nursing issues

What You Need to Know About Opioid Induced Constipation Treatment Options

What You Need to Know About Opioid Induced Constipation Treatment Options

Finding an opioid induced constipation treatment that provides adequate and quick relief of symptoms may be important for patients and their providers. However, a recent online survey of 441 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older who were living with chronic pain, on opioid therapy and suffering from opioid induced constipation (OIC) revealed some interesting findings. The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, sponsored by a partnership of the US Pain Foundation and Salix Pharmaceuticals, found that 77% of these patients reported suffering from OIC for at least a year. Why aren’t they getting relief faster?

What You Need to Know About Opioid Induced Constipation Treatment Options Read More »

Nurse Attacked by Surgeon at Cedars Sinai Hospital

Nurse Attacked by Surgeon at Cedars Sinai Hospital

It’s bad enough that nurse’s are constantly facing violence in hospital settings at the hands of patients, but now a surgeon has joined in on the attacks. The below video shows Paula Rickey allegedly being pushed by surgeon Kerry Kourosh Assil while walking out of an operating room. Paula states that she was retaliated against when she filed a complaint against the surgeon. She states that she was forced to move to a different unit and had her hours cut. In short, they worked to accommodate the surgeon instead of Paula. So Paula filed a lawsuit. More Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Nurse Attacked by Surgeon at Cedars Sinai Hospital Read More »

Transparency in Health Care

Transparency in Healthcare

How can nurses help foster transparency in healthcare? I was very fortunate to attend The National Patient Safety Foundations’ Lucian Leape Institute’s 8th Annual Forum & Keynote Dinner on September 17, 2015, as one of the nurses selected to represent our organization. Lucian Leape is considered the father of the modern patient safety movement in the US. In 1994, he wrote “Error in Medicine” published in JAMA. This led to the development of The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) in 2007 and along with the Institute of Health, published “To Err is Human” and “Crossing the Quality Chasm”. The National

Transparency in Healthcare Read More »

Nurses Eat Their Young - Eliminating Victims of Nurse Bullying & Lateral Violence - nurses eat their young lateral violence nurse bully

Nurses Eat Their Young – Eliminating Victims of Nurse Bullying & Lateral Violence

“Nurses eat their young, you know?” This was the rationale and comfort provided to me when I first sought mentorship from a senior nurse about the poor treatment I was receiving from my nursing peers as a new nurse. I was a victim of nurse bullying, and the solution that was suggested to me was to endure it. It was just a part of the hazing process of new nurses. “This too shall pass,” after all. Like so many nurses who came before me, I was expected to endure poor treatment simply because that’s the way it’s always been. I

Nurses Eat Their Young – Eliminating Victims of Nurse Bullying & Lateral Violence Read More »

Compensation for Nurses: Hourly Wages Vs. Salaried

Compensation for Nurses: Hourly Wages Vs. Salaried

Depending on your role as a nurse, there are usually several ways you can be reimbursed for the care you perform. For most of us, there are two basic forms of compensation: hourly and salaried. The benefits and detriments of both are varied. However, it is interesting to take a look at differences because you may just find the grass may be greener on the other side.

Compensation for Nurses: Hourly Wages Vs. Salaried Read More »

From White to Blue: Nursing Uniforms Evolve - blue nursing scrubs

From White to Blue: Nursing Uniforms Evolve

I know that many do not share my opinion in this, but I often long for those white uniforms. Though admittedly I became a nurse long after they went out of favor. So I would imagine that if it were something forced upon me as a way to oppress me my fondness would likely drastically decline. As much as I can appreciate having the freedom to choose scrubs in a variety of styles colors, deep down inside I admire the association of wearing white with the nursing profession. But it’s not the oppression or rigidity of nursing days gone by that I romanticized. It’s the image of strong, stoic women with integrity that just leaps off the page of the images of nursing days gone by.

From White to Blue: Nursing Uniforms Evolve Read More »

7 Free Things Hospital Administrators Can Do to Increase Morale and Improve Nurse Retention

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

7 Free Things Hospital Administrators Can Do to Increase Morale and Improve Nurse Retention Read More »

When a Nurse Says: I Don't Care - nurse phone

When a Nurse Says: I Don’t Care

“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 »

Scroll to Top