Nursing Network for Nurses and Nursing Students - Latest Articles Page 3

My travels down the path of mental illness towards wellness and health.

By dolcebellaluna - Ironically, it was nursing school that made me realize that my symptoms of self-perceived madness weren't just eccentricities. I'm sure we all were self diagnosed hypochondriacs but the shoes actually fit and it clicked that I was the symptoms and cluster of behaviors that I'd wondered about in my high school psychology class. What kind of teenager thinks to themselves, "If I had any sort of mental illness, it would probably be bipolar disorder?" I'd never done much in depth exploring of mental illness prior to being plunged head-first into it while taking my psychiatric nursing class in... Read More →

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Coming out of the darkness

By BCgradnurse - I sat in my hospital bed, cradling my newborn son, with tears streaming down my face. However, these were not tears of joy. I was in despair, afraid and miserable. Wasn’t this supposed to be the happiest day of my life? This child was planned, eagerly anticipated , and very much wanted. At least that’s what I thought. My first pregnancy had been relatively easy, once the morning sickness subsided after the first trimester. I went into labor a few days before my due date, and I hoped for an easy delivery and a wonderful birth experience. Thirty hours later I was undergoing a... Read More →

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Mental Health Awareness Month

By VivaLasViejas - Raise your hands: How many Allnurses.com readers know that in addition to mothers and deceased war veterans, the month of May is dedicated to mental health awareness? Give yourself a gold star for the day if you were able to lift a palm in the affirmative. Most Americans---including healthcare professionals!---don't have a clue. And if you, like me, are someone who cares about mental health, it should alarm you that statistics show as many as one in four Americans is affected, either directly or indirectly, by a diagnosable mental illness. That's a lot of misery. Some of the more... Read More →

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On the verge of deploying as an Army Nurse

By LunahRN - Back in January I looked at my phone and realized that I'd missed a call -- it was from our ER chief, my boss's boss. Uh-oh. Now what? I listened to the voicemail and just about dropped the phone: it was the news that there may be a tasker (deployment assignment) floating around out there with my name on it. I immediately texted my head nurse (my Officer in Charge, OIC), figuring he'd have details. He replied that he didn't really want to say anything because he didn't have much information and thus didn't want to lie to me, but that the assistant deputy commander for nursing (DCN) needed... Read More →

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Nursing: Art vs Science

By jadelpn - If I were to explain the difference between the art and science of nursing, I would say that it is having a patient trust that you are going to take all of the aspects of their process seriously. That you are compassionate, fulfill their emotional needs and wishes, and explain their plan of care in a way that they are going to understand. It is about being responsive, putting one's self in the background and focus solely on how you are going to put a plan of care into action. That if you don't know, you know who to ask or where to find the answer. The expectation is that as a nurse, I... Read More →

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So I have this rash... What do you think?

By steven007 - How many times has one of your friends or family monopolized on the fact that you were a nurse? “Hey Sis, so my poop is green.. what’s wrong with me?”; “Hey best friend! So the other day I was at the club and, well you know me, drinking a bit too much and I blacked out. What could have caused that? You think I could have a brain tumor?! Oh my god, it’s probably a brain tumor, I knew it!”; “Hey Mike! What’s up bro! So, you know that Rebecca chick we met at the bar that one night? Well, I did some things and.. well long story short, I have a rash… down there.” Sound familiar? Well it does to... Read More →

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Types of Relatives We Nurses Love

By cool_nurse - The irony of the title describes something funny or annoying or whatever and true-to-life (not patient-centered though) encounters with relatives whom at their front we smile, but at their back we just want to put a label on their heads. In patients with such, we understand at our highest level of patience. But among the relatives, it just doesn't feel right. Though by being at their shoes, yes, it is very much reasonable to act with such. But hopefully, not beyond what we can't bear. The first label is for the “Toxic Relative”. There are these days when something isn't just right with our... Read More →

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Stopping the Emotional Bleeding Following a Disaster

By tnbutterfly - Last week, our nation experienced two more tragic events. The bombings in Boston and the explosion in West, TX left many people dealing with feelings of anger, anxiety, and fear. There have been several catastrophic events over the past decade and a half, natural disasters as well as man-driven attacks. Katrina, 9-11, Newtown Columbine, Aurora, Virginia Tech..........to name a few. The effects of a disaster, terrorist attack, or other public health emergency can be long lasting, and the resulting trauma can also affect those not directly impacted by the disaster. Exposure to... Read More →

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We are Star Throwers.

