Related: Abuse, Addiction, Anger

Here is my two cent philosophy about the origin of stress in nursing, which causes nurses to abuse alcohol,food,illicit activities and drugs. Caring for other human beings is a privilege and a gift from God. Which I am grateful to do for over 20 years as an RN. I feel pride in the younger people who are excited about joining the profession because they see [...]

Related: Anger, Assertiveness, Boundaries, Caregiving, Communication, Expectations, Feelings, Patience, Patients, Problem Solving, Professionalism

I have been a nurse for nine months and work in a busy ER outside of Washington DC. I often find myself dealing with "Frequent Flyers" and people who misuse the emergency system (i.e., I'm fairly certain the rash you've had for six months did not just today become an emergency).

I am really struggling with how to deal with some of these difficult patients. I [...]

Related: Anger, Assertiveness, Attitude, Communication, Complaints, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Emotions, Expectations, Feedback, Feelings, Hostility, Non-Verbal Language, Respect, Student Nurse, Support

I am a 4th-year BSN student , and part of our OB clinical experience was to follow an OB/GYN last week.  It was a horrible experience.

First, I was put in a room with 3rd-year med students, which was great because I introduced myself and got to chat with them about their program.

Then I waited over an hour for someone to acknowledge me.  (I was escorted [...]

Related: Anger, Caring, Conflict, Delegation, Emotions, Expectations, Failure, Mindset, New Nurse, Nursing Shortage, Patients, Stress, Support, Time

I went to work: 14 surgical patients. The nurse assistant called in sick and they couldn't find a replacement for the first four hours of my shift.

The day didn’t start out great—-and soon got worse.

That day I asked the hospital cleaning crew to mop up some fresh vomit. "We don't clean up body fluids," she replied. I tried to borrow her mop to clean it [...]

Related: Anger, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Emotions, Feelings, Patience, Teamwork

Yesterday the doctor I work for was fuming. He was ticked that I messed up his schedule by adding a patient. After he snipped at me, he stormed off to see the patient, who had a bad leg infection.

The patient evaluation softened the doctor's mood. The guy obviously needed to be seen--and we finished the day right on time.

Apologetic and sheepish, the doc seemed to [...]

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: Abuse, Anger, Authority, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Violence

Just the other day, a surgical nurse, nine months out of nursing school, wrote me,

"Not long ago, after a difficult surgery in which the patient died, the surgeon started swearing at me, as if it were my fault. I know this sounds crazy, but he kicked me. Yep, with his foot. I hesitate to report him. What should I do?"

Now, in my 24 years of [...]