Last week Virginia’s Healthcare Workforce Data Center presented a snapshot of the state’s nursing workforce and reported, “The current state of the economy is leading many nurses to remain in the workforce longer than anticipated. If they delay retirement by as few as two years, Virginia is more likely to meet 2013 – 2015 demand for licensed nurses.” However, let’s not be lulled into thinking that the nursing shortage is over.

Actually, the economic recession has masked the true extent ...

The other day an interview with Rebecca Skloot on National Public Radio (NPR) caught my attention. Ms. Skloot recently published a book about an African-American woman who made an unknown contribution that changed medical research forever.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical cancer. While undergoing treatment, cells from her cervix were removed without her knowledge. The unique thing about her cells is that they could be kept alive and grown indefinitely ...

In a chilling case of untoward abuse, Delaware pediatrician, Earl Bradley, was indicted on 471 counts of rape, assault, and child endangerment involving 103 children. I find the shear magnitude of this case overwhelming, particularly when the following warning signs dated back to 2005 or earlier.

• Former patients shared stories of Bradley’s unusual practices with other pediatricians.
• The hospital, where Bradley served as chief of pediatrics, restricted his practice at one point.

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I recently had the privilege of spending a day with a group of nurses at Kennedy Krieger
Institute in Baltimore, MD. Known for its groundbreaking work in treating children and adolescents with brain disorders, these nurses shared some amazing success stories. One particular story involved a young girl who had sustained life threatening injuries resulting from a traumatic fall. She arrived at Kennedy Krieger in a coma. Six months later the young patient had recovered to the point where she ...

At NurseWeek’s Career Fair in Houston, Texas, Susan Baimbridge, RN, CCRN-CSC, ADCNS-BD, from St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, spoke about blood conservation during cardiac surgery. Here are some interesting facts she noted during her presentation.

1. Blood transfusions date back to the 17th century when they were used to change the humor of patients.
2. It was not until the Civil War that hemorrhage was recognized as a cause of death.
3. Transfusion medicine began during World War II.

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Last night, I was a guest at the mosque I drive by every day on my way to and from work. Long shrouded in mystery, I was able to see and experience what goes on there and – yes – even become a part of it.

My Muslim friend, an RN, had invited me to the religious observance of Iftar, the communal evening meal that occurs after the sunup-to-sundown fast every day during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Gihan did not arrive right away and I was early. Swathed from the ...

hey. i'm new so i want to say hi to everyone.
im a nursing student from the philippines and we have a research about the most common problems encountered by staff nurses in the hospital. i wana know the problems encountered by staff nurses there in the US and how do they deal with it. as a student nurse, soon i will likely face those problems so this research really means something for me.

hope you can help me....thanks! merry christmas!!!

and oh! if some1 ...

In the early 1990s, I found myself driving an ambulance across the country as part of a promotion organized by Families USA (a Washington, DC based consumer health organization) to promote the need for healthcare reform. As the lead driver of one vehicle in the 12 ambulance caravan, I crossed the nation hosting rallies in metropolitan areas to raise support for the need for health reform. After several weeks, the caravan converged on the US Capitol where our final rally was held.

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Representative Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Obama’s address to Congress, Serena William’s explosion of anger on the tennis courts at the US Open, and Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards have prompted lots of discussions about civility.

Those of us in healthcare have long experienced incivility and even bullying in the workplace. I have experienced my share of (a) being shut out of the clique, (b) being excluded from ...

Nurses often cite respect as a key component of retention, job satisfaction, and the delivery of safe patient care. Although as nurses, we want respect, when asked to define the term or describe what respect looks like to us, we are unable to do so.

Several months ago, I invited nurses to participate in the Respect Project’s survey as they work toward developing an operational definition of respect for the profession. You might be interested to know that Dr. Beth Ulrich, one of the ...

Millions of readers have stayed in touch with the comic strip practice of “Rex Morgan, M.D.” since childhood. Dr. Morgan is still going strong, with the comic strip syndicated in 300 newspapers with about 30 million readers in the U.S. and abroad. Originating in 1948, the strip still portrays a traditional view of primary care providers, as Morgan cares for the population of a small town with the help of his office nurse and now wife, June Gale. But the fact is Morgan and his counterparts in the ...

Nothing makes me feel more out of it than when it comes to trying to figure out what to get my 7 year old grandson for a present. Nerf ball? Hot Wheels? Legos? Not any more. It seems that this year, according to his mother, he wants something called Bakugan.

So what's Bakugan? I'm still trying to figure it out.

I went online to my usual sources to learn more. Despite the fact that it's being passionately embraced by the grade school set, Wikipedia has yet to discover ...

The buses are coming! The buses are coming! And the porta potties are already here!

Because I live just 9 miles from the Capitol in Washington, DC, I thought I'd take a cruise downtown last night to see how things were shaping up for the presidential inauguration ceremonies that will take place this coming Tuesday.

At 9 o' clock at night, the city looked almost deserted...a far cry from what it will be in a few days when several million people are expected to descend ...

It was exciting to hear President Obama addressing nursing concerns at his town hall discussion of domestic programs and health care reform at the White House on Thursday, March 26. Nurses had been invited to participate and give a "nurse's perspective" on what is needed in health care reform. Obama, who agreed, that nurses should be included in health reform negotiations because they have a unique perspective on patient needs. He also told how he liked nurses and was biased towards them. ...

Montel Williams loves his nurses. That’s why he came to New Orleans to speak to the chapter presidents of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses at their annual AACN conference last week.

Montel knows nurses. He has had more than average contact with the likes of us, both in and out of the hospital. He told AACN attendees stories about his ordeals and how nurses were there to ease the way. Emotions were flowing as he spoke to us from the heart.

We loved hearing ...