Gaia: Nursez on Zaadz

Nurses Unions and something to celebrate!

http://maryrives.gaia.com — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:48:41 GMT

Since Keith is too humble to toot his own horn, as his life partner, I shall toot it for him. PLease go here for some great news and for resources for you nurses, as well:

http://digitaldoorway.blogspot.com/2008/07/value-care-value-nurses-scholarship.html

:)

mary

Re: Still Eating Our Young

http://aness.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:55:43 GMT

Beautifully written. I am also a nurse who committed proffessional suicide by failing to work in a hospital setting.
I am also an oddball who believes that Florence Nightengale was correct in believing the human body has the power to heal if provided adequate nutrition, good hygeine and proper rest. Hospitals do not usually concentrate on those holistic needs- only cleanliness and chemistry, mechanics and fighting disease. Health requires healing, not curing. Nursing care is superior to medical care in my mind. Anne

Re: Nurses' image

http://aness.gaia.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:21:33 GMT

It is a sign of the times and a result of living in a culture of mass media enforced idiocracy that smart, educated women want to wear teddy bears on their uniforms. But the cute pictures help put people at ease, one of the skills nurses cultivate. Cultivating good taste is not relevant to patient care.
Nurses perform intimate cares that doctors don't have time to do. First names seem more appropriate when the interaction is very intimate.
I want to be respected as a nurse who is not a medical care giver, a nurse. I want all nurses to be recognized for their ability to help people with their presence and intentionality.

Re: Using nursing theory to define health

http://aness.gaia.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:10:38 GMT

I love Margaret Neuman's idea that health = expanding conciousness. Caroline Myss would approve. William Blake would approve.
So many say there would be less poverty if there was more education for the poor and I wonder where will the jobs come from? Well, if you expand your conciousness you will be healthier and maybe you won't need a job.
An AARP journal has a teaser for an article on the cover-"Live better, spend less". Health can't be obtained by taking more pills. Health happens in your awareness.

nurse humor

http://froggyrn1.gaia.com — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:00:57 GMT

A nurse walks into a bank. She pulls a thermometer from her purse and says, "Damn, some asshole's got my pen!"

Article for Nurses on MCS by NurseKeith

http://nursekeith.gaia.com — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:40:36 GMT

I recently wrote an article about MCS specifically for a target audience of nurses, and it had been published on NurseLinkup, a new networking site for nurses. You can access the article by clicking here. No password, log-in or membership is required to read the article. If you have any difficulty doing so, please contact me and I will email you the article itself.

Cheers!

New on-line nursing community forms

http://nursekeith.gaia.com — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:19:41 GMT

NurseLinkup is a new on-line social networking site for nurses. It is still in Beta version, so they are open to feedback as they get it together. Although it certainly has its limitations, I like the idea and hope that it becomes a very useful site.

Nurses' image

http://nursekeith.gaia.com — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:22:38 GMT

I have written a few blog posts based on my reading of From Silence to Voice which I wanted to share. Here's the text of today's missive, which contains a link to the other entry. Thanks!

Keith

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Nurses' Voices, Part II

Reading From Silence to Voice, a book I mentioned in a recent post, some thought-provoking ideas are brought to the fore vis-a-vis the image of nurses in the world. To wit:

---How does the public know a nurse is a nurse if everyone in the hospital (except for the docs in street clothes and white coats) wears scrubs with teddy bears and angels on them? Aside from the old nurses' caps, how can nurses be distinguished and identified?

---What kind of image of nurses do the angels and bears project? Is it less professional? Does it decrease how seriously nurses' work is taken?

---Why are there so many toys, figurines, and stuffed animals dressed in nurses' uniforms? What does this say about nurses and how they're viewed?

---What does it mean that doctors are ubiquitously called "Doctor So-and-So" but nurses are always referred to simply by their first name?

---How does the "angels of mercy" stereotype demean nurses and undermine their professionalism and technological prowess?

---Do nurses emphasize the notion of "caring" to their own detriment, ignoring their vast stores of technical knowledge and assessment skills?

