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difficult situations

Communication Tips – Difficult Conversations

September 7, 2021 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Communication Tips - Difficult Conversations

No one likes difficult conversations. These communication tips – difficult conversations can help make these conversations a little better.

Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: communication, communication tips for nurses, difficult conversations, difficult situations

When my patient’s son pulled up my Instagram account

January 14, 2020 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Nurses on social media can be a wonderful thing. It can help build your brand, connect you with others, and even further your career.

Nurses on social media can be a wonderful thing. It can help build your brand, connect you with others, and even further your career. But depending on how you use social media, it could harm you. I was working in critical care. It was the day shift and I had just finished my morning med […]

Filed Under: Mental Wellness and Self Care for Nurses Tagged With: difficult situations, helpful hints, new nurse, nurse, nurses, personal experience

When Your Patient Starts Crying

December 31, 2015 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 1 Comment

When Your Patient Starts Crying

One of the first questions you may ask yourself in your nursing career is “What to do when a patient starts crying.” Everyone has their own forte’, and for some, providing emotional support to people in crisis can be an OMG WHAT DO I DO moment. It can be uncomfortable. It can be weird. It […]

Filed Under: Mental Wellness and Self Care for Nurses, New Grad Nurse, New Nurse, Patient Care Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, emotional support, Encouragement, family and patient support, helpful hints, how-to, patient deaths

Guest Blog Post: A Mother’s Goodbye

December 17, 2015 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Just like I’ve done one hundred times before, I recently held a young patient’s hand while we withdrew life support and they passed away. We have to stay in the rooms throughout the passing in order to administer the pain medication and anti-anxiety medication, and to ensure they are comfortable and calm in their final […]

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: dealing with patient deaths, death and dying, difficult situations, guest posts, patient death, patient stories, personal experience, stories

Assisted Suicide: A Nurse’s Perspective

October 24, 2015 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Assisted Suicide: A Nurse's Perspective

Let’s look at assisted suicide, what it is and the legal issues surrounding it.

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, guest posts, patient death

I’ll Never Forget Your Room Number or Your Pain

May 11, 2015 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

I don’t know what else to do. Here you are, lying in that hospital bed that you’ve been sitting in for five days now, totally aware of what is going on but unable to tell anyone what you’re thinking. You can’t move your right arm or leg. You can’t swallow so you cough on your […]

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: difficult situations, Encouragement, pain management, patient stories, personal experiences, stories

Nurses on the Front Lines: How Do You Handle Patients Addicted to Prescription Pain Killers?

January 26, 2015 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 3 Comments

Have you seen this video posted on KevinMD this month about drug seekers in the emergency department (ED)?  Take a look at this 4:31 video made by an ED physician.  Spoiler alert! If you love Taylor Swift, you will totes love this.  Disclaimer:  If you are someone who does not manipulate physicians and nurses to obtain […]

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: difficult situations, news, nurses in the news, nursing issues, nursing peer support, opioids, pain management, patient education, physicians

Why I Can’t Cry With You

November 21, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Since my post I Wish I Could Cry With You, But I Can’t went up, there has been quite a large response. I felt the need to write a follow-up post to further explain myself.  I think that a lot of nurses really understood what I meant with my post, but those that either aren’t nurses or […]

Filed Under: Mental Wellness and Self Care for Nurses Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, education, emotional support

I Wish I Could Cry With You, But I Can’t

October 26, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 2 Comments

This post contains affiliate links Author’s note: I believe many people misunderstood what I meant by I can’t cry with you. I think many assumed that I was trying to communicate that I am not allowed to cry, rather than I emotionally cannot handle your pain right now and therefore must distance myself.  Please check out my follow-up […]

Filed Under: Mental Wellness and Self Care for Nurses Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, Encouragement, patient stories, personal experience, stories

Something You’re Dying to Talk About

September 15, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 1 Comment

Being a critical care nurse, I’ve witnessed quite a few people pass away.  I’ve assisted in taking people off of the ventilator to allow them to pass naturally.  I’ve cared for patients that are donating their organs.  I’ve been there for people when they take their last breath because their loved ones could not bear […]

