Nurses and the Scourge of Hostility
My last two posts about nursing and nurses here on Digital Doorway have garnered a great deal of attention and commentary. Nurses indeed want to feel respected, and it appears that the general consensus is that we basically don't respect each other. Where does this hostility originate? The aforementioned blog posts--"The Nursing Class Hero" and "The Three R's of Nursing"--delved into notions of class, respect, remuneration and recognition, and it seems that many readers resonated with those ideas. And it also appears that the negative ways in which nurses interact with one another is often at odds with how we would like to...
Source: Digital Doorway - July 5, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse professionalism nurse wellness nurse bullying nursing nurses nurse-nurse relationships horizontal violence Source Type: blogs
The Three R's of Nursing
While writing a recent blog post, I discovered that there are some very basic things that nurses look for--and deserve--in the course of their careers. It's clear that this list could probably be expanded to include many other ideas as well. I posited in that previous post that there are "Three R's" of nursing, and I identified them as respect, remuneration, and recognition. In the aforementioned post, named "The Nursing Class Hero", I stated the following:Back in the day, nursing was a non-professional, relatively unskilled form of labor wherein nurses were at the beck and call of all-powerful physicians. Over a long pe...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 27, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse professionalism nurse identity nurse bullying nursing nurses healthcare nursing identity Source Type: blogs
"The Nursing Class Hero"
Fans of the late John Lennon might bristle at my adulteration of the title of a famous song by the iconic musician and peace activist, but a "nursing class hero" is certainly something to be.Listening to Lennon's "Working Class Hero" today in the car as I commuted home, I realized that, aside from being a great play on words, "Nursing Class Hero" could also be a fitting and interesting way to explore our profession in a new light.Nursing and ClassBack in the day, nursing was a non-professional, relatively unskilled form of labor wherein nurses were at the beck and call of all-powerful physicians. Over a long period of time...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 24, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse professionalism nurses health care nurses' image healthcare delivery medicine nursing practice nurse identity medical care nurse education nurse careers Source Type: blogs
The Obesity of Americans--and Nurses
It appears that the American Medical Association has decided to designate obesity as a disease. So, if one in three Americans is now classified as being obese, does that mean that one in three nurses is obese as well?Research shows that the causes of obesity are multifactorial, so it seems to make sense to reclassify it so that insurance companies will presumably pay for treatment and prevention more readily. I would hope that this move by the AMA pays off in terms of available treatment--as well as even more increased attention to what amounts to a crisis of public health.We've now firmly established that obesity rates ...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 20, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse wellness nursing nurses nurse self care public health obesity prevention Source Type: blogs
A New Nursing Infographic
Please enjoy this infographic on the ways in which nursing is growing, changing and creating opportunity.This nursing infographic was developed and brought to you by Brown Mackie. (Source: Digital Doorway)
Source: Digital Doorway - June 19, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nursing nurses nursing education health care nursing care Source Type: blogs
Burnout, Recovery and Work-Life Balance for Nurses
This weekend, I'm speaking at a regional nursing conference here in New Mexico, and the subjects of my two talks are burnout (prevention and recovery) and work-life balance. It's a sad reality that nurses need to hear about these particular issues so often, but as long as they do, I'm willing to get on that stage and preach the gospel of self-care. When I speak on Friday afternoon in Albuquerque, I plan to cover many of the basics: My own story of burnoutHow I recoveredSymptoms of burnoutPersonality traits that lend themselves to burnoutBurnout preventionBurnout recoveryFollowing up my talk on Friday afternoon, I...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 14, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse burnout nurse wellness compassion fatigue nurse self care nurses burnout prevention nursing work-life balance burnout recovery self-care Source Type: blogs
An Unexpected Occupational Hazard: The Nurse Gets Rattled
(Source: Digital Doorway)
Source: Digital Doorway - June 13, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: personal nursing nurses humor stories occupational health nursing care Source Type: blogs
Journey to Joy Launches on June 6th!
