Nursing Network for Nurses and Nursing Students - Latest Articles

So, when are you going to get your RN?

By jadelpn - I am a happy LPN. I got my LPN late in life, because circumstances were all in place for me to do so. I was interested in increasing my clinical skill set. It was a perfect plan. When I was younger, I graduated from High School with a goal in life of popping out babies and baking bread with a husband that would work. (To all you younger readers, this was a viable option in my day). I successfully raised kids, and when school time came, I was interested in something more. I was not an ideal student in high school, and took the local EMT course to perhaps do a little call, raise a few... Read More →

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Fired After Fifty: Redux

By VivaLasViejas - Several years ago when I was laid off from my LTC job due to low census, I remember despairing of ever finding another job. I was in my early fifties then. At the time I had a bad knee that had ended my floor career despite surgery, and to add insult to injury I'd gained thirty pounds due to inactivity. I couldn't imagine who would want to hire me. But I had barely drawn the first few unemployment checks when I got two calls: one for another LTC, and one for an assisted living facility that I fell in love with at first sight. Fortunately for all concerned---at least at the time---they fell... Read More →

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The Knight and the Windmills of Nursing

By cav5 - I am never a better nurse than when I have just been a patient. A recent ER visit highlighted this fact. I was in pain, anxious, and very very tired of being sick for the past year. I will stress quite clearly that I do not like being on the gurney side of a hospital bed and that, coupled with my pain, made for very bad vital signs. The next few hours were what I had expected as a former ICU nurse-EKG ,blood work, etc. However, what struck me the most (probably because I DID expect those things and had time to think about the other stuff) was how different I was treated between my doctor and... Read More →

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How to Handle Night Shift Challenges as a CNA

By kacie.knyvett - Night shift is the most challenging time to work be it any profession. Since we are going against the routine procedure, our body is not made for, experiencing certain health problems is natural once you start working in the night shift. As we are working during the time when our body and mind need the rest, we are doing the opposite. Even nursing aides working in healthcare sectors are not untouched with the problem faced while working in odd shifts. They have to deal with several types of problems besides fatigue. As you have joined the nursing profession, you must first know the following... Read More →

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Life and Death

By jadelpn - Suicide can be described as a permenant solution to a temporary problem. The most frustrating thing when taking care of a patient who is suicidal is safety, and if there is a plan, what is it? Patient's who are actively seeking to die have thought about this and planned this act with great care. Suicide by and large can also be described as the most selfish act that someone can complete. By and large, counselors and social work are large components of the plan of care of the suicidal patient. Sitters that not only watchfully sit and observe, but often need to start the process of... Read More →

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Stuck In The Middle With You

By SoldierNurse22 - But within the conference room, voices rose, comments intruded, thought processes were interrupted by a constant onslaught of questions and opinions, and the low, distracting mumble of sidebar conversations clouded the weekly meeting of clinic managers. It was an introvert's nightmare, and being an introvert myself, my natural inclination was to either leave the room post-haste or dig a trench in the floor in the interest of cover and self protection. But with the regular nurse manager on leave and myself filling in as OIC (officer in charge), I had no choice but to stay firmly rooted in... Read More →

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Professional Organization Conference

By gypsyd8 - The student applied for and was awarded the grant to attend the Professional Organization conference. Due to the intransigence of an administrative assistant, the student was forced to pay the $200 required for the conference, as well as the cost of the hotel. At the new member/first-time attendee breakfast, it was made clear that we were not going to be teamed with a current Professional Organization member as our mentor due to the large volume of students in attendance, therefore, there was no-one to interview. Instead, the student interviewed several people about the various... Read More →

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The Dreaded NCLEX-PN; to be or not to be?

