I almost forgot about Dennis. That’s what Carol Novembre thinks his name was. Carol and I worked together in the early 60s at Pollack Hospital in Jersey City. It was a county-run hospital. Dennis was head of maintenance. I learned a lot from him about the political corruption that went on behind the scenes. Not … Continue reading Stories that Need to be Told
Category: Nursing
Revisiting “The Artist’s Way”
A friend recently lamented that she wished she was more creative. “I am so left brain,” she said. “Everything I do is regimented. I would love to lose myself in some artistic project.” She had retired about three years ago and needed some help in reinventing herself after a successful nursing career. That night—I do … Continue reading Revisiting “The Artist’s Way”
NURSES REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Reblogged from 07/22/2012 in recognition of 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife: Betsy, a writer friend, emailed me the story she had read in our workshop since I had to miss the class. She knows I hang on every episode of her life in Ireland where her second child was born and she … Continue reading NURSES REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Top Nurse Blogs 2019
I am grateful to Joost van Beek from NurseRecruiter.com for selecting my blog, NursingStories.org, to be included in the Top Nurse Blogs for 2019, and for including a reference to my memoir: Stories from the Tenth-Floor Clinic: A Nurse Practitioner Remembers. I am so impressed with how many of my fellow … Continue reading Top Nurse Blogs 2019
Can nurses really speak out too much?
This article caught my attention from the Nursing Times (a monthly magazine for the nurses of the United Kingdom). I had to do some homework to learn about The Queen’s Nursing Institute and its function. Healthcare policy is a key activity for The Queen’s Nursing Institute. The QNI works to influence decision makers across England, … Continue reading Can nurses really speak out too much?
Nurses Give Their Expert Advice on Understanding the Broken Health Care System
I have been on the lecture circuit. My topic is Empowering the Patient: How to Navigate the Health Care System. Two presentations down and two to go with another in the negotiating stage. I’m fine-tuning the presentation based on the feedback I have received from my audience each time I give the talk. Sana Goldberg’s … Continue reading Nurses Give Their Expert Advice on Understanding the Broken Health Care System
A Nurse Tells it Like it Is
A nurse has called attention to our dysfunctional health care system in the OP-ED section of the New York Times. (Our Jury-Rigged Health Care System by Teresa Brown, New York Times, September 6, 2019) Brown has hit a nerve as evidenced by the 969 comments to date supporting her stance. Her article discusses how nurses (and … Continue reading A Nurse Tells it Like it Is
How Mindfulness Can Be an Act of Self-Care for Nurses
I recently came across a new, to me, Blog: Nightingale. A 2017 post by Teresa Brown describes her initial exposure and reservations about mindfulness—I am not giving away the ending. Given I had just spotlighted Julia Sarazine, a qualified mindfulness instructor, I decided to reblog Teresa’s essay.
The Nightingale website looks interesting and promising, however, I didn’t notice any recent activity. Sara Goldberg, founder of Nightingale, may have been busy with her new book: How to be a Patient: The Essential Guide to Navigating the World of Modern Medicine, which was recently released. I read her book and will review it in a future post.
Nurse Burnout Won’t go Away Until the Industry Changes. But in the Meantime, Mindfulness can Help Nurses Prioritize Their Well-Being.
This past November I attended a workshop on nurse burnout at the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread in Racine, Wisconsin. Clinical nurses, administrators, and researchers came together for three days to discuss this pressing issue that is epidemic in nursing. One survey found that almost half of nurses are burned out, meaning they’re so overwhelmed by the job that they’ve lost the capacity to really care about it or their patients.
I tend to be suspicious of talk about mindfulness in health care because it seems to place the onus for change on individuals instead of the overall system.
Several of the workshop presenters discussed “Mindfulness” as a way to alleviate burnout. I tend to be suspicious of talk about mindfulness in health care because it seems to place the onus…
View original post 927 more words
The National Institutes of Health Disappoints
When I worked at the National Institutes of Health, a colleague and I wrote an article: The Role of Nurse Practitioners Expands at NIH for the NIH Record newsletter in May of 2000 about the increase of Nurse Practitioners at the Institute. My short time there was exciting, especially as I witnessed NP positions increase … Continue reading The National Institutes of Health Disappoints
Change of Pace: Panzanella
The high temperatures that we have in Raleigh keep me indoors more that I would like. The thermometer on my kitchen counter tells me it’s 99 degrees outside as I write this at 4 pm. Our home is comfortably cool so I could just knuckle down and write my weekly post that is due tomorrow. … Continue reading Change of Pace: Panzanella
