Category: Empowered Nurses

Have you ever been at the nurses’ station and the manager comes over and says “We need someone to stay over and do a double shift.” You want to run and hide, you have plans and you are flat out exhausted. You hope that one of your coworkers will say yes. The first one said “No I can’t, my daughter […]

Is a med error considered malpractice? “Malpractice” is a fancy word for negligence, but involves a professional. There are 4 elements of malpractice: Duty (the standard of care) Breach (you didn’t do what you were supposed to do or did something that you should not have done); Causation; and Harm. So, let’s put it in layman’s terms. You have a […]

Recently a study was performed which determined six individual factors that lead to human errors. Three factors were contributed to the caregiver, 1) fatigue, 2) emotional stress and 3) multitasking. If you think about situations in your work place, when you are tired or when you are stressed, or you’re trying to do too many things at once it can […]

Every January 1st, millions of people create New Year Resolutions.  And while some never act upon them, others lose interest shortly thereafter.  The reason why many people fail to accomplish their New Year Resolutions is because willpower will get you only so far.  You can’’t will your way to be successful, you can’’t will your way to be rich, you […]

Lorie answers questions for Caroline Porter Thomas’ EmpowerRN tribe

I know how difficult it can be to be understaffed on a busy medical surgical unit or for that matter, any unit and I know that hospitals and nursing homes discourage overtime.  Unfortunately, most state laws do not have any minimum staffing requirements.  You’re in between a rock and a hard place because you are required to accept the assignment […]

At this time of year where we give gratitude and thanks for our life and families, it is also a great time to remember to be kind to yourself. If you are struggling with your career or have been at it for a while and do not see that you are making any progress, remember to be kind to yourself. […]

This first video is me interviewing Renee about what is bullying and what can be done about it.   This second video is Renee interviewing me about the legal aspects of bullying and what we can do in negative employment situations.

In the time when I was growing up, the goal of my parents’ generation was to get a job and stay there for life. It would be a job for which you could contribute to a retirement so that someday you would be able to retire. So, when I got out of nursing school, it became my goal to find […]

Sometimes in nursing all we seem to be able to focus on is “lack.” Lack of staff, lack of time, lack of equipment and so on. In reality, the world has an abundance of everything. There is more than enough water and more than enough food. Perhaps you know of “Parkinson’s Law” which says that work expands to fill the […]