A nurse, Maria, was working in the ICU. There were 8 patients with 4 nurses. The acuity was very high and for everything that needed to be done for each patient, they needed more staff. One patient coded and 2 nurses were assisting with the code while the other 2 nurses were caring for the remaining 7 patients. One of the remaining patient’s condition was deteriorating and it went unnoticed. That patient coded and died. The nurse was so upset, she took the code sheet and slammed it on her … [Read more...]

The definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting to get a different result. Sometimes I feel like a hamster on a wheel – I try to escape the wheel but it keeps going round and round. I also am thinking that if I keep going on this wheel, I’m going to get somewhere, get a different result and then be able to jump off this wheel. But the obvious reality is that if I keep going around on the wheel the only thing I will accomplish is to keep going around on … [Read more...]

Guest post by Caroline Porter Thomas Hello & Thank you for reading! A special thanks also to Lorie, for having me. My name is Caroline Porter Thomas and I’m so excited that you are reading this! I believe that you can truly be happy in your career as a nurse, but, it does take a little work. The nursing job can be very physically and mentally challenging. Most of the time you are working short handed and there will be multiple times that you will have to handle people directing … [Read more...]