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Your Dream Nurse Job!

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Nurse Burnout

“I hate this job! How am I supposed to take care of 10 sick patients-just wait till those surveyors get here-I’m going to tell them how it really is here behind the curtain…

Angry?

That guy in Room 405-what an asshat-can you believe he grabbed my behind. Him at 80 years old….And he DOESN’T have dementia.. and that Dr Jones  shouldn’t be allowed to talk to me that way.”

Your co-worker is rolling her eyes thinking-”hey stupid, you just got here 30 minutes ago-cool it we got 11 more hours.”

Your nursing job:

Do you  think of nursing as a dead-end job?  It’s just a way to make a living.  You work your 12 hour shift and then go home to what your life is really all about.

Your hobby, your second job, your marriage or kids-that is where you get your life satisfaction… a paycheck is the only thing keeping you at work

Or are you the poster child for Mick J and The Rolling Stone’s: “I can’t get noo, satissssfacshunnn?

Can you say depression?

Nurse career satisfaction categories:

I’m going to step out on a limb and categorize nurses, for the sake of analysis your thoughts about your job. No this isn’t gender, sex, or age related category, so don’t get your pants in a wad…

Are you?

  • A Nurse that hates everything about the job,  co-workers and wonders if he/she could just run away…Leave it all behind and never think about it again.
  • A Nurse that just wants a paycheck-you really don’t care anything about nursing- it’s just a  job, and you have no desire to advance in the profession.  But you like it better than any other job you can think of.
  • A Nurse that loves nursing and want to continue in acute care nursing your whole career.  The idea of not interacting with patients and getting that immediate feedback every day gives you nightmares. (you are your supervisor’s dream child.)
  • A Nurse that likes the field of nursing, but to hell with being on med-surg or in the ER working shift work every day.  You want to advance your career.  This might mean clinical training such as advanced practice  or nurse anesthesia,  administration, or  a nurse educator.
  • A Nurse who will use your  previous training and experience to branch into  a  whole different area.  This might include sales, entrepreneurial adventures such as owning a health care related business, or in the health care industrial complex. Or you’ve got a great idea or invention that will help your fellow nurses, if only you could get it produced.
  • A Nurse that has reached your  dream job.  You are now thinking only about mentoring others and continuing your career as is.

But more likely, you don’t know who the hell you are…cause you haven’t had time to think about it.

Like many who are busy trying to juuust make it through the day, you have blinders on.

It seems like yesterday you were capped and penned, now you’re pooped and pissed.  You have 2.5 kids, an upside down mortgage and car.  And your mom just called-for the third time this week,  asking when you were coming to visit.

“I don’t have time to dream, I’ve got to much stuff to do!”

Make a Change

You don’t realize that you can make a change.

Over the next few months I am going to interview and highlight nurses in varying career fields.  Those that are enjoying their career choices and have opinions and recommendations for others.

Maybe, just maybe, you will see something of yourself in their decisions and successes.  Maybe it will give you permission to dream and a desire to get your life together enough to make a change.  Or allow you permission to be satisfied where you are, if you have a great thing going.

What is your dream nursing job?

What are your dreams? What would you be doing if you could make your career wishes come true?

Let me know and I will try my best to find someone who has done just that.   Maybe the journey won’t seem impossible if you’ve met one who’s been there/done that!

(photo-credit Lora604 c.c.)

Sign up for my free newsletter at the upper right.  You get extra stuff, and freebies from time to time… I also throw in an e-book and a mini-course by weekly emails to get you started! Check it out.

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I try to make it easy for you with all those shortcuts on the right…  And follow me @DrDeanBurke-twitter is cool!  I promise you I won’t tweet just to say  stupid stuff!

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Posted in Nursing Profession, Quality of Life | 4 Comments »

Best In Nurse Blogs: Twitter Chat Edition!

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

Best Nurse Blogs

Every two weeks, I publish this Best In Nurse Blogs to highlight great writing and information for nurses.

Twitter Chats

For those of you who don’t use twitter, don’t get twitter, and think twitter users are a stupid bunch of “tweeps” then you are probably right.

For those of you who are more open minded about new things, getting to know other people, and learning from each other then Twitter is for you.

