‘No, but my husband is’: Nurse Humorist’s Life Hasn’t Been Easy

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There was the guy who stepped on a rusty nail and requested “a technical shot,” the girl who complained, “I’m hurting in my semi privates,” and the patient who boasted, “I’m so crazy I’m tripolar.”

While there’s a lot of “nurse humor” out there, much of it fairly outrageous or disgusting—and very necessary, as a way of letting off steam—we get the feeling from Terry Foster‘s popularity that his jokes, anecdotes, and delivery may actually be a few cuts above. Christine Moffa, AJN‘s clinical editor, concurs: “I’ve seen him perform . . . . He’s very funny. Tears-streaming-down funny.” Foster’s also been through some rough times, including a brain tumor and the death of his young wife.

Has anything even remotely funny (that you can share without breaking patient confidentiality!) happened to you lately on the job? How important is a good sense of humor in the nursing profession?

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2016-11-21T13:29:37-05:00May 11th, 2009|nursing perspective|1 Comment
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Nurse Practitioners and Health Care Reform: “A Solution in Plain Sight” say Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala and PA Governor Ed Rendell

“Lion’s Gate Bridge Sunrise,” by thelastminute, via Flickr.

The American Academy of Nursing just held a news briefing on nurse-managed care and health centers as solutions for our ailing health care system. Former Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary and now president of University of Miami, Donna Shalala; Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell; Tine Hansen, CEO of the National Consortium of Nursing Centers and executive director of the Convenient Care Association; and Susan Sherman, president of the Independence Foundation, sent a coherent message: nurse practitioners (NPs) have developed an infrastructure of health centers and convenient care clinics (such as MinuteClinics) that can help our nation reform a health care delivery system that is currently unable to meet the primary health care needs of its people. […]

2016-11-21T13:29:43-05:00May 8th, 2009|health care policy|1 Comment
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New Nurses Blogging: The Dedicated, the Feisty, the Sleep-Deprived

Hospital by boliston / Adrian Boliston, via Flickr.

When I went looking for blogs by student nurses recently, I found plenty—but most appeared to be deserted, as if their authors had literally packed up and moved away after graduation. That’s understandable—and kind of a shame. Things can get interesting fast when one finds oneself suddenly working with real people in an ED or an ICU. Lucky for us, a few newly minted nurses are blogging on just that. (To comply with HIPAA regulations, most bloggers report that they alter patient details and scenarios.)

At Call Bells Make Me Nervous, Maha, “a shiny new nurse” (degree unspecified), blogs […]

2016-11-21T13:30:03-05:00May 8th, 2009|career, healthcare social media, nursing perspective, students|1 Comment
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School Nurses, H1N1, Understaffing, and Public Safety

We’ve posted here, here, and here in recent days about the importance of school nurses during the H1N1 outbreak.

Now here’s strong testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor from the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction on why school nurses were crucial during the H1N1 outbreak and why understaffing issues must be addressed for the sake of public health.

“At last count, there are approximately 2,844 nurses who serve California’s 6.3 million public school students. That translates to a ratio of 2,227 students to every one school nurse, the largest student-to-nurse ratio in the country. This in no way, shape or form provides effective healthcare for the increasing numbers of students with complex chronic and immediate health needs that require daily care on our school campuses. If we had more school nurses on our campuses, perhaps they could have played an even greater role in early detection and prevention efforts.”

2009-05-18T14:45:09-04:00May 8th, 2009|health care policy|2 Comments
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National School Nurse Day—The Timing Couldn’t Be Better

Mary Pappas, BSN, RN, school nurse at St. Francis Preparatory School in NYC, told AJN, "School nurses have been e-mailing me from around the country," since she helped to identify the first H1N1 cases. Photos courtesy of Michael Graziano.

As nurses nationwide celebrate National School Nurse Day AJN decided to check back in with Mary Pappas after our discussion with her last week. She’s the New York City Catholic school nurse who on April 23 alerted public health officials to what would be identified as the first U.S. cases of influenza A (H1N1)—swine flu. img_4700

Students have returned to St. Francis Preparatory School, and things are “calming down,” she said. “We’re still busy because we have to do a screening process. It’s busy work, but no one’s sick.” She has been working closely with the New York State Department of Health.

Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that, because the U.S. cases seen so far have been mild, “School closure is not advised for a suspected or confirmed case of novel influenza A (H1N1).” It seems an appropriate moment to acknowledge the work that Pappas and the 45,000 school nurses are doing on the front lines of assessment nationwide. AJN will continue to follow the work of school nurses in coming weeks and months.—Joy Jacobson, AJN managing editor

(For a more […]

2016-11-21T13:30:17-05:00May 6th, 2009|Nursing|1 Comment
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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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