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We sit down with Perrette St. Preux, a nurse, to explore the realities of work-life balance in health care. We discuss the personal and professional challenges that come with maintaining well-being in a …
Why health care professionals must ask, “How am I doing?” [PODCAST]
A few years ago, my college-age sons utilized the Common App for college applications. It’s a logical and brilliant concept: one online application that students can use to apply to multiple colleges and universities at once. And it’s accepted by thousands of colleges and universities worldwide. I remember thinking, “Why aren’t we doing this for nurse practitioner (NP) programs?” It seemed like a great solution, so I decided to research it.
Anyone …
How a standardized agreement could end the preceptor shortage
I have been in health care and worked as a bedside nurse for more than 30 years now. Early in my career a surgeon said to me, “I could have made changes if I had that information sooner. I’ve had 200 people on my operating room table during this time.”
The surgeon was referring to critical data within medical registries, which are used by clinicians to improve care delivery. Registries have …
How automation helps nurses return to the bedside
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We welcome Ann-Louise Puopolo, a nurse executive, to discuss the critical issue of the nursing shortage crisis and the impact of burnout and technology fatigue on health care workers. Ann-Louise shares insights from …
How technology can support nurses and improve patient safety [PODCAST]
An excerpt from The Medical Improv Toolkit: 10 Simple Activities to Promote Safe Care, Healthy Workplaces, & Rewarding Careers!
“Were there none who were discontented with what they have,
the world would never reach anything better.”
~Florence Nightingale
The expectation for dedicating time to playful activities can seem like a waste of time, especially with relentless clinical priorities and limited resources. In order to justify the time needed to proceed with this work, …
Transform your health care team with these 5-minute communication exercises
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Join us for an enlightening conversation with Joseph Lanctot, a nurse practitioner, as he explores the significance of professional identity in healthcare. Joseph shares his personal experiences of being mislabelled as a doctor …
Why calling nurse practitioners “doctor” undermines the nursing profession [PODCAST]
The aging nursing population is one of the underlying conditions contributing to the nursing shortage in the United States. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1 million nurses are at least 50 years of age, and 60 percent of nurses are over age 40. Furthermore, over 20 percent of nurses plan to retire within the next five years. For reference, there are nearly 4.7 million registered nurses (RNs) …
The aging nursing population is contributing to the U.S. nursing shortage
An excerpt from Healing Healthcare: Evidence-Based Strategies to Mend Our Broken System.
The greatest challenge facing our professional workforce today is creating a healthy work environment in which nurses care for patients. A significant characteristic of a healthy work environment is appropriate staffing. Nurse staffing is a multifaceted issue, and it is extremely difficult to objectively advocate for change. Different members of the health care team have different concepts of …
Pandemic lessons: How better staffing and communication can save health care
After 45 years as an ICU nurse specializing in surgical trauma ICU and eventually PACU nursing, Marsha wasn’t ready to retire. She was restless and bored and decided to continue her PACU expertise at a freestanding surgical center. While juggling that job and an endoscopy center, she started to notice a recurring theme: time is money.
The endoscopy freestanding clinic performed colonoscopies, EGDs, and sigmoidoscopies—up to 42 procedures a day. More …
The health care assembly line. Time is money.
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We delve into the critical issue of burnout in nursing with Andrea Coyle, a nurse practitioner. We explore the distinct symptoms of burnout, how they manifest differently across genders and generations, and the …
Fighting nurse burnout: insights and solutions [PODCAST]
Genetic testing is now the standard of care for common diseases such as cancer and heart disease, predicting risk and enabling earlier and more effective patient care. It’s an exciting revolution in patient care that has far-reaching potential and continues to grow and expand. But in Canada, we are not using all of our health human resources to take advantage of this important transformation in health care.
What’s missing are …
It’s time for more genomics education in nursing
The medical alert blared over the hospital’s public announcement system. Someone was down in the medical office building. A medical team, including myself and a doctor, rushed with a portable cot to find a man in his early 30s unconscious on the waiting room floor.
The man hadn’t been feeling well and was waiting to see his doctor when he passed out. We whisked him to the ER, and I …
Can we afford to lose nurses? The economic argument for change
Burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Burnout occurs gradually over time and has three fundamental symptoms:
Exhaustion is feeling physically and emotionally exhausted and can be related to spending an excessive amount of time and effort on a particular task. Depersonalization is having an indifferent attitude and can manifest as negative, sarcastic, or cynical people towards people you are meant to serve. …
Nurse burnout: causes, symptoms, and solutions by gender and generation
My first clinical rotation as a nursing student was on the same floor where my mother died of cancer. And my very first patient was a young Hispanic man with four children. I was asked to tell him that he had pancreatic cancer and very little time left. I was 21 years old and the only Spanish speaker on the floor – back in those days, interpretive services were rarely …
America’s nurses have PTSD: Will anyone listen to them?
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Join Karlene Kerfoot, a nurse executive, as we delve into the nurse and clinician workforce crisis in the United States. Discover the factors contributing to this crisis, the impact of administrative tasks on health care professionals, and …
Nursing in crisis: How administrative tasks are taking a toll [PODCAST]
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Join Beth Boynton, a nurse consultant, as we delve into the pressing issue of health care worker resilience. Discover the importance of empowering health care professionals, developing essential interpersonal skills, and the role of emotional intelligence in …
Resilience beyond self-care [PODCAST]
In Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence (EQ), there are two main competencies: Personal competency, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation; and social competency, which includes social skills and empathy.
We can think of both competencies in terms of communication. Personal competency relates to our abilities to identify and value our needs, wants, limits, etc., and to express them respectfully, i.e., speaking up. Social competency refers to our ability to observe, …
Why emotional intelligence is critical for safe nurse staffing
I like to thrift shop. Aisle after aisle weaves a story of people and their lives. Pieces of trinkets I’ll never need. But I can feel the hidden simple beauty, and then I have to have it. My children can line my gravesite with the thousands of collectible pottery… those awkward, strange gems I know I can’t take with me.
And then …
Second chances and simple beauty in thrift stores
ICU: Our acuities were high, and staffing was low. Our ICU, with 24 beds, was already full. The staffing situation for that night was so poor that instead of our RNs having a 2:1 patient-nurse ratio, we were forced into 3:1 assignments.
Despite the challenging circumstances, we couldn’t have asked for a better team of ICU nurses. They were the best in their field, supported by two dedicated Respiratory Therapists assigned …
Life and death in the ICU: a night of heroism, tragedy, and budgetary battles
I love two nurses. One of them is my son, and the other is someone very close to me. She’ll have her own article.
My son has just finished his seventh 12-hour ICU shift. He’s wiped out, devastated, and shell-shocked. Let me introduce him to you before sharing his pain.
The kid was always enthusiastic about medicine. He wanted to be a physician more than anything. Maybe it runs in the family; …
The heartbreaking reality of a nurse’s struggle: a father’s tale
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