Category: Workplace Issues

“You haven’t taken report yet, so you can leave.” “The doctor ordered it, so you’re covered.” “If you documented it, you’re protected.” Have you ever heard one of these statements at the nurses’ station? Nursing has its own version of urban legends. They get passed from nurse to nurse, shift to shift, and sometimes generation to generation. Eventually, we hear […]

There is a statistic every nurse, healthcare leader, legislator, and patient should know: hospital workers are seven times more likely to be injured on the job by violence than workers in the general U.S. workforce. The statistic is based on Bureau of Labor Statistics injury data and was recently highlighted in Medical Daily. (Medical Daily) Seven times! We would never […]

There is something wonderful about a lazy river. You get in, grab a tube, lean back, and let the current carry you. You do not have to decide where you are going. You do not have to work very hard. You just float. And before you know it, you are right back where you started. I think that is what […]

  One of the most important lessons nurses can take from the Lindsay Clancy case is the extraordinary importance of documentation. As nurses, we sometimes think of documentation as the part of the job that comes after the “real” nursing is finished. But documentation is part of patient care. The medical record may eventually become the only way someone who was not […]

  For years, nurse practitioners practicing in collaborative practice states have questioned whether mandatory physician collaboration agreements truly exist to protect patients or whether they have become an expensive barrier to providing care. A recently filed lawsuit in Texas has brought that question into the national spotlight. Supported by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the lawsuit challenges Texas laws that require […]

Nurses hear the same explanation year after year: there just isn’t enough money. Hospital leaders point to shrinking reimbursements, rising operating costs, and tight budgets as reasons they cannot increase nurses’ salaries. Yet many of these same hospital systems pay their CEOs and executive leadership teams millions of dollars in salaries, bonuses, and other compensation. It raises a simple but […]

  The American Nurses Association (ANA) recently made a historic decision to open its national membership to licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). For the first time in its 130-year history, LPNs will be eligible to join the nation’s largest nursing organization. According to the ANA, the goal is to create a more unified nursing profession and […]

  Nurses expect many risks when they come to work. They know they may encounter infectious diseases, combative patients, emotionally charged families, and long, exhausting shifts. What they should never have to fear is being murdered while walking to their car after caring for patients all day. That is why the recent ruling in the wrongful death lawsuit involving nurse […]

Most nurses did not enter the profession because they wanted to fight about staffing ratios, budgets, or hospital policies. They became nurses because they wanted to care for patients. Yet every day, nurses across the country find themselves in an impossible position. They are asked to care for more patients than is safe, work with inadequate support, skip breaks, stay […]

A recent article from Nurse.org highlighted updated Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing something many nurses already feel in their bones every payday: where you work as a nurse can dramatically impact what you earn. (Nurse.org) According to the latest BLS numbers, the median annual wage for registered nurses is now approximately $93,600 nationally. (Bureau of Labor Statistics) But that […]