What's Your Opinion?

For every nurse who had to go through the student lab multiple times until you learned how to open a sterile package without contaminating it, you'll appreciate this description  of a program to teach residents how to do procedures, What is innovative in academic medicine has been a standard of nursing education for almost ever, If you're not familiar, the Web M&M  site is great - it's Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web - where professionals share mistakes to teach others. You can sign up for a regular e-mail that will let you know when the cases are updated. I've used this site for staff education - it covers all practice areas and I have learned a lot there.

From the same Web site, here is a great case study in which the physician is reprimanded for unprofessional behavior toward a nurse calling with a concern about an opioid overdose, Let's hope the physicians are reading this, too. What's your worst experience with a physician where you had to go to bat for your patient? How does your organization rate in holding physicians accountable for unacceptable behavior? One of my proudest moments was when I physically blocked a physician from getting close enough to a woman to intubate her. She said she never wanted to be on a ventilator again, her daughters agreed, and she had the original copy of her living will and durable power of attorney, naming one of the daughters. The attending agreed to her wishes, having known her forever. The per diem ED doc made all kinds of threats about "reporting" me - and I told him to go ahead, which made him even more angry. The patient held my hand tightly during all this and whispered, "Bless you," in the middle of this fight. That's when I knew I owed her everything I had to prevent the intubation she didn't want. She died peacefully, without pain, with her family by her side three hours later. Fortunately, we never saw that doc in the department again.

Here's a blog  from a woman practicing as a hospitalist. She's sharing her weight loss journey, and her post from April 27  could have been written by 10 nurses I know. It's a great place to get ideas for your own stories in the comments! I think I would love to work with her. What do you think?

And if you need something to perk up your days, check out Best Inspiration. Here, you'll find quotes, resources, books and all sorts of other inspiring things - and the opportunity to sign up for a daily quote to start your day off right.

Till next time ~