Nursing Network for Nurses and Nursing Students - Latest Articles Page 97

The Power of Ethical Wills

By rmw44 - Using Words That Heal The document he held in his hand read like a lawyer had charged him for more than time and effort. It was the beginning of healing and such benefits would be priceless. Ethical wishes made their way into the legal swamp of bequeathing and here-to-fore’s. His worldly possessions, though few, were distributed according to his wishes. With caution and inner searching, words of "why" certain choices and decisions were made were clarified. A man’s last will and testament also became his ethical will by injecting small doses of his reasons for certain decisions. He was... Read More →

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Healing Environment: A Map towards Patient Safety

By waqar - Good environments make us feel better, and feeling better is the key to getting better. Now a question will be raised in your mind that through what mechanism it works? Response is that It has a positive effect on the central nervous system of humans, animals and plants. Provides most people with more natural energy, reduces stress, and provides peace and tranquility. Most people working in hospital understand the impact of the hospital environment on the patient experience. There is evidence that good environments can have a therapeutic effect on patients. But what constitutes a good... Read More →

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Healing Wounds and Souls

By anakat_evangelista - (author's note: This article was printed on our College Newspaper in Bulacan, Philippines. My school is Bulacan State University Collge of Nursing.) February 8, 2007. This is the first time I saw him. At a first glance, there seemed to be nothing significant nor stunning in him, but still he melted my heart away by his innocent stares. There he was, just staring at me in his most vulnerable state, making me want to wrap my arms around him and save him from all the misery of the world. In our world, no one can hurt him, finally. But he was in deep pain. He was J (not his real name), a... Read More →

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Being "Da Man"(or "That Man") In A Overwhelmingly Female Classroom

By locolorenzo22 - Mention to most guys that they could have a job where they could be surrounded by women, make relatively good money, have countless opportunities to make the world a better place, and most would ask "where do I sign up?" There’s just one catch. To get there, first you must go through at least 2 years of education about the entire process and your responsibilities in said field could mean life and death for others…some of them would still say "ok". Now, mention that it’s nursing. "Whoa, man, not for me! Didn’t you see Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents?" The trend is reversing, though. Many... Read More →

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"The Laying on of Hands"

By Nurset1981 - I wanted to be a nurse since I was 13. My grandmother was diagnosed with Cancer in October of 1992 and died in July of 1993. She heard the word “cancer” and didn’t want to fight. Even at the young age of 12, I was helping my family take care of her. My father had been an RN since 1974 and seen a lot, but even I could see the toll watching his mother die was taking on him. I would do the “morning shift” in the summer. My dad worked 3-11 so he liked to sleep in. I’d get up, make Nana some scrambled eggs (with a little water because she said they’d be fluffier), help her wash up and... Read More →

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Caring Point

By gemini_star - Across the hall of a certain government hospital, on the pediatric wing, I heard someone harshly vomiting with cough. You could tell like it was in projectile motion. It was not music to my ears; it was dreadful. It was so loud that you could hear it from the other room, or at the end of the hall way. I felt sorry for other patients about to be awakened by it. I started wishing it was not my patient assigned to me yesterday. I prayed that it was not her as this would only make her condition worse. She was a slim, 16 year old teenage girl, diagnosed with Dengue Hemorrhagic II. My... Read More →

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A Nurses Role in Health Care Reform

By mschau - As the 2008 presidential candidates gear up for the election next November, the campaigning heats up. Although I have not given much thought for whom I will be voting, there is one topic that is on all the candidates minds; healthcare. This is usually a very popular topic every election. Being a nurse, I feel I should pay more attention to this subject, but often get frustrated with the complexity of the subject and loose interest. John Edwards believes nurses are a key element to health care reform in the United States. Edwards’ website states that he is the champion for universal... Read More →

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Don't Blame the Nurse : Fix the System

