Great Looking Website!

[mrnurse]

Hello,
I actually stumbled across this website when I went to register domain name and this SPOT was taken.
I think a form for nurses to write freely is greatly needed.  I want to do a nursing podcast but was unsure if other nurses were feeling some of my same issues, and if an audience was interested.

I am currently an LVN and work for a state forensic hospital.  I have done nursing in a variety of healthcare settings.  Currently I have been attending a community college for my RN as I have ehausted every opportunity as an LVN.

Back when I graduated from nursing school, instructors instilled that it was an honor to be a nurse.  My instructors insisted we came with the wallpaper in the hospital.  It was a great thing to learn the healing arts and to care for those trusted to us.  The notion of money, fame was not stressed.  A sense and honor of some day being a nurse,  then practicing was the ultimate task one could do in life.

Even now working in forensics, I am hired to carry on the nursing mission and it still is my passion.  I am not there to judge my patients (individuals), just to perform my arts to the best of my ability.

I feel now in school and even with a lot of people I work with that money and what can I get is a major driving force.  Don't get me wrong I feel we should get a fair wage and most of all the best health care.
...
Nursing now, it seems employers are ever expecting so much from us.  Work short, work fast, do as minimal as possible to get the tasks done.  Nothing is predictable, its a crap shoot as to where you might float and what might do during your shift.  I feel healthcare has gone from proactive care to reactive care.  At what point did we allow this?  Did we have a choice to accept the change in practices?
I look back and have realized with every new hospital plan of corrections from JACO, licensing facilities and HIPPA regulations that it has been a gradual chipping away of nursing practice.  What will nursing be like in the next five years?  No wonder why people are not choosing nursing careers, and nurses are leaving for other careers.

[Nursing Job]

Hey there mrnurse, thank you very much for the kind words and the effort you made to post.

Welcome also to you as the first official non-admin poster to our forums. If we had the money, we should send you a gift (note to self, get money and send gift). 

We are pretty savy on podcasting and the like. Perhaps we should talk about giving you a slot to podcast as a contributor to our humble nursespot.com main site?

Like you, we want to give voice to the nursing family from all over the profession and world. Feel free to send me a note via the "contact us" link on the main NurseSpot.com site.

And best of luck to you as you move from LVN to RN.

Craig
Webmaster

Hello,
I actually stumbled across this website when I went to register domain name and this SPOT was taken.
I think a form for nurses to write freely is greatly needed.  I want to do a nursing podcast but was unsure if other nurses were feeling some of my same issues, and if an audience was interested.

I am currently an LVN and work for a state forensic hospital.  I have done nursing in a variety of healthcare settings.  Currently I have been attending a community college for my RN as I have ehausted every opportunity as an LVN.

Back when I graduated from nursing school, instructors instilled that it was an honor to be a nurse.  My instructors insisted we came with the wallpaper in the hospital.  It was a great thing to learn the healing arts and to care for those trusted to us.  The notion of money, fame was not stressed.  A sense and honor of some day being a nurse,  then practicing was the ultimate task one could do in life.

Even now working in forensics, I am hired to carry on the nursing mission and it still is my passion.  I am not there to judge my patients (individuals), just to perform my arts to the best of my ability.

I feel now in school and even with a lot of people I work with that money and what can I get is a major driving force.  Don't get me wrong I feel we should get a fair wage and most of all the best health care.
...
Nursing now, it seems employers are ever expecting so much from us.  Work short, work fast, do as minimal as possible to get the tasks done.  Nothing is predictable, its a crap shoot as to where you might float and what might do during your shift.  I feel healthcare has gone from proactive care to reactive care.  At what point did we allow this?  Did we have a choice to accept the change in practices?
I look back and have realized with every new hospital plan of corrections from JACO, licensing facilities and HIPPA regulations that it has been a gradual chipping away of nursing practice.  What will nursing be like in the next five years?  No wonder why people are not choosing nursing careers, and nurses are leaving for other careers.

[mrnurse]

I know there must be others out there?
Where is everyone at?
Now I know everyone must have a gripe or complaint about work or something to talk about.
. . .
We are  expecting  JACHO survey at our hospital in October.  I am always amazed how clean the place gets.  It seems like the only time things get fixed or repainted is during survey.  What do they think they are going to be in the top 100 hospitals when they have always been in the bottom 500?  Nurses have been saying that we have problems and no one has listened.  Now that survey is coming everyone panics.  Do all of you experience that too?  Or is mine the only hospital that works this way.
. . .
I must be getting older and out of touch.  Someone who they'd wish were disappear (see there is my paranoia!)
I will never forget what my professor said at our closing pinning ceremony at school.  She said that there are two kinds of nurses in life.  Voices and echos.  She said echos always get along and make do.  Echo's will find there nich in the nursing community.  Echo's don't make waves.  Dr. Dameon blessed us and said we would all have great careers.  Voices though will never hold jobs for along.  Voices will always be in controversy and won't compromise what they know is right.  Dr. Dameon said voices are what the textbooks were written about.  Voices are the ones who shape our profession and the ones that new nurses and policies will eventually follow.   She encouraged us to choose this day, were we to be voices or an echo.
. . .
For those who haven't experienced  PODCASTING it is great!!!!  On my way to work I can plug in my unit to my car radio and listen to the shows I want.  During charting and the beeping call lights I can shut out the outside world and chart (am I bad?)  During my moment of break I can silence in my own little podcast world.  Podcasting has become so simple since ITUNES has added a podcast tab.  Those who don't know what kind of content is out there check out ITUNES or podcast alley.  There is religious content from bible reading to independent christian artists.  On the science side there is current phenomena to quantum physics.  Lots of how to tech stuff, and whatever your hobby I am sure there is a podcast for you.  Instead of listening to radio commercials and shows you don't like.  You load up on your player what you want.

[hellonurse]

Mr. Nurse,

Greetings to you! and greetings to the moderator!...(cool site you guys have put together...I'd like to see it take off!)
Mr. Nurse, I hear you about JCAHO surveys and all of the 'superficial' clean-up stuff. It amazes me how 'compliant' everyone gets really quickly...ever notice how many med room doors suddenly are closed that have never been closed before?
When JCAHO came through our hospital last year, we actually had 'practice' answers to hypothetical JCAHO questions and 'classes' so that we could practice for the surveyors.

I read your post about the changes that you've observed over your time in nursing, particularly the shift from proactive to reactive healthcare....I've observed similar things in my time, although I must admit that I see some parallels within the larger society as well...we've learned to react generally, and then have expectations that people will rescue us from our own lack of preparedness. I've been excited by things I've seen within the alternative health movement, encouraging people to actually take some proactive steps towards improving their immunity, improving cardiovascular health, and learning to de-stress and eat better.

Congratulations on getting through your RN...It's an undertaking few are willing to try...particularly in this era of extremely over-worked, understaffed, exhausted nurses. It's hard to find people willing to undertake these elements and still learn/live self-respect, but as I'm sure you know, change starts from within, so it's critically important that nurses who really care stick with it and focus on the changes that they can have an impact on.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."---Mahatma Ghandi

My personality is such that I am always seeking improvement both in myself and in the environments in which I find myself. Subsequently, I have 'tried-on' a variety of 'positions', and while challenging, I still believe it IS possible to find nursing positions which really work for you, so best wishes.

Do you enjoy forensics, and do you think you'll stick with it?

Yes, Podcasting rocks. I'm a new ipod owner, so I'm just learning about the benefits of it, but it's one of the many aspects of the 'digital revolution' that seems to really make life more 'proactive'.

Best wishes on your studies...

hellonurse