Nurses and physicians writing on KevinMD about nursing: what a shift is like, staffing and ratios and the shortage, what nurses and physicians say about each other, the assaults and bullying nurses describe at work, and whether nurse practitioners should practice without physician supervision, argued on the site by both. Three maintained records draw on this archive: Nursing: what nurses and physicians say, in their own words, Scope of practice: what physicians, nurse practitioners, and PAs say, in their own words, and Violence against health care workers: what physicians and nurses say, in their own words.

How nurses made me a more compassionate and caring person, and a better physician

Conditions and Diseases
April 14, 2020

I have had the privilege to serve alongside hundreds of nurses in the nearly 40 years since I started medical school. This includes inpatient and outpatient settings and 20 years of leading medical missions around the world. There are five amazing nurses in my family as well. I have learned from every nurse with whom I have served. This has made me a more compassionate, caring, and empathetic person, and …

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How nurses made me a more compassionate and caring person, and a better physician

The struggle of being a nurse is real

Conditions and Diseases
April 14, 2020

As I struggled my way through nursing school, I never expected my first job as a nurse to feel like this; I was too busy dreaming of the day when I could hold the title of registered nurse.

I never expected to come home crying. I never expected that, at times, I’d mumble the words “I hate my job.” I never expected many of the challenges I face daily— but here …

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The struggle of being a nurse is real

Changes are needed to help today’s health care heroes

Conditions and Diseases
April 12, 2020

On 9/11, firefighters and other first responders rushed in to protect others, and for that, they will always be heroes. Today, health care workers are rushing in to heal those with COVID-19 – at great risk to themselves. Health care workers are the true heroes of this crisis.

On routine days, clinicians caring for patients at the bedside are at far greater risk than most people in …

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Changes are needed to help today’s health care heroes

I won’t sacrifice myself when I can’t get a damn mask

Conditions and Diseases
April 4, 2020

Nurses are responsible for patient care. They are the ones at the bedside 24/7. There is no one who spends more time with individual patients. They are the ones most in danger in the coronavirus pandemic.

The news gets grimmer every day about the inevitable surge coming across the country. Forecast of death tolls in the 100,000 to 200,000 range, if not higher, is terrifying.  If the death toll is that …

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I won’t sacrifice myself when I can’t get a damn mask

A great nurse shares their knowledge and does not judge

Conditions and Diseases
March 6, 2020

As a new nurse, I was constantly overwhelmed.  I had spent four years of my life learning how to become a nurse, and then here I was, being “a nurse” and wondering all the time whether I was even any good at it. My heart was in it. But every moment of every shift, I felt anxious about my understanding of the information presented to me. I remember conversations with …

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A great nurse shares their knowledge and does not judge

This nurse was hiding the truth behind social media

Conditions and Diseases
January 14, 2020

She was new to this ICU. She was young, smart, funny, and considered one of the “cool” nurses.

Before we could really get to know her, she exposed her wonderful, fantastic, perfect life all over social media.

Their perfect two-story brick house, their two little, perfect angel daughters — the perfect life in the perfect town.

But what was most important was her perfect, handsome husband. He was bound to be a self-employed …

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This nurse was hiding the truth behind social media

It’s the Year of the Nurse

Health Policy
January 11, 2020

The World Health Organization has designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in honor of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday.

We owe a lot to Florence Nightingale, but what about Harriet Tubman or Mary Seacole? Nursing – and society – has been changing since the days of these nursing pioneers. It’s way past time to catch up to their timeless insights and fearless activism. We owe to all these …

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It’s the Year of the Nurse

A nurse won’t let this patient die

Conditions and Diseases
December 29, 2019

The sun sets a cascade of pink and yellow in the window of an ICU room. The slow hum of ventilation dampens the buzzes and beeps from machines. I stand in a room inundated by equipment. A machine to monitor vital signs with purple, green, blue, and red on a black background displays peaking and rolling waveforms. Two IV poles with twelve pumps click and murmur sounds of fluid migration …

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A nurse won’t let this patient die

Why a new TV show offends physicians

Physician
December 21, 2019

Relaxing on the couch, my family already in bed, watching TV to calm my mind before leaving for a busy night shift in my emergency department, I was shocked to see an advertisement that insulted me, my colleagues, and my profession.

A trailer for a show called “Nurses” is shameful.

