Lynda Lampert, RN

Hello, nurses, I would just like to encourage everyone to share how their facility deals with the lifting issue, how your backs have suffered, and how you feel about being lied to. I know it enraged me, really. I will have a follow-up article comin...

Nursing brain sheets go by many names. They are called report sheets, security blankets, flowcharts, to-do lists and everything in between. What are they exactly? Nursing brain sheets are those papers that have all of the information on your patient....

Assessment of the abdomen is important for nursing students, new grads, and veteran nurses alike. For the newer nurses, the skill has to be repeated consistently to ensure that it becomes a routine. For veteran nurses, they may forget some of the nua...

You've gone through the rigors of crafting the perfect resume. You've blanketed the town with your name and qualifications. If you've done your homework, it is only a matter of time before you land an interview with a facility. Now, I will not sugar ...

I don't know that the question is ever asked to particularly demean. I don't think that is what the interviewer sets out to do, but it does have a sense of demeaning feeling to it. Why ask someone to talk bad about themselves? Maybe ask them about...

LOL, Conqueror, my mom was a teller of tall tales. I'm not sure she ever said it, but I sort of got her point. That question is a loaded question, and yet it is asked at just about every interview. Maybe, "Tell me what parts of your practice you a...

Well, I didn't get into the answers to the questions, because I thought that another article cover that. I didn't want to go over the same territory, but this question is particularly difficult. You really have two options: brown nose or be blunt. ...

Yes, the bold faced summary at the top states that things have changed, especially with the ACLS protocols. I haven't had that class in years, but I would take it again because I thought it was fun. I hope things have changed since then, but I need...

I don't work there anymore, but that was the policy. They had a lot of policies that I didn't agree with. For instance, bedside nurses were not allowed and not trained to change central line dressings. It was pretty strictly enforced about drawing...

Hi all, Actually, in my facility, not all patients had IV access. For instance, those staying overnight after a procedure would not usually have access. However, when I worked telemetry, they all had access, but most of the time that access was poo...

His name was George. I worked night shift on a telemetry floor. Of course, all of our patients had to have IV access. It was standard policy and made sense should we need access in an emergency. Although the IVs were checked for patency every eight h...

I think that for some nurses, IV teams can become a crutch. I know that some nurses on my floor wouldn't even try. I didn't blame them, necessarily, because it wasn't like they had their feet up, eating bon bons. It is a nursing skill, though, and...

Hi all, I just wanted to say that I appreciate all of the good comments and praise for my writing. :) Yes, code protocols differ from one facility to another, and this reflected my experience at a very specific work environment. We had private room...

Despite the nursing shortage, some regions are experiencing a great deal of competition for nursing spots, particularly for new grads. It can be frustrating to send your resume around and not get any response when you've heard nothing except that nur...

New Years is a time of reflection and renewal. As nurses, we have so much that we can improve upon, but sometimes, it can feel so overwhelming. In addition to making personal resolutions, you should make a few nursing resolutions, too. Here are fifty...

I'm so glad everyone is inspired by this article! Some of them came really easy, but then the last 10 or so were really hard to get. So, I'm glad I kept going on with it. As for me, since I'm a writer, I have a few resolutions of my own. I will st...

I grew up in a very Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It was nothing for me to see Orthodox Jews walking to Temple on Saturday morning, wearing the long locks and black suits. Even as someone who grew up so closely with that culture, I still didn't ...

Thanks for the updated information on Kwanzaa! I had no idea what its origins were, and it is great to hear how the whole thing started. It sounds like a way for the African American community to express some of the heritage of their ancestors. Sh...

Wow, I didn't know that! I didn't do very much research beyond the topic of the article. So, it isn't associated with a religion. I wonder why they put it near Christmas. Probably to co-opt with the Christmas attention. Here I was trying to give...

I'd be willing to write an article on any of them. I agree that it would be hard to whittle these religious observances down to a short article, but that's what writers do! :) Do Muslims have any winter holidays that are lumped with Christmas? I k...

Thank you RnsRwe! I really enjoyed writing this article, and I'm sorry about my misinformation about the types of minorrahs. I wasn't even sure of the proper spelling of Chanukkah, and saw several different spellings. I went with this one because ...

I have a passion for history and a passion for patients. When the two come together, I am held transfixed, unable to tear myself away. Veteran's Day is an important holiday to honor those men and women who have served to protect our country. With the...

My grandfather also served in WWII, and I believe he lied about his age, as well. It was such a different time, wasn't it? I read somewhere that the state of our military aged adults would not have the physical fitness if called to serve in the sam...

Thanks, traumaRUs! I really enjoyed talking to these patients, and it was hard to make time for their stories. Now, though, I have a great experience to look back on and appreciate. I feel like I unearthed something special by talking to these vet...

Hi, there, New in the MICU, coming off a telemetry floor and trying to learn some of the hemodynamic parameters that we use. I'm okay with CO and such, but I am having trouble with stroke volume variance. We use presep catheters -- not swans in thi...