Nurse Mentor

Nobody talks about it. Ever. Sure, we talk about how patients face discrimination and the impact on their health. Some schools might even teach about the institutional and structural aspects of society that reinforce racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, and many other -isms. We do talk about how patients say things to us that we may consider to be offensive, and how to handle that. But we don't talk about how we, as nurses, perpetuate discrimination and exclusion within our own profession and toward our patients. Here's a few examples of stories I've heard over the years. A South Asian nurse manager told one of her African-American nursing assistants that she needed to fix her hair because she looked like she came from the jungle. A Jewish nurse was working in a hospital in an area where there weren't a lot of Jewish people. During Hannukah, she wanted to put up a Menorah on her unit amidst all the Christmas decorations so she could clelebrate her faith like everyone ...

Something I tell my New York-based students all the time: If you want your first choice job, leave New York City and don't go to California, Philadelphia, or Boston. Seems like my advice has some merit based on the latest national survey of where new graduate BSNs are getting jobs. From the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's latest survey: "For new BSN graduates, the job offer rate for schools in the South is 77% followed by 71% in the Midwest, 57% in the North Atlantic, and 56% in the West. This rate is higher across the board for entry-level MSN graduates: 80% in the Midwest, 76% in the South, 72% in the North Atlantic, and 66% in the West. These findings indicate that employment of new graduates from entry-level nursing programs is more challenging in different regions of the country. For more details on this survey, visit AACN’s website ."  Why is it so hard to get a job right out of school in the North Atlantic and the West? Simple. Lots of nurs...

It's the start of another school year and after a long hiatus, I come back to the blog with a question generated by reports from former students in the field. What makes for a perfect shift when caring for patients? Even as immersed as I am in all the research about nurses' work environments, I realized that no one has asked this question of working nurses in awhile. What makes for a perfect shift as a nurse, wherever you work, in the 21st century? Some things I'm sure will stay the same, but others may be new because of all the changes happening everywhere in health care systems around the world. I hope you'll participate in a discussion through the comments section. All nurses, any where in the world, are welcome to participate. Do share what would make for an ideal working shift for you. Maybe if we collect enough ideas, we can make more changes happen at our workplaces.

This is a great c omprehensive report about current US nursing workforce issues . It gets a lot right and few things wrong. Yes, 1/3 of US RNs will retire by 2020 but many of them are concentrated in selected states.  The million nurse shortage coming our way by 2030 will be concentrated in 16 states and most of those are in the South, South West, and Midwest. Most coastal locations will actually have surpluses of nurses. Job hunting advice: If you want your first choice job right out of school, be prepared to move. You can do anything for two years and get solid experience. Have a friend go with you and start a new adventure somewhere you wouldn't have thought to live before.  You never know what might happen!  With solid work experience, you can always move to your preferred location down the road.

In light of the member's of The View's ignorant statements about nurses, how we dress, and the tools we use to do our jobs, let's review a few things.  We can discuss how their behavior denigrates women in general by engaging in catty, superficial commentary focused on nothing substantive at another time. Stethoscopes are used by the following healthcare providers in addition to physicians: Nurses Respiratory therapists Nurse Practitioners Physician Assistants They all use the stethoscope as a tool to double check the findings of other professionals. It helps prevent mistakes and catches problems that could be life threatening. Clearly The View thinks only doctors save lives when it is a team effort. Nurses using stethoscopes in the United States and other countries was a hard fought battle. Physicians did not feel nurses and other healthcare professionals were qualified to use stethoscopes for many years.  Nurses fought long and hard to use them.  Now it is ...

A recent Kaiser Health News article highlights one of my personal pet peeves about hospital care: Unnecessarily interrupted sleep during hospitalization. It is bad for the patient and certainly impacts their satisfaction with your care. You know how you feel when you haven't slept well, right? Add illness to that and for some, aging changes and you end up with a cranky patient and often family to boot.  Sleep is important for all when ill, no matter what age the patient. Sleep helps you heal.  It allows your body to work on fixing the problem while the mind switches to different activity levels that allow for physiologic healing to occur. Sick kids need it so they have the energy to cope with their illness during the day and all those grown ups doing stuff to them. The elderly need sleep because it will take them longer to recover.  Lack of sleep also puts them at higher risk for delirium, confusion, and wandering. (Oh, does that explain a few things?!) So if ...

Money issues stop a lot of nurses from going back to do their PhD, sometimes for good reason. Let's dispel some common concerns first. When Enrolled Full Time in a PhD Program, Your Student Loans Go Into Payment Deferral That's right. When you're studying full time you don't have to pay your loans. You're allowed to defer payments until you finish. You can pay the interest so the amount doesn't accumulate too much.  It is a good idea to pay the interest while in school. Many Full Time PhD Programs Offer Full Tuition Funding and a Living Stipend Funded PhD study is a great thing. It allows you to focus on your studies and develop your ideas. You can take the time you need to think, because you'll never have it again. So how much is a living stipend? It varies by school and program but reports from the field suggest that it ranges from $1,500 to $2,300 per month. It is usually enough to cover rent, food, and your internet/phone connection. I...