Related: Attitude, Caring, Emotions, Patience, Patients, Professionalism, Stress

Swine flu.  There are millions of people who are panicking over the mere mention of it.  Schools are closing.  People are changing travel plans.  Government officials have stopped taking public transportation....and everybody and their brother is calling their doctor's office.

I, on the other hand, am not panicked.  I am annoyed.  The phones of every doctor's office in the country, and possibly a few other countries, [...]

Related: Attitude, Caring, Compassion, Feelings, Patients, Respect

It happened last week.  I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business, doing my nurse thing.  Suddenly, my heart started acting strange.

I thought it was PVC's, which I have occasionally, but it felt a little different.  I took the stethoscope that was hanging around my neck and listened to my heart.  Wow, I thought, that's pretty fast.  As I counted the beats, I [...]

Related: Caring, Compassion, Conflict, Critical Care Nursing, Death, Feelings, Patients, Prayer

Have I ever told you the story of why I left Pediatric Intensive Care?

I walked into work one day and one of our little patients went into respiratory arrest right as I finished getting report on her.  We spent the next 12 hours saving the life of this poor little girl.

The patient had been born with problems (though all these years later I have no [...]

Related: Attitude, Expectations, Feelings

Is it just me, or is anyone else suffering from Spring Fever?

It's driving me crazy.  I long for sunshine and warmer days.  I dream of flowering trees and green grass.  I wouldn't even mind my normal Spring allergies kicking in--as long as it meant the seasons were changing.

It happens to me every year.  I start longing for a change.  Mostly of scenery.  I need a [...]

Related: Attitude, Career, Expectations, Job Search, Learning, NCLEX, New Grad, New Nurse, New Nurse Tips, Night Shift, Nursing Jobs, Resume

You've worked hard.  Stayed up night after night studying.  Suffered through exhausting clinicals.  Missed out on time with friends and family.  Shoved thousands of facts into a weary brain.  Now all you want is to put all your new-found knowledge to work.  Get out there into the workplace and do your thing.  You're confident.  You're prepared.  You're ready.

You start pounding the pavement.  Sending out resumes.  [...]

Related: Prayer, Spirituality

A couple of months ago I wrote a post called "Spiritually Caring for your Patient."  I told you about my belief in the power of prayer and how I often pray for my patients, whether they know it or not.  Well, I saw a story recently that has given me pause.

There is currently a case in England where a home health care nurse offered to [...]

Related: Caring, Communication, Confidentiality, Problem Solving, Truth

I have a friend who told me a story the other day, and I wanted to share it with you.  It concerns confidentiality, but not in the way you might think.  You see, she was the one left out of the loop and it affected the way she cared for someone.  Let me know what you think.

She is a school nurse and meets weekly with [...]

Related: Attitude, Career, Charting, Expectations, Mindset, Nursing Jobs, Stress

Have you taken a job that sounded perfect only to find out you were sadly mistaken?

I have often talked about how much I love my job.  I work in a family practice office and have worked there for nine years.  I love the staff and the docs.  I love (most of) the patients.  In fact, even the patients I don't like that much I have [...]

Related: Addiction, Confidence, Delegation, Drug Addiction, Failure, Fear, Goals, Mistake, NCLEX, Nurse Relationships, Orientee, Perfect Nurse, Stress

As we come to the end of 2008, I thought it would be good for us to do a little RealityRN review.  You know, think about the good, the bad, and the ugly of a year almost gone.

I spent some time reviewing what the "hot topics" have been.  We certainly have covered a lot of ground--that's for sure.  We've talked about drug addiction, the NCLEX [...]

Related: Attitude, Career, Emotions, Gossip, Learning, New Nurse Tips, Nurse Relationships, Professionalism, Professionalism Sabotage, Sabotage, Success

You may be in a job you love.  You may be in a job you hate.  No matter where you're currently at, you have the potential to make the job worse.  Here are a few ways to do it:

1) Always be the needy one. If you're always the one needing help with getting everything done and never offer to help someone else, the other nurses [...]