By Bill Levinson - The Allnurses.com discussion forum cites numerous first-hand stories of how nurses have blamed themselves, or have been blamed by hospital administrators, for dangerous and sometimes fatal medical errors. In most cases, these incidents reflect far more on deficiencies in the systems in which nurses must work. Furthermore, a culture of blame discourages health care workers from reporting near-miss situations, while the identification of a person to blame deflects attention from the underlying problems that caused the incident to happen. Considerable trouble, ill will, and malpractice... Read More →

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New kid On The Block - How to fit in as a new nurse

By snowfreeze - A little bit of psychology insight helps as does self confidence. Smile, look as though you are a pleasant person. When approaching someone, smile and say Hi. Introduce yourself to co-workers including the ancillary staff. I know you are so self conscious and overwhelmed that the frown on your face really isn't you but.........that is the you everyone else is seeing. Don't be afraid to ask for assistance in finding things or asking about policy. Thank people for their help and don't apologize for not knowing something...focus on the nice person who helped you instead and they... Read More →

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Putting the Hospitality Back In Hospital

By Tait - Icebreakers. “Please tell us your name, hometown, reason for joining the nursing program and clinical experience. Maria, let's start with you.” “Maria Sanchez, Milwaukee, WI, I joined because my mother was a nurse and I respect her so much for the job she does, and I am currently a CNA at UW Hospital on the transplant unit.” “Very nice, Tait go ahead” Gulp. Read More →

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A Typical Day for this Parish Nurse

By tnbutterfly - I have been a Parish Nurse for the past 9 years, being part of a program sponsored jointly by our local hospital and area churches. I received my parish nurse training through this hospital. Currently, there are more than 30 parish nurses in this program. Although mine is a paid part-time position, some of the nurses in the program work as volunteers, working with smaller congregations. For the paid positions, the hospital pays 25% of the salary while the church is responsible for the remaining 75%. In some programs, the hospital pays the entire salary, while in others this responsibility... Read More →

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Is Peak Flow Monitoring a Necessary Component of Pediatric Asthma Management?

By mtnmom - Asthma is the most common chronic condition of childhood (Burkhart, Rayens, Oakley, Abshire, and Zhang, 2007; Burkhart, Rayens, Revelette, and Ohlmann, 2007) and one of the major causes of school absenteeism in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). An estimated 10% of children in Georgia under the age of eighteen have asthma (Georgia Department of Human Resources, 2006). Nationally, an estimated 12.8 million school days were lost to asthma in 2004 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). Estimated costs for treating asthma in people under the... Read More →

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The language of pain

By squeakykitty - Years ago in my high school P.E. class, I jumped down off some bleachers and sprained my ankle really bad. I sat there holding my ankle and was face was somewhat contorted into an expression of pain, although there were no tears, no outcry, and no drama. Yet, one of my classmates accused me of acting like a baby. I felt shame over this for years because even my own family had the attitude of “Don’t bother me with your pain”, “Don’t embarrass me by expressing it/what will people think” type of stoicism. Then I went through CNA training and the first half of LVN school, and read what the... Read More →

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A letter to K.

By Elvish - Recently I took care of a new mom postpartum after her second baby who took methadone for heroin addiction. She and her family taught me so much. I wrote her this letter; I'll never send it to her, but I did want to share in hopes that someone else may get something from it. Dear K, I will not lie. When the powers that be told me you, a patient taking methadone for heroin addiction, were being assigned to me postpartum, I wasn’t happy. “Oh, great,” I thought. “A druggie.” I was wrong, and I’m sorry. You shattered every perception I had, and I‘m grateful for that. I thought I was... Read More →

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Everybody was Somebody's Baby Once

By la bellota - I wrote this in May 2007. This was my first clinical day of Med Surg. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Today was our first day of med surg. I had a very nice patient. He had a very nice family there to be there with him. He will be my patient tomorrow and I am very lucky. I was assigned another patient. When we all arrived.....he was alone. When we arrived, he was no more. Read More →

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