Related: Anxiety, Authority, Mistake, Patients, Professionalism, Respect

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 [...]

Related: Anxiety, Embarrassing Moment, Humor, Patients, Travel Nursing

As a traveling nurse, I was sent to check a patient who was close to dying. The night prior to my arrival, he had gone to the ER to have a Foley inserted.

When I arrived at the patient's home, his wife greeted me with, "Oh, nurse, I am so glad you are here! My husband needs to move his bowels, and I cannot [...]

Related: Career, Job Search, Learning, New Nurse Tips, Nursing Jobs, Second Career Nursing, Student Nurse, Success

We’re all eager to land our first jobs once we finish nursing school. Maybe too eager.

Last year, when I was a student, we were given the option of working at a variety of hospitals during our clinical rotation. Many students stayed in the same hospital to get familiar with the people and the program. Ultimately, they had their hearts set on working there and there [...]

Related: Attitude, Goals, Learning, Morale, Motivation, Prioritizing, Success

I had a birthday a few days ago. My children tell me I'm old. So does my drivers license.

They say that with age comes wisdom. I think they're right, but not because you naturally get smarter. You just have more opportunities to hang out with smart people.

I encountered one of those smart people at a conference 5 years ago. [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Attitude, Caring, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, New Nurse Tips, Patience, Patients

In 2008 I will:

Be more patient with difficult patients.

Be more patient with difficult families.

Be more patient with myself.

Be more assertive with difficult doctors.

Be less difficult to work with.

Be more assertive with anyone who keeps me from giving my patients the best possible care.

Be more accepting of working the crummy shifts.

Be more accepting of being the "new nurse".

Stop spending more than I have so I don't [...]

Related: Anxiety, Authority, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Power, Respect

As a new nurse, you find out quickly the doctors who are approachable and willing to offer you suggestions and those whom you should try and avoid.

Eight weeks into my nursing job, I had a run-in with one of the “unapproachables.” He actually caused me to break into hives.

It happened when I had to call an orthopedic surgeon for a consult. He wanted to know [...]

Related: Attitude, Feelings, Night Shift, Orientee, Patients

Christmas 1983. I was finishing orientation at my first hospital job and had to spend two weeks working pm's before going on permanent nights. I can't say I was looking forward to giving up every evening over the holidays as the rest of the world partied.

On one of my first evenings, a teenager, a senior in high school, was admitted after a sledding [...]

Related: Attitude, Career, Caregivers, Caring, Patients, Quitting, Student Nurse

When my boyfriend told his mother, who's a nurse, that I started a nursing program, I think she thought I was going into it for the money. I'm not going to lie, I was.

The first day of lecture, the instructor said to us, "Walk out of this room if you're getting into nursing for the money." Of course, no one left. Then at midterm, many [...]

Related: Attitude, Caring, Learning, Mindset, Non-Verbal Language, Patients, Student Nurse

As a nursing student, I realize that I have much to learn about dealing with difficult patients. This last semester I was assigned a patient on a med-surg floor who was known to be “contrary." The staff nurse taking care of her was fresh out of school, too (just over a year), and the two of us were trying to take care of this woman--without [...]

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 [...]