As I walked into the exam room and introduced myself as a nurse practitioner, the patient announced she was “forced” to come to our clinic and “wasn’t allowed to see a real doctor” downtown. I was slightly taken aback. Here I was, running on time, in a pretty good mood and ready to assess and treat to the best of my abilities, and then WHAM. I took a deep breath and realized she wasn’t slamming NPs; she had a grudge against military providers, regardless of education background.
That’s from a recent post by a U.S. Air Force family nurse practitioner (NP) who’s been blogging from Afghanistan. She’s home now, and the post, about being discriminated against by a patient—not because she’s an NP, but because she’s a military provider—is worth noting as we prepare for another Memorial Day Weekend.
Memorial Day Flags/Eddie Coyote, via Flickr
Are you a nursing student, or just ready for a change in your nursing career? Curious about various nursing specialties and what they really involve? Codeblog has been running a helpful series of posts, each of which focuses on an interview with a particular type of nurse. The latest is with a cardiac catheterization lab nurse.
Nothing like a medication error to ruin everyone’s day. Lisa at In the Round has a useful post that lists the eight “rights” of medication administration.
“So there is very little, in the end, I won’t share. There are some things, however, that are beyond the pale. Here’s my short list of ten things I will never, ever tell you, my patient.” That’s from a recent post at Those Emergency Blues: “Don’t Tell Your Patient This. Or That.” Have a look and see if you agree.
Lastly, an article today on the NY Times “Well” blog summarizes the findings of a new report on the activity levels of Americans in the workplace. The basic idea is that we’re less active at work, and since we spend much of our time and energy at work, we’re also increasingly obese. Many nurses might dispute this finding if they spend their days on their feet. But it’s worth considering, as many of us prepare for a long holiday weekend full of opportunities to eat, relax, and also, yes, to get a bit of exercise—even if it’s only a matter of taking a daily walk after dinner in the lingering late May light. Or, as Sean at My Strong Medicine puts it, a little bluntly: “What Was Your Excuse for Not Exercising?”
Point taken.—JM, senior editor
I think discrimination against military providers is really happening and is very sad and unfortunate. And i for one can’t think of a valid reason why it is so.
Many thanks for the mention of my blog post! Enjoy the holiday weekend!