---Does the public really know what nurses do (other than "caring" or nurturing", or being the handmaiden of a doctor?) Do nurses have a credible public image?

---Does the media know (or care) what nurses do? Do they want to hear nurses' voices regarding weighty matters of health and policy? Why do reporters' Rolodexes bristle with the names of doctors to call for opinions, but there are so few nurses on those lists?

These are meant as rhetorical questions in this context, food for thought and discussion. For me, some of the answers to these questions might be disturbing, at best. I, for one, am driven to distraction by those cutesy scrubs---no offense, folks, just personal taste. But sometimes when I see a nurse in scrubs adorned with teddy bear angels standing next to a doc in a tie and white coat, the nurse looks like she's in pajamas. Does it matter?

Anyway, this book is obviously pressing my buttons and raising my eyebrows, and I highly recommend it.

Emergency Room Rap

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:13:53 GMT

HI Check out my blog for the UAB ER RAP!

Best,
Monica

Re: Nursing in the Media

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:03:55 GMT

Start your own chapter in you city for the center! i just joined in mine!

Chapter Meetings.

Monica

Interview with Kim McAllister from Emeriblog

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:39:46 GMT

"Did you ever get into ER? Probably, you did. For yourself or for some of your friends. Even if you just watch ER on TV, you know that the job over there is tough and demanding. Today we have a guest from ER and you can meet the real person, not a fictional character. Kim is famous for her Emergiblog. I believe everybody who reads at least something on the internet about nursing knows her. And that’s not surprise. Kim works toward becoming a nursing professor and she kindly agreed to set up an interview with me. If you are interested in what is nursing about (and you should since everybody sooner or later may need a medical help and a nurse will be probably the first healthcare provider whom you will see), then you should read witty and engaging Kim’s posts at Emergiblog." So let's talk with Kim and enjoy the knowledge she shares with you. http://rdoctor.com/symptoms_disease/content/view/227/42/ ***************************************************************************************************

Re: Still Eating Our Young

http://shayni.gaia.com — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 21:49:50 GMT

thank you so much, nursekeith, for your thoughtful post! i left the business world 3 years ago to become a nurse, and haven't looked back since. but i must say, in LVN school, i was truly saddened by the treatment of the students by some of the nursing instructors. the school administration allowed, probably even fostered, this behavior. in clinicals, many of the floor nurses that the students worked with were just as nasty. before i started my nursing journey, i envisioned nurses being a group of warm-hearted, eager-to-help people. i was surprised and disturbed when i found that this just wasn't generally the case. when i asked my kinder teachers about this disrespectful and condescending treatment, i was told that "nurses eat their young," and advised to just do my thing and not let it bother me. i did my thing, but it's never stopped bothering me. now i am in RN school, completing my pre-requisites. nursing classes and clinicals start next term. it will be interesting to see how the nurse faculty will treat the students in this program; i'll keep you posted. in my case, i feel that the poor reception my classmates and i received into the nursing community will only serve to make me more aware, compassionate, and nurturing when it comes to opening my arms to new nurses in the future. yet i'm sure that it has turned many potentially wonderful nurses away from the profession because they just didn't want to (or couldn't) deal with the crap. questions i have ~ i would appreciate any feedback: ~ other than being shining examples of how to treat student and new nurses, what can we do to encourage nurses in our communities to be more caring and kind to our rookies? ~ have you found that nurses who are insensitive to students and new grads are equally insensitive to their patients' emotional needs? ~ what's the best way for a student or fledgling nurse to deal with senior nurses behaving badly? ~ what do you personally do to keep from becoming jaded and hardened in the midst of overwork and stress? i love the way nursekeith puts it: "For all those who do indeed nurture the neophytes, thank you—your service will benefit more than you may ever know or experience." with love & light, shayna

Myth Busting the Nursing Shortage

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:09:29 GMT

NURSES: Mythbusting & The Nursing Shortage

November 8th, 2006

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by Linda Aiken

Linda Aiken

View Author Bio

Currently, the United States is short an estimated 150,000 nurses. Yet over the next decade, more than 650,000 new jobs in nursing will be created. At the same time, an estimated 450,000 nurses will have retired. By 2020, the nurse shortage is expected to increase to 800,000. I set out to debunk a number of popular myths surrounding the current nurse shortage at a recent meeting convened in Washington, D.C. on the future of nursing. The September 20-21 meeting was sponsored by Health Affairs, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the John A. Hartford Foundation.

