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RealityRN
Posts Tagged ‘Support’
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Rookie Wit & Wisdom

Have you ever gone home after a shift and been haunted by what you may have forgotten: Did I remember all the meds? Did I chart it all? When I passed on my report did I remember everything? Did I assess everything correctly?

I often wake up—as if in a nightmare—cataloging what I may have forgotten. It has created an immense amount of anxiety. I’m plagued [...]
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Rookie Wit & Wisdom

The seasoned nurses on my floor have called me a complaining, spoiled brat.

Okay, maybe I complained.

I guess I felt justified. Just out of nursing school, I suddenly was working nights, weekends, holidays--all the hard shifts. I wasn’t used to not being able to spend “normal” time with my friends and family; it was a difficult transition.

When I expressed my frustration--said something like, “I’m tired,” or [...]
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Provocative Topics
The path to recovery for nurse addicts.

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 [...]
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Nurse Relationships
Build your network of support before you need it.

My first year of nursing, I considered becoming a forest ranger. Nursing was bleeding my emotions.

When I first got out of school, hospitals faced a big nursing shortage—not unlike today. The unit was understaffed, and the level of responsibility quickly overwhelmed me.

Worse, I became trapped in a destructive internal dialogue. I’d constantly tell myself: I’m not doing a good enough job. I stink at this. [...]
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Handling Stress
How to replenish your energy for work.

Extreme tiredness, negative feelings, weight gain, and marital problems.

One moment, Kayla thought she was depressed and that medication would help. Another moment, she thought her husband was the problem and that she should quit her marriage.

But Kayla wasn’t depressed. She suffered from something that affects many professional caregivers.

In recent years, Mary Jo Barrett, author and social worker from the Center for Contextual Change, in Elmhurst, [...]
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Nurse Relationships
Nurses must confront workplace abuse.

The new nurse was doing the best she could. But it wasn’t fast enough for the emergency room doctor. As the doctor struggled to triage the patient, he became more and more agitated. Finally, he yelled and threw a bloody sponge at the nurse—right in the middle of a procedure.

When physical and verbal abuse takes place in the workplace, immediate action should be taken. But [...]
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Managing Your Career
Every new nurse should have one.

“Find a mentor” is a phrase verging on cliché. But it became a call-to-arms because it worked. If you are a new nurse, a mentor relationship can work for you—to answer your questions, guide you through conflict, or discuss your next career move.

RealityRN senior advisory board member and nursing professor Cecelia Gatson Grindel, PhD, RN, CMSRN, FAAN, talks straight about the benefits of a mentor, [...]
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