About Guest Author

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Guest Author has created 494 blog entries.

A Role to Live Up To

By Kinsey Morgan, RN. Kinsey is a nurse who lives in Texas and currently works in the ICU in which she formerly spent three years as a CNA. Her previous posts on working as a new nurse can be found here.

Now in my sixth month as a new nurse, I find every day that there is something new to learn, figure out, or adjust to. The constant stimulation and challenge is part of what makes me love being an ICU nurse.

Recently I was exposed to the simple yet powerful fact that being a “unit nurse” carries more weight than I’d thought. During a code blue on the medical–surgical floor a few weeks ago, I was performing CPR when it became necessary to initiate a dopamine drip to support a failing blood pressure.

One of the medical–surgical nurses spiked the bag and connected the tubing and proceeded to tap me on the shoulder and ask me if he had correctly entered the dosage of dopamine into the IV pump. Time stood still for a split-second while I contemplated the weight of this question. Though my mind and body quickly returned to the task at hand, the implications of that question haven’t left me yet.

The nurse who asked has been an RN for several years and has a lot more experience than I have. In reflection, I am honored and humbled by his trust. Not having encountered vasoactive drugs very often in his practice, this nurse […]

2016-11-21T13:10:35-05:00February 28th, 2012|career, nursing perspective|1 Comment
Read More

When Lawmakers and Physicians Hold Nurses Back

Editor’s Note: Toni Inglis, MSN, RN, CNS, FAAN, writes opinion for the Austin (TX) American-Statesman. She works at the Seton Healthcare Family in Austin as a neonatal ICU staff nurse and also writes a nursing blog for Seton and edits its monthly NursingNews. This article is a reprint of an April 22nd commentary in the Statesman. Toni was inspired to write the column after a particularly disappointing legislative session, in which Texas advanced practice nurses made fewer gains than in past sessions—despite Texas ranking last in access to health care and having the most restrictive laws in the country regarding APRN scope of practice and prescriptive authority. She believes the poor access and barriers to practice are related.

AJN finds the article particularly relevant as legislatures across the country deliberate on APRN barriers to practice. You can read her commentaries at ingliscommentary.com.

Here’s an idea that wouldn’t cost Texas a dime but would save millions of dollars every year: Remove all barriers restraining nurses from practicing to the full extent of their education and training.

No state needs primary care providers more than Texas, which has a severe shortage. Texas ranks last in access to health care and in the percentage of residents without health insurance. Of Texas’ 254 counties, 188 […]

2016-11-21T13:10:43-05:00February 13th, 2012|health care policy, nursing perspective|0 Comments
Read More

A QI Project to Increase Nurses’ Use of ‘Smart’ Pump Libraries

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

In January 2009 an independent community hospital in Massachusetts switched from using older, outmoded IV pumps to using “smart” pumps—pumps that have built-in computers with libraries of information on selected drugs and fluids, including predetermined concentrations and volumes with relevant administration limits. Library subsets (called profiles) contain information specific to certain patient populations or care areas. When properly implemented, these devices can be invaluable tools in reducing the risk of medication errors and improving patient safety.

But when the hospital conducted a review, it found that smart pump libraries had been used in only 37% of all smart pump infusions done between January and June. One reason was that no “owner” had been assigned to oversee the implementation process. So the hospital’s nursing quality team (NQT) and pharmacy quality team began collaborating to find ways to increase nurses’ use of the pump libraries.

From July through October 2009 the NQT implemented several interventions. Author Andrew D. Harding describes the project as it evolved and reports on the results in this January CE feature, “Increasing the Use of ‘Smart’ Pump Libraries by Nurses: A Continuous Quality Improvement Project.” […]

2016-11-21T13:10:50-05:00February 1st, 2012|nursing perspective|1 Comment
Read More

Those Who Wait: Recent Work in ‘Art of Nursing’

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

“I held that stone / in my hand for hours while they split your bones,” says the narrator of Janet Parkinson’s poem “Talisman,” which appears this month in Art of Nursing. The poem speaks to the tremendous strain of waiting for the outcome of a loved one’s emergency surgery. It’s about the  need for connection over great distances, for a “stone constant” in the face of grave uncertainty. The poet’s voice is unsentimental and steady, and the poem, just seven lines, itself feels almost talismanic. (Art of Nursing is always free online—just click through to the PDF file.)

In Roger Davies’s poem “Preparing to Pretend to Knit at the Chemotherapy Clinic,” featured in October’s Art of Nursing, a husband also waits, feeling helpless. “I’ll choose the long, elegant needles,” he says, imagining homespun wools dyed in autumn colors. Recalling his mother’s “nonchalant / competence” at the craft, he longs for the solace found in knowing what to do—even if it’s only how to hold the needles. In the poem’s last lines, the narrator says, “I could look out the window / to this fading autumn day.” But it’s clear that he’s not quite ready to see that view yet.

Rebecca Thomas’s painting “The Waiting Room: Norma,” featured in November, depicts the artist’s grandmother, who […]

2016-11-21T13:11:08-05:00December 19th, 2011|Nursing, patient engagement|1 Comment
Read More

Sarcopenia and Me – Or Why Exercise Really Matters as We Age

By Karen Roush, MS, RN, FNP-C, AJN clinical managing editor

Recently I started an exercise program with a personal trainer. I’ve been a runner for 25 years, even ran five marathons. I’ve never had a problem being disciplined about running four or five days a week, no matter what the weather. But I’ve never been able to stick to any other exercise program for more than a week or so. Working with weights, yoga, step classes, just doing push-ups in my living room when I get back from a run—never stuck with any of them.

Getting older isn’t kind to those who don’t exercise. Years ago my lack of upper-body fitness was hardly noticeable. Shoveling snow, raking leaves, playing racquetball, carrying my kids around, all of it kept me in good enough shape. That’s not the case now that I’m in my fifties. Lifting my grandson above my head—not happening. Hanging a new shower curtain – three clips – rest – three clips – rest…

When I found I couldn’t blow-dry my very short hair without lowering my arm repeatedly because of muscle fatigue, it was time to do something about it.  That’s when I decided to invest in a personal trainer. It was expensive—but I figured I would just do it long enough to make exercise, other than running, […]

2016-11-21T13:11:13-05:00December 7th, 2011|nursing perspective, personal health practices|3 Comments
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