• Myth: We can continue to “muddle through” present and future nurse shortages without serious consequences. The lack of nurses has substantial impacts on emergency preparedness, quality of care, patient safety [2-week free access], access to needed health care services (especially for vulnerable populations), and economic growth.

• Myth: Not enough Americans want to be nurses. Tens of thousands of qualified nursing school applicants were turned away last year because U.S. nursing schools lacked educational capacity, particularly with respect to faculty.

• Myth: The U.S. nurse shortage can be solved by opening our borders to nurses from other countries. The U.S. long-term nurse shortage is too large to be solved through immigration [2-week free access]. The nurse shortage isn’t confined to the U.S. — it’s global. Extracting nurses from other countries would simply bankrupt the international supply of nurses, affecting global health.

• Myth: The U.S. nurse shortage can be solved by substituting unskilled labor. Research shows that substituting licensed practical nurses or aides for registered nurses in hospitals results in much higher mortality rates and worse patient outcomes.

• Myth: Expanding roles and demands for nurses will be constrained by opposition from practicing physicians. Because of factors such as the changing demography of the physician workforce, regulation of hours, and increasing demand for services, doctors need nurses to be able to “work upstream” in the medical division of labor.

• Myth: Care will increasingly shift to out-of-hospital settings, reducing the demand for nurses. Although inpatient days have fallen dramatically in the past 20 years, inpatient acuity has increased — meaning that more intensive services are needed within a shorter hospital stay. In addition, demand for nurses in nonhospital settings is growing rapidly because of the rising burden of chronic illnesses.

• Myth: We don’t know how to solve the nurse shortage. The solutions are out there. More and smarter federal investment in nurse education is needed. Hospitals and other nurse employers also need to support the education of new nurses. In addition, they need to increase nurse efficiency, so that nurses are actually doing nursing, and take steps to reduce high levels of burnout among nurses. The education community needs to create more innovative and efficient educational pathways to BSN and graduate nursing education, and needs to provide more incentives for faculty recruitment. Finally, payers need to recognize the impact of nursing care on ensuring health care quality and safety — and pay for it.

Re: Still Eating Our Young

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 16:37:49 GMT

Thanks for posting this Keith.

A lot of new nurses can be deterred away from the profession due to this. Why does occur? I think that nurses are burnt out in general, in the hospital setting that is.. There is a feeling of powerlessness and lack of control that dominates the nursing culture. I think that this is a strong contributing factor.

Monica

Nationwide Registered Nurse Shortage Persists

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 16:33:12 GMT

Daily Health Policy Report

Coverage & Access | Nationwide Registered Nurse Shortage Persists

[Nov 03, 2006]

The New York Daily News on Thursday examined the U.S. job market for registered nurses, where demand is "outpacing supply, with over a million U.S. vacancies expected by 2012." The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that as a result of demand for registered nurses, nursing will be the fastest growing industry nationwide for the next five years. The need is expected to persist as more nurses begin to retire. According to the American Nurses Association, the average U.S. nurse is nearly 50 years old and is close to retirement. Few young workers are entering the nursing profession to fill their places. In addition, nursing schools often are unable to accommodate new students because of faculty shortages. Nursing teachers are required to hold a master's degree, but less than half of nurses pursue graduate education, according to a New York State Board of Nursing survey. In the meantime, new nursing graduates are getting job offers with salaries that average $56,000 per year, and many nurses are getting offers for specialized positions, whether or not they have experience (Kesner, New York Daily News, 11/2).

