Category: Empowered Nurses

  Can you imagine working in a facility where the ratio is 1 nurse to 53 patients? This may be acceptable in long term care but what about at an emergency psychiatric facility? That’s what happened in Buffalo, New York where the institution’s nurses’ demands for safer staffing apparently fell on deaf ears. While the Director of Nursing was on […]

  Four (4) nurses in the labor and delivery unit of Emory University Hospital Midtown recently lost their jobs because they posted an “ICK” video on TIK TOK. An ICK video is a trend where people complain about things they find icky. The quartet made the ICK video to complain about patients. Unfortunately, the administration of the Atlanta hospital learned […]

I hear frequently of nurses who complain about conduct that they feel is unethical or improper that could affect patient care. As nurses, we are first and foremost patient advocates. We are concerned about our patients getting top quality care. Yet our concerns often fall on deaf ears or worse, they face retaliation. We want to report concerns when a […]

Usually, inspirations for my blogs come from either my own past experiences or recent news items.  However, the one I’m about to share here came to me from Nurse Erica by way of Facebook Reels.  She had been hearing of a director in Houston who directed their staff not to document any provider’s name nor to quote what the provider […]

  A doctorly prepared nurse practitioner, Sarah Anne Erny of Arroyo Grande, California, has been fined for publicly referring to herself as “Doctor Sarah” or “Doctor Erny” in contradiction to that state’s laws. Now, to be sure, there are many doctorly prepared professions in which a person may call themselves “doctor.”  For example, look at the First Lady who earned […]

  Nurses Services Organization (NSO) and CNA recently published their claims data report which tracked malpractice claims against nurse practitioners (NP) as well as claims for violations of the Nurse Practice Act.  The data shows that malpractice costs are on the rise! What this report showed is that the number of claims against nurse practitioners had settled for an amount […]

I was sickened in learning of the death of psychiatric nurse practitioner June Onkundi who had started her job at the Freedom House Recovery Center in Durham, North Carolina only 3 months ago. Ms. Onkundi, married with 4 children, was fatally stabbed while doing the work that she loved by the patient, James Gomes, a man who spent half of […]

  The Nursing Service Organization (“NSO”) frequently gathers their claim status, data for nurses and nurse practitioners. Recently they finished the fifth edition of Claims for Nurse Practitioners. Previously, there have been several studies showing that claims against Nurse Practitioners were fewer than those against physicians. They also show NPs tend to spend more time with patients and have better […]

I don’t know about you but when I was practicing (and even now), certain things would trigger me. So, I thought I would share these steps to help you work through times when you are triggered because being triggered at work can lead to mistakes in your practice, upset, frustration, resentment and makes you appear to your coworkers like you […]

In nursing, documentation is everything! Figuratively speaking, I believe that you will live or die by your documentation. And when it comes to license defense and protecting your license, the same is true. I am not talking about just documentation in a medical record but I’m talking about protecting your license. You need a paper trail! So many times, I […]