Related: Career, Compliments, Conflict, Education, Feelings, Nurse Relationships, Nursing Jobs, Nursing Trends

"Such a waste!"

Those were painful words to hear from a colleague after she learned that I was using my nursing degree in a new way.

For the past year, I've been working in Nursing Informatics at the hospital where I am employed.  It embraces where nursing is headed in the 21st century.

I'm excited about the direction of my career-even if it isn't where I slated it [...]

Related: Attitude, Career, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Education, Mindset, Patient Advocate, Stereotypes

I am an RN studying to be a Physician Assistant. I have been training in the medical model for PA school after my nursing school education. I’ve essentially sat in on the training of both MDs and RNs and can tell you stereotypes are ingrained on both sides.

Doctors are groomed to expect to have nurses “bugging” them for orders, calling them with useless and non-important [...]

Related: Confidence, Education, Learning, Mentor, New Nurse, New Nurse Tips

Many of you may be celebrating National Nurses Week, 2008 for the first time as professional Registered Nurses. You have entered nursing at a time when there is a great deal to be proud of.

Several thousand hospitals have achieved “Magnet” recognition, and while these are not perfect places to work in, they are easing the transition for new nurses. The magnet standards have improved working [...]

Related: Education, Student Nurse

After a couple of years of very hard pre-reqs (where I got all A's) I was so excited last month to finally start nursing school! So far, though, it has been nothing but complete and utter frustration. No, not because the work is hard, but because my teachers and the whole program just seem to be so unorganized and disconnected!

For example, my teacher has never [...]

Related: Abuse, Addiction, Anger, Caregivers, Compassion Fatigue, Drug Addiction, DUI, Education, Emotions, Failure, Felony, Management, Mistake, Nurse Support, Perfect Nurse, Stereotypes, Stress, Success, Support, Weaknesses

Addiction: it’s a moral issue, right? Whoever starts abusing a drug is a bad person, making a bad choice, and should be punished. At the very least, they should be able to quit on the spot.

But it’s not that simple. According to Dr. Linda Barile, APRN, and advocate for nurses who are addicts, we need to stop blaming them and instead support them through recovery.

Here [...]

Related: Career, Education, Goals, Leadership, Learning, Nursing Shortage, Professionalism, Resume, Teamwork

The way you start your career as a new nurse is important—but often overlooked. With so much to learn, we tend to focus mostly on the job – we’re so worried that we’re going to hurt a patient. It takes a while before we discover that we’re never going to know everything. So as you start your new job, think about launching your career. Here’s [...]

Related: Career, Conflict, Education, Feelings, Interview, Job Search, Nursing Jobs, Quitting, Success

Stuck. You’re in a position that just doesn’t feel right and doesn’t work, period. You feel paralyzed, petrified of looking for something new. You think, Will a new position make a difference? Will I be able to find a place where I’m respected? Will I be able to find a job that works with my schedule? What if it takes a long time?

You’re not alone. [...]

Related: Career, Confidence, Education, Feedback, Leadership, Management, New Grad, New Nurse, Nurse Educator, Nursing Associations, Professionalism

“What do you want to be doing in five years?”

It’s a question that 33-year veteran nurse Patti Ludwig-Beymer hates. It never helped her focus on what she really wanted to do. In fact, new nurses who are able to articulate a five-year plan are the minority. Most nurses just hope to make it through another day.

But goal setting is essential to developing as a nurse [...]

Related: Career, Confidence, Education, Feedback, Leadership, Management, New Grad, New Nurse Tips, Nurse Educator, Nursing Organizations, Seasoned Nurses

The thought of being a leader when you first become an RN may be unimaginable. But leadership is learned, even if at first you don't feel all that confident.

Choose Your Leadership Style
You can learn a lot about the leader you want to become by watching how people work. In your unit, there are positive and negative leaders. Positive leaders are those who are patient advocates, [...]