Category: Nursing
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Seven reasons why nurses want to leave their job
Victorina T. Malones Iloilo City, Philippines Some years ago I wanted to work as the best hospital nurse I could possibly be. I worked hard to become a staff nurse. I passed the board exam, had a successful interview, and after months of gaining experience by volunteering, I was hired. After I got the…
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Heartland down
Stephanie Ezell Chicago, Illinois, United States Saying that we see emptiness in the eyes of a mentally ill person is a means for the rest of us to be ok, to stand apart. There is nothing there, so we feel better. But if we allow ourselves to soften and be present for a second,…
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The male nurse in literature
Solomon PosenSydney, Australia Fictional nurses continue to be predominantly female. In a brilliant essay Fiedler1 makes the point that in literature the terms “Nurse” and “Woman” are almost synonymous. As a result, male nurses, who currently constitute between 6 and 8% of the nursing workforce in the USA,2 Canada3 and Australia4 are considered a paradox…
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Medicine and culture: on becoming a nurse
Shirley Stephenson Chicago, Illinois, United States Photography by Mark Belokopytov There are things that make us uncomfortable, such as public speaking or taking a seat on an airplane as coats, bags, or limbs spill over the border of armrest. We are uncomfortable for a moment when we first sit very close to a stranger.…
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I can take care of myself – if you teach me how!
Nancy Burke Rhiannon is five. She has rheumatoid arthritis. Every Monday she gets an injection of an anti-inflammatory drug, and she doesn’t like it! During her Christmas visit to see “Nana” (her nickname for me, her grandmother), there were three Mondays. Katy, Rhiannon’s mother, had requested that “Nana” give her the injections. It’s been…
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Stella
Mathew KinsellaBrowns Mills, New Jersey, United States One flew east, one flew westAnd one flew over the cuckoo’s nest– Ken Kesey The cacophony of egregious expletives coming from the crisis reception room astounds even the seasoned psychiatric staff working the hospital swing-shift. All spit and vinegar, the diminutive woman at the center of the staff’s…
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Nursing diagnoses
Mat Matteson, Geraldine Gorman Chicago, Illinois, United States Introduction: An inoculation in just time Manic heart Mark W. Lubich Detail of original, Acrylic paint on canvas 21 X 21 inches Ah, the end of the semester. In the best of times it hauls with it taunting deadlines, a gaggle of loose ends, and inevitable…
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Her name was Krystal
Laura Monahan Rockford, Illinois, United States Her name was Krystal; she was four years old, and she was tiny—her head barely reaching the top of my knees. She was in the hospital, again, for another surgical procedure. She had undergone twenty-one surgeries since she was born, most related to her defective bowel development, and…
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Maximum security kindness or the public health nurse accrues her CEU’s
Geraldine Gorman Chicago, Illinois, United States When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people. Abraham Joshua Heschel As she leaned into the doorway of my room, I explained the quandary to my daughter, Grace. “I don’t know what to do,” I said, “I am supposed…