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When I feel like I am in a situation where I don’t have choice, it’s kind of like I’m in prison.  In reality, I’m not locked in some self-perceived cell.  I know that I actually have plenty of choices.  I may not like the options but, nevertheless, the choices are available. By believing that you have a choice and you […]

When considering the body of all possible knowledge, there are very few things that we actually know.  Many times we don’t even realize that we don’t know most of the things that we don’t know! As nurses, many times we get a brief orientation and are thrown into circumstances that we could have never foreseen.  Since our training and experience […]

As nurses, we see all sides of humanity.  I remember as a student doing my pediatric clinicals, we had a small toddler in an oxygen tent while its mother was smoking in the restroom when the child started to cry.  She handed her belt out from behind the door with the instruction, “Here, use this.” Again … you see all […]

Allnurses.com recently released the results of a 2015 survey of nearly 19,000 nurses across the United States. The survey brought to light several interesting salary discrepancies between nurses of different genders, educational backgrounds, and locations. The annual salary of nurses by gender reveals that male nurses tend to earn slightly more than their female counterparts. The fact that men earn […]

I received an anonymous letter in the mail from one of my readers in response to an article I had written.  She was concerned that nothing was being done about some of the injustices in nursing. At first I felt bad that for whatever reason my article didn’t benefit her.  I know not everyone is going to resonate with my […]

When I was a nursing student, I thought for sure I wanted to be either a labor and delivery nurse or a pediatric nurse.  During my clinicals in obstetrics, I had a patient whose baby died in utero and she delivered the baby knowing that it would not be born alive. That was so emotionally difficult for me that I […]

When we were living in caves thousands of years ago, there was a real fear of becoming an animal’s main dinner entrée.  When faced with that possibility, the fight or flight response kicked in. But today, while we can feel safe in our homes, we still can push the so-called panic button for any fear response any time we want. […]

What is the first thing that a physician orders when you work night shift and have trouble sleeping during the day?  The physician orders Ambien! Maybe you’ve been working long hours; walking the hard floors of a hospital and it’s taking a toll on your back and other joints.  If you have pain, which cannot be controlled by non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, […]

“I care about myself.  I am a great nurse!  My services are needed.” You probably say that yourself every day, right? You don’t?  Well, you should according to Briana Binion who is a neurolinguistic programming (NLP) practitioner.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Briana to tell me about this interesting program. NLP is “the number one technology” says Briana, and […]

The electronic health records are here to stay.  You may love it because they save time or you may dislike it.  Regardless of your opinion, we have no choice about it. The government now requires that healthcare providers adopt and demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic health records to remain eligible for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. “If it is not documented, […]