New Nurses Blogging: The Dedicated, the Feisty, the Sleep-Deprived

Hospital by boliston / Adrian Boliston, via Flickr.

When I went looking for blogs by student nurses recently, I found plenty—but most appeared to be deserted, as if their authors had literally packed up and moved away after graduation. That’s understandable—and kind of a shame. Things can get interesting fast when one finds oneself suddenly working with real people in an ED or an ICU. Lucky for us, a few newly minted nurses are blogging on just that. (To comply with HIPAA regulations, most bloggers report that they alter patient details and scenarios.)

At Call Bells Make Me Nervous, Maha, “a shiny new nurse” (degree unspecified), blogs […]

2016-11-21T13:30:03-05:00May 8th, 2009|career, healthcare social media, nursing perspective, students|1 Comment
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School Nurses, H1N1, Understaffing, and Public Safety

We’ve posted here, here, and here in recent days about the importance of school nurses during the H1N1 outbreak.

Now here’s strong testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor from the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction on why school nurses were crucial during the H1N1 outbreak and why understaffing issues must be addressed for the sake of public health.

“At last count, there are approximately 2,844 nurses who serve California’s 6.3 million public school students. That translates to a ratio of 2,227 students to every one school nurse, the largest student-to-nurse ratio in the country. This in no way, shape or form provides effective healthcare for the increasing numbers of students with complex chronic and immediate health needs that require daily care on our school campuses. If we had more school nurses on our campuses, perhaps they could have played an even greater role in early detection and prevention efforts.”

2009-05-18T14:45:09-04:00May 8th, 2009|health care policy|2 Comments
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National School Nurse Day—The Timing Couldn’t Be Better

Mary Pappas, BSN, RN, school nurse at St. Francis Preparatory School in NYC, told AJN, "School nurses have been e-mailing me from around the country," since she helped to identify the first H1N1 cases. Photos courtesy of Michael Graziano.

As nurses nationwide celebrate National School Nurse Day AJN decided to check back in with Mary Pappas after our discussion with her last week. She’s the New York City Catholic school nurse who on April 23 alerted public health officials to what would be identified as the first U.S. cases of influenza A (H1N1)—swine flu. img_4700

Students have returned to St. Francis Preparatory School, and things are “calming down,” she said. “We’re still busy because we have to do a screening process. It’s busy work, but no one’s sick.” She has been working closely with the New York State Department of Health.

Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that, because the U.S. cases seen so far have been mild, “School closure is not advised for a suspected or confirmed case of novel influenza A (H1N1).” It seems an appropriate moment to acknowledge the work that Pappas and the 45,000 school nurses are doing on the front lines of assessment nationwide. AJN will continue to follow the work of school nurses in coming weeks and months.—Joy Jacobson, AJN managing editor

(For a more […]

2016-11-21T13:30:17-05:00May 6th, 2009|Nursing|1 Comment
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Will Sebelius ‘Walk the Talk’ on Nurses and Health Care Reform?

HSS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Photo by National Governors Association, via Flickr.

Reportedly, in a speech yesterday to nurses with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), brand new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the group that if the Obama administration is to “make health reform a reality, we need nurses at the forefront of the effort.”

Sounds good, and it’s on point with Obama’s messages to nurses during his campaign.

So far, the Obama team has been consistent with its positions on health care reform. But as we learned from the Clintons’ efforts, talk doesn’t always translate into reality. Dare we hope that this time—with nurse Mary Wakefield as administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); a Democratic-controlled Congress; data like we’ve never had before linking nurses to quality, cost-effective health outcomes; and a population at the end of its rope—maybe, just maybe Congress will get it right? Or will the powerful insurance and medical lobbyists prevail?—Shawn Kennedy, AJN editorial director

(AJN editor-in-chief Diana Mason adds this comment: Sebelius knows that nurses are key to reforming health care and reducing health care disparities. We have an infrastructure of childbirthing centers, community nursing centers, convenient care clinics, and other models of care that can be ramped up if Congress and states will remove barriers to full utilization, fair payment, and credentialling of nurses, including permitting them to head medical […]

2016-11-21T13:30:23-05:00May 6th, 2009|health care policy|1 Comment
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The Little Humiliations of National Nurses Week

By Stephen Cummings, via Flickr.

“When is ‘Kid’s Day’?” That’s what I asked my mother on Mother’s Day one year, after she’d finished opening her gifts from the five of us. And—like many who’ve asked before—I was told, “Every day is Kid’s Day.” This led me to realize that people who have days or weeks dedicated to them must have it pretty bad the rest of the year. Professions with prestige and power don’t have a day or a week. So how can nurses be seen as equal professionals if we have Nurses Week? […]

2016-11-21T13:30:26-05:00May 6th, 2009|career, nursing perspective|6 Comments
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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.
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