I am a registered nurse who worked in the clinical setting for about 10 years. I decided to quit bedside nursing, and now work as clinical analyst consultant. I maintain a blog for entry level candidates seeking to enter the nursing informatics field.
Life of a Consultant Clinical Analyst In the Nursing Informatics Department Read More »
Didn’t you know it’s the latest trend in healthcare? You can sit in you family members room and make statements about the care your loved one is receiving on that hospital’s Facebook page. You can also mention specific nurses by name and discuss your like or dislike for them. Sure would be nice if there were headshots of each nurse on that Facebook page so you could just put a thumbs up or a thumbs down on the nurses. That would make the public degrading of them so much easier. Sure you can do this, but should you? With social
Hop On Facebook and Review Your Nurse! Read More »
According to a fact sheet on the nursing shortage presented by the American Associate of Colleges of Nursing, healthcare is one sector of the job market that continues to grow, despite tough economic times. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that 283,000 jobs have been added in just the last year alone. In fact, even with the staggering levels of unemployment, nursing jobs sit open: According to a report released by the American Health Care Association in July 2008, more than 19,400 RN vacancies exist in long-term care settings. These vacancies, coupled with an additional 116,000 open positions in
I’m not sure how other hospitals do it, because I have only worked in one; but every year we have this thing called competencies. What are competencies? Basically all the nurses in the hospital are corralled into a room over a series of a week or so and have to “check off” at various stations. Not that it takes a whole week to do it, you just have several days over that week in which you can attend. The stations have a nurse or member of administration staffing them and cover various topics related to practice on the floor.
It’s That Time of Year Again: Hospital Competencies Read More »
What kind of nerdy nurse would I be if I wasn’t an advocate of the newest nurse charting – Electronic Medical Records (EMR Charting)? Not worthy of my title, at the very least. As a nerd, I am pretty much required to preach the glories of my geeky infatuations. Not only to justify my obsessions but also to promote more growth and innovation in the tech world. Us geeks need new tech to satisfy our cravings. A slight digression, yes, but you have no doubt grown accustomed to those in my little corner of the web. (And if not, you may want to
EMR Charting: The Frustration of Duplication for Nurses Read More »
Today when my preceptor was showing me a report for infection control, it made me realize just how many people are involved in the care of every patient that walks through the doors of a hospital. We know that as nurses on the that we can’t take care of our patients all by ourselves. We need the help of doctors, aids, other nurses, and other departments. What I don’t think most nurses think about is just how much goes on behind the scenes to make sure that the patient care a reality.
How Many People Are Involved in Patient Care? Read More »
“I don’t care. “ Those aren’t the words you want to hear coming from the mouth of a nurse. Now, true, nurses are human, and there are things that we don’t care about, but the phrase itself, while on the job, just sounds so …. unprofessional. As nurses, we encounter so many challenges every day. Often we have to wait on other departments, facilities, or patients. If we are not waiting on something (a lab, a transporter, a phone call), we rush to do or get something done ourselves. It’s very much a feast or famine profession. Things rarely progress
When a Nurse Says: I Don’t Care Read More »
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not one of these people who grew up being a nurse. It would be nice to say that I put bandages on my dolls, and had dreams of nursing since I was a child. But I just can’t say it. It’s not true. I came to the realization that wanted to be a nurse 6 months after passing my NCLEX and working as a nurse. Before then, I knew I could be a nurse, but I didn’t really know I wanted to. I did well in school. I found the best places
Things They Don’t Tell you When You’re In Nursing School: Advice for New Grads Read More »
A very real conversation – when nurses chart their medical care, are they depending too much on charting and not enough on connecting with the people they care for? Nurses Chart Too Much & Don’t Think For Themselves Teresa Brown, R.N. wrote an article, featured in the New York Times, recently Caring for the Chart of the Patient, in which she discusses the very real challenge we face as nurses to document our care. She speaks about the mandates, and standards that we are forced to document on in order to satisfy one agency, insurance company, regulation, or another. What she mentions that
Shocking Truth – Nurses Depend Too Much On Charting Read More »
I work for a private, corporate hospital as a floor nurse. I am precepting at a public, independent hospital in an administrative role. The differences in the way things are done and the possibilities for change and innovation are astounding. As much as I am a loyalists, and would really love to stay where I am, as a nurse who wants to be a part of positive change in healthcare, this may prove to be more difficult than anticipated for many of the reasons which I have listed: What I have noticed the Public Hospital does that the Private Doesn’t:
