Category: Empowered Nurses

As nurses, we see the most difficult things in humanity.  We see people suffering, we are privy to their difficult family situations, we basically have a very privileged look into the details of our patients’ lives.  We see their hopes, their fears, their sadness and their joy. But all this does not come without a price.  When I was a […]

I recently had a trial and while the outcome was favorable, there were many learning opportunities presented to me. Along with 2 other attorneys, I was co-counseling this case.  Though we all are very experienced attorneys, we each had our own style and our own way of doing things. I found as I witnessed their approaches during the trial thinking […]

  A Houston, Texas nurse has filed suit against her employer because she was not given her lunchbreaks.  Even though she worked when she should have been eating her lunch, she was NOT paid for that time.  She was deprived of her break and forced to work for free. This facility had a policy that you only clocked in when […]

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 […]

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 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 […]