School Nurses
In related news, the Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined the nation's 50,000 school nurses, who are facing cuts to school budgets, a nationwide nursing shortage and a growing number of students with serious medical needs. Though federal guidelines suggest that each school nurse attend to no more than 750 children, 59% of school nurses have more students than that in their care. In eleven states, the average school nurse cares for more than 2,000 children, according to the National Association of School Nurses. Among schoolchildren, about 20% have medical issues that require regular attention from a school nurse, NASN Executive Director Amy Garcia said (Zaslow, Wall Street Journal, 11/2).

Still Eating Our Young

http://nursekeith.gaia.com — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:41:58 GMT

Here is link to something I posted on my blog recently, as well as the text of the post for those of you who would rather not surf over to my site.

http://digitaldoorway.blogspot.com/2006/10/still-eating-our-young.html

Friday, October 13, 2006

Still Eating our Young?

The recent experiences of two friends who are newly-minted nursing school graduates underscores the notion that the needs of new nurses are not being met when they hit the ground running. In the hospital setting, especially, new nurses need gentle and constant nurturing and preceptorship in the first stages of their career. Taking into consideration that nurses in the hospital are dealing with acutely ill patients, often pre- or post-op, with a plethora of comorbidities and high risk of complications, new nurses cannot be expected to jump on that wagon alone for some time. It is disconcerting that some new grads seem to be getting the short end of the preceptor stick, as it were.

Having completely eschewed the whole hospital experience post-graduation (something I was told was professional suicide), I have not personally been responsible for six or more patients at a time on a Med-Surg floor, but in my current capacity as a Nurse Care Manager, caring for more than 80 chronically ill patients on an out-patient basis does give me some traction vis-a-vis the vicissitudes of detail management and multitasking.

I'm saddened that new nurses are invited into the intense environment of the hospital, given cursory orientations, left in the charge of preceptors who are themselves too stressed and overworked to do their junior colleagues justice, and then thrown to the wolves, often drowning amidst the acuity of their multiple patients and the resultingly overwhelming paperwork.

How many new nurses have been frightened away from their newly chosen career based on a devastating first work experience? How many new nurses have been proferred less-than-adequate guidance as they entered the fray?

Taking into consideration the overall nursing shortage, the simultaneous nursing faculty shortage, and the fact that nursing schools are turning away record numbers of qualified applicants due to that lack of faculty, it is even more imperative that new nurses be given the highest quality introduction to their new career as possible. If we lose them to other industries due to our lack of leadership and empowering mentorship, then it is not only us, but also the hospitalized and ill public, who will suffer in the end. Nursing shortages can translate into overworked staff, increased errors, increased nosocomial (hospital-born) infections, decreased satisfaction for both staff and patients, and overall poorer outcomes in both surgical and non-surgical patients.

It has been said for decades that nurses eat their young. You would think that after so much time, after so much experience garnered by so many, that this industry-wide practice by jaded and overworked nurses would come to an end. Apparently, it is still a nurse-eat-nurse world out there, and many a new grad is suffering because of such a widely tolerated atmosphere of poor management and lack of empathy for the new nurses in our midst.

If nurses wish to truly be the purveyors of health that they claim to be, then the nurturing must start with the self, extend to coworkers (and neophytes especially), colleagues, and then to the public at large in the form of our patients. If we do not care for ourselves and each other, we are truly only continuing outmoded practices propagated by the patriarchal paradigm. (Alliteration unintended but nonetheless entertaining.)

In a female-dominated industry, traditionally male managerial models of subjugation, humiliation, and trial by fire must be altered, or the unhealthy and overwhelming hell of being a new nurse may only be prolonged for decades to come. For all those who do indeed nurture the neophytes, thank you---your service will benefit more than you may ever know or experience. For those of you who are guilty of letting the struggling swimmers drown, it's time to embrace a new way of being and welcome those who join our ranks with open arms and willing hearts.

Re: I wrote this poem a little over a year ago

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:56:50 GMT

thanks for sharing this Tammy,
It is very beautiful
monica

Where are all the nurses?

