by Nursetopia on June 18, 2013
Sure, you might be reading this at any hour of the day, but at my present writing time, I just finished an invigorating discussion with the amazing #BCSM community via Twitter. We specifically discussed nurses’ role in oncology care, and it was lovely to see the diversity of thought and the perspectives on nurses and nursing.
My. Head. Is. Swimming. I’m dreaming up dreams and thinking about people and ideas and patient care and…The chat ended at 9 PM Central Time, which is 2100 in military time, which is what we use in healthcare, as well, for all the non-clinical Nursetopia readers.
Adrenaline is pumping through my veins. I feel it. I’m invigorated. That’s the power of connection with like-minded people, passionate people, world-changers, dreamers, and doers. It’s like a jolt of epinephrine at 2100.
I think I need a run or something. Thanks, #BCSM!
by Nursetopia on June 16, 2013
My dad made me a better nurse. He still makes me a better nurse and leader. He just so happens to have done the same for my three other siblings, as well, but we all know I’m the favorite.
I’m fortunate to still have my dad physically in my life, and I never take it for granted. He’s the most humble man I know, and he leads as a servant. Truer than true, he taught me to take control of my own education through reading book after book – and mainly one Book with countless wisdom and applications.
His encouragement is soft and persistent, like good rain. His presence is easy and inviting. His laughter is sweet melody, like the guitar he can strum for hours. He’s a morning person. And if he’s ever hospitalized, I will be that person bringing a box of herb bottles to the admit nurse because he’ll take his garlic, vitamin C, and umpteenth other herbs forever but will never consider them “medicine.” He laughed as I used his medicine cabinet as a first-year nursing student pharmacology project. It was rough. And hysterical now that I really think about it.
Happy Father’s Day to my dad and all the dads and other gentlemen who’ve made fabulous nurses and other professionals! Mwwwwaaaaah!
by Nursetopia on June 14, 2013
by Nursetopia on June 12, 2013
With all the “latest and greatest” in health care today, the industry stands to learn a lot from other areas of business. Here’s what the Institute of Medicine recommends.
by Nursetopia on June 11, 2013
You don’t pay $55 for a dozen eggs do you? How about $48 for a gallon of milk? Maybe a nice chunk of change – $134 – for one dozen oranges?
Of course not. That’s ridiculous.
Well, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), that’s how much those items would cost today if they inflated at the same rate health care has since 1945. That and similarly staggering information about the costs of health care appear in the IOM’s brief, animated representation of its 2011 report, The Healthcare Imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes.
Don’t simply sit back, shake your head, and expect someone else to fix this. Get involved. Maybe you already are. How are you working to make our healthcare system better, more efficient, less wasteful?
by Nursetopia on June 4, 2013
“Great job, Mom!” My 8-year-old son clutched a piece of paper in the backseat as we were thick in the midst of evening rush-hour traffic. I was perturbed with the stop-and-go-and-stop-again while thinking hard about work.
“What’s up, Bud,” I inquired quizzically as I stared into the rearview mirror.
With as much enthusiasm as if I had won a tremendous achievement, he exclaimed, “You earned three contact hours!”
My day melted away and the traffic became unnoticeable as I burst into laughter. I had just come from a brief nursing education program, and my son had found my continuing nursing education, or CNE, certificate of completion. One CNE certificate of literally a hundred or more I’ve received in my nursing career. Of course, I positively reinforced the heck out the situation: “Thanks, Sweetboy! That means a lot to me.”
Can you tell certificates are kind of a big deal in our home these days? They’re a must with a second grader and kindergartener. I’ve thought about this simple one-minute-or-less of my life many times since it happened. It makes me smile every time I think about it. I’m not sure when I lost my own zeal for certificates. Ten years of nursing, planning countless nursing education programs, and receiving and logging who-knows-how-many nursing education certificates of completion over the years for regulatory and certification compliance have likely jaded my view.
Not anymore. I’ll think of those zealous congratulatory words each and every time I hold a CNE certificate of completion until the day I die. I hope you pause to celebrate the routine achievements of completing continuing education course after continuing education course…even when there’s no one to exuberantly cheer great job!
by Nursetopia on May 30, 2013
Here’s a sample of the “informal” reading that’s caught my attention this week:
What have you been reading recently?
by Nursetopia on May 29, 2013
Nursing is not always holding a patient’s hand at the bedside or listening to a family member grieve or welcoming uncomplicated, new life or being a knowledgeable and present professional in times of crisis. No, there are some not-so-inspirational nursing and healthcare moments rarely discussed in print.
Writing is vulnerability in print. It’s realization. Even as I work to be honest and open, you only see and read portions that I allow you access.
At the moment, I’m broken-spirited. I’m angry. I’m hurt. I’m confused. I’m shocked. I’m disappointed. I’m a whole range of emotions I don’t think are necessary.
I’m experiencing one of those paradigm-shifting circumstances. I can only think of one other time in my career in which I’ve felt like this, realizing my views (about many healthcare issues) are, indeed, morphing.
There are really so many things I could write about at this moment, but I’m not going to do so. At least not for an audience.
My self-induced censorship is purposeful but transparent. As much as censorship can be.
Are there any other writers that live this conundrum?
by Nursetopia on May 16, 2013
Congratulations, I think, to Marilyn Tavenner, a former nurse and hospital executive, on her U.S. Senate confirmation May 15, 2013, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). She has served as the acting administrator of CMS since late 2010, and she is the first permanent leader of CMS since 2006.
I’m not sure her work changes at all – except for maybe having to stop justifying that she can do the job and just get on with it. There is, indeed, much work. Best wishes to Tavenner and her team as they implement the Affordable Care Act and attempt to reinvent CMS services.
