Malaysia: "Please, help my son! He is dying!"

Freshly off of graduation, I was placed as an in charge nurse of an Emergency Department in Malaysia. I will never forget the day when a father carried his son into the room covered in dripping blood. It changed my whole life. I'm sharing this incident with you hoping that it will encourage you to continue learning. To never give up and to make sure this is the career you want.  Read

Keep out! Nurse Sleeping

How many hours of sleep do you get? Do you have certain rules that household members must follow?  Any time management tips for sleep deprived nurses? Read

How old is "too old" to get commissioned?

I've gotten conflicting answers so I thought I'd try to get a few more I am seriously debating about finishing my BSN and getting commissioned but, I'll be about 35 or 36 by the time I can do so. I have tried talking to a USAF recruiter here on base but he wasn't much help. I've been told that 35 is the cutoff unless it's something medical and then you can try to get a waiver. I also had someone who is an officer with the Dept of Public Health and they said there was no age cutoff. I'm probably leaning towards going USAF but my husband is pushing me to go Navy.

What is the age requirement and has anyone here joined after 35+? Should I even consider joining at that age? Read

Pregnancy Discrimination - Interview

No wonder women ask if they should hide the pregnancy! They're discriminated by female nursing collegues right from the start and treated as though it were 1950. "No, you should wait until after you have the baby." Well, I think most nurses on here are used to a higher standard of living than a cardboard box, and that's what happens when you can't pay bills. I have an interview scheduled soon and still waver on what to do. It is for a per diem position and it is not an oncology floor. I think honesty is best, but in this economy, just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I want to put nursing on hold for a year while my skills dwindle. It's already competitive enough! Read

Making the most of Clinicals Part 1: Turn negative experiences into positive learning

Every nurse remembers their first day of nursing clinicals. I would like to share my first day with you.

We were a group of ten brand new nursing students. Dressed in all white, some had excited expressions of anticipation on their faces. Others had the "deer in the headlights" look. I was blessed to have a wise seasoned nurse as a clinical instructor and she could see that some were leery of this first day of being on a real hospital unit. Much different then our cozy little lab.   Read More...

Anyone used music as an intervention?

I work at a 28 bed Cardiac ICU and stepdown unit (14 beds ICU, 14 SDU) and am in the process of putting together a presentation to start using music as a nonpharmological intervention at work. I have already found plenty of research to support it and my director is on board with the idea. What I am looking for is anyone who is using it already and the logistics of how they do it on their unit. There is plenty of information/research about the benefits but not on the nuts and bolts of implementing it. Any info is appreciated- what equipment are you using (CD, Mp3, headphones, speakers etc), what problems did you run into, how did you facilitate multi patient use of equipment, etc? Read

New to ER - tips, tricks, recommendations & prioritization?

So, after 6.5 yrs as RN/shift charge on a step down unit, I moved to the ED! Very excited to work with the excellent team! Though I know how to be a nurse, being an ER nurse is a whole new world to me... different processes, different resources, and different expectations. These things are stressing me a little bit... I hope that I eventually adjust to the process... like what is expected and when... Read

Stress management for nurses

When we feel overwhelmed at work, we lose confidence and may become irritable or withdrawn. This can make you less productive and less effective in your job, and make the work seem less rewarding. If you ignore the warning signs of work stress, they can lead to bigger problems. Read

Not All Docs/Nurses Want to Be Asked About Hand Hygiene

Although most health care workers (HCWs) appreciate the role of patients in preventing health care-associated infection, a considerable proportion are uncomfortable with patients asking about their hand hygiene, according to a letter published online Sept. 3 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Read

When will being an RN stop sucking?

Why does it suck to be an RN these days, it is everywhere, in every area, I am so tired of being treated like dirt! We nurses do most of the work and the docs and big hospital systems treat us like peons. When did we lose the professionalism? WHen did being an RN become a negative profession? Where did all the jobs go? Read

A Place for Mom: Finding the Right Assisted Living Community

Here is the third installment of a multi-part series on assisted living, a relatively new area of elder care designed to give seniors the independence they want with the care they need. In this article, we'll discuss some of the services that assisted living facilities can and cannot offer, and what those of us in the industry privately consider "deal-breakers" when it comes to care needs. Read