Real-world nurses bring competency, professionalism, and passion to the hospital everyday. But according to a new study, it wasn’t until recently that onscreen nurses exhibited these qualities. David Stanley, MSc, RN, RM, lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Curtin University of Technology, in Perth, Australia, studied 280 films featuring nurses produced throughout the U.S., U.K., Western Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia...  Read More »

Tip #1: Know the numbers You have accepted your first nursing position and will begin your orientation tomorrow. The first few days are very similar regardless of what facility you have chosen. Fire Safety, HIPAA, and an array of educational modules will be presented to you. Your head will be spinning with paperwork and introductions. Once you get through the Human Resources pitch and all of the other regulatory mandates, you will finally...  Read More »

It’s been quite some time now that I’ve been working, already more than a month. And at this point, I still can’t get over the fact that I’m not in school! Even though I’m constantly under supervision from my preceptor, it is strangely liberating. For the first time, I don’t have to rely on my professors for feedback. Now, I am the one patients are looking to for information about their diagnosis or prognosis....  Read More »

Sandra Mattingly, RN, has been given a second chance to put her nursing skills to use. This time around, she is bringing an additional skill to the bedside: song. “We have all of the clinical skills and the modern technology. Nurses need to see eye to eye with their patients and relate the heart, not just the procedure,” says Mattingly. “That’s what’s missing in nursing today.” Known as the “singing...  Read More »

Red, green, yellow, purple, and pink—these are the colors of one wristband color system improving patient safety in hospitals across the nation. But the key to success isn’t just the colors; it’s the fact that one particular color-coding system is catching on. It’s common for hospitals to use an array of colors for patient wristbands as reminders for certain conditions, such as allergies or fall risks, but Bonnie Haluska, RN, CRRN,...  Read More »

When looking to develop a critical-thinking process in a facility, it’s best to start with the basics. “Critical thinking has been around for a couple of decades, but applying it in healthcare is something we’ve been looking at pretty closely for the last 10 years,” says Carole R. Eldridge, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, dean at St. John’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar,...  Read More »

Editor’s note: This excerpt is adapted from HCPro’s new book “Nurse Retention Toolkit: Everyday Ways to Recognize and Reward Nurses,” by Lydia Ostermeier, MSN, RN, CHCR and Bonnie Clair, BSN, RN. Leaving nursing school to enter the workforce can be a difficult transitional period for many new nurse graduates. And literature reveals that 57% of new nurse graduates will leave their first position within two years of...  Read More »

The reality is that we have operated for years in an environment where people were punished or looked down upon for making errors. Such negative energy around mistakes has decreased our sense of self-esteem. Therefore, many nurses find it hard to receive feedback and even harder to give feedback directly to the person involved. The culture is changing, however, and your response to mistakes in the workplace is critical to creating a safer...  Read More »

The reality is that we have operated for years in an environment where people were punished or looked down upon for making errors. Such negative energy around mistakes has decreased our sense of self-esteem. Therefore, many nurses find it hard to receive feedback and even harder to give feedback directly to the person involved. The culture is changing, however, and your response to mistakes in the workplace is critical to creating a safer...  Read More »

By Richard Freedberg, RN, MSN, MPA I’m not sure I still want to be a nurse. Has this thought ever crossed your mind? Whether you have heard fellow students or new graduates openly disclose it, it’s fairly safe to assume many share the same doubts and apprehensions. Here’s what we all need to agree on: It is never wrong to have doubts since they are an important part of the human experience. They sometimes prevent us from...  Read More »