My Strong Medicine

The adventures of a male nurse navigating through life, staying fit, surviving the journey.

Archive for the ‘opinion’ Category

« Previous Entries

Career mistakes = No Job?

Posted by Sean on May 28, 2012

I found this via a friend on Facebook. Why is this an awesome list?….

Because NONE of these listed mistakes apply to my career choices as a nurse!!!!

The Top 10 College Mistakes That Will NOT Help You Find a Career:

  1. Getting a degree where the only way you can get a job is by getting your masters or PhD.
  2. Heading into a career field with no jobs available.
  3. Getting a graduate degree that wasn’t necessary because you could have gotten the same job without it.
  4. Not conducting informational interviews to find out that you hate your chosen career before you start working in it.
  5. Not making a plan for what you are going to do after college so you just take the first job that popped up after graduation (that you hate).
  6. Not building a network during college because you spent too much time studying or partying.
  7. Picking a major where there is only one type of job after graduation instead of having many different options that you can pursue.
  8. Picking a major that you are good at in school but you actually despise it.
  9. Picking a major because someone else said that you should.
  10. Since you can’t find a job after college, you decide to head to grad school instead (and still can’t find a job after grad school).

via College Mistakes That Will NOT Help You Find a Job | Classy Career Girl.

Posted in health, opinion, random | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Nurses week is weak

Posted by Sean on May 8, 2012

An honest opinion of why Nurses Week really isn’t much of a celebration.

Until recently, I’ve always enjoyed Nurses Week. I usually got a cool trinket or gift from my employer, and my fellow nurses would joke about the one time of the year we nurses actually are noticed.

These days, it seems the only time of the year we DO get recognized is now being watered-down (and maybe even flushed away) next to another nationally recognized week–National Hospital Week, which is also May 6-12 this year. The only difference I see from year to year is that the actual dates for Hospital Week can differ slightly, while Nurses Week always starts and ends on the same dates!

via Memo from a nurse: Why is Nurses Week so weak? | Scrubs – The Leading Lifestyle Nursing Magazine Featuring Inspirational and Informational Nursing Articles.

Follow the link to read the entire post and leave your thoughts in the comments!!

Posted in health, opinion | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

To iPad or not to iPad… THAT is the question

Posted by Sean on March 11, 2012

I’m quite the MAC fan these days. Ever since I jumped that horrible ship called Windows.. I’ve been enjoying my computer and all it has to offer.

I even made the bold leap to include a MacBook Air into my arsenal, which has served me well. I love using it for my on-campus needs and it compliments my iMAC so fluidly.

Now the question is do I want an iPad… or should I say do I NEED an iPad. Other than a bright new shiny toy, I cannot see a good rational reason to own one.

iPhone check. iMAC check. MacBook Air check.

Would the iPad offer me something I’m not already getting out of my other wonderful iOS devices?? The Nerdy Nurse has a few suggestion over on her blog:

Benefit of Tablets for Nurses?

imageThe benefits of tablet computers for nurses are plentiful. They are great from poking around and sharing cool apps and content with your friends, but there are very real and practical applications for the nursing workforce as well. And although I feel the ability to veg-out and play a challenging round of Angry Birds has great value, I also know that tablets can have a place in the nursing workforce, if we let them.

7 Reasons Why Nurses and Nursing Students Need a Tablet

1 Get rid of the clutter. Carry your drug guide, nursing school books, and your pleasure reads in one compact little outfit.

2 Entertain yourself during downtime. During your lunch hour you can catch up on your shows with Netflix or Amazon prime. You can also read books, listen to music, or play a game or two.

3 Easy access to information. With a tablet device, and internet access, the world is your oyster. If you need additional information, want to read a nursing journal, or check your email, it’s much easier to just pull out your tablet than get the PC involved.

4. It’s bigger than a smartphone. While your iPhone or Android will likely handle most of the demands you throw at it, let’s just be honest here: it’s small. That’s great for portability, but makes it less than ideal for long-term viewing of movies or any extended reading periods.

via 7 Reasons Why Nurses Need a Tablet: Amazon Kindle Fire, iPad2, or Nook Tablet | The Nerdy Nurse. (follow the link to read her entire post)

What do you think?

Posted in health, humor, opinion | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

Why physicians should care about Amanda Trujillo | Kevin MD

Posted by Sean on February 26, 2012

I have been watching and reading about this case from afar since it was brought to light. I have many opinions, but just don’t have the time to write them down these days. Unfortunately, my schedule is a just a little to hectic (sorry, bad excuse .. I know).

Here is a great blog post that resonates with the entire SoMe health care community. Be sure to follow the link and read the entire post.

 

For the past month, the case of Amanda Trujillo has resonated deeply among nurses, triggering an avalanche of postings on Facebook, Twitter and in the nursing blogosphere. Trujillo is the Arizona nurse who was fired in April 2011 after providing education and making a hospice care consult request for an end-stage liver disease patient. This patient was slotted for pre-transplant evaluation and had poor understanding of the disease process and treatment options. Trujillo filled in the gaps for this patient. Trujillo then requested, at the patient’s own wish, a hospice team consult, documented her actions appropriately, and left a note (it was night shift) for the primary physician.

…….

via Why physicians should care about Amanda Trujillo.

Posted in health, opinion | Leave a Comment »

Forward thinking health care professionals??

Posted by Sean on January 28, 2012

Sometimes it’s very hard to teach an old dog a new trick.

Today I was told by a physician that NPs are simply hired to do all the “scut-work” that physicians don’t want or like to do. In the physician’s words, “You guys do all the crap/garbage stuff we don’t like or have time for. Is that what you really want to do?”

via The role of nurse practitioners in healthcare | Scrubs – The Leading Lifestyle Nursing Magazine Featuring Inspirational and Informational Nursing Articles.

