Every nurse knows the line “If it isn’t charted, it isn’t done.” Theresa Brown, RN, writes this week about how the burden of charting takes a toll on time spent with patients in The New York Times Well blog. Brown recounts how she sat at a conference and experienced something akin to envy as she listened to a Navy commander speak of his time spent with American soldiers in Afghanistan who had been injured. Brown noted the amount...  Read More »

For years, nurses have been battling how the nursing profession and nurses are portrayed in the media. Having to go against the nursing stereotypes on display in programs such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House, M.D.” makes the job that much harder, as patients and families are familiar with the popular television shows. Now, nurses will have to add another television show to the list that puts their image in jeopardy....  Read More »

North Carolina nursing students from Duke University, Western Carolina University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte entered a competition earlier this year to produce informative patient education videos. “Get the Picture Patient Video Competition”—conducted by the Innovative Nursing Education Technologies (iNet) organization—required nursing students to create a 10-minute or less and upload the film to YouTube. Each...  Read More »

The competitive spirits of 150 special needs children from the Aiken, SC, school district will be high at this spring’s Special Olympics with some help from area nursing students. Students at the University of South Carolina Aiken School of Nursing recently volunteered to conduct the children’s physical assessments, which are required of anyone participating in the Special Olympic games. The Aiken school district and Bill Boyce,...  Read More »

Tucson (AZ) Medical Center (TMC) is turning several job-seeking new graduates away despite spending $10,000-$30,000 on each candidate’s education. Prior to May 2008, the nurse-needy facility agreed to fund 27 nursing students’ college education, which in turn contracted the students to work at TMC for two years after graduation. Since then the facility has seen rising nurse retention rates and falling patient numbers due to the...  Read More »

Many valuable lessons learned in nursing school stem from the bedside, while others start at the circus. According to The New York Times, performers from the Big Apple Circus led 132 students at New York University’s College of Nursing through “clowning” workshops this fall. The workshops, which covered how clown techniques can be applied in the clinical setting, aimed to help students sharpen their observational skills...  Read More »

The youthful mind often flits rapidly over many options when considering future career choices. But given the right information, a passing curiosity can turn into a long-term passion. Such passion is something that faculty and students at Medcenter One College of Nursing in Bismarck, ND, hoped to inspire in junior high school students during a recent education day. Faculty and students at the college, who already attend career fairs in an...  Read More »

Eighty seats that were once filled by aspiring nurses will be empty at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, AZ, in 2009. Officials say ASU is slashing enrollment for its nursing program as it awaits at least $25 million in budget cuts from the state. ASU, which depends on state funding for about a quarter of its budget, will cut 40 students from each of two campuses. The cuts will not apply to students currently enrolled at ASU. The...  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 »

Imagine having the opportunity to stand in front of a television camera and declare your love for nursing. That’s just what happened to three individuals at tiny Lakeview College of Nursing in Danville, IL. Student Katie Marlatt, recent grad Erica Dixon, RN, and Sarah Rich Wheeler, DNS, RN, PMH, BC, LCPC, the school’s dean of nursing, all shined under the bright lights. “It was neat to think that such a small school would...  Read More »