On June 6th, a new book about joyful transformation for women will launch worldwide. I'm proud to say that my wife, the coach Mary Rives, is one of 35 fascinating and inspiring contributing authors to what will certainly prove to be an Amazon bestseller.Published by Powerful You Publishing Company, "Journey to Joy" is a collection of 35 true stories of women who have actively and courageously transformed their lives while moving towards the manifestation of joy.According to their press information, "these are remarkable, real stories of women who are living consciously and joyfully in many areas of their lives – in re...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 5, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: books Source Type: blogs
Nurses As Connective Tissue
Last night on RN.FM Radio, we were graced with three guests, including the editor and two contributing authors from a new book, "I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming A Nurse". It was a fascinating and inspiring conversation, to say the least. In the midst of the conversation, Lee Gutkind--the editor of the book and of the magazine, Creative Nonfiction--remarked that nurses are like "the connective tissue" of healthcare.Here on Digital Doorway, I've said that nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system, and that is not an inaccurate statement. We are, in essence, the spine that keeps t...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 4, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nursing practice nurse identity nurses healthcare healthcare delivery nursing care medicine nursing identity Source Type: blogs
Nurse Bullying: We Shall Overcome
On May 20th, 2013 on RN.FM Radio, we discussed nurse to nurse bullying with Renee Thompson, a national expert on the subject. In the course of that discussion, we heard that bullying among nurses continues to be a problem nationwide--and most likely worldwide, as well. What will it take to turn the tide on what appears to be a widely acknowledged form of aberrant workplace behavior within the healthcare industry?According to many reports, articles and anecdotal stories, many nurses experience bullying and harassment on the job at the hands of other nurses. While new nurses may bear the brunt of such behavior, seasoned nurs...
Source: Digital Doorway - May 23, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse wellness RN.FM Radio nurses health nurse bullying new nurses nurse-nurse relationships nurse careers burnout prevention Source Type: blogs
Nurses Week--Or Nurses Year?
Last week, we celebrated Nurses Week, and many of us acknowledged our pride in this awesome profession of ours. Some of us were even on the receiving end of others' gratitude in the form of gifts from our employers, colleagues, friends or family members. But why do we only get to acknowledge ourselves once a year?Nurses Week is a wonderful moment to take stock of our profession and celebrate ourselves. It's also an opportunity for others to "pause for the cause" and consider nurses' collective and individual contributions to society. For myself, one of my two employers sent me a pin and a letter. I looked at the pin, read ...
Source: Digital Doorway - May 16, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse identity nursing nurses National Nurses Week Source Type: blogs
Nurses Week: Giving Thanks
Well, this is it, folks. This is the week that's set aside for nurses to be praised, thanked and stroked. Gratitude goes a long way in this world, so this is a week when clear and heartfelt gratitude for nurses can be found in many places, both expected and unexpected. At work, gifts for Nurses Week can be somewhat disappointing--like mugs, pens, flowers, candy, stethoscope clips, and other material acknowledgments.However, the best gifts of Nurses Week often come in non-material form--like sincere expressions of thanks, spontaneous hugs, and the ways in which others (nurses and non-nurses alike) communicate their apprecia...
Source: Digital Doorway - May 7, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nursing careers nurses National Nurses Week nursing roles nursing identity Source Type: blogs
The Nurse's Personal Dashboard: Tune Up Time?
I recently posted here on Digital Doorway about each of us having our own personal dashboard. While that post made metaphoric mention of the speedometer, tachometer, fuel and lubrication, we didn't talk about the need for a timely tune up. So, let's take that metaphor and run with it, shall we?When I discussed the idea of a lube job for the soul and body in that recent post, this is what I had to say:When the going gets tough, the tough put their noses to the grindstone and soldier on. However, the thoughtful ones (who are also quite tough, mind you) take their personal vehicle into the shop for some spiritual and emoti...
Source: Digital Doorway - May 3, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse wellness nurses health nursing nurse self care self-care Source Type: blogs
Book Review: Nursing 2013 Drug Handbook
I will begin this review with the disclosure that Publisher Wolters Kluwer contacted me through a marketing agent and requested that I post a review of their new Nursing 2013 Drug Handbook here on Digital Doorway. I did not receive financial compensation of any kind for this review, but did receive a free copy of the guide in order to facilitate the review process. I previously reviewed the Nursing 2012 Drug Handbook, and you can find that very popular review here. As with the Nursing 2012 Drug Handbook, the 2013 edition includes black box warnings, new FDA-approved drugs, and route, dose, onset, half-life and peak du...
Source: Digital Doorway - April 29, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: RN.FM Radio nursing books nurses book reviews Source Type: blogs
Self Care: Between Flood and Drought
(Source: Digital Doorway)
Source: Digital Doorway - April 25, 2013 Category: Nurses Tags: nurse burnout nurse wellness nursing nurses nurse self care burnout recovery self-care burnout prevention Source Type: blogs
