Do You Like Your (Nurse) Drama Neat or on the Rocks?

HawthorneScreenshotSince its first episode, the new TNT summer drama, Hawthorne, has gotten quite a few critiques by bloggers and those who commented on TNT’s message board about how unrealistic the show is. Two common criticisms were that Jada Pinkett Smith’s role as the hospital’s CNO inaccurately portrayed what a real CNO does in a real hospital setting and that, in the first episode, it was hinted that one of the female nurses performed a sexual act on one of the patients.

Did the show stretch the truth in its depiction of Smith’s role as a CNO? Probably. But I continue to enjoy the show. How unrealistic is it to say that nurses save lives, yet often don’t get credit for it? […]

2016-11-21T13:23:36-05:00August 18th, 2009|nursing perspective|0 Comments
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“Everything Turned Out Fine”: Nurses Blog About What Works at Work

Skywards by aussiegall / Louise Docker, via Flickr.

Not long ago AJN editorial director Shawn Kennedy blogged here about a new report in Nursing Outlook on the “reality shock” that new nurses experience. The nurses surveyed spoke about the strain of excessive workloads, the stress they felt around “the need for speed,” and mistreatment by colleagues and management, among other things. Even many seasoned nurses continue to struggle with these issues. How do they carry on? I wondered. In my traipsing round the blogosphere recently I found some refreshingly upbeat voices, speaking to what works.

Over at Head Nurse, it’s clear that Jo speaks from experience in the aptly titled “It’s a Weird Job.”  She doesn’t shy away from detailing what’s difficult, but she also writes about deflecting stress through humor, friendly competition, and appreciation for big and little rewards. She says she and her coworkers “joke about everything” and take time to savor the good: […]

2016-11-21T13:23:40-05:00August 17th, 2009|nursing perspective, students|2 Comments
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Interesting Times: On “Death Panels” and the Health Policy Debate

This New York Times article is worth a look.

Reporters Jim Rutenberg and Jackie Calmes trace how the “death panel” rumors that are currently dominating the national debate over health care reform have grown—one might say metastasized—over time, and it names the people responsible for propagating these falsehoods.

As our readers know, at AJN we usually avoid taking sides in partisan political fights. We focus on issues that are important to nurses and their patients, and when we publish articles that concern health care policymaking, we try to present the facts as objectively as possible. […]

2009-08-14T15:01:16-04:00August 14th, 2009|health care policy|1 Comment
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Role Reversal: Remember That Nursing Student You Almost Failed?

Although I'd been a nurse for more than 20 years, this was the first time I had been so completely dependent on the health care system. I felt vulnerable. I knew too much. I needed to feel confident that the ED nurse assessing my injuries would do a thorough job and give unqualified support to a fellow nurse-turned-patient.

2016-11-21T13:23:44-05:00August 14th, 2009|career, nursing perspective, students|0 Comments
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‘EKG’ May Sound Right, But It’s Not

A cranky curmudgeon

I underwent laparoscopic repair of an umbilical hernia two weeks ago (my 10 incisions are healing nicely, thank you, although the itching is nearly unbearable). In preparation for the operation, I was asked to have blood work done and to undergo an electrocardiogram.

When I arrived at the office where the electrocardiogram would be performed, the woman at the desk asked me what I was there for. I said, “An ECG.”

And then she “corrected” me: “You mean EKG.”

She also told me that the person who was to perform the procedure wasn’t in that day and that I’d have to come back and. . . . I needed her information—and I couldn’t afford to tick her off—so I didn’t respond.

But I wanted to. […]

2016-11-21T13:23:46-05:00August 13th, 2009|Nursing|7 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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