The idea behind the show is admirable — nurses do not get recognition from society for the work they do and the …

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Why a new TV show offends physicians

The gender imbalance in nursing

Health Policy
December 9, 2019

The gender imbalance in nursing, our nation’s largest profession, is a slow-to-change and complex problem steeped in stereotypes, economics, unconscious bias, power, and privilege in health care and society. Along with other diversity gaps in the nursing workforce, gender imbalance is another missing piece to achieving the highest quality patient care. Solving the gender imbalance could accelerate the profession in reaching its full potential.

Diversity improves quality

Addressing the gender gap represents …

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The gender imbalance in nursing

My patients teach me, guide me, and remind me that I am here

Conditions and Diseases
September 19, 2019

It’s an odd thing doing what I do sometimes.  Dichotomies of highs and lows, life and death, joy and sorrow.  In the past 15 years that I have been in health care — a nurse’s assistant, to registered nurse, to now pediatric nurse practitioner — I have had the strange experience of all this emotion.  It wasn’t until recently, maybe because I have a family of my own now, that …

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My patients teach me, guide me, and remind me that I am here

Tips for nurses from a patient who was one

Patient
September 17, 2019

I was an RN for more than 40 years and am now retired. As a recent hospital patient, I documented my experiences. This resulted in a letter to nurses everywhere.

***

Dear Nurse,

Please be kind to me. I am frightened, alone, and in pain. I am way out of my comfort zone and need every bit of encouragement you have to offer.

I arrived at the emergency room a short while ago, was …

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Tips for nurses from a patient who was one

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A thank you from doctors to nurses

Physician
September 5, 2019

Earlier this year, I asked a group of nurses what gifts doctors could give that would help them know they are appreciated. There were hundreds of comments that included many I expected: Food (pizza, chocolate, cake, tacos, bourbon, Starbucks, healthy snacks), pens, cash, and/or gift cards for all shifts.

There were some interesting “high end” ideas: Massages or a massage chair. Trips. Cars. Stethoscopes.

Some still make me shake my head and …

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A thank you from doctors to nurses

A nurse’s powerful ER exit letter

Health Policy
September 1, 2019

Dear hospital,

The last three years, I have had the pleasure of working in our state’s renowned emergency department and level-1 trauma center. My departure closes out a decade of my nursing career as an emergency room and flight nurse. This department — the staff, in particular — will forever hold a very special place in my heart. I leave with a great amount of respect and thanks for this exceptional …

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A nurse’s powerful ER exit letter

Simple suggestions can make such a positive impact

Conditions and Diseases
August 25, 2019

Recently I visited a lady at her home who was a palliative care patient. She was seated on the couch in the living room with a turban on her head and a look of anxiety and depression. Her husband was quiet during the entire visit. He was seated in a chair next to the couch and just looked at his wife and did not participate in the conversation. Her son …

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Simple suggestions can make such a positive impact

Define what true resilience means for you

Health Policy
July 22, 2019

Can you let things roll off your shoulders? Are you the tough, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is, stand-your-ground type? Do you show up to work no matter what? Has no one ever seen you cry at work?

Are these things resilience?

We nurses openly divulge the issues that make us leave the bedside, even amid a vast shortage of nurses. Professional organizations report these issues, and academic, and research institutes aggregate data for a convenient …

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Define what true resilience means for you

A love-hate relationship with nursing

Conditions and Diseases
June 6, 2019

If you went to go to a museum in New York City and saw a live heart encased in glass, still pumping and pulsating — it would be my heart, shredded into a thousand pieces all in disarray. But it still would be pulsating. This describes my life as a nurse.

Nursing was a vacuum that sucked me dry and left me dangling with nothing more to give. Three years left …

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A love-hate relationship with nursing

Nursing’s newest problem: The young eating the old

Health Policy
June 3, 2019

In 1976, we couldn’t wait to be nurses. Our starched white dresses with the nurse caps and stripes symbolized our graduation status as we were called one by one to receive our diploma and a rose.

We took an oath to care for the sick, to be professional, to critically think, to respect doctors and to respect patients and family members.

And to respect each other.

It was the age before computers. We …

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Nursing’s newest problem: The young eating the old

Protect yourself and your standard of living as a nurse

Health Policy
June 1, 2019

This article is about learning to protect yourself and your standard of living as a nurse. Now that I am considered a seasoned nurse, I have concluded that there are many essential aspects of the nursing profession that are not discussed during nursing school. It is a shame because many of these topics should be discussed so that new nurses can prepare themselves for issues that may and often occur …

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Protect yourself and your standard of living as a nurse

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