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RealityRN
Posts Tagged ‘Professionalism’
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Nurse Relationships
How to bring unity back to nursing.

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 [...]
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Rookie Wit & Wisdom

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 [...]
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Rookie Wit & Wisdom

I work at a hospital where nurses more frequently deal with residents than with attendings.

On one level, it’s a lot of fun, because there’s great camaraderie. They’re learning just like we (new nurses) are. We ask them questions, and they ask us questions. Sometimes we even step in and offer advice when they’re doing a procedure wrong, or point out when they’ve forgotten something, like [...]
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Rookie Wit & Wisdom

In the OR things can get hairy—real fast. And in those moments of peril, doctors seem to be the most disrespectful of nurses.

I’ve had doctors yell at me for not having what they needed in the room. They bawl, “Hey, nurse, why isn’t such-and-such instrument/med ready? Why isn’t it here? I need it now!”

In those moments, I cover my name badge and say, “Do you [...]
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Reality Unscripted

Everyone wants to be treated with respect; nurses are no different. But we often exhibit behavior that undermines our professionalism. Over the years, I've developed a list of the 5 things that scream, "I am not a professional!"

1. Sharing too much of your own story. I've done this several times. Once when I was assisting my doc with a Pap smear, the patient mentioned [...]
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Interacting With Patients
It’s not quantity, it’s quality.

As a new nurse, your goal is to make a difference. You want to heal people. You want to engage with patients, communicating to them your professionalism and that you care. But countless tasks and a steep learning curve may prevent you from the patient interaction you were expecting. According to Donna Cardillo, considered to be the “guru of career development” for new nurses, this [...]
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Rookie Wit & Wisdom

Nurses need to put a lid on the gossiping: “Did you hear what so-and-so said at happy hour?” “Did you see what she did at that party?” “Did you see those pictures of so-and-so wasted?” “Did you see what happened between that nurse and doctor?” It all might seem like harmless chit-chat, but there’s always a real person at the other end of the [...]
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Interacting With Patients
How nurses can help patients who need extra emotional support.

You can’t meet each patient’s emotional needs. You’d never be able to leave your work behind. Or get anything done. But there are times when some patients need a little extra support and will drop hints to get you to respond.

What are those hints and how do you sensibly help? Read this interview with RealityRN Senior Advisor CeCe Grindel, PhD, RN, CMSRN, FAAN, to learn [...]
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Reality Unscripted

In the last blog we established that if you're in a job you hate, you need to find another one. If you hate your job, how effective a nurse can you really be? That's the question I want to take a look at now.

Contrary to what my last entry may have sounded like, I believe in being a change agent for our profession. [...]
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Reality Unscripted

I have a theory about nurses. Actually, I have several, but this is one of my favorites.

I believe there are two types of nurses. The first group of nurses are the "professionals". These are the men and women with lots of letters after their name, a wallet full of membership cards, and a mailbox overflowing with professional journals. They are on numerous committees and are [...]
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