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: 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: 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: 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: Caring, Spirituality

I was sitting with my daughter at Mayo Clinic, a large medical complex in Rochester, Minnesota, and considered to be one of the leading medical research institutions in North America. It's the place to be if you've exhausted all other options.

While waiting for our next appointment, we grabbed lunch at a cafe. A friend back home had told me that a mutual acquaintance would [...]

Related: Caring, Death, Emotions, Feelings, Patients, Spirituality

When I was a little girl, I always was attracted to the "injury of the day" on the playground. The more traumatic, the better. It didn't have to be bloody, it just had to be dramatic. I was literally drawn to the banged-up child, crying on the blacktop. I couldn't stay away.

Even as a child, I had the heart of a [...]

Related: Charting, Nurse Relationships, Organizational Skills, Teamwork

I spent the better part of this afternoon helping my 9-year-old clean her room.

The term "pig sty" is fitting. She has avoided the task for weeks because it was simply overwhelming. I would have yelled more were I able to walk through the garage or guest room. The apple did not fall far from the disorganized tree.

Throughout the day, Kira kept saying, "This is so [...]

Related: Caregivers, Caring, Patient Advocate, Patients, Time

It was my mom's birthday yesterday. She said I gave her the best present she's ever gotten: me for a day.

We hung out in her apartment organizing old family pictures, reminiscing about people and places in our past. We met my brother for lunch and did some more "Do you remember when...?" Funny thing is, my mother, who has Alzheimer's, can't remember most things. Yet [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Attitude, Communication, Management, Mindset, Nurse Relationships, Nurse Support, Professionalism, Quitting, Seasoned Nurses, Teamwork

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. [...]