Follow the link and read the whole post. What do you think?

Posted in health, opinion | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

Need Surgery : Is a more experienced surgeon better?

Posted by Sean on January 12, 2012

Once again, this was a weak study design. But, it sure does raise some eyebrows doesn’t it?

I think having the experience is paramount, but does the experienced surgeon grow with the changing face of medicine? Experience can be a tricky thing.

Previous studies have shown doctors reach their peak performance levels after about 10 years of experience in their specialty. Few studies have looked at the association between experience and performance in an objective manner. The intent of this study was to model the associations between experience and outcomes among surgeons performing thyroid procedures.

Read the entire story here: via Medical News: Older Surgeons May Not Be Better Surgeons – in Surgery, General Surgery from MedPage Today.

Posted in health, opinion | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Too Intensive Care | Survey Says?

Posted by Sean on December 29, 2011

Care for the critically ill may go too far for nearly a quarter of the patients in intensive care units, according to the physicians and nurses who care for them.

Clinicians felt they administered inappropriate care for 23% of patients treated in a single day across a subset of 69 ICUs in which patient data could be linked to clinician questionnaires, Ruth D. Piers, MD, of Ghent University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium, and colleagues found.

Among the full complement of survey respondents, 25% of 1,218 ICU nurses and 32% of 407 ICU physicians said they delivered inappropriate care to at least one of their patients on the day of the survey.

The most common reason cited — by 65% of respondents — was care disproportionate to the patient’s situation, nearly always “too much care,” the group reported in the Dec. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Clinicians in ICUs who perceive the care they provide as inappropriate experience moral distress and are at risk for burnout,” they wrote. “This situation may jeopardize patient quality of care and increase staff turnover.”

While concerning, the study offered only a “hazy” picture of why and what can or should be done about it, cautioned an accompanying editorial by Scott D. Halpern, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Clinician opinion hasn’t previously been considered relevant in determining whether the care delivered is the care that should be delivered, he noted.

And the validity of this subjective endpoint isn’t clear, Halpern added.

via Medical News: ICU Care May Be Too Intensive, Survey Finds – in Critical Care, General Critical Care from MedPage Today.

OK, so it’s an observational survey from a very small sample size (less than 100 ICU units and less than 500 ICU patients), but it definitely gets your attention. I like these type of ‘studies’ (if that’s what you want to call them), because it’s not really giving any valid empirical evidence for practice change, but is could be the preamble to something bigger or better.

I’m pretty sure there are plenty of ICU nurses out there that would have some great input regarding ‘too intensive’ care. End of life care seems to be blurring the lines between life-saving, life-sustaining, and death-prolonging these days.

What do you think? Follow the link and read the full article.

Posted in health, opinion | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Would you cross the line?

Posted by Sean on December 15, 2011

It seems there is a possible and probably Nursing strike looming over in NY.

The nurses, who voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, say they are being disrespected by a corporate hospital culture that demands sacrifices from patients and those who provide their care, but pays executives millions of dollars

I’m all for fighting for better wages, benefits.. and OF COURSE better staffing. I only post this tid bit of info to ask another question concerning this:

The hospitals — Mount Sinai, Montefiore Medical Center and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center — already are contracting for strike replacements at more than double normal wages.

Would you cross the line and work as a strike replacement. Cross the very line that your fellow warriors have drawn in the sand (yes warrior = nurse). I guess I can understand both views, I really can. In the end I consider it a great disrespect and, pardon my opinion, offensive for a fellow nurse to fill my shoes for double the pay???

The very same shoes I fill daily. The very same shoes that are being paid crap wages, given crap benefits, and shoved into crap staffing.

Hmm..

Something just doesn’t seem right.

via Nurses Threaten Strike at Three New York Hospitals – NYTimes.com.

Posted in health, opinion | 2 Comments »

My Interview Part 2

Posted by Sean on November 30, 2011

As I posted earlier, Kim (from Emergiblog) over at Masters in Nursing interviewed me. Here is part 2:

Keep your eye on the prize.

That’s what I told myself during my marathon BSN program.

But there is no prize unless you start the process.

In part 2 of my discussion on graduate nursing education with blogger and Nurse Practitioner student Sean Dent, we talked about the difference between graduate and undergraduate education.

How does grad school differ from undergraduate education?

Be sure to follow the link and read the original post…

Talking MSN: Desire and Discipline | Masters in Nursing Blog

Posted in health, opinion | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Thank You Thanksgiving Thursday

Posted by Sean on November 24, 2011

I can proudly say I’ve kept up with the Thank you Thursday concept for 2.5 months. It’s been very ‘weak’ at times, but I’ve kept up with making sure I make at least 5 thank you’s or I am thankful for at least 5 things each week.

It’s definitely kept me grounded and humble. I continue to be thankful for some of the most simplest things, but then again nothing is ever really that ‘simple’ is it?

Be sure to be as ‘thankful’ as possible this week during our ‘yearly’ time for thanks.

I’d like to thank the last week for:

warm weather still! Yes, the warmer temps here in Western PA have been nice. Remember warm for us this time of year IS 60 degrees.

my crazy cats. For not being the all around terrors that other cats display. They’re crazy alright, but they could always be worse.

a certain professor of mine for taking the time to listen to my (and other classmates) concerns about our school’s program. While they probably can’t fix any of our concerns, they at least made us feel heard.

for good co-workers. last week one shift in particular could have been just an all out miserable time. Instead it was survivable and even fun.

the kindness of strangers.

Be sure to thank those who make the sacrifice during the holidays. Be it the retail worker, the health care worker and of course our men and women in uniform. While you’re all feeding your faces take a moment to thank those that make it possible.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Posted in opinion, words of wisdom | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

« Previous Entries
 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.