Category: Empowered Nurses

I have written previously about the concept of “hospital at home.”  I read in a recent issue of Becker’s Hospital Review an interview with Michelle Mahon who is the Assistant Director of Nursing Practice at National Nurses United. Ms. Mahon expressed concerns, as have I, about hospitals at home. Did you ever have a patient who you knew, by the […]

Since the onset of the pandemic, the pay rates for travel nurses have doubled.  However, federal money for COVID-19 has dried up because there are far fewer hospitalizations for the disease.  As a result, the need for travel nurses has decreased by one third. In addition, some travel nurses are starting new contracts to only find out that the arrangement […]

“There is no way to happiness – happiness is the way.” – Thich Nhat Hanh A couple of years ago I conducted an Empowered Nurses Boot Camp.  One of the challenges we undertook in that camp was to avoid any complaining.  When we complain, we attract more complaints.  How can you possibly be happy if you are complaining or in […]

What do I mean by “stretch?” Stretch means doing something different, something hard and going past what you believe to be your limitations. We nurses tend to get stuck in our comfort zone.  We are at the top of our game as a nurse, yet we tend to stay there without pushing ourselves to be, do or have more. Your […]

I frequently am heard saying, “You can always get another job but not another license.”  Over the past few years, particularly under the duress of the pandemic, nursing has become an extremely difficult profession.  If you are not happy in the area where you work, try something new. We all are conditioned by our comfort zone to which we are […]

Hospitals across the country are offering internal travel nurse programs.  Did you know that? What is great about this is that you can make the money of a travel nurse while the healthcare facility does not have to pay the middleman agency for the nurses.  Plus, if you love the job, you can possibly get hired full time. To me, […]

A recently released study showed that in 2021 male nurses were earning a median salary that was $14,000.00 more than their female counterparts.  The previous year, 2020, the median salary for male nurses was $7,297.00 higher that the ladies. An interesting thing revealed by the study was that males consistently asked for higher salaries than females when accepting nursing positions. […]

The captain of your ship?  Is that you? The ship captain analogy was used quite a bit in our recent retreat as it is applicable in nursing. In law, “the captain of the ship” is a doctrine meaning that the physician is responsible for everything that happens in surgery.  However, I use the term to question whether you are charting […]

I have heard that many hospitals have done away with Nurses’ week and now celebrate “Hospital week.” Interestingly, the largest workforce in healthcare is nurses, yet their one special week gets taken away from them when doctors have their own day and other health professions have their own day to celebrate. According to an article in BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW, and […]

On April 30, 2022, halfway through his shift at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, a nurse entered a supply closet and, taking a gun he brought from home, took his own life in front of a coworker.  This was the second suicide in that area since the first of the year. This broke my heart to learn of […]