Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Your Wild And Precious Nursing Career

As the New Year dawns, it's a time when many of us look backward and forward to assess many aspects of our lives, our careers not least among them. How do you feel as you say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014?

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Of Flu Season and Nurse Martyrs

Nurses are often notorious for being martyrs, caring for others when they really need to be caring for themselves. And when flu season strikes, many nurses may heed the call of duty rather than the call of their own bed.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The Story of Malcolm: Nursing and Grace

I've written a guest post for the blog of Karen Ingalls, a writer and author who is a five year survivor of ovarian cancer. Her book, Outshine: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir, is an inspiring account of the challenge of living with such a diagnosis.

My post is the story of "Malcolm", a patient from early in my nursing career who taught me many lessons of living well in the face of the vicissitudes of life. I hope you enjoy Malcolm: Gratitude and Grace.

I thank Karen for the opportunity to share my story with her community of readers. If you'd like to hear Karen's recent interview on RNFM Radio, please click here.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Of Bowels and Happy Nurses

So nurses, what can make a nurse happier than a constipated patient who finally moves his bowels? Pretty much nothing, I guess. (Be forewarned, the following story is full of sh*t.)

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

The Natural Inventiveness of Nurses

Nurses are smart. Period. Nurses also have to be inventive, think on their feet, and use critical thinking to solve problems on the fly. Nursing school doesn't prepare us for every possible thing that could happen (and how could it?), so we fly by the seat of our pants and learn as we go. And learn we do.