Q: As a caregiver, do you have an opinion about doctor-assisted suicide? A: This isn’t something I have to deal with at all at work, but it is definitely something I have found myself wondering about. As caregivers, I’m sure we all have an opinion on the topic. I find myself conflicted on the issue: When talking with someone who is for it, I feel like they come up with good evidence and arguments. But then when I talk to someone...  Read More »

Here’s a refreshing take on hospital education: A Denver company is customizing the outer skin of its vending machines for customers. You could combine a hand-washing reminder with a delicious soft drink for only $2,695. Can you picture one in your facility? Click here to see the full article.   Read More »

Along with sorting through the emotions and memories from her medical mission trip to Haiti, Bonnie Clair, MSN, RN, had another tall task: She had to sort through the pictures. “I took about 400,” she says. “I took pictures of Haiti and the Haitian people as well as the people I went with. I didn’t want to forget anyone.” Clair, the retention project manager at Cox Health in Springfield, MO, went on a medical...  Read More »

Environmentally friendly people around the globe have gone green to protect the planet. Is it time your facility went green to protect you? A recent study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine conducted among 3,650 Texas healthcare professionals, including 941 nurses, found that recurrent exposure to hospital cleaning products and disinfectants significantly raises nurses’ risk of asthma. According to the...  Read More »

Our first contest on the newly redesigned StressedOutNurses.com was a popular one. The topic? We asked you to share some of the crazy baby names you’ve heard in the line of duty as a nurse. Some were goofy, some were creative, and some were a bit too racy to print. Our panel of judges fought, argued, and pleaded cases for their favorites, but one name stood above the rest: Lae-a. Why did this one take the cake? The “-”...  Read More »

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has those few nurses that are complete flirts with the doctors. They call them by their first names, touch them, and even sometimes go out with them outside of work. Sometimes it can make me very uncomfortable because I see my relationship with the doctors as strictly professional. Not that long ago, I overheard a doctor asking about me and whether or not I was married. I found that completely...  Read More »

So the other day I had to go to class to learn about ACLS. Over the course of two days, we learned the drugs and their dosages that we would use in the instance of a code. Thankfully, I did this because according to the nurses on my floor, we have a lot of them! Taking this class really made me comfortable with the idea of a cardiac arrest type situation ( well, as comfortable as one can be). But, it really got me thinking about something...  Read More »

Fran loves the spotlight. Our cartoon nurse insisted on being on the top of the new Web site, on the cover of all the books in the series, and on all the T-shirts we give away at the NSNA conventions and as prizes to our contest winners. Still, that wasn’t enough. Fran wanted another YouTube video. Sure, the first one was viewed by more than 15,000 (and counting) sets of eyes. And sure, it helped put Fran on the map in the nursing...  Read More »

Real-world nurses bring competency, professionalism, and passion to the hospital everyday. But according to a new study, it wasn’t until recently that onscreen nurses exhibited these qualities. David Stanley, MSc, RN, RM, lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Curtin University of Technology, in Perth, Australia, studied 280 films featuring nurses produced throughout the U.S., U.K., Western Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia...  Read More »

As a nursing student in the United States, it’s sometimes hard to imagine a world where bandages, stethoscopes, and up-to-date books are rare commodities. Students and professors at Mount Carmel College of Nursing (MCCN) in Columbus, OH, took action to bring information and some of those supplies to fellow nursing students in Gambia, Africa. When MCCN graduate Kellie Seelig was finishing up her two-year peace corps duty in Gambia earlier...  Read More »