Twitter chats are an organized meeting time for interested parties to discuss a mutual area of interest.  And no I have never searched for #porn chats, though I’m sure there are many…

Here are a few  Nurse related Twitter Chats that might interest you:

#RNchat-Every Thursday at 9pm eastern- Nurses, Docs, patient advocates get together and talk about varied subjects from nursing education, to communication, to the price of bread.  (well maybe not the price of bread…)

#IVchat-hosted by @infusionnurse- This tweet chat usually focuses on infusion related issues, though as with most chats a smorgasbord of topics can be found.  The next #IVchat is Wed April 13th at 8pm Eastern.  I will be a guest-tweeting about taxes and last minute tax issues…Yes nurses have to deal with taxes too!

#NICUchat is a brand new chat being hosted Friday, April 15th at 9pm eastern by @CuteNicuNurse I don’t know the topics but I can guess it will relate to NICU issues…Pretty smart of me huh!

Quick Twitter How To:

Twitter Addictive? (by carrotcreative c.c.)

Twitter user names begin with @…….The shorter the better.

The # or hash-tag is used to “search” or “tag” on twitter.  You can find all comments with that hash-tag helping you follow a conversation.

Click this link for a you-tube video tutorial on opening a Twitter account.

I have found TweetDeck (thanks Sean) and others love HootSuite-free programs that help you build and follow your different twitter groups or lists-I have a personal finance list, a nurse list, and a few different blogging lists.  I don’t want to miss anything!

If you have any questions about twitter-leave a comment, and now to the Best in Nurse Blogs…

Registered Nurse Blog posts:

Those Emergency Blues has a rant going, and writes about another nurses rant. Even her rants are well written and she is getting over pneumonia. So be nice!

Sean at My Strong Medicine writes about the potential “seasoned nurse vs new nurse” barriers.  Generational issues are present in all professions-but in health care communication issues can have life or death implications-so we just all need to get along….

The Nurse Practitioners Place writes about MRSA protocols. I continue to see more and more community acquired MRSA-nasty stuff!

Barbara at the Nurse Practitioners Business  OwnerBlog writes about the use of social media in communicating with patients.  She is also on XM radio-give her a shout out!

At Your Cervix honors mothers who have just given birth after a difficult delivery.  Hear Hear!

jParadisi writes a moving post about Cherry Trees and truly counting our blessings!

Bonnie RN has added to the Facebook juggernaut…cool!

Lynn posting at Nurse Power tells the moving story of death in the ER-but it’s not what you think.

Emergiblog hosted Grand Rounds-a carnival of med related blog posts and played Angry Birds at the same time.

Infusion Nurse writes about new (late) CDC guidelines on catheter care.   With a new safety study released in the news media yesterday, we all need to re-energize patient safety processes in a hurry.

Karin RN has a nasty habit of taking pictures of delicious looking food, and it  is making me hungry-check out this post on growing your own sprouts. Another post/pic shows Korean BBQ…

The Nerdy Nurse gives a great list of resources helping nurses who are getting abuse from their peers can turn to for help.  Yes this remains all too common.  See above comment about all getting along.

At Nurse Story, Terri gives a blow by blow on what she teaches in Nurse Informatics Class-good job!

Nursetopia has recently been an advocate for “Breaking” cancer in adolescents and young adults.

Crass-Pollination writes about the challenges of treating Alzheimer’s patients in the ER-in her own descriptive way…

AJN writes about nursing and women’s basketball. The upsets in the women’s tournament makes it exciting-great for all but the losers….

That concludes another in my bi-weekly series highlighting the great writing in the Nurse Blog World.

As always if you have a favorite nurse blog that is not on my Blogroll, let me know. Self promotion is cool too!

Sign up for my free newsletter at the upper right.  You get extra stuff, and freebies from time to time… I also throw in an e-book and a mini-course by weekly emails to get you started! Check it out.

You can also sign up to receive our posts without worrying about missing one. Either E-mail or RSS Feed is top right. And feel free to like us on Facebook.

I try to make it easy for you with all those shortcuts on the right…  And follow me @DrDeanBurke-twitter is cool!  I promise you I won’t tweet you just to tell you stupid stuff!