By erica_LVN - We enter nursing school with an open mind, and open heart. There is this determination that is instilled in every nursing student when they receive that call, or that letter; letting us know we have been accepted into a nursing program. It begins, the journey begins. The journey to become a "nurse" such a prideful and meaningful moment, and even more meaningful when it is done right. Of course, in order to get to this point in our journey we must first learn to study and get through nursing school. Getting through nursing school varies for every individual, and for me I will gladly... Read More →

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Advice to the Younger Nurse Me

By SarahLeeRN - “This is what reality shock feels like,” I thought to myself as I stared at the little confused old man sitting on the edge of his bed, covered in blood from the IV that he just pulled out. It was quarter to eleven at night and I still had two more people who needed medications, foley catheters to empty, charting to finish, and now, another IV to start with an antibiotic to hang before my shift was technically ‘over’ at eleven. As I stared at the mess that I was going to have to clean up, as that poor man held his blood covered hands up at me while saying “It’s sticky” I felt a feeling... Read More →

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ICU: Finding the best way to care

By Liddle Noodnik - Nursing is a daunting task for many of us, even when we have time under our belt. Call bells, charting, phones ringing, family members needing time and reassurance, doctors returning calls; and then there is the patient, if you have time. At least, that's how it seems. Multiply that by 8, 10, sometimes 12 patients, and it is unbelievable that we have decided to carry the responsibility for so many lives. What if we miss something? What if we give the wrong med, or fail to get scheduled treatments done? What if there is some critical lab value, or some assessment detail, that we... Read More →

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Confessions of a Nursing Student: Why I Will Never Be Late to Clinical Again!

By jamona851 - Confessions of a nursing student: clinical Sjmona Cowan For those of us that have ever been late for clinical, we know that it is one of the WORSE things that can happen to you in nursing school. Those of you who have ever been in that position, know that I am saying that because being late to clinical is like a cascade of events that can only be compared to .....DIC. (DISSEMINATED INTRAVASCULAR COAGULATION). The scenario plays out like this: You stay up all night preparing for clinical. For whatever ungodly reason, your alarm clock fails to wake you up and you roll over just at... Read More →

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Happy Birthday to the World's Most Famous Nurse

By tnbutterfly - Upon graduation from nursing school, we all probably remember reciting the Nightingale Pledge, a modified "Hippocratic Oath" composed in 1893 by Mrs. Lystra E. Gretter and a Committee for the Farrand Training School for Nurses, Detroit, Michigan. The pledge is as follows: I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the... Read More →

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Welcome to the Jungle

By VivaLasViejas - I've been out of acute care for many years now, but I'll never forget the experience of being a float nurse. It was the best of all possible worlds: I was cross-trained to all the different nursing departments instead of remaing stuck in Med/Surg, which even then was a thankless, backbreaking job. I got to learn how to 'catch' babies and take care of sick neonates; saw some grisly traumas in the emergency room; worked with respiratory therapy and served as the IV nurse. But it was critical care which both fascinated---and intimidated---me the most. When I first cross-trained to The Unit,... Read More →

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Mother's Day

By jadelpn - When you become a nurse, you take the knowledge that you have acquired, start on a journey, apply what you learn and hope for the best outcome for a patient. When you become a mother, it is not much different. Only that when it is your child, you are personally invested in the positive outcome. When you are a nurse, you are professionally invested in the best outcome. I wish that motherhood came with evidence based practice! But with mothering, you can put whatever theory to the test as you would like, and children take on a life of their own, so the outcome is not as clear as one... Read More →

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Anxiety Disorders: More Than Just Butterflies

By VivaLasViejas - Almost everyone has experienced it: the sensation of butterflies in your stomach as you prepare for a presentation or an appearance in traffic court. The dry mouth that makes you feel like you're spitting cotton. The rapid heart rate and slight shortness of breath that characterize a normal response to stressful stimuli. In other words, you're feeling anxious. Now imagine those sensations writ large. Instead of butterflies, you feel nausea and may even vomit or experience diarrhea. Your hands tremble visibly and your voice shakes whenever you try to speak. Your heart pounds; you break out... Read More →

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