Filed Under: New Grad Nurse, New Nurse, Patient Care Tagged With: dealing with patient deaths, death and dying, difficult situations, family and patient support, patient stories

How to Deal With Gossipy Nurses

July 19, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

I recently got a job as a new grad in a peds hospital, I love my job but hate the people I work with, they all gossip and talk behind everyone’s back and I’m not sure how to deal with that. I don’t want to seem rude but don’t want to be part of that […]

Filed Under: Mental Wellness and Self Care for Nurses, Nurse Life Tagged With: bullying, difficult situations, Encouragement, helpful hints, nursing peer support, recommendations, self care, teamwork

Sitting Down for Your Patient

May 23, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 1 Comment

I went to NTI in Denver, Colorado this last week.  For those of you that don’t know, it’s an annual national conference for critical care nurses.  And it’s awesome. I went to a lot of sessions.  Some on brain death, some on vasoactive drips, on sepsis, and hyponatremia.. but the ones that hit me the hardest […]

Filed Under: Patient Care, Professional Development for Nurses Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, education, emotional support, family and patient support, patient care

Orienting a Struggling New Grad

April 15, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Struggling New Grad

Love your blog! I’ve been a pedi cardiac nurse for two years and I’m orienting my second new grad (yikes!). I have this really awful feeling that she is not cut out for acute care. Week 4 into her orientation and it feels like day 1. We were giving an IV med yesterday and after […]

Filed Under: New Grad Nurse Tagged With: difficult situations, helpful hints, how-to, new grad, nursing peer support, precepting, Struggling New Grad

Working With “Difficult” Patients

March 4, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 2 Comments

working with difficult patients

Have you ever had to deal with difficult patients? Examples would be non compliance or worse. How do you handle difficult patients?

Filed Under: New Nurse, Patient Care Tagged With: communication, difficult patients, difficult situations, helpful hints, how-to, nursing peer support, patient care, patients, teamwork

A Nurse’s Confession: Sometimes I Hate My Job

February 11, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

But not in the way you’d think.  It’s not the hours or the pay or the poops.  It’s how keenly and constantly aware I am of our precious and fragile lives. Today while I was driving, I came up behind a car with an “organ donors save lives” bumper sticker and I immediately thought, that […]

Filed Under: Nurse Life Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, emotional support, patient stories, personal experience, stories

Our Nursing Reality – Part II

January 18, 2014 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Back in November, I posed a question to my nursey Twitter buds: If you were on a reality show.. what moment in your nursing career would you want the world to see? #nursingreality The response was jaw dropping.  Every single tweet I read moved me to tears… either from laughing so hard or being so […]

Filed Under: Nurse Life, Patient Care Tagged With: death and dying, difficult situations, emotional support, Encouragement, patient stories, personal experience, stories

When Patients Die – A Guide For Nurses

September 23, 2013 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

When Patients Die - A Guide For Nurses.

How do you react and heal when patients die? This is a sad and emotionally difficult experience for every nurse. And this guide will help you prepare for it or heal from it. When Patients Die – A Sad Reality for Nurses If this hasn’t happened in your young nursey career, it will at some […]

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: difficult situations, family and patient support, patient deaths

Comfort Care Conversations

September 10, 2013 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

Comfort Care Conversations

It’s a tough world out there. We’ve all been dealing with the chaos from COVID-19. Wherever you live, you have to deal with overcrowding, poverty, pollution problems caused by people, and machines that weren’t made for living in a city environment. Life can be difficult, but it will always get better. Some pressures and responsibilities […]

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: difficult situations, emotional support, family and patient support

Dealing With Difficult Families

September 8, 2013 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN 2 Comments

You know it's bad when the first thing the nurse says in report is that the patient is fine but the family.... Let's talk about difficult families.

You know it’s bad when the first thing the nurse says in report is that the patient is fine but the family…. Let’s talk about difficult families.

Filed Under: Patient Care Tagged With: difficult situations, emotional support, family and patient support, patient education

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