So you’ve just started your new job as a new graduate nurse. You have a great preceptor, you like your unit, and your manager seems pretty cool. But you dread going to work. You get report and you’re already an hour behind. You’re already an overwhelmed nurse. There are so many things to do right this second that you shut down. You can’t do this. It’s too much. You struggle through each day, just trying to get to the end of the shift. You are elated for days off. You dread going back. Is this really what you signed up for? Will this EVER end?
nursing peer support
Navigate Your First Nursing Conference Like a Pro
Do’s and don’ts of your first nursing conferences, in hopes that it will help you navigate your first nursing conference like a pro!
The Good Nurses: Qualities of A Good Nurse
What are the qualities of a good nurse? You need to be empathetic, hard-working, and so much more. Read the complete list.
Medication Errors: How to Avoid Them as a New Nurse
One of the most terrifying things for new nurse grads is accidentally messing up a patient’s meds. This is how to avoid medication errors.
Working With Physicians
Don’t be intimidated! Follow these tips for working with physicians and banish your nursing anxiety for good.
Clinical Tips for Nursing Students (from Experienced Nurses!)
I recently started a hashtag on Twitter asking experienced nurses for their input on clinical tips for nursing students. I thought the response was incredibly helpful and valuable and I wanted to to share these clinical tips with you! Experienced nurses – What other tips for nursing students just starting clinicals do you have? Current […]
How to Start a Nursing Blog
This post contains affiliate links I get quite a few emails from people looking to start their own blog and looking for some tips and advice. Below is my advice on how to start a nursing blog! Before I start, I want to say one very important thing. If you’re doing this for the money […]
How to Deal with Verbally Abusive Patients
We’ve been there. The patient is incredibly rude, demeaning, or even saying sexually explicit things to you. Patient satisfaction has been preached to you constantly.. but what do you do when the patient crosses the line? I’ve had quite a few experiences of all of the above. I felt helpless until I figured out the […]
Another Open Letter to Nurse Nina
Today I read this article in the Dallas Morning News entitled Free of Ebola but not fear, Nurse Nina Pham to file lawsuit agains Presby paren, worries about continued health woes by Jennifer Emily (thank you Katie Duke, for sharing). Nurses and nursing students, please read it. Hey Nurse Nina, My name is Kati and […]
Nurses on the Front Lines: How Do You Handle Patients Addicted to Prescription Pain Killers?
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 […]
From One Nurse to Another: An Open Letter to Nurse Nina
Hey Nurse Nina, My name is Kati and I’m a critical care nurse in Charlotte, NC. I hope you’re able to read this in your isolation room. I hope some thoughtful soul gave you a computer so that you can do something to pass the time. Let me know if you need some Netflix recommendations, […]
You’re a Life Saver. Literally
I don’t know if any of you nurses out there struggle with what I’ve been fighting over the last year or so. Whenever I’m in a large crowd and see elderly people or someone not looking so hot, I play the worst-case scenario out in my mind. They collapse. I run over. Start CPR. Yell […]
How to Deal With Gossipy Nurses
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 […]
Guide to Calling Doctors at Night
I decided to reblog this post about Guide to Calling Doctors at Night for all of you that just graduated nursing school, getting ready to start your first real nursing job (probably on nights) that have never had to call a physician in the middle of the night. The first time you do it, you’ll […]
For The Anxious Nurse: Tips For Nurses Who Struggle With Anxiety
After being in the field for a while, I’ve noticed a common theme… anxious nurses. We see people die during a normal day at work. Our normal day is someone’s last. At any moment, someone’s heart can stop and we’re responsible for restarting it. Someone can stop breathing and we’ve got to know what to do […]
Orienting a 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 […]
Dealing with Nurse Jerks and Bullies
Nursing can be a very humbling career path. In nursing school, you’re constantly told how to do things and being corrected, and not always in the most gracious ways. And then when you get your big fancy nursing job, you feel like you just went from 8th grade, where you’re on the top of the […]
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?
Top 80 Medical Abbreviations & Short Hand
Medical abbreviations I use most frequently. Keep in mind that not all of these are “approved”; they are the ones I use on my report sheet.
When You Want to Quit
When you’re working on your pre-req’s and going through nursing school, in your first few years of nursing school, or just switched specialties, it gets really tough sometimes. So much information is being thrown at you that you have no idea what’s important and what’s not, and you begin to wonder if you’re just totally […]