(Editor's note: This guest blog was written by Suzanne LeBeau, BSN, RN, CLNC.) We all know the scenario. You're getting report on your sixth patient and the nurse who is giving report is spent, burnt out and just wants to go home to her cozy bed. As you may imagine, the conversation may go like this: First nurse: ''In room 320 is Mr. Jones, a ...

As most everyone knows by now, nurses have for several years been ranked the ''Most Trusted Profession'' in an annual Gallup survey of Americans. But now a new study reveals nurses are also very good at assessing the quality of care delivered in the hospital units in which they work.  In short, it turns out nurses are not only trustworthy ...

Early last month two nurses at Aurora Medical Center filed a class action lawsuit against the Colorado facility's parent company, HealthOne of Denver, over the time it takes them to put on and take off their scrubs. They want to get paid to dress. The nurses are required to wear scrubs while on the job, but the hospital's policy states those ...

It’s about time. A guilty plea by Dr. Rolando Arafiles in a West Texas courtroom last week closed a painful chapter in the long career of Texas nurses Anne Mitchell, RN, and Vicki Galle, BSN, RN. As part of a plea bargain, Arafiles admitted guilt to retaliation and misuse of official information, both felonies, for his part in targeting the nurses ...

It's official. Nursing, the Internet and wireless technology are now inextricably intertwined - even when it comes to de-stressing, as evidenced by the new mobile app from the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future called the ''Happy Nurse'' Game. Nurses, nursing students or anyone interested in the profession can play the game ...

''Smokers Need Not Apply.'' That sign was theoretically hoisted by the human resources department at St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley one year ago. The network consists of five hospitals and some 7,000 employees serving 46,000 patients annually. St. Luke's is the second largest employer in that region, so ...

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 ...

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 ...

My husband says we can't remember everything about a book or a movie or a vacation, so our minds fixate on the most vivid impression and that's what we remember. I just finished reading Nursing in the Storm: Voices from Hurricane Katrina by Denise Danna, DNS, RN, and Sandra E. Cordray, MA, MJ. I set the book down with strong impressions of ...

The other day, while tidying up, I picked up a book, Inspired Nurse by Rich Bluni, RN, and leafed through it. My first reaction: How did I miss this book? My second: Wow, what a great book to tell nurses about, especially in this stressful time and especially because it's almost Nurses Week (May 6-12). And you know how it works, once you hear or ...