When a patient walks through those hospital doors, just how many people are there to assist him or her? Nursing blogger, The Nerdy Nurse, recently discussed this topic in a post “How many people are involved in patient care?” When her preceptor was showing her an infection control report, author realized just how many people take part in the care of a new patient. She thinks most noses don’t think about how much goes on behind the...  Read More »

When you left nursing school and went out into the nursing world, was there anything you experienced that the professors didn’t tell you about? In any profession, experiencing things firsthand is always different than what you learned about in a classroom. In the nursing world, experience is key. Nursing blogger The Nerdy Nurse isn’t ashamed to admit what she wasn’t taught in nursing school. In her blog post “Things they don’t...  Read More »

What’s the difference between a leader and a manager? Nursing blogger The Nerdy Nurse feels that leaders aren’t always the same people who are managers. She finds that managers can be seen as hindrances to change, and concerns with money and budgeting get in the way of creating teamwork and promoting positive relationships with their staff. Read more in her recent blog post ‘What defines a Nurse Manager or Nurse Leader.’   Read More »

Everyday photographs of nurses doing their jobs and interacting with patients are being displayed January 24-January 28 in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The images portray nurses in their everyday work routine, illustrating the importance of nursing, reported Newswise. The photo exhibit, Faces of Caring: Nurses at Work, is an award-winning presentation from the American Journal of Nursing. The photographs...  Read More »

Nurses’ long work hours are connected with patients’ chances of dying from heart attacks or pneumonia, according to researchers at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who published their findings in the January/February issue of the journal Nursing Research. Researchers found that long shifts and lack of time off contributed to poor patient outcomes, including...  Read More »

You’ve just completed an 12 hour shift and all you want to do is head home to relax. Just before your shift ends, however, a patient is admitted with internal bleeding. Nurse blogger The Nerdy Nurse recently posted on some of the reasons why she hates getting an admission at a shift change. Here’s a few of her reasons: Patients almost never have an accurate medication list or their medication bottles. The patient room is often filled...  Read More »

Each year, HealthLeaders Media names its HealthLeaders 20, 20 individuals who are profiled for changing the world of healthcare for the better. Those chosen range from the famous to the unknown, from physicians, to trauma surgeons, to professors, and to CEO’s. This year, one of these 20 inspirational people is someone who exposed a touchy subject that permeates through hospitals: bullying and hostility by nurses and physicians. Kathleen...  Read More »

Truckee Meadows Community College, in Reno, NV, recently created a nursing wing that resembles a real-life hospital, complete with mannequin patients who react to treatment. Now, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), is doing something similar to further educate student nurses. Four classrooms at the university have been converted into a laboratory space called the Nursing Skills Laboratory, which includes six beds, a smart...  Read More »

We all know that nurses often visit patients at home. Did you know some travel by bike? Nurse practitioner Jody Hoppis, who travels to her patients’ homes and workplaces on two wheels, started Mobile Medicine two years ago. Her bike is specially designed to hold all of her essential supplies while caring for her patients. Why did she start Mobile Medicine? Hoppis told The Seattle Times that by visiting her patients at home, it saves them...  Read More »

Nurses care for hundreds of patients during their career. Ask any nurse and they’ll have happy stories, sad stories, crazy stories, and even horror stories of difficult patients they’ve dealt with. A blog by psychiatric nurse Angela Brook speaks about difficult patients: “We do not always like the patients to whom we administer care. It sounds harsh, but let’s be honest, we do not have to like them. We do however, have to provide...  Read More »