The following are articles I have written and shared with the nursing community. If you enjoy an article please leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Old-school RN here. Studied for Boards (before they were called NCLEX) while traveling West in a wagon train, fighting dinosaurs along the way. Cut my teeth in several ICUs, when Swan-Ganz catheters were becoming all the rage. Have seen trends and treatments come and go, the pendulum of nursing practice swing first one way then the other way.
Background: I worked in IR (Interventional Radiology, which included staffing the Cardiac Cath Lab) for 21 years. Most recently (past 10 years) I... Read More →
The world wide web is brimming with articles about nurses who have combined the two disciplines of nursing and massage therapy into a viable and complementary client-centered practice.
It well seems to be a perfect marriage for those who are drawn into nursing initially by the desire to help decrease suffering and effect positive changes in patient health and comfort. Nurses can utilize skills of patient assessment in obtaining a history of the client's problem and in formulating a... Read More →
Pulmonary or Respiratory Nurses specialize in caring for people with lung diseases. These conditions may be caused by smoking, genetics or infections, and are some of the most common patient ailments. Pulmonary nurses, while caring for patients with other co-morbidities, have special knowledge and skills for the particular needs of patients with pulmonary conditions affecting the airways like asthma, COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, allergies and cystic fibrosis, and conditions affecting... Read More →
Skilled and dedicated nurses, helping patients using their knowledge and skills of Neuroscience Nursing, make an important difference to vulnerable patients of all ages who have neurological disorders. In the highly-specialized area of Neuroscience Nursing, nurses from RNs to FNPs care for patients with TBI (traumatic brain injury), CVAs, disorders of the brain and spinal cord, neurovascular disease, tumors, CNS disorders, Alzheimers, chronic pain and epilepsy, chronic pain, migraine pain... Read More →
Another, and possibly little-known, specialty area utilizing nurses is that of Gastroenterology. The role of Gastroenterology Nurses continues to expand: RNs may work with patients directly or indirectly in
The "GI Lab" assisting with endoscopic procedures: administering moderate sedation and monitoring/recovering patients; possibly assisting with the procedure;
Research areas
Industry vendors (equipment and pharmacological companies)
Private office/clinic setting
... Read More →
Radiology Nurses provide care for patients undergoing various imaging exams. This simple sentence is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of the many ways RNs in imaging departments facilitate and advocate for patients.
Work Environment
RNs may work in either a hospital or a free-standing Imaging Center.
Some imaging departments may require RNs be on-call for trauma or emergent procedures.
Each imaging department will have certain requirements for prospective RNs to meet. Some... Read More →
Miss Tander. The very mention of her name stirred butterflies and raised pulse and blood pressure in us.
Miss Tander. Tough and no-nonsense scourge of us student nurses.
As the Med-Surg nursing instructor, she knew her stuff, alright. I still recall her delivery of the same information we'd learned in A&P. Somehow when Miss Tander presented it, the words and facts became a real patient, a system with its many solitary workings joined for a common purpose. I learned about how... Read More →
"I'm not hungry today," he growled, the corners of his mouth turned down, as I entered his room.
He lay in bed in his wrinkled white hospital gown, surrounded by rumpled sheets. He was assigned an isolation room for a post-CABG sternum infection. But this was no ordinary infection. Mr. Smith was allergic to a gamut of antibiotics used to treat infections. The surgeons had thus placed two drains, one on each side of his sternum, trickling betadine solution in, then draining it out.... Read More →
After many years as an RN, I do recall three memorable patient encounters that impacted my life and changed how I practice nursing.
Over 30 years ago, I was a young 'float' RN doing morning Team Leader rounds in the Post Partum unit.
I had just left a four-bed ward on my way to the next two-patient room. My mind remained on the mothers from that four-bed room, joyfully discussing and comparing their newborns, sharing names and hopes.
As I entered the next room, I glanced at the... Read More →
