Here's to another great year!

Happy 2013! "The beginning is the most important part of the work." -Plato

What will be your New Year resolution?

Are you thinking about any New Year resolution? What happened with last year's resolution? Did you stick to it? Read More

No More May Die

"I doubt he'll pass tonight." The ward was humming with the low din of ten different reports, each being given in groups of two or three nurses all around the central station. The Pyxis beeped, charts clacked open and shut, and the supply station whirred in rhythm with the radio, which sang Christmas carols on the middle island. Read More

Crusading for Better Mental Health Care: Mental Health Education in Schools

I really think that mental health education should be taught in schools (K-12) and in colleges, if they accept it. Does this have to be made into law to happen? Is this something that I need to write my legislature about? Do I ask the VDH? I did go to the VDH website and the program they have in regards to mental health is Suicide Prevention. That's what I am getting ready to embark on, if all goes well. But, I really think we need more. Read More

Going to ER from ICU. Help!

I recently accepted an ER position, I did CVICU previously. I know that in the ED the assessments are more focused. However, during my share day the nurses would document a full-head to toe without actually doing one. For example: a nurse would say palpable pulses but never actually palpalted the pulses. Is this common practice in the ED? I understand not checking pulses for a sore throat, however I just question the documentation aspect of it. Read More

The Brave

Traffic was murder. I sat in my car on Wisconsin Avenue staring at the tower beyond the front fence. It was black, wrought-iron and existed less to keep people out and more to remind the world of the difference in ownership between the sidewalk and the green grass that bordered it. The public sidewalk saw all walks of life, all kinds of dress and all manner of mayhem foot its way over the cracked concrete. A few inches away, the base that received the overwhelming majority of returning casualties from downrange reclined, its sprawling form taking up the lawn and watching the slow crawl of cars up and down the choked boulevard. Beyond the fence, uniforms lined the walks. The madness of DC traffic slowed under the watchful eyes of the MPs when it passed through the main gates. Read More

Can experienced Med/surg RN move into peds?

I'm an experienced acute care med/surg (adults) RN, who is still looking for my niche. I am burned out of floor nursing, but a few areas in acute care do interest me still. I did enjoy peds back in nursing school. I saw a job posting recently and was wondering if I should consider peds? I am wondering what personality or traits do well in peds.

To be honest, I am hesitant to make the move only because I am not a "new grad" and not sure how I would be received, what kind of support/training. I also worry if I have what it takes. I am completely comfortable with kids, that part I know. I am also patient and understanding to stressed out parents (I am a parent myself). Looking for feedback from anyone who has made such a move. Read More

Geri-Psych: Does it exist? (asked the naive new nurse)

I'm a new LPN. I've been working in LTC for the past few months. Some of my residents are elderly people with illnesses or physical limitations who require care. Some of them are dementia patients who can't care for themselves. Some of them are elderly people with mental illnesses which may include some kind of psychosis as well as dementia.

The third type of patient doesn't mix well with the first two. The patients with no cognitive symptoms and the pleasantly demented are usually a joy to be around. We have a few disturbed individuals on our unit, however, who scream, curse, act out, and disrupt the environment for the other patients.

I'm bothered by this for two reasons. Read More

Perfect shoes for the "flat footed" male nurse

I am new to this site and wanted to get your options about the current state of NP programs. I started a FNP program at a brick and mortar university and did well my first semester. The discouraging aspect is we need to find our own preceptors for all clinicals. I have found that to be daunting. It seems that NPs and docs are burned out from precepting and I can understand that.

There seems to be a surplus of NP students who need preceptors and a shortage of preceptors. I am discouraged and thinking about changing my MSN program from FNP to Nurse educator or administrator.

Please tell me how your experiences have been with getting preceptors. I am searching for a reason to continue the FNP program and finding it difficult. I am on the "fence" and starting to think that the program will be impossible to complete. Read More

Cancer Screening Goals Not Being Met by General Population

In the United States, the general population only meets the recommended cancer screening goals for colorectal cancer, while cancer survivors meet all requirements except for cervical cancer screening, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. Read More

Why I Chose Nursing and Continue to Choose Nursing

This article is about what initially drew me to a career in healthcare. It briefly describes how I entered into the healthcare system with little direction as to where I wanted to go and how I discovered that nursing was the path for me. I describe the steps I took to become a nurse and how I advanced through the ranks. Most of all it states why I want to continue to advance my nursing career. It gives personal insight into why I want to become a Nurse Practitioner and what I hope to accomplish as a FNP. Read More

The Nightmare Part Two

In the previous article, I focused on the events in the old mental health system, a system of containment of those who were different. The article ended with the advent of the "drug culture". In the 1980's we decided to have a war on drugs. This war has been lost but the effects of it will last for generations to come. We equated drug use with mental illness and have treated both by incarceration. This article is a call to action to find better ways of dealing with both psychiatric illness and drug addiction. Read More