On a scale of zero to ten, how often do you wish you could somehow wave a magic wand and know how much pain your patient is in—zero being never and ten being every day? Four? Ten? Twenty? ER Doc Brady Pregerson and Nurse Rebekah are ready to “go there” in the first of a four-part series on pain management. Dr. ...

Since the recession began in December 2007, more than half of all American workers have become unemployed, taken a pay cut, suffered a reduction in hours, or had to take a temporary job because they couldn't find a full-time position, according to the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends Project. You probably don't need a study to tell you the ...

One of this summer’s hottest concert series is by two 80’s boy bands. Yes, The New Kids on the Block (NKTOB) and the Backstreet Boys (BSB) are hitting the road and selling out places like Chicago. Now, if these guys can come back with a vengeance, then so can anyone out there who is feeling like their career is in the ...

Saving the life of a murderer? Caring for a gang member? A prisoner? Treating a pedophile? Check your personal feelings at the door? All of these scenarios are very real, and can happen to you being a nurse. In fact, for me, they’ve happened. We all are trained, educated, re-trained, and re-educated on the standard of care. It’s called discrimination and ...

An EMT instructed to transport a woman to an abortion clinic declines, citing personal beliefs. A nurse ordered to administer a large dose of morphine to a terminal cancer patient in pain refuses, saying the medication could hasten death. A physician turns away a gay patient, apparently on the basis of his sexual orientation. Are these scenarios examples of healthcare workers ...

One in six Americans was living in poverty in 2008, and that number has risen in 2009. Many of these people have gone without—and continue to go without—health insurance. We asked Jane Dellert, a nurse of 41 years who has treated uninsured children at low-cost clinics since the 1990s, what she thinks about the current healthcare crisis and what nurses can ...

First things first: Treat the STD. With few exceptions, all teens in the United States can legally consent to confidential diagnosis and treatment of STDs. Be professional. No teen wants to hear a sermon, and lecturing about responsible sexual behavior rarely does any good, so keep your judgments to yourself. Your job is to provide accurate information, compassionate care and appropriate ...

While some people might be looking forward to a cruise or family trip this summer, many healthcare professionals plan to use their time off to volunteer their expertise at medically supervised summer camps that serve children and adults with medical conditions ranging from asthma to AIDS. These camps, typically held over the course of a week or weekend, rely on nurses, ...

Sexual harassment of nurses can be as simple as a patient's unwanted flirtatious winks or as elaborate as a male hospital physician's systematic assaults on female employees. And nurses are likely to encounter this occupational hazard. In a University of Missouri study, 21 of 29 nurses surveyed said patients had sexually harassed them. A 2001 NurseWeek/American Organization of Nurse Executives study ...

Mad that you were passed over for a big promotion again? Livid that the bootlickers always seem to get ahead in your organization? Perhaps it's time to consider whether the anger itself, however legitimate, is holding you back. Evidence suggests many of us are walking around the office feeling resentful, though we may be unaware of the cumulative toll bitter actions ...

One of the hard parts about being a nurse manager is evaluating another nurse’s performance. Looking another nurse in the eye, who is your co-worker and sometimes even friend, and telling them how well, or bad, they perform can be difficult. I am working on two evaluations right now. One is an excellent nurse. She was hired as a new graduate ...

Over the past several months there have been murmurs of budget problems at your facility. You are not overly concerned, having survived hard times in the past. The department director has requested a meeting with you for this afternoon. Upon entering the conference room, you are greeted by your director and the manager of human resources. There is a stack of ...

There are two reasons the odds are against any AARP member suddenly becoming a doctor: time and money. But "physician" is one of the only positions in healthcare where older workers don't find a welcome mat. In nearly every other category, the industry brims with employment opportunities. Healthcare is in the vortex of a job seeker's perfect storm. Demographically, an aging ...

NOTE: The information in this column is not to be construed as legal advice. Please see an attorney if you need legal assistance. This is for informational purposes only. *Q: My friend has a written contract with her nursing PRN company for employment, but my hospital does not have written contracts for their nursing employees. Can we both be considered employees?* ...

As the fields of nursing and medicine become more demanding, the number of medical and nursing malpractice lawsuits are on the rise. As a result, the need for nurse experts to help with these lawsuits is becoming equally more demanding. In many states, medical malpractice cases require the use of expert witnesses. This includes nurse experts. Often called legal nurse consultants, ...

The job market is finally showing signs of life--and that means more workers will likely have the opportunity to change jobs in the coming months. It's clear that many will welcome this: A recent survey by the Corporate Executive Board, a research and advisory services company, found that 25 percent of workers whom employers had labeled as having high potential were ...

Death is such a taboo word in the world of health care. Heck, it’s a taboo word everywhere. Somewhere along the way we began viewing death as that ‘one thing’ we need to avoid at all costs. That ‘one thing’ we need to dodge and prolong its arrival as long as possible and at all costs. That ‘one thing’ that causes ...

“Superstition: An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.” -from the American Heritage Dictionary With St. Patrick’s Day happening this month, I have been loving all the green and the so-called lucky four-leaf clovers floating around the hospital. I’m hoping all this “luck” will rub off on our floor: ...

I find it interesting how the most grumpy, disgruntled people react to kind gestures. It’s been my experience that usually someone with an attitude has a pretty good reason for it. There are the occasional crapheads who are just crappy for no reason, but usually there is some sort root cause for most meanness I experience in my nursing practice. I ...

*Q: How can I be responsible for a bad patient outcome when I barely knew the patient? Am I responsible for a patient's bad outcome when several others also took care of the patient? Why am I being sued when the patient was well and discharged from my floor a week ago? I am only the HMO "Call A Nurse", how ...