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Posted in Best In Nurse Blogs, Nursing Profession, Quality of Life | 3 Comments »

Best In Nurse Blogs: Disaster In Japan Edition!

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Best Nurse Blogs

Every two weeks, I publish this Best In Nurse Blogs to highlight great writing and information for nurses.  This version is dedicated to the people of Japan.

The earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan is obviously a humanitarian crisis.  There are many ways to help.

Relief organizations are gearing up and I am sure you will be seeing giving opportunities show up in the next few weeks.

The Red Cross is accepting text donations: Text REDCROSS to 90999 for a $10 donation or go to their website.

Tsunami In Japan

The Salvation Army is also accepting text donations. Text the word Japan to 80888 to make a $10 donation to support its relief efforts.

And Charity Navigator gives great advice regarding charity giving during the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

If you want to make sure your donation is tax deductible, go to the IRS’s website and do a search!

Take a few minutes this week, and find your own way to help.  That’s what we do!

Nurse Blogs This Week

Nursetopia explains Infographs, with an infograph…

HIMSS Blog has a survey showing Nurse Informatics salaries are up and scope of work is growing!

Sean, who writes for everyone, even himself- had this post about male nurses and getting along with female colleagues!

50 Resources for nurses-a great list of places to go and see!

At Those Emergency Blues, a short amusing video, if you like toilet humor.  (and who doesn’t)

At Emergiblog, Kim writes about ERs and appointments.

At #RNchat, this weeks #RNchat transcript.  The topic was online communication and it’s clinical use.

Marcy has a post about “Laundry” at AJN. My take on stains is here!

Bonnie RN writes about the science of nursing.

Keith at Digital Doorway is feeling compassion, Every Day!

Kat, a student Nurse, has a guest post at Nurse Power asking “What Would Florence Nightingale Do?”

ER Nurse Joy has a picture (and commentary) that will make you laugh! Go laugh!

Jo at Head Nurse has FAQ’s. Another funny post, in her usual snarky way!

Phil at Health is Social has 6 considerations  for adopting new technologies.

Andy at Imagine an Image thinks he is the world’s worst hospital patient. He is sadly mistaken, but I get his drift…the only worse patients than nurses are docs…IMHO

jParadisiRN has a beautiful poem about Issac!

The Nerdy Nurse needs a break! Yo Dawg, I’m with ya! (How ya like my Randy Jackson imitation?)

Thanks for dropping by.  If you know of other good ways to support the Japanese people in this time of need, please let me know in the comments, and I will publicize it!

Visit Nurse Blogs

Please visit the blogs above and the many others on my blogroll, take a minute to comment.  Bloggers love to know when what they write has elicited an emotional response.

Anger, laughter, sadness, are all reasonable responses.  Just keep your comments non-personal.  Save the attacks for Angry Birds.

And if you have a nursing related blog, and aren’t on my blogroll, leave a comment and I will add you!

(photo credit: DVIDSHUB c.c.)

And remember, the RSS feed is at the top right, follow me on twitter @DrDeanBurke and the links for friending, liking, and other options are on your right.  Please use them freely!

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Posted in Nursing Profession | 6 Comments »

Best In Nurse Blogs: Image Edition

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

Nurse Blogs

I’ve been blogging for a about 15 months now.  Just a child if you ask Kim at Emergiblog…But it is weird how things run in blog cycles.  I don’t know if bloggers are psychic, or they see a post and it gets in their brain, or if it is just the moon (where is my almanac anyway?).

This week there were several posts about Nurses and their image.  The lifelong debate between the nurse as caretaker, rather than thinker/treater.  The white hatted (not hated) angel vs the drug/sex craved television portrayals….

Or could it be that we, in our profession,  are just being sensitive….

  • I know I look nothing like George Clooney, during his ER doctor days or now for that matter.

    (by caricaturas c.c.)

  • I hope  I am not the jerk that House manages to pull off without even trying.
  • No one has called me Doogie in a couple of decades.
  • I am never confused with that other Dr Burke, (Preston) for some reason….
  • And I keep waiting on my wife to have my pipe and slippers ready, with my paper neatly folded in my easy chair with a martini at hand….

