career Archives - Page 54 of 68

Obama, Rock Star for Nurses

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN interim editor-in-chief (sent yesterday from her Iphone)

So it’s Wednesday afternoon, June 16, and I’m here in Washington, DC, attending the 2010 House of Delegates meeting of the American Nurses Association (ANA). It’s easy to find the sessions—one just has to follow all the middle-aged women walking in one direction through the lobby (full disclosure: that includes me).

ANA president Rebecca Patton opened the session and announced that there would be a “special surprise guest.” She got about halfway through announcements about parliamentary procedure, using the electronic voting machines, and the other housekeeping details when I noticed a rather large muscular young man with an earpiece slip in the door near me. I noticed several clones of him at each exit. Our “special guest” had arrived.

Patton introduced President Barack Obama and he received a rock star welcome from the approximately 800 attendees. He said he came because he promised he would if nurses supported his campaign and he won the presidential election. He proclaimed, “I love nurses.” (I wonder: when he goes to other groups, does he say, “I love physicians” or “I love auto workers”?) He retold the story of how nurses took care of his wife and daughters when his daughters were born and how the nurses “got him through” when one of his daughters had meningitis and how they gave her such good care.

Obama then spoke about the changes in health care brought about by the Patient […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:11-05:00June 17th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|2 Comments

Do You Have to Like People To Be a Good Nurse?

When I began nursing school I was confident that I’d enjoy being a nurse because I already liked being a waitress. I imagine that you’re already groaning, but hear me out. I had traits that served me well when I put food and drinks on the table: I was smart and organized, I learned quickly, I was usually able to rescue disastrous situations, and I liked people and wanted to make them happy.

That last characteristic is a secret that most of us nurses keep to ourselves as we emphasize the more cerebral nursing traits—the critical thinking, the autonomy, the professional skills.

That’s the start of an essay called “Nurse, Where’s My Lunch?” by the accomplished nurse and writer Christine Contillo in the June issue of AJN. It’s about some of the human pleasures of being a nurse, the deep human encounters you remember many years later. Is there a temperament best suited for nursing? And how do you define competence? Is it all just a matter of mastering “cerebral” technical skills? Or is there more?

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:16-05:00June 10th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|1 Comment

What Nurses Told Us About How They Relax

We recently posed the following question on AJN’s Twitter page: “RNs: we want to know: how do you relax?” Some of the answers are below. Exercise is one biggie, at least among those who answered. (Are Twitterers more exercise-prone than non-Twitterers? Hmmm….) Anything you’d like to add to our unscientific list of ways to relax? (If for any reason you mind us citing your Twitter self here, please let us know and we will remove your comment!)

Safety4Nurses @AmJNurs I was recently reminded by my 6 month old puppy that play time and naps are important for relaxation!

ErinRN @AmJNurs relax with hot bath, alcohol, reading, and favorite tv show (not all at once, ha!)

lydiasmith@AmJNurs Prayer, music, going out dancing, and cooking. Psychosociospiritual and physical modes! Practice what we preach.

andrealgilmore @AmJNurs: #1 getting off the floor & outside if possible. #2 balancing work with family & me time. #3 exercise and last but not least, TEA.

WendyGlosser @AmJNurs I jump in my pool but also have a photography business on the side that allows me to escape a few times a week.

superjenie RT @AmJNurs: RNs: we want to know: how do you relax? –LOL do we nurses ever relax?? :))

LiveLaughLetGo @AmJNurs The best way for me is to run, but also hanging with friends and family.

ThaRizz0 @AmJNurs As an RN I find time to exercise and push […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:19-05:00June 9th, 2010|career, nursing perspective, personal health practices|2 Comments

Doing the Doctoring–A Nurse Who’s Filling the Primary Care Gap for Needy Children

By Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN

A while back, a poll on the AJN Website asked if PhD-prepared nurses should be addressed as “doctor.” My answer was an emphatic “yes!” Janie, an old friend of mine, just graduated with her doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree this past spring. She recently opened up her own clinic, serving kids as a primary health care provider in Portland, Oregon. She is the inspiration for my vote, but her chosen path isn’t easy.

Janie is filling a void in Portland that few providers are willing to address. She’s called Dr. Janie, and she well deserves the title. I have been a foster parent here in Oregon for the past few years. The kids that enter foster care often come from neglectful and/or abusive situations. These children can be hungry, fearful, wary, dirty, sad, and often confused and angry. They also deeply crave a sense of safety.

The state requires that these children be seen within 30 days of entering foster care. Getting them seen is a huge challenge. The requirement is, in theory, a great idea—these children often have multiple medical and psychosocial needs that have been neglected. But I couldn’t find a clinic in Portland that would take a “new patient” with welfare insurance within that time frame. It was often days or longer before I would find out basic information such as allergies about the children I was asked to care for. As a nurse, I found this lack of information to be unsettling, […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:28-05:00May 27th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|6 Comments

What Lies Ahead? AACN Presidents Weigh In on Health Care Reform, Rapid Response Teams, and More

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

On my last day at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ annual meeting last week in Washington, DC, I had a chance to speak with both Beth Hammer, whose term as president ended with the meeting, and Kristine Peterson, the new president. Our conversation ranged from how they felt about being president of such a large nursing organization to their views on health care reform and how rapid response teams are affecting the work environment of critical care nurses. You can hear the conversation free on AJN’s Web site: go to the Podcasts tab and click on Conversations. Or just click here (the download may take a minute or two).

And don’t miss my first post from the exhibit hall floor at the meeting (the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, or “the NTI”) and my second post on a conversation with a critical care nurse about a bad staffing practice, which seems to have hit a nerve!