Reflections on Nursing Leadership

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

from sigma theta tau:

reflections on nursing leadership

coming: to a hospital near you

imagine a hospital where a personal phone replaces a nurse's feet as his or her most important communication device. that's just one idea the author shares for fixing nursing.

actually achieving our preferred future

think nursing's preferred future will only come to pass in the sweet bye and bye? the author describes a "heavenly scenario" that may be closer than you think.

may the force be with you!

fairy tales and science fiction often include accounts of positive, mystical forces that help the heroes in these stories struggle with and ultimately triumph over evil.

pivotal moments in nursing: leaders who changed the path of a profession, vol. ii

just found this website and had to share some of it's treasures. karen

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

check out their archives section:

3rd quarter 2005 (vol. 31, no. 3) - doing what's right: the ethics of nursing

4th quarter 2005 (vol. 31, no. 4) - in pursuit of nursing's preferred future

[pickledpepperRN]

From the article:

The truth of the matter is, professional nursing has long held goals that were never fully achievable before the informatics revolution currently taking place (McBride, 2005). We've long been held responsible for ensuring safety, coordinating care, utilizing research findings and evaluating outcomes, but we have not had the systems in place to make that really happen.

The emphasis in nursing, heretofore, has been largely on the individual nurse interacting on a one-to-one basis with patients and their families to meet their particular needs. If a mistake was made or a need unaddressed, the nurse was personally responsible, not the system. Though nurse managers and executives were expected to facilitate the work of individuals, those administrators were themselves hampered by a lack of standardized measurements and outcomes that would enable them to encourage their staffs to be accountable for their practice.

A new way of thinking is taking shape, and it is full of enormous promise. Without discounting the importance of individual responsibility or one-to-one relationships, quality care is increasingly seen as a matter of healthy work environments. The IOM's report To Err Is Human (2000) noted that individuals can only be successful if processes are in place that enable them to succeed.

http://nursingsociety.org/RNL/4Q_2005/features/feature5.html

I don't understand why an "informatics revolution" needs to take place before the attitudinal change from do no harm as an individual responsibility to safety as a system concern can take place.

I'm not opposed to technology that enhances the nurse's ability to provide safe effective therapeutic care. Too bad technology that interferes with the professional judgment of the registered nurse and other professionals is sold to hospitals.

[BULLYDAWGRN, RN]

The only technology around my hospital is technology that allows you to do more with less. Gee technology thanks alot.