) as being “emotional” and “posturing” (as opposed to actually presenting argument.) I actually found this rather amusing: as I stated in the post, I was being a “little emotional” on the subject, and of course, it’s a time-worn tactic to minimize someone’s point of view by calling them “emotional”. (O, how many marriages have collapsed because one spouse called the other “emotional”?) But it is an emotional topic. At the…

  • A Personal Message for Jack Layton on the Gun Registry

    torontoemerg
    30 Aug 2010 | 7:38 am
    Dear Jack I’ve written a couple of times on the proposed abolition of the long gun registry, now before Parliament. I have argued gun control is very much a health care issue, and that real lives are at stake. From my perspective as a Registered Nurse, working in an urban Emergency Department, the issue is not about rights or rural culture, but about protecting the vulnerable from harm. You’ll have to forgive me, Jack, if I am a little emotional on this issue. You see, unlike you and probably all anti-gun-registry MPs — Conservatives and New Democrats alike — I have…

  • At This Hospital, The Stupid is Strong

    torontoemerg
    29 Aug 2010 | 7:22 am
    St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Comox, British Columbia is having some problems with opening up a new transitional care unit. It’s evidently understaffed and poorly planned, and of course, in planning this new unit, hospital administrators neglected to consult the most important people working there, i.e. the staff. Despite a rosy picture painted by the hospital’s CEO, the nurses are having none of it. Money quote: By way of example, [B.C. Nurses Union Rep Juanita] Munroe noted that dispensing some medications requires the signature of two nurses. There will only be two…

  • Unbearably Unhappy, Cont’d [Updated]

    torontoemerg
    28 Aug 2010 | 6:50 am
    Wade Schuette at Perspectives in Public Health submitted a lengthy and thought-provoking comment on my post  a few days ago about bad nurse-managers. He suggests the issue, by default, needs to be addressed through professional organizations like (in Ontario) RNAO or nationally, CNA, or in the United States, ANA. He wrote: I’d say it’s more than an “indicator of poor patient outcomes” … it’s a direct cause. It’s fascinating, in a morbid way, that a unit with a leak in the ceiling and wet floor would be cited by JCAHO as a patient risk,  but a…
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    Nursing Student Chronicles

  • I Don’t Want to be Pigeon-holed….

    Laney
    27 Aug 2010 | 9:48 am
    I hear that phrase all the time and, to be frank, it is driving me bonkers. There are so many students who talk about what kind of nurse they would really like to be…perhaps OR, ER, Critical Care, whatever! Yet, they decide to become general med-surg nurses for the experience so they aren’t pigeon-holed. I’ve talked to many types of nurses on many types of floors to try and get to the bottom of this. Weigh in if you will! So far, what I’m finding is that while getting the one year of experience has been good in the past, it isn’t so much the case anymore. People…

  • After much consideration….

    Laney
    26 Aug 2010 | 6:48 pm
    I have decided to post again. I know…the comings and goings are a bit much. There’s so much hoopla right now about HIPAA this and HIPAA that. I got cold feet. But then, after much prodding and poking from my mother, I realized I have to finish what I started. It would be quite an incomplete chronicle if it finished right before senior year, right? Right. So here I am. School started. We spent the first week in skills labs practicing changing a central line dressing, hanging blood, and IV push meds. Finally! The exciting stuff from day 1. The next week was spent doing our…

  • Getting Organzied

    Laney
    22 Jul 2010 | 11:11 am
    I can’t believe how unorganized I had been before! When it comes to clinicals that is. So, in first semester, they gave us a CPT or a Care Planning Tool. It was like 3 pages stapled together and it ran through the whole assessment with blocks for you to fill in. It had Vital signs, then areas where it asked about GI/GU, Cardiovascular, Respiratory and so on and so forth. On the last page you filled in your nursing diagnoses/interventions/etc. After 2nd semester, they weren’t mandatory each week. We started printing off the nursing rounds reports and using that. I’ve asked a…

  • Tumblr

    Laney
    21 Jul 2010 | 11:40 am
    Hey all! Today I’m enjoying a lazy day and decided to, at the suggestion of my friend Dash, create a Tumblr. Of course, I’ll still blog here the nurse-y things and all the normal stuff. I’m not really sure what Tumblr is for or whatever, but Dash assures me I’ll get the hang of it.  So far, I’m using it to post songs, pictures, whatever catches my fancy etc etc. SO! http://loveandscrubs.tumblr.com Follow me so that I can follow you! Love, Laney

  • How to Survive Overnight Shifts

    Laney
    19 Jul 2010 | 2:01 pm
    I’ve gotta admit- I’m loving these night shifts. I was on day shift for one week and the rest of the summer have all been overnight. I can’t believe how much I was yawning when I was on days. Yeah…7p-7a works for me. It’s so much more relaxed than day shift too because you don’t have all the services coming in and out or all the managers and JCHAO worries. So…how to survive it if you’re new. I try to stay up as late as possible the night before (like 5am) and then sleep through until it’s time to get up and get going. If that doesn’t…
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