Category: Empowered Nurses

A recent article on Becker’s Clinical Leadership & Infection Control, written by Patti Hart, DNP, MSN, RN, the Chief Nursing Officer of Medical University of South Carolina Health Charleston Division, discussed how taking care of her staff and ensuring quality and safety of care is so vitally important. You can check out the article here. Ms. Hart believes, as do […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

I’ve always known that your gut plays a huge role in helping you be successful as a nurse. Take the case of a nurse who was working with a patient who had a cervical spine fusion the previous day.  He complained of having a raspy voice and trouble swallowing.  His vital signs were all normal.  The nurse knew in her […]

In a recent study conducted by United Kingdom’s National Health Service showed that 300 nurses committed suicide in their country from 2011 to 2017.  In 2014, one nurse committed suicide each week.  That nurses would take their own lives is appalling and sad.  Nursing is so stressful.  Remember the nurse in England who gave out confidential information to a radio […]