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:55:19 GMT

I I just read this on the Center For Nursing Advocacy , I thought that this was a great resources for nursing experts like yourself!

monica

Where are all the nurses??

October 13, 2006 -- The following is from an email from Barbara Ficarra, RN, host of the exciting new radio show "Health in 30," urging nurses to start speaking up about their own work:

When my radio show and the healthin30.com website were launched, I thought I would be inundated by nurses responding to the "Speak Out" prompt on the web site to be in the media--on the radio show. Well, to date the responses from physicians and communication and PR companies representing them are tremendous, but where are all the nurses?? A couple nurses will have a spot in a couple future shows, but that's it? A couple? Maybe nurses don't want what I think they want....maybe they don't want to be in the media....I'm hoping I'll get nurses interested...but so far, it's been disappointing.

Supporters! If you have expertise in a given area of nursing, PLEASE register your information with the "Health in 30" show AND our nurse expert database so that others in the media can contact you as a resource. Speaking publicly is a vital part of changing the way people think about nurses. If we do not speak up about health care, the public thinks we don't know anything about health care. We cannot convince decision-makers and the public that we deserve more funding for our schools, research, and clinical practice unless we show them that we are valuable professionals. They are not going to learn this from most of the mass media, which commonly presents nurses as peripheral subordinates of no importance. Physicians have always known how crucial this is for their profession. That's why they have long been the sole sources of meaningful expert advice for Hollywood and other media, and why they are the ones inundating "Health in 30" with offers to appear. But if it's going to happen for nursing, we must do it ourselves, for ourselves, as well as for our patients and society. Patients need a stronger nursing profession. And society needs the unique perspective that nurses can bring to the media. Many health topics cannot be adequately addressed without nursing expertise--yet the media does so endlessly, every day, all over the world. We urge you to read From Silence to Voice to increase your understanding of the media and how to perform well in media interactions. Thank you. Please speak up today!

I wrote this poem a little over a year ago

http://pollardarnp.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 22:22:38 GMT

I found it today and it is related to working in the ER as Nurse, NP. Thought some of you may want to read it. I posted it in a poetry pod.

http://pods.zaadz.com/jdpoetry1/discussions/view/70744

Love and Healing
Tam

Texas Nurse Gets Life for 10 Drug Deaths

http://Monifaye.gaia.com — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:37:26 GMT

Texas Nurse Gets Life for 10 Drug Deaths

- - - - - - - - - - - -

By ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press Writer

October 05,2006 | SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A former nurse was sentenced Thursday to life in prison on charges she killed 10 hospital patients with drug injections because she found them too demanding.

Vickie Dawn Jackson, 40, pleaded no contest on Wednesday and was sentenced after prosecutors presented their evidence to a judge.

Investigators believe Jackson injected the patients through their intravenous lines with a drug normally used to temporarily stop breathing when doctors insert a breathing tube.

FBI agent David Burns testified that the patients had been hospitalized for minor ailments -- including a foot sore, diarrhea or dementia -- and were about to be released.

"In general, they were the kind of patients who needed more care," Burns said at the sentencing. "I think that's probably why. They're verbose. They want this. They're thirsty. It seemed to make her angry."

Authorities became suspicious after nearly two dozen deaths were reported at Nocona General Hospital in late 2000 and early 2001, a stretch of time when the hospital should have seen only five to 10 deaths.

Authorities discovered at least 20 vials of the drug were missing. And officers searching garbage at Jackson's home found a syringe that contained traces of it, Burns said.

Jackson's attorney, Bruce Martin, said Jackson maintained her innocence and pleaded no contest to avoid a trial so her daughter would not be called to testify.

In a statement issued through her attorney, Jackson said she was "sympathetic to the families of the deceased" and "acutely aware that closure for them is necessary, if, indeed, closure can ever come for them."

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, meaning Jackson would have been sentenced to life in prison if convicted by a jury.

The case was moved from Nocona, 90 miles northwest of Dallas, to this West Texas town because of publicity surrounding the deaths.

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Article originally found on www.salon.com ( registration required).

I am really not sure how to respond to this. It is devestating.