Stereotypes and type-casting will be with us for ever.  We just have to be who we are, professionals all.  And maybe learn to not take ourselves, and our television characters so seriously.  (but did you hear they were bringing back Dallas?)

Let’s get to:

Best In Nurse Blogs

Nerdy Nurse has a rant about her hospital CEO’s lack of judgment..

Donna Cardillo RN writes about nurses and aging at American Nurse Today.  Do you know any nurses who shouldn’t be working due to age?

#RNChat-the weekly nursing twitter chat was about Nurses dealing with grief, and the loss of their patients. The effects are real.  How do you deal with it? (Check out #RNChat Thursday-9pm eastern)

This article discusses lack of education of nurses in Florida and it’s implications on health care outcomes.  Love to hear your thoughts. Do more advanced degree’d nurses improve patient care?

ImpactedNurse: Ian discusses Alarm Fatigue….(what’s that beeping?)

Keith at Digital Doorway re-posts a great review of nurses image-of themselves and the public.  Thought provoking…as usual!

Nurse K at Crass Pollination reviews an ER Work-up! Funny, and sad at the same time!  Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of ER patients and you have-”budget surplus!”

Not Nurse Ratched is introduced to the “choking game”-crazy, dangerous stuff! Not LOL…(yes I read her newest post.)

PhilBaumann wants to limit tweets to 2# (hash-tags) for you non-twitter peoples…Makes sense to me #tired #irritated #reading#so #many #hashtags!

Those Emergency Blues writes about Grey’s Anatomy, and more thoughts on nurses image.

Rebekah, writing at Scrubs, thinks it’s time for a nurses name change-RN anyone?  More image stuff,  must be Oscar Week!

Sean at My Strong Medicine writes about extreme punishment for kids… What are your thoughts?

Bonnie RN writes a list for those looking for alternative living arrangements for their elderly parents.  My mom would have wanted happy hour and a beer tap on the list-bless her!  She was of the generation that  thought 5:00 meant something…

And Jamie at The Nursing Show has a podcast on nursing education.  One of the panel members is the above mentioned Kim from Emergiblog! Check it out!

Focus on Nursing Blogs

Hope you enjoyed this Image Edition of my Bi monthly “Best In Nurse Blogs” series.  Make sure you drop by the blogs above, and leave a comment!  And mention Dr Dean sent you!

And don’t forget to sign up for our RSS feed, in that upper right corner, tweet the post if you ‘preciate it, and follow/friend me @DrDeanBurke-shortcuts on the right margin!

Have a great week!

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Posted in Nursing Profession | 1 Comment »

Best In Nurse Blogs: Egyptian Freedom Edition

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

Best In Nurse Blogs

Freedom is like a lighthouse beacon,  continuously lit to welcome the storm torn ship home.  It is the friend of the disenfranchised, the lost, and the hungry.  Unfortunately, there are those who will use the taste of freedom now being served in Egypt for their own evil ends.

There are those who wish to have no freedom of religion, freedom for women to work, and  vote who will be working to take advantage of the power vacuum that is Egypt.

Rally For Egypt

Let us all say a prayer, or at least a moment of pause for support for those who have sacrificed during these last two weeks to gain that first sip of freedom.  I wish them safety in their long journey, and hope they are successful in building a country based on freedom and tolerance.

Now to this weeks

Nurse Blog Best!

Phil at Health Is Social writes Why I Became A Nurse, a great piece of self-introspection.  Read it to the end!

It must be the week of retrospection as JParadisi also remembers her early nursing career.

Sarah Beth RN writes about the continuing controversy regarding nurses delivering primary care.  This issue will be more important as what we call Obamacare becomes fully implemented.

Documenting IV insertion/site data is on Infusion Nurse.  Documentation is always a good  thing.  And congrats on IV Infusion Nurse week, didn’t know about it either! Better late than never…

My Strong Medicine: Sean has a new app for his iPhone.  Reading one of his other posts, he will soon be looking for the snow blower app!

joni @ Nursetopia discusses the third brain. Where is my first and second one, you might be asking?

The Nerdy Nurse is ranting over new uniform policies, but I think she is ranting more from a perceived, (probably not paranoia) lack of respect!

