The Heart of a Nurse

By Diane Stonecipher, BSN, RN. The author lives in Texas. Her forthcoming Viewpoint essay in the October issue of AJN, “The Old Becomes New,” will consider aspects of nursing that may be obscured or lost due to overreliance on technology.

Heartstudy by James P. Wells, via Flickr Heartstudy by James P. Wells, via Flickr

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that my initial interest in nursing came as a 10-year-old Yankees baseball fan. I could not get enough of The Mick, Elston Howard, or Mel Stottlemyre on my transistor radio, during televised games, or in my baseball card collection. I decided that I could be the team nurse—take their vital signs, set their broken bones, assess their injuries, and best of all, travel with the team.

This rather irrational desire was solidified when my aunt had a face lift. I was 14 at the time, and she recovered at our house, specifically in my room. She was swollen like a prize fighter, with bloody bandages that needed changing, pain medication to be dispensed, meals to be fed—I was hooked. I am not sure I even knew what a nurse really did, but my heart was stirred.

I sailed through high school, graduated with honors, and left for one of the […]

2018-03-28T10:30:20-04:00August 14th, 2013|career, nursing perspective|17 Comments
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‘Incompatible With Life’

Shirley Phillips has a doctorate in physical therapy and currently works for a federally funded research and development program studying human performance in aviation. She was an airline pilot prior to her daughter’s birth.

AshleyAndShirley Ashley and Shirley

The pediatrician was working with a medical student when Ashley had another of her 105 degree fevers. The remnants of a birthmark on her forehead glowed crimson beneath the fringe of bangs I used to conceal it. It always seemed like a warning sign designed just for me, her mother.

I sat quietly while the pediatrician asked for permission to share some information about Ashley’s rare genetic condition with the medical student. Given her intellectual disabilities at the age of two, she was probably not going to understand a word he said, but I instinctively reached to cover her ears.

This resulted in the pediatrician saying, “See how her ear canals are curvy? And her ears are set low on her head? Notice her wide nasal bridge, and her barrel-shaped chest. I am certain when Ashley was born they knew right away that genetic testing was needed. Three or more abnormalities, like the club foot, the wide nasal bridge, the . . . ”

“Wait just a minute,” I said, hardly recognizing my own voice as I stammered out my dismay, interrupting the sage and […]

2016-11-21T13:06:46-05:00August 12th, 2013|nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Nursing Editors Talking Shop in Ireland

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

Seaside at Lehinch Seaside at Lahinch

Last week I was in Cork to attend the annual meeting of the International Academy of Nursing Editors, also known as INANE (yes, I know, and the name was created with full awareness; this is not a group that takes itself seriously—decisions happen by consensus and any work is done by volunteers; if funds are needed for something, we pass the hat).

I met editors from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and from as far away as Hong Kong and Israel. I’m amazed at the number and variety of nursing journals. Whatever the size of the journal, the issues and editorial priorities are similar. We all struggle with getting “good manuscripts,” that is, papers that are well written, supported by evidence, and speak to the concerns of the readers. Moody Connemara scenery Moody Connemara scenery

We heard a whirlwind 10-minute history of Ireland and a wonderful presentation on nursing in Ireland by Kathleen MacLellan, nurse advisor, Department of Health and Children, Dublin. We spent a lot of time discussing ethics as well as how to deal with submissions from students who need better guidance from faculty. (See my previous blog post on this topic.)

I always come away with new insights, helpful information, new contacts, and new ideas. And of course, there were a couple of social events to […]

2016-11-21T13:06:48-05:00August 7th, 2013|career, nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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Nursing Blogs Roundup: Some Veteran Voices and Some Lively New Ones

By Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor

Blogging - What Jolly Fun/Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, via Flickr Creative Commons Blogging – What Jolly Fun!/Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, via Flickr Creative Commons

Here are some new or newish posts of note on various nursing blogs:

At Nursetopia: “You Get What You Put In To Your Nursing Association.”

At Nursing Stories: “Memories of MICU,” a post about visiting a new state-of-the-art medical intensive care unit (MICU) and comparing it to one the author worked on in the 1970s.

At the American Nurses Association (ANA) blog called One Strong Voice: “Working With a New Graduate or Novice RN? If So, Be Mindful of Workplace Bullying.”

Episode six is now up at The Adventures of Nurse Niki, a newish blog written by Julianna Paradisi (her other blog is JParadisi RN). This blog is made up entirely of first-person episodes told by a fictional nurse named Niki. Each episode is short, detailed, and engaging, and it’s easy to keep up with it on a regular basis, or quickly catch up if you haven’t yet read any episodes.

At Digital Doorway: “Evolving as a Nurse: The Work of the Soul.” Here’s a brief excerpt:

“The evolution of a nurse and his or […]

2016-11-21T13:06:50-05:00August 5th, 2013|healthcare social media, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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Trailblazing: The Value of Positive Deviance in Nursing

Illustration by Janet Hamlin. Illustration by Janet Hamlin.

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

The word deviant tends to have a negative connotation, suggesting something aberrant or harmful. But deviance simply means a departure from the expected or usual way of doing things—and there are times when being able and willing to do so is crucial. Indeed, some have called this trailblazing.

In “Exploring the Concept and Use of Positive Deviance in Nursing,” an August CE, author Jodie Gary points out that “the clinical setting contains an infinite assortment of situations” in which applicable pro­fessional standards might be unavailable or unrealistic; at such times, “nurses might have to react creatively” in order to provide optimal patient care. This article provides an in-depth, evidence-based look at positive deviance in nursing.

Overview: Positive deviance involves an intentional act of breaking the rules in order to serve the greater good. For nurses, the rightness or wrongness of such actions will be judged by other people who are in charge of rules enforcement; but the decision to engage in positive deviance lies solely with the nurse. There is no uniform or consistent definition of positive deviance. This article uses the Walker and Avant method of concept analysis to explore and identify the essence of the term positive deviance in the nursing practice environment, provide a better understanding of the concept, and clarify its meaning for the nursing pro­fession. In turn this led to an operational definition: positive […]

2017-07-27T14:50:36-04:00August 1st, 2013|nursing perspective|6 Comments
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