I’ve been working on a geriatric floor this semester, and although it provides diverse all-purpose care, many of my patients have had one common element -- dementia. Dementia is never what actually brings my patients into the hospital. Instead, the admitting complaint is usually something like chest pain, cancer complications, or ...

Whether you’re a musician, a language student or a healthcare provider, there’s no such thing as too much practice. Repetition helps make actions second nature, but it’s especially important when you’re tackling something new for the first time. This is why I’m such a big proponent of simulation labs for nursing. They give nursing students a way ...

Great ideas come in many forms. And sometimes great ideas are forms. Take for example, the idea for a ''Stages of Surgery'' form brought to our attention by its creator, Kevin Visitacion, BSN, RN, an OR nurse in Chicago. The aim of the form is to keep patients and their families, as well as OR nurses and other healthcare staff, including ...

This Memorial Day, as we remember our country's fallen heroes, I ask that you do not forget the brave Nurses who may have cared for and comforted them in their final hours; In the revolutionary War, Abigail Hartman Rice and Christina Hench were there... In the Civil War, Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott were there...  In the ...

Did you know March is National Women’s History Month?  Designated by joint resolutions of the House and Senate and proclamations by five American presidents, it is an opportunity to honor and celebrate women's achievements throughout history. Nursing is certainly filled with its share of historical female figures, beginning perhaps most ...

We all know Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin; most of us don't know it was 1928. I had to look that up. Also, few of us know when penicillin became a common treatment. There's an interesting and tragic story behind how this miracle drug made its debut to the world.Early on, support for the production and further development of penicillin ...

It's back to school time again. You can bet of all the back-to-school reports in newspapers, local TV or radio, you won't hear one on school nurses. And I want to know why? With nurse-to-patient/student ratios of 1-to-1,000 in some communities, why isn't the school nurse the hero we all want to thank? Fifty years ago, the job of a school nurse ...

I recently edited a compelling article on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) written by Lisa Siminski, BSN, RN, CHPN, staff nurse, St. Luke's Hospice House, Bethlehem, PA.   In her report on PAS, Siminski points out straight away that the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses ''clearly specifies that nurses ...

You probably don't know the name Sara Dale, RN - then again, perhaps you do. The British nurse has been the target of investigations, allegations of scandal, and loss of livelihood since it came to light that she had romantic relationships with the spouses of her deceased patients. As you can well imagine, it's a story well-suited for the ...

Nursing’s ranking as the most trusted profession in America the past 8 years in Gallup’s annual Honesty & Ethics poll is testament to the reverence with which the public holds the caring profession. It’s a sentiment nurses return each day when they go to work. In fact, for some that sense of commitment to caring about and for ...