What Is Your Nursing "North Star"?

Many nurses often refer to the profession of nursing as a "calling". Being a nurse can become and intrinsic part of our personal identity, and reporting for work can end up meaning much more to us than just a paycheck.

There are also nurses who approach their work like any other employed person, with no acknowledgment that there is anything more to be gained than a means to a financial end by fulfilling the tasks required of our position. There is no judgment of this approach to professional nursing, but this apparent dichotomy is worthy of our exploration.

The Three R's of Nursing

There are some very basic things that nurses look for -- and deserve -- in the course of their nursing careers. It's clear that this list could probably be expanded to include many other ideas as well. I posit  that there are "Three R's" of nursing, and I identify them as respect, remuneration, and recognition.

Is The Nurse's Glass Half Full?

It's no secret that there's a multitude of unhappy nurses out there in the world. From mandatory overtime to unhealthy nurse-patient ratios, I admit there are very valid reasons for this seeming epidemic of discontent. So, is the nursing glass half-full or half-empty? I guess it depends on who you're drinking with (and perhaps what you're drinking). 

Photo by Jana Sabeth on Unsplash

Nurses Week: Giving Thanks

Well, this is it, folks. This is the week that's set aside for nurses to be praised, thanked and stroked. Gratitude goes a long way in this world, so this is a week when clear and heartfelt gratitude for nurses can be found in many places, both expected and unexpected.

For Nurses, "Just" is a Four-Letter Word

If you're a nurse, when was the last time you said, "Oh, I'm just a nurse" or "I'm not really an expert--I'm just a nurse"? If you stop to think about it, what are you really saying when you deny your expertise? Words are powerful, and the words we use to describe ourselves can have far-reaching effects -- for others, and within our own psyches.

Are You Feeling Spooked by Nursing?

Are you feeling spooked by your nursing career? It's Halloween week, and it seems natural to examine our careers for skeletons in the closet, ghosts that haunt us, and old stories that just don't fit anymore. Are you ready to dive in and see what we can see?

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Nurses: Come Out of the Woodwork

Although Nurses Week is long over, the public face of nursing still needs a regular shot in the arm so that the public knows what nurses actually do. As nurses, do we describe our work in a way that gets the point across? Does the public know that we're more than the media makes us out to be?

Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash

"The Nurse's Story" by Carol Gino

Please enjoy this republication of a previously published review of The Nurse's Story by my beloved colleague, Carol Gino.  

Explaining What Nurses Do

This post about what nurses do and how nursing is perceived by the general public was originally posted in 2012. It's been updated and republished for your enjoyment and edification. 

When I tell people that I'm a nurse, they will often innocently ask, "So, how many hours do you work at the hospital?" While such questions are well-meaning, they belie the fact that so many people make wild assumptions about nurses and nursing, and most everyone has little idea what nurses actually do. I've expounded on this topic before, and will no doubt do so again.

If we're put in boxes by others, do we also unthinkingly put ourselves in boxes, as well?

Nurses Speak in Santa Fe

Something powerful is happening for nurses here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and I don't mean a strike, pay raise or decreased mandatory overtime. Rather, nurses are going to have an opportunity to speak their minds, creatively drawing on their personal and professional experiences for a public reading of introspective and illuminating monologues. Intrigued?

Don't Drink The Nursing Kool Aid

For those of you too young to remember, "Drinking the Kool Aid" is an expression dating back from the late 1970s when followers of Reverend Jim Jones blindly and naively drank Kool Aid laced with cyanide, a collective action that resulted in many deaths and great trauma.

So, although nurses' experience in no way compares to what happened in Jonestown in 1978, the notion of drinking poison from a particular collective well certainly sounds familiar to me. Having said that, what Kool Aid do nurses drink?

Nurses As Connective Tissue

Last night on RN.FM Radio, we were graced with three guests, including the editor and two contributing authors from a new book, "I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming A Nurse". It was a fascinating and inspiring conversation, to say the least.

Nurses Rising

Nurses are legion. We populate almost every corner of the healthcare industry, and we are the largest segment of the global healthcare workforce. In terms of hands-on care, we're at the bedside, in the home, caring for residents of long-term care facilities, taking care of schoolchildren, ministering to the dying, and tending the wounded on the battlefield. Like I said, we are legion, and our importance to society cannot be underestimated.

Reviving (and Nurturing) Your Nursing Career in 2013

With the coming of a new year, many of us choose to make resolutions and promises in hopes of achieving our goals or fulfilling our personal aspirations. In terms of your nursing career, this can also be a good time to plot the course for how you would like to revive (and/or nurture) your professional life.

Nursing: More Than Meets The Eye

Many of my online endeavors put me in contact with a growing number of nurses, and what strikes me most is that nurses are an incredibly diverse, passionate, talented and interesting group of people. I'm honored to be a nurse, and find the profession simply blossoming with richness and diversity.

RN.FM Radio is Truly Unleashed!

For those of you who follow Digital Doorway regularly, you've no doubt heard about RN.FM Radio, the new internet radio station that was founded by yours truly and two dynamic nurse colleagues early in 2012. The official moniker of the station, "RN.FM Radio: Nursing Unleashed", is an apt title as the show continues to draw high-quality guests and engender energetic and enlightening conversation.

Partners in Health and Nurses Week

What Will You Do....For National Nurses Week?

Well, it's that time of year again, and National Nurses Week is just around the corner. Now, before you get too excited about the hearts, flowers and monogrammed mugs that your supervisors will leave in the nurses station (I just received a terribly ugly pin in the mail from one of my employers), the question of the day is: What will you do---for yourself---for National Nurses Week?

Nurses, Caring, and Oxygen Masks

Nurses are generally very good at caring for others, and many of us fall flat on our faces when it comes to caring for ourselves. So, aren't we going against the popular wisdom of the "oxygen mask theory" when we give and give without meeting our own needs?

Internet Radio for Nurses Takes Off!

Our newly birthed internet radio station for nurses---RN.FM Radio---is maturing into a reliable weekly source of inspiration, encouragement, interviews and nursing news that many nurses are flocking to every Monday evening at 9pm EST.