Rethinking Nurse Identity and Burnout Using Structured Coaching Spaces

Nurses have become fluent in the language of “burnout.” We use the word to describe a range of internal states such as exhaustion, disengagement, frustration, and compassion fatigue, states that are often attributed to staffing shortages and other systemic pressures. The term has become so embedded in our professional vernacular that it risks lumping distinctly different experiences into a single narrative.

Identity erosion as a framing device for understanding burnout.

In my coaching work with nurses, I have found that framing these experiences through the lens of professional identity adds a layer of clarity that is often missing from burnout conversations. Many nurses are beginning to see that their professional identity has been shaped over time by the environments in which they work, sometimes in ways that have lessened their sense of self.

Naming this as identity erosion does not separate it from burnout, but instead helps explain the deeper impact while opening the door to a greater sense of control. This shift in thinking explains why some nurses are asking deeper questions about their values, purpose, and how their work reflects who they are.

To be clear, health care systems deserve scrutiny. Nurses are working within environments that often demand increased productivity while constraining time, […]

2026-06-22T11:15:07-04:00June 22nd, 2026|nurse staffing, Nursing, nursing career|0 Comments
Read More

What ‘Stronger Than Chemo’ Means

During a safety huddle, one of my colleagues, an oncology nurse and breast cancer survivor, spoke honestly about what cancer felt like to her. “Every day you’re scared. Is the treatment or the cancer going to kill me?” she said. “You think about it all the time.” Her words struck me because of how open and exposed they felt. There was nothing polished or inspirational about them. Just honesty.

woman looking at spacious landscapeFor oncology nurses, a day at work may feel like another clinic day, another infusion, another patient assignment. But patients walk into the same space carrying entirely different realities. Fear. Grief. Uncertainty. Hope. Devastating news. Relief. Sometimes all at once. Her words reminded me how important it is to respect that difference and remain mindful of it.

I remember entering a patient’s room smiling ear to ear. She asked me why I was so happy. Without thinking, I answered, “It’s a good day.” Looking back, that response feels insensitive. I later learned that earlier that day she had been told her cancer was metastatic. Shortly after I left the room, I heard her sobbing behind the curtain. That moment stayed with me because what felt like an ordinary good day to me was one […]

2026-06-15T09:57:20-04:00June 15th, 2026|Nursing, nursing perspective, Oncology nursing, patient experience, Patients|1 Comment
Read More

Beyond Environmental Services: Common Cleaning Gaps in Patient Care

During rounds in an outpatient clinic, I noticed staff cleaning vaginal ultrasound probes between patients with a quaternary ammonium disinfectant wipe (a low-level disinfectant appropriate for use on devices that come in contact with intact skin).

When I asked about the process, the staff explained that because the probe was covered with a probe cover, they assumed a disinfectant wipe was sufficient. While probe covers provide an important layer of protection, they can leak or develop microscopic perforations. Because contamination can still occur, these probes should always be treated as if they have contacted mucous membranes and require a high-level disinfectant (appropriate for use on devices that come in contact with mucous membranes or non-intact skin) instead of a low-level disinfectant.

Gaps in knowledge and execution.

This type of misunderstanding is not uncommon in health care and illustrates a broader challenge: cleaning failures are often not caused by lack of effort but by gaps in knowledge and execution. Despite longstanding guidance, inconsistencies in cleaning and disinfection practices continue to be cited during regulatory and accrediting surveys.

The Spaulding classification system.

Share this:

2026-06-15T09:46:46-04:00June 9th, 2026|infection control, Nursing, patient safety, Public health|0 Comments
Read More

The Missing Decade: Nursing Informatics Can Shape the Future of Menopause Care

A fragmented documentation model and episodic care.

Perimenopause and menopause are not isolated events. They are dynamic physiologic transitions that can unfold over years, sometimes more than a decade, affecting sleep, cognition, mood, cardiovascular health, metabolic health, musculoskeletal function, sexual health, and overall quality of life. Midlife is not simply “the years before aging.” It is a critical window into healthy aging.

Yet most health care systems continue to function through episodic encounters and what has become the fragmented documentation model. A woman may discuss insomnia with one provider, anxiety with another, joint pain with an orthopedist, and irregular cycles with a gynecologist. Rarely are these experiences connected longitudinally across systems, specialties, or time.

The infrastructure reflects that fragmentation.

Many electronic health records (EHRs) still lack standardized structured fields for menopause stage, symptom burden, menstrual pattern changes, longitudinal symptom tracking, or patient-generated health data integration. Symptoms are often buried in free-text notes, inconsistently coded, or disconnected from meaningful clinical context. Even when women are telling us exactly what they are experiencing, our systems frequently lack the structure to interpret these lived experiences as computable longitudinal health data.

From a nursing informatics perspective, the signal is there. The systems simply are not built to see it.

The wider context.

By 2030, more than 1.2 billion women worldwide will […]

2026-06-03T10:27:58-04:00June 3rd, 2026|digital health, documentation, Nursing, nursing informatics, Patients, women's health|0 Comments
Read More

Early Male Caregivers and the Long History of Men in Nursing

A profession that keeps “rediscovering” men

Men remain a minority in nursing. In the United States, men made up only 2.7% of registered nurses in 1970 and 9.6% in 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More recent workforce data suggest that men now account for about 10% to 12% of registered nurses. As noted in an American Association of Colleges of Nursing fact sheet, data from the National Nursing Workforce Survey showed that the proportion of male RNs reached 11.2% in 2022 before adjusting slightly downward to 10.4% in 2024. These numbers explain why male nurses may still be read as exceptions. A patient sees a man in scrubs and assumes he is the physician. A male nursing student notices he is one of only a few men in the classroom. A hospital celebrates men entering nursing as a “new trend.”

Yet the increase of men in modern nursing should not be taken to imply they are newcomers to the profession. Men have been present in nursing’s story since its inception, even when later histories forgot to name them or, arguably, chose to ignore them.

The problem is partly historical language. The modern word “nurse” suggests licensure, registration, scope of practice, and a […]

2026-06-12T11:38:22-04:00May 26th, 2026|Nursing|1 Comment
Read More

Comment ground rules

1. Please be respectful.
2. We moderate all comments.

Content disclaimer

Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Go to Top