Terri at Nurse Story reviews an article about family presence during ED resuscitation.

isn’tshe.. @The Dog Ate My Care Plan has senior jitters-go calm her down!

Those Emergency Blues is off for a week, but her reruns are still worth reading-she has 500+ posts and poems….

The Muse RN links to a sad story of a nurse selling himself to the highest bidder.  Sad!

Gina RN from Code Blog has a guest post on Kevin MD. Food allergies can be deadly, and she brings up a bigger point regarding the role of teachers.

Off the Charts has a round-up, with a link to an article about breast cancer treatment, and lymph node resection. May change the standard of care.

And finally, this weeks #RN Chat, the twitter chat for nurses and other interested parties-included several of us MD’s, patient advocates, and more- was about the role of advanced practice nurses.  A sane and practical discussion, which is more than can be said in several state legislatures right now!

Check out #RNchat at 9pm eastern on Thursdays.

Thanks for reading, and make sure you drop by the blogs above and say hello!  Let em know Dr Dean sent you.  Bloggers love comments and additions to their discussion, so don’t be a lurker.  Say hey!

photo credit: Frame Maker c.c.

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Posted in Nursing Profession | 4 Comments »

Changing Standards: How Does It Affect You?

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Standards of Weight and Measures

Change!

Does change bother you.  My office is changing our Practice Management System, and EMR-and we are all stressed out about it.

We get used to patterns and repetition-which provides us emotional security.

One of our standards is in weights and measures.

The medical profession has been ahead of the rest of the USA in adopting the metric system.  Many of our formulas for drug dosaging requires weight of patients in Kilograms rather than pounds.

Drugs are prescribed in mg, and cc’s, not grains or oz anymore.

This article by Jeanne Whalen in the WSJ discusses the standard by which a “Kilo” is measured. Believe it or not, there is a physical mass of platinum in a Paris basement that is the measure by which all Kilogram weights are to be compared.

Le Grand K (The kilogram standard)

The recent problem is this mass of platinum has been losing weight.  For you and me, losing weight would  be a good thing, but for the purposes of a “standard” a weight loss is not desired.

Think about it!  I know patients who throw a fit if our office scales vary from their 20 buck spring scales from Wal-Mart.

Having a standard that is a moving target is not cool.

The article discusses why the plump  pile of platinum may be losing weight, and cleaning is the designated culprit.  But the scientific community is up in arms over what to do about this kilo conundrum…

Other “Late” standards

What are other standards that have not survived?

  • The yard stick: apparently the original was burned in a fire
  • The US Dollar:  inflation/deflation and competition from the Euro, Yen, and Yuan.
  • The US gold standard: with a flick of a pen, Richard Nixon just “disappeared it” in 1971.
  • The standard measure of obesity: We have had weight, BMI, and body fat percentages all used.
  • The Hamburger Standard-The standard burger was less than 2 oz when I was young.  The quarter-pound burger is now considered the “small” by many chains- can you say 20 oz for the triple Whopper?
  • Grade inflation

Predictability

One of the tenets of the human condition is being able to predict outcomes to some degree.

How does that play out in our lives?

  • We like to think that if we work hard, we will succeed.
  • We want to lose weight if we eat less.
  • We want the sun to come up in the morning and to set at night.
  • We expect the Cubs to lose and the Yankees to win! (let’s not talk about the Braves!)
  • We spend thousands of hours of our collective time watching the weather reports, rather than just walking outside.

So another standard has disappointed us.

What to do?

What should we do?

Forget about standards all together?

I don’t think so.  How would all the bureaucrats in this world get job satisfaction if they couldn’t spend their time, tweaking our standards.

  • What would the IRS do without the tax standards changing with the whim of Congress and Presidents every year?
  • What would the Joint Commission do if hospital standards stayed the same for a couple of decades?
  • What would the other acronyms of government agencies such as the BOM, the FDA, the USDA,  and the FCC didn’t have standards to rewrite every year?

Reader Questions and Comments:

What about you?  Has there been a standard that has changed that has left you feeling alone or uncertain?  Do you like certainty and predictability in your life, and feel that is slipping away?

Here is your chance to let the world know!

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Posted in Nursing Profession, Quality of Life | 3 Comments »

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