Blog

I always joke I was an overnight success … and it only took me 5 years! It actually did take me that long and it should not have.  Part of the reason for the delay was commitment. There are 5 levels of commitment: LEVEL 1.    YOU DON’T CARE – Obviously, you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t care. LEVEL […]

Years ago, my mother was in a coma for several months.  We practically moved to the state where she was hospitalized to be with her. I admit it, we were the family from h—. The SICU nurses and physicians were trying to reign us in as we thought we were going to lose her.  Fortunately, she recovered. Though she does […]

Both Ohio and Kansas have pending legislation to allow advanced practice nurses to treat patients without physician oversight.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has endorsed this legislation.  The FTC relied on research showing that autonomous advanced practice R.N.s and physicians have comparable prescribing practices and patient outcomes.  Currently there are 22 states that allow full practice authority for advanced practice […]

Maybe you’re frustrated with nursing or maybe you’ve had a dream that you’ve always wanted to turn into a reality.  When is now a good time to start? Nurses are uniquely qualified to start their own businesses because they have excellent organizational skills, they have critical thinking and have great relationships with their patients.  Unfortunately, nurses are used to relying […]

I don’t think you can be a nurse without having an intuition or sixth sense.  Actually, I think everyone has it, but some have the trait better developed. That sixth sense is when you go into a patient’s room and you know that something is wrong.  You take vitals, do your assessment and everything seems to be fine with the […]

Recently I read an opinion piece in The New York Times magazine, written by a New York Belleview Hospital physician, titled “The Business of Healthcare Depends on Exploiting Doctors and Nurses.”  It discusses how electronic medical records (EMR) are designed to save us time and get documentation that can be easily searchable but, unfortunately, it’s a burden. Data entry is […]

If you have not read the book “Think and Grow Rich,” I would highly recommend that you do so.  Noted in the book is the story of someone approaching Andrew Carnegie, founder of Carnegie Steel which later became U.S. Steel, and asked him “If I could share a business secret with you that will be the most powerful advise you […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here and it is impacting health care.  The question will become will the jobs for nursing decrease with the expanding AI? We see it at grocery self-checkouts, being able to sign up online for a checking account leading to banks closing, etc.  And the need for humans to do these jobs has been decreasing at an […]

I recently finished an 8-week class on mindfulness-based stress reduction.  I chose to take the class because my sister had attended it and came out like a different person.  She is much more relaxed and focused in her life. The purpose of mindfulness based stress reduction is to be mindful in everything that we do.  Including eating!  There were formal […]

I thought I’d go “old school and nostalgic” to let you read about what it was like when I first became a nurse in 1980s.  Nursing is still the largest group of health care professionals. One of the biggest changes from yesterday to today is what we wear. I recall being so excited to get my white cap and pin […]