Topics About 'Life Of A Nurse'.

Unfortunately for me, David was my patient and I was the newest nurse on the unit. That meant I was usually assigned to him, and it didn't matter that I preferred not to be. I had to figure out some way to reach him. Thus far, I was failing miserably...

He was a transfer from an outside hospital. Standard chest pain had some nitro tabs, needed a cardiac cath. We see it all of the time. He was actually smiling and cracking a few jokes as we got him settled into his room (of course we're rushing - he'...

You get a report on your two patients (rushing through the assessment as quickly as possible) and just as you go into the empty room assigned to your third patient, the phone rings and it's for you. You put the phone down after the report and look up...

Texting with Florence Nightingale Yo, Flo! Can u talk right now? (I like saying yo flo) ? Talk? Do you mean text? Yeah, I do mean text. Yes. But why do you say talk instead of text? IDK. I know we aren’t literally talking, but...

Earlier, the paramedics found her--deep in the winter of her life--lying like a rag doll in a man's lap. Shocks and drugs refocused her heart's energy. She is whisked to the emergency room and then transferred intensive care. Now, the team of nurses ...

As we sat resting our poor feet, the student nurses arrived on the floor. Taking in their crisp white uniforms, we glanced down at our wrinkled scrubs. Noticing their bright, shiny faces, I sneaked a peak at my co-workers. Our hair hung in our faces,...

For the past few weeks my shift at work have been canceled due to the recent pandemic. A few days ago I was asked to work but unfortunately turned it down because we have a entire unit of Covid-19 patients. Heres the thing I have a toddler with as...

My patient had been ejected from his car after hitting black ice. His prognosis for any recovery was a hairs-breath above zero. We knew he would never again walk this earth. The family was large and streamed in and out of the room. All were polite an...

An enemy on the reservationOn the tribal reservation I live on there are probably greater than 488 cases of Covid-19 and 22 deaths. Enrolled members number roughly 352,000, with around 173,000 of that number on the reservation area. As you arrive h...

For better or worseBirth doesn’t wait. Not for traffic, birthdays, baby showers. Not for other deliveries. And certainly not for good times. In 21 years as a midwife, I’ve witnessed pregnancy proceed through desertion by spouses, death of loved on...

Thinking about all these dear folk that I have had the pleasure of looking after I am drawn back to one of my dear patients that died only a few months ago. My first meeting with this lady was very strained. She was a very private woman who did not o...

78 years. That's it. That is the average life expectancy at birth in the United States. Doesn't seem like enough time to accomplish it all does it? As a nurse, I work with people who are at the end of their lives every day. Most are elderly and have ...

I mean, how did OR and NICU intertwine?! I asked them I did not have any experience before on that area. They said it's okay you're still young and you will learn. I, on the other hand, did not say anything about it because they are the one who's hir...

Nearly two decades have passed and I am still excited to assist with the birth of a baby. People often comment on how lucky I am to work in such a happy environment. This is true, but there is another side that most people, even other nurses, will no...

Virtually every nurse has a story about a patient or family encounter that has changed them or their role in nursing forever. I’ve had many memorable encounters over the years, but one changed my career trajectory more than any other. I was work...

She was dependently independent ( meaning her husband helped her with matters concerning her health, but she took all the credit because he told her she should). She always made it a point to me to emphasize how "laid back" she was. Our first co...

My interest started at the age of 13 when my mother dropped me at the local ambulance station, gave me a pen and notebook and told me to go inside. I became a St John Ambulance Cadet that night and learned how to stop a bleed with pressure and elevat...

Hello all, my name is Jordan, and I am an RN, and I want to share with you all some of what I do in my role as an ICU nurse. A little background… I have been a nurse for three years, in which time I have learned a tremendous amount about mys...

The Emergency Room1. The world of ER does not revolve around you. There are sick people here, and you aren't one of them. 2. Our definition of sick is not your definition of sick. If a member of the ER staff says that someone is sick, it means that t...

Interview With a Psychiatric NurseThis interview with Morgan L., an inpatient psychiatric unit nurse, started before the onset of the novel coronavirus. During the time of the interviews for this article, she volunteered to work with any patients inf...

2 Weeks AgoAbout 2 weeks ago (the second week of March), a friend asked me how work was with all the COVID stuff going on. I said, “Imagine having someone scream ‘COVIDDDDD’ at the top of their lungs until it’s hard to even think and you start gritti...

I was working on a telemetry unit and went in to assess the lung sounds of my patient who was on bed rest. I asked him if he could roll onto his side so that I could put my stethoscope to his back to listen. He complied. It was not long before I hear...

I was wrapping up all the loose ends of the day as my shift was winding down. I always like to present my reports about assigned patients to the oncoming nurse, like a package with a bow on top. On this particular day, I had a patient return to the ...

I had a job that I had been at for 22yrsI was scared to leave, to start my DREAM. Not knowing how I would pay my bills, how was I to pay for school, where and when was I going to find one. Plus being a single mother. This list of questions has been...

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 hallway. I felt sorry for other patients about to be awakened by it. I star...