(Author’s note: Permission has been granted by all parties involved, including the patient's family, to share medical details that may make this patient identifiable.) One of the things that feels most unfair about pediatric ICU nursing is that with critically ill children, you don’t get the comfort of being able to look back and say … Continue reading How a Patient’s Family Heals a Nurse in this Era of Medicine
No Ordinary Sunday
The readjusting back and forth between intensely challenging nursing shifts and everyday normal life is a real thing to navigate. It still catches me by surprise every time, how hard it really is. I am in the thick of a full 12+ hours of trying to manage chaos and logistics in a unit full … Continue reading No Ordinary Sunday
The Deeper Thank-You Every Nurse Needs
When I say to fellow nurses during Nurses Week, “Thank you for everything you do,” what I am saying is thank you for: Of course all the close attention you pay to your patients, safe med administration, the turning, the bathing, lifting, oral care, eye care, skin care, wound care; The hand-holding, teaching, empathizing, listening, … Continue reading The Deeper Thank-You Every Nurse Needs
New Blog Post for AJN: The Nurse’s Temptation to Fill in the Patient Handoff Narrative
In my latest blog post for American Journal of Nursing, I share a reflection on how easy it is for me as a nurse to presume I know a patient and family's full story when I don't know it at all. What happens to the nuances of our care when we are or are not … Continue reading New Blog Post for AJN: The Nurse’s Temptation to Fill in the Patient Handoff Narrative
Vision and Faithfulness
This is a rather personal reflection, and I debated whether to post it on my personal blog versus this nursing-specific one. Ultimately this is still very much about the issues and conversations happening within nursing, so with some sense of vulnerability, I’m posting it here. What a curious journey the past year has been. People … Continue reading Vision and Faithfulness
New AJN Post: Strong Nursing Management Empowers the Why
My latest blog post for American Journal of Nursing brings light to the incredible nursing management that I and my colleagues are so fortunate to work under. We realize this is not the culture for all nurses, but my hope in writing the article is that it would inspire many nurse managers to consider the … Continue reading New AJN Post: Strong Nursing Management Empowers the Why
TED-Ed Lesson on “How Grief Can Enable Nurses to Endure” now available!
For all nurse educators, managers, leaders, bookclub facilitators, or bedside nurses looking for a guided way to talk about work-related grief with other nurses: I have created a new TED-Ed lesson based on my original TEDxTalk, "How Grief Can Enable Nurses to Endure." It includes some introductory prompts allowing for people to share about their work-related … Continue reading TED-Ed Lesson on “How Grief Can Enable Nurses to Endure” now available!
Keynote Speech to RN Residency New Grad Nurses: The Best and Most Vital Thing You Can Give Your Patients
I had the privilege of delivering the keynote speech to our hospital's recent cohort of RN Residency New Graduate Nurses as they have completed orientation and will now be working independently in their respective units. One of the things I was most excited about was the opportunity to also briefly address the many friends and … Continue reading Keynote Speech to RN Residency New Grad Nurses: The Best and Most Vital Thing You Can Give Your Patients
New AJN blog post: Tallying Losses and Gains of Being a Nurse, and Finding Profit
My latest blog post for AJN was inspired by an honest conversation with a friend who went through a period of time when she wondered whether nursing was beginning to destroy her. These are some thoughts on how we emerge and find renewal of heart from that place. Click here to read the post.
New AJN blog post: Integrating Strong Emotions as a Developing Nurse
If you were sitting in front of a classroom of nursing students, full of idealism and motivation about their future career, what would you tell them? "We want to present the reality of nursing to these students, not to shatter their idealism, but to push them towards meaningful self-awareness from the start of their nursing … Continue reading New AJN blog post: Integrating Strong Emotions as a Developing Nurse
