Related: Abuse, Assertiveness, Communication, Compliments, Confidence, Conflict, Feelings, Gossip, Handmaidens, Hostility, Morale, New Nurse, Non-Verbal Language, Nurse Relationships, Nursing Shortage, Professionalism, Respect, Sabotage, Truth

What nurse hasn’t heard the phrase “Nurses eat their own.”? You’ve probably witnessed it at some point in your career. Or maybe you’ve personally experienced the burn of cattiness, gossip, condemning verbal attacks, or bullying.

Plain old meanness seems to pervade nursing, and you wonder, Is there anything I can really do about it?

Letting this behavior go on will progressively change nursing for the worse. We’re [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Authority, Communication, Confidence, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Labor and Delivery Nursing, Patient Advocate, Professionalism

Working the night shift on a Labor & Delivery floor, I often know what’s going on with the laboring mother-to-be better than the doc does. And sometimes, I actually have to tell the doctors what needs to be done.

Of course that’s a challenge. Who am I? I think. They’re the doctor. They know best; they are “above” me. But when you are looking out for [...]

Related: Confidence, Expectations, Job Search, NCLEX, New Grad, New Nurse, Orientee, Stress, Student Nurse, Time

Dearest Friends and Family,

I thought I'd take this opportunity to catch you up on what my life looked like in 2007.

January through May was spent finishing up Nursing School. Clinicals, papers, tests, studying and looking forward to the day I would finally start my new career and the freedom that comes with a paycheck. I couldn't wait for the next step.

May through July [...]

Related: Anxiety, Confidence, Fear, Mistake, Perfect Nurse, Stress, Support

Have you ever gone home after a shift and been haunted by what you may have forgotten: Did I remember all the meds? Did I chart it all? When I passed on my report did I remember everything? Did I assess everything correctly?

I often wake up—as if in a nightmare—cataloging what I may have forgotten. It has created an immense amount of anxiety. I’m plagued [...]

Related: Bureaucracy, Career, Confidence, Mentor, Patient Advocate, Success

Part 2 of a two-part interview with Sally Lemke, winner of the VNA Foundation’s Super Star in Community Nursing award.

It had the potential to be one of the most rewarding times of her life—being honored with the VNA Foundation’s Super Star in Community Nursing award. Thirty-plus news agencies swarmed to the story about Sally Lemke, a Chicago Cook County nurse practitioner making a difference in [...]

Related: Caring, Confidence

Jana, Mrs. Goetz, Mom. These are some of the titles I answer to everyday. The other one I hear on a regular basis is Nurse Jana. Not by the people I see at my nursing job, but by the people I hang with in my everyday life.

I'm the go-to-gal. If someone's kid just fell off the play-set, if their husband has a deep cough and [...]

Related: Balance, Career, Confidence, New Grad, New Nurse, Second Career Nursing, Work-Life Balance

What would prompt a 45-year-old mother of teenagers to pursue a career in nursing?

Delusional thinking, some might say. At times I thought I was mad. How could I keep up with those tireless, technology-savvy twenty-somethings? Still I couldn’t ignore my inner rumbling. I wanted to do something significant with my life.

When I was younger, nursing was my dream. But I wasn’t the student I needed [...]

Related: Confidence, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Handmaidens, Hostility, Male Nurse, Nurse History, Professionalism, Respect, Stereotypes

You’re a nurse. You are educated and work hard but often feel like a second-rate cleaning lady.

You’re not the only one who thinks so. Jerry R. Lucas, RN and owner and publisher of Male Nursing Magazine, believes that it is the responsibility of nurses to make their future better than their past. Lucas is passionately devoted to enticing men and women to the nursing [...]

Related: Balance, Confidence, Conflict, Fear, Feelings, Healthy Living, Mindset, New Nurse, Nurse Resident Programs, Nursing Program, Quitting, Seasoned Nurses, Student Nurse, Success, Support, Truth

My first year of nursing, I considered becoming a forest ranger. Nursing was bleeding my emotions.

When I first got out of school, hospitals faced a big nursing shortage—not unlike today. The unit was understaffed, and the level of responsibility quickly overwhelmed me.

Worse, I became trapped in a destructive internal dialogue. I’d constantly tell myself: I’m not doing a good enough job. I stink at this. [...]

Related: Confidence, Fear, Feedback, Learning, Mistake, New Grad, New Nurse, New Nurse Tips, Precepting, Preceptor, Quitting, Success, Teamwork

It is the profession’s worst nightmare: a nurse draws 3 cc’s of insulin instead of 3 units.  Thankfully, a preceptor is there to double-check the dosage. It could have been lethal.

The first few months of most nursing jobs begin with working with a preceptor—a mentor who is by your side to make sure nothing goes amiss.  Whether you are fresh out of nursing school about [...]