A Nurse’s Story

A Nurse’s Story

The team of nurses that Tilda Shalof found herself working with in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a big-city hospital was known as "Laura's Line." They were a bit wild: smart, funny, disrespectful of authority, but also... read more

Nurse Staffing, Nursing Assistants and Hospital Mortality

Nurse Staffing, Nursing Assistants and Hospital Mortality

Lower RN staffing and higher levels of admissions per RN are associated with increased risk of death during an admission to hospital. These findings highlight the possible consequences of reduced nurse staffing and do not... read more

Do State Regulations on Nurse Staffing Make a Difference in ICU Outcomes?

Do State Regulations on Nurse Staffing Make a Difference in ICU Outcomes?

In the recent issue of Critical Care Medicine, Law and colleagues published an evaluation of the impact of changes in Massachusetts state regulations mandating that nurse staffing levels on critical care units be set at 1:1... read more

A New Bill Introduced in the House Would Protect Millions of Health Care Workers

A New Bill Introduced in the House Would Protect Millions of Health Care Workers

A group of House Democrats introduced a bill to help protect millions of nurses and other health care workers from the high rates of violence they experience on the job. The new bill, called the "Workplace Violence Prevention... read more

The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives

The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives

Practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day on a busy teaching hospital’s cancer ward. In the... read more

High-Acuity Nursing

High-Acuity Nursing

High-Acuity Nursing provides a comprehensive knowledge set needed to care for adult patients with complex, unpredictable conditions across settings, from high-skill, long-term facilities to critical care units. Focusing... read more

Implementing a Standardized Nurse-driven Rounding Protocol in a Trauma-surgical ICU

Implementing a Standardized Nurse-driven Rounding Protocol in a Trauma-surgical ICU

We instituted several interventions in our trauma and surgical ICU aimed at improving communication and teamwork between RNs and MDs. Informal feedback indicated greater satisfaction among RNs and MDs with the working environment.... read more

Feng Shui And Emotional Response in the Critical care Environment

Feng Shui And Emotional Response in the Critical care Environment

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between nursing staff emotions and their surrounding environment, using the ancient system of feng shui. Two orientations of critical care bed spaces (wind and water... read more

Preventing Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

Preventing Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

Burnout and compassion fatigue can happen to any healthcare professional, and it can have a negative impact on patients and even your larger nursing career. Fortunately it's very preventable, as our guest this week will attest... read more

Do Nurse Staffing Ratios Work? New Research Says No

Do Nurse Staffing Ratios Work? New Research Says No

Advocates of mandated staffing ratios say they improve patient outcomes. A recent study finds otherwise. Nurse-to-patient ratios are a hot button issue. Look no further than Massachusetts for an example. After a battle that... read more

Travel Times Affect Neurocritical Care Unit Nurse Staffing Levels

Travel Times Affect Neurocritical Care Unit Nurse Staffing Levels

For specialist nurses on neurocritical care units, accompanying patients for imaging scans and other procedures has a major impact on nurse staffing ratios, reports a study in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. Over 30... read more

Listen to Our Intensive Care Nurses

Listen to Our Intensive Care Nurses

My genuine hope with this podcast is to inspire and empower you to bring your best self to work and to consider adopting some of the habits and behaviours my guests give their perspectives on, with the ultimate purpose of... read more

The Power of a Nurse: Penn State Health Debuts Photojournalistic Project for National Nurses Week

The Power of a Nurse: Penn State Health Debuts Photojournalistic Project for National Nurses Week

Being a nurse takes grit paired with tenderness, methodical diligence and on-the-spot resourcefulness, nerves of steel yet words of compassion. It's a "calling," people often say, with admiration but little understanding... read more

Drowned: Nurses Under Water

Drowned: Nurses Under Water

Nurses are expensive. We are the largest professional workforce in healthcare, and with over 3.1 million professional nurses in the country, it appears that we are large in number but small as a priority. Nurses are overworked.... read more

The Association of Frailty with Post-ICU Disability, Nursing Home Admission, and Mortality

The Association of Frailty with Post-ICU Disability, Nursing Home Admission, and Mortality

Pre-ICU frailty status was associated with increased post-ICU disability and new nursing home admission among ICU survivors, and death among all admissions. Pre-ICU frailty status may provide prognostic information about... read more

I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse

I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse

This collection of true narratives reflects the dynamism and diversity of nurses, who provide the first vital line of patient care. Here, nurses remember their first “sticks,” first births, and first deaths, and reflect... read more

Why Do Nurses Quit?

Why Do Nurses Quit?

Estimates are that up to 30-50% of nurses leave their position or quit nursing altogether in the first year. What drives nurses away? Some new grads do not survive the shock. Nursing school is insufficient preparation for... read more