By sl703 - Becoming a nurse is not simply that, it is evolving into a full bodied advocate for the health and wellness of all humanity. Since a young age, I developed a keen perception for the care of other people and their surroundings.Whether I was the grounding stone of family conflict, rescuing snails from the desert heat, or saving a fallen flower bud, I had a purpose.Without consciously deciding it, I had already expressed the infant quirks of being a 'nurse' through out childhood. Once I matured into adolescence I soon realized that my personality trait of 'humanitarian' resonated a much... Read More →

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Happy Unintentional Ignorance Awareness Week!

By CheesePotato - Happy Unintentional Ignorance Awareness Week! And no, no that is not a thing. Well, not yet anyway. But if I get my say, it will be. Why? Because we are all, each and every one of us, perpetrators of unintentional ignorance, read: idiocy, in the face of individuals who fit "stereotypes" or strike us in particular manner. We are all guilty, at some point or other in our lives, of doing wonderful things such as asking a heavy woman when the baby is due, or, God forbid, rubbing our hands on her stomach while burbling that we're "just so happy for you!". Sometimes we do other... Read More →

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Life after the Boston Marathon Bombing - Coping with the Trauma

By tnbutterfly - As thousands gathered on Monday, April 15, “Patriots Day” to participate in or cheer on runners in one of America’s well-known events, the Boston Marathon, little did anyone know that the sunny day would soon be darkened by senseless acts of terrorism. While thousands were focused on crossing the finish line and completing the race, two brothers had another goal in mind. The horrific drama that gripped Boston, the surrounding area, and the world for more than 5 days, began when two homemade bombs exploded 12 seconds apart near the finish line. Three young people were killed, and... Read More →

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"Nursing School Dropout"- Starting the Path into Nursing

By molly.hershman - "Nursing School Dropout". It was then, as my patient rolled away in her wheelchair to parts unknown, I thought 'well, and that's when nursing school ended’. Week 8, and I had lost my patient. I don’t mean ‘lost’, in that whole sad eyes ‘oh-my-god-how-did-your-patient-die’ lost type of way where people speak in hushed tones and cup your shoulder. No, I mean more like my patient is physically lost, jacket and purse in hand, and is probably hitchhiking to Canada by now in her wheelchair and hospital gown. Somehow I’m going to have to explain to my supervising nurse that I kind of sort... Read More →

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(Remember) Walking In the Sand

By VivaLasViejas - "I Had A Life---But My Job Ate It" proclaims the bumper sticker I just put on our 13-year-old Ford. I don't usually adorn my vehicles with stickers---I've always thought they were sort of tacky---but considering all that's gone on in the past few weeks, it's quite appropriate. I bought the sticker in a funky little gift shop, the kind that can only be found in beach towns like the one my husband and I visited yesterday. We'd gone there on strict physician's orders---my psychiatrist and I share a love of the ocean, and he'd actually written a script for me to take my husband and go to the... Read More →

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Just a "Little" Word

By Tait - We all grow up learning colloquial phrases. Most of us carry them as moments in our hearts of those we love, while other words move along with us, creating subtle verbal idiosyncrasies in our lives. The words I grew up with were odd grammatical positioning of "yet", such as "Are they closed, yet?" or discussing a "schnutterhoontz" which I still believe is some bastardized German word that I can't find on Google for "someone who chatters on about nothing in particular". While both of these are more entertaining than not, one word I realized I use in abundance is "little". Now, one might... Read More →

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Quo Vadis?

By VivaLasViejas - Life, as my grandmother used to say is a very odd little duck......you live through five or six decades, fashioning an existence that (hopefully) reflects your values, and learning to be at peace with who you are and where you're going. Then suddenly "stuff" gets real, and you find yourself standing at a crossroads where you're given a list of choices as to where you want to go next; the only option you don't have is staying where you are. I just arrived at that intersection yesterday. And I already hate it here. For some time now, I've been battling a personal issue that I've... Read More →

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