I often tell people that I was practicing nursing back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth!  We didn’t have computers then and we didn’t have charting by exception.  We only had what we would write down in the paper chart medical record. While progress in technology has since made documentation so much easier, these advances may not always be in the nurse’s best interest.  When all you need to do is check the boxes to record how the patient is doing, it’s hard to make sure that A + B … [Read more...]

Recently, I have had so many issues with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency and the State Nursing Board that it got to the point where I could not sleep at night.  I decided it was up to me to go out and make change. I really had no idea how to do it.  I am a great advocate one-on-one for my clients, but I have never had the experience of making change for the collective (outside of the hospital). However, I used what I know about making change such as approaching things from a … [Read more...]

Alexandra Robbins is the author of “The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital.” She recently wrote an article for the New York Times titled “Skip the Fancy Towels and Hire More Nurses,” which discusses how hospitals are going about providing more concierge-type services.  Flat screen TVs, monogrammed towels, gazebo patios for patient smoke breaks, fancy gyms, pool and even expresso machines. None of these luxuries are for use by hospital … [Read more...]