Tag: Nursing
-
The Attentive Nurse
The “nurse” peeling a lemon in Chardin’s painting bears scant resemblance to what the modern eye would recognize as a nurse. She holds neither bandages, nor a thermometer, nor medicines. Her “uniform” leans more towards that of a kitchen helper or a housemaid. This is not surprising, because in the days before Florence Nightingale’s reforms nursing…
-
Hands
Laura White Rochester, Minnesota, United States I have long been ambivalent toward my prematurely wrinkled hands. This is a combination of my mother’s distaste for her own mitts – I am so sorry you got my hands – and the various comments of others referencing “old lady hands” and similar sentiments. My self-hand-concept has been historically unglamorous.…
-
The realities of being a millennial nurse leader
Victorina Malones Manila, Phillippines Nursing advertisement published by the American Association of the Red Cross in 1918 People may well think that being a millennial only has something to do with social media, selfies, travel, make-up tutorials, impulsiveness, recklessness, carelessness, or freedom. But as the world keeps getting smaller through interconnectivity and constant mobility,…
-
Birthday party
Laura White Rochester, Minnesota, United States I scan the chemotherapy data into the computer system, noting the date of birth listed at the top right of the screen. Happy birthday, I say, hanging the bag of liquid on the IV pole. Thanks, he replies, and we share a contemptuous laugh. It feels like a…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…