• THE HEALTH WAGON

    In the last post I wrote about Sandeep Jauhar’s essay in the New York Times, Nurses Are Not Doctors. Dr. Jauhar doesn’t condone independent nurse practitioner practice and he suggests that in order to expand the number of primary care physicians their salaries should be increased. Somehow that last statement has hounded me. Not so……

  • NURSES DON’T WANT TO BE DOCTORS

    For the life of me I don’t know why the New York Times published Sandeep Jauhar’s essay, “Nurses Are Not Doctors,” in the Opinion Pages on April 30, 2014. His essay argued that nurse practitioners shouldn’t practice independently. As a nurse practitioner it’s obvious that I wouldn’t agree with his opinion but his case was……

  • Storytelling for Policy Advocacy

    Josephine Ensign takes nursing stories to a higher level–to promote policy advocacy. Read on– JOSEPHINE ENSIGN When I tell people that my work focuses on narrative advocacy, they mostly look at me funny and ask, “What’s that?” It is a more concise way of saying ‘storytelling for policy advocacy.’ A common definition of narrative is……

  • INVISIBLE Part 3 of 3

    I trudged into the nursing station. The phone sat on an empty desk. Mary, the stocky, dark-haired charge nurse, faced the chart rack at the other end of the room. I avoided acknowledging her presence, keeping my eyes on the floor. Any word from her might shake my resolve. I stood by the desk and……

  • INVISIBLE Part 2 of 3

    “When did you urinate last?” Ms. O looked at me blankly. “I’m going to press over your bladder,” I said. I reached under the hospital gown and pushed over her pubic area. My fingers felt a soft swelling. Ms. O winced. “I think you’d feel better if I passed a tube into your bladder and……

  • INVISIBLE Part 1 of 3

    “Invisible,” by Marianna Crane, originally appeared in the Examined Life Journal.     The cardinal rule of the game is that open disagreement between the players must be avoided at all costs. Thus, the nurse must communicate her recommendations (to the physician) without appearing to be making a recommendation statement. – – – The greater……