Melissa Stafford, BSN RN CCRN SCRN – highly experienced and currently practicing nationally certified neurocritical care nurse. Elizabeth Mills, BSN RN CCRN – highly experienced neurocritical care nurse, current Stroke Navigator for a Primary Stroke Center. What You’ll Learn NOTE: This podcast is personal stories so there are no show notes for it. The Patients […]
stories
When My Alcoholic Uncle Died: And How It Impacted Me as a Nurse
When My Alcoholic Uncle Died As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Tumblr. I follow many nurses, physicians, EMT’s, nursing students, and other healthcare professionals. I am a fan of the short posts with great images and rarely sit down and read long posts. However, when I started reading this nurse’s […]
Empathizing Through Someone’s Nightmare: A Nurse’s Story
As you’re getting bedside report in your busy intensive care unit, your stomach starts to drop. “54 year old female… full code… no allergies… here for septic shock from pneumonia… unresponsive… “ Your eyes fixate on the intubated patient, and you start to realize she looks like your mom. Your mom who is 700 miles […]
Guest Blog Post: A Mother’s Goodbye
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 […]
I’ll Never Forget Your Room Number or Your Pain
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 […]
An Ode to My Steering Wheel
Many things are synonymous with nursing… stethoscopes, nursing caps and pins, a solid pair of Danskos…but one of nursing’s unsung hero’s is our steering wheel. A day at work that has me on the verge of tears all day has me yearning for that moment when I can stumble to my car, close the door, […]
I Wish I Could Cry With You, But I Can’t
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 […]
Guest Blog Post: A Wedding in Intensive Care
A few days ago, a Twitter bud of mine, @Terimedwards tweeted: Y’all. We had a wedding in the ICU so a man could see his grandson get married before he dies. #beautiful @NurseEyeRoll And this immediately made me emotional. And immediately made me want her to tell us the story! Teri was gracious enough to […]
A Nurse’s Confession: Sometimes I Hate My Job
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 […]
Our Nursing Reality – Part II
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 […]
