By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular writer for this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May (2012) issue of AJN. Some of the patient’s identifying details in this post have been changed to protect privacy. I caught an airing of The Shawshank Redemption the other day. It’s one of […]
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Good Medicine
April 22, 2013By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular writer for this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May (2012) issue of AJN. Last week I saw something extraordinary. I watched the music of Amy Winehouse soothe a patient who was recovering from a traumatic brain injury while suffering withdrawal symptoms from […]
When Nurse-Patient Boundaries Blur, in Fact or Fiction
March 15, 2013By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May (2012) issue of AJN. She currently has an essay appearing in The Examined Life Journal. Professional boundaries, as defined by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), are “the spaces between […]
Unanticipated Codes
February 20, 2013By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May (2012) issue of AJN. She currently has an essay appearing in The Examined Life Journal. My mentor once told me that there are almost never unanticipated cardiac arrests in the ICU. I’ve found […]
The Depression Project
January 9, 2013By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May (2012 issue) of AJN. She currently has an essay appearing in The Examined Life Journal. Lately, as a long-time runner, I can’t help but draw parallels between working on a nursing research project […]
The Patient With No Name: When Nursing Illuminates Literature
November 16, 2012By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May issue of AJN. She doesn’t usually write about books in her posts, so we hope you enjoy this change of pace. I didn’t know much about The English Patient when I picked it […]
Can’t Even Think About It: An ICU Nurse’s Personal Taboo
October 10, 2012By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May issue of AJN. The weekend was busy in the ICU; several critically ill trauma patients were admitted in quick succession and the unit was filled with grieving families. The air was heavy with […]
Passion and Fear: Signs of a Kindred Nursing Spirit
September 12, 2012By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May issue of AJN. “It’s not that we want something bad to happen; we just want to be there when it does.” One of my colleagues recently saw that phrase on a T-shirt, and […]
Success Being Relative
August 8, 2012By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May issue of AJN. We trouped in from the parking garage through the fading starlight of early dawn to find most of night shift gathered in one room. Portable surgical lights added to the […]
Road Trip: Rehab for the ICU Nurse
July 16, 2012By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular contributor to this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May issue of AJN. I took care of Gloria when she was admitted to the ICU after being involved in a high-speed, head-on collision. Although her injuries were very serious, my initial instinct was […]
