SafetyNurse1968 BSN, MSN, PhD

Education, Informatics, Patient Safety

If I were in charge of the universe, there would be staffing ratio laws and unions in every state and you'd get written up for NOT taking your breaks.

Patient Safety Columnist / Educator

Safety Rules!

This blog was a joy to write and covered many aspects of patient safety. I am no longer updating it, but enjoy getting comments and questions.

Can antidepressants cause the hippocampus and amygdala to increase in size?
Critical

Case Study: Does Childhood Abuse Prevent Weight Loss? Pt. 2

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This is an important topic for nurses. We need to understand the connection between childhood trauma and mind/body issues to build trust with patients and...

8 replies 6,083 views
What is Temporal Lobe Epilepsy?
Critical

Case Study: Why Is This Patient Smelling Music? Pt. 1

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article presents a case study of a young woman in her freshman year of college who comes to the student health clinic complaining of sudden onset panic...

5 replies 6,681 views
How can I find NCLEX sample questions?
NCLEX

Help with NCLEX-RN – Let’s do some sample questions

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

As a patient safety expert, I appreciate that every single question on the NCLEX is focused on patient safety. As a professor at a school of nursing, I know...

6 replies 6,261 views
Is it possible to get through an entire nursing career without making a mistake?
General Nursing

Is It Possible to Never Make an Error? The Perfect Nurse Fallacy

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

If nurses are well-trained and careful, can we prevent patient harm? What does it take to get through a hectic nursing shift without making an error? This...

32 replies 8,250 views
What is a Clinical Nurse Leader?
General Nursing

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? Try Clinical Nurse Leader

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article is part 2 of a 2-part series. Part 1 described options for nurses seeking higher degrees. Part 2 describes an exciting new nursing role: Clinical...

3 replies 3,161 views
What caused the seizures?
Critical

Case Study: Can You Prevent This Medical Error?

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

An older patient was much improved after a difficult postoperative course. On the morning of her planned transfer out of the ICU, she had a grand mal seizure...

27 replies 15,013 views
How do you assess anemia?
Critical

Case Study: Sick And Tired, Seeing Things? You Might Have Anemia

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

In the 'Mystery of The Dog in a Fedora', you can read the story from the beginning. This is part two, and includes the solution to the mystery. Read on to get...

8 replies 25,288 views
What are causes of hallucinations?
Critical

Case Study: Why Is She Having Hallucinations? The Mystery of The D…

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This is a true story about a young woman who began to hallucinate. You’ll find all the clues you might need to figure out why she started seeing things that...

59 replies 16,984 views
General Nursing

Drug Use and Abuse: Perspectives of A Teen User Part 3

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

In parts 1 & 2, I summarized the first part of an interview I did with an 18 year old who uses drugs on a regular basis. Part 3 includes another story from Jane...

3 replies 3,690 views
General Nursing

Drug Use and Abuse: Perspectives of A Teen User Part 1

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

I interviewed the 18 year-old daughter of one of my best friends. I have known Jane since she was 13. Jane started smoking marijuana in middle school and has...

1 reply 3,836 views
General Nursing

Protecting Your License: Notes from a Nurse-Attorney

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article is about how to protect your nursing license. It describes situations in which nurses have been reported to the board, or been brought up on...

15 replies 51,118 views
Strategies For Taking The NCLEX
NCLEX

Are you ready for NCLEX? Think patient safety and you will be.

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article talks about my experience taking the NCLEX, and teaching NCLEX test prep to recent graduates. It includes strategies for passing the NCLEX.

2 replies 6,906 views
Safety

The Wrong Dose - A True Story of Medication Error

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

An interview with Margo, an oncology nurse, who talked about the night she gave a patient too much insulin, and he coded. Margo is now a well-respected nurse...

38 replies 75,368 views
Safety

I've Been "Invited" To A Root Cause Analysis, Now What?

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

Identifying the causes of errors can help prevent similar errors from happening in the future. The primary objective of the article is to give nurses some idea...

2 replies 15,517 views
Safety

A Checklist for Patient Safety - This Nurse Quit, Will YOU?

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article is about how organizations can support patient safety. It includes a story about SN, a new nurse who didn’t make it due to unsafe working...

9 replies 13,649 views
What ONE THING would you do today (the sky is the limit here folks) to reduce harm to patients?
Safety

Why Do We Continue to Harm Patients?

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article describes several medical errors and starts a discussion about the impact of medical error on patients and nurses. Your input is requested on this...

34 replies 41,055 views
General Nursing

EMDR: Another Tool for Your Mental Health Toolbox

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article is about the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a therapy successfully being used to treat trauma. In the article I...

4 replies 6,067 views
General Nursing

Keep What You Love, Return the Rest: Healing from Trauma with EMDR…

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article presents background information on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a therapy used to treat survivors of childhood trauma, and those...

8 replies 8,211 views
General Nursing

Healing from Childhood Trauma: Tapping/EFT

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

This article presents background and information on childhood trauma, including solutions for healing. I have included personal experiences with Emotional...

2 replies 9,625 views
General Nursing

What if I'm the Bully?

by SafetyNurse1968, BSN, MSN, PhD

Bullying is in the news a lot these days, but for every person bullied, there has to be a bully…and what if I am that person? I’m going to tell you a story...

35 replies 13,689 views