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How Many People Are Involved in Patient Care?

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.

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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

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Shocking Truth – Nurses Depend Too Much On Charting

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

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Patient Modesty: Yes, It is Very Important

Let’s chat about something that lots of nurses think, but few say out loud: patient modesty. Is it really important? Is medical nudity something nurses should be comfortable with, in every circumstance? Honestly, it’s complicated. But it needs to be discussed. The Importance of Medical Patient Modesty First, what is modesty? According to the dictionary, it is “behavior, manner, or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency.” Ok, so what is propriety? It is socially acceptable behavior. When someone is in the hospital, do social norms disappear? What about the feelings and values of the nurse – do they matter? I

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They made me put my socks on with a stick

They Made Me Put My Socks On With a Stick

I find it interesting how the most grumpy, disgruntled people react to kind gestures. It’s been my experience that usually someone with an attitude has a pretty good reason for it. There are the occasional crapheads who are just crappy for no reason, but usually there is some sort root cause for most meaness I experience in my nursing practice.

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The Incompetent, List-Worthy, Stupid Nurse – Strikes Again!

I’m gonna save the build up for you. I’m the stupid nurse referenced in the title of this article. Also, before I get your hopes up, let me just say, the title is pure sarcasm. Women hold a grudge. This is no real secret. Most of us ladies know we tend to remain resentful, pessimistic, and guarded around certain people and situations. However, most of us can at least pretend and be professional enough to function appropriately in the workplace if said grudge happens to involve the workplace. I think I do a very good job of controlling my grudge-type

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The Hardest Shift I've Ever Had - A long, eventful, tearful, and stressful journey as a night nurse

The Hardest Shift I’ve Ever Had – A long, eventful, tearful, and stressful journey as a night nurse

One of most terrible nights as a nurse was early in my career.

My patients were all high acuity patients. It was a night full tubes, drains, fall risks, confusion, decubitus ulcer, vascular wounds, PICC lines, central lines, shunts, stents, pacers, OG tubes, family conflicts, blood transfusions, fresh post-ops, spina bifida, and sadness. In addition to the loads of problems the fact that nearly all of my patients required constant attention and management made for a very busy, and emotionally trying evening.

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