Staff retention, particularly nursing, is a big topic in health care today. High turnover rates among nurses significantly impact hospitals and health systems while putting patients at risk. The pandemic has only increased job dissatisfaction among nurses. Here are the reasons nurses are leaving, where they are going when they leave, and what your organization…
Nearly 1,500 nurses shed light on the best and worst nursing specialties of 2022 in light of COVID. Here is a list of the specialties to take a closer look at and the ones you might want to avoid during these unprecedented and uncertain times. The Best Specialties for Nurses in 2022 Nursing has multiple…
We have come so far with developing artificial pancreas technology and investigational drug products that can preserve pancreas cell function, but we still have a long way to go. I’m so excited to be a part of that hopeful journey working as a clinical research nurse with Type 1 diabetics. I work on studies that are…
Nursing school has an insane amount of testing. When I used to describe my tests to non-nursing friends, I would have to explain that the questions weren’t simply multiple choice with one right answer: the questions were made up of four right answers with only one best answer. In theory, all four options might make…
I was recently accepted into a master’s program. I’ve been weighing the possibility for some time, and everything seemed to come together for the fall application deadline. I took one class over the summer as a non-degree student, and when I decided to sign up for two more classes for the fall semester, I figured…
I just returned from a week-long hiatus from work, spending time out in the mountains with my husband. We had a small window of free time in-between graduate school semesters, so we made the trek out to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park for a change of scenery and change of pace. We hiked,…
It’s crazy how things can change in an instant. I’m writing this blog from the couch, with my left foot elevated on two pillows while icing it for twenty minutes on/twenty minutes off. I can barely handle putting weight on my left foot. Movement takes a lot of effort, and any trip to the kitchen…
One of my family members just graduated from nursing school, and she is starting the long and arduous process of studying for the NCLEX. She’s also beginning to research job positions for when she has her license, and I was reminded how terrifying and stressful that time in life can be. She began looking at…
My research team recently started a highly intensive research study this week: an investigational drug in phase 3 of clinical trials (the last stage before FDA approval) is given over 12 consecutive days. Day 1 involves nine busy hours of study tasks, including a 4-hour mixed-meal tolerance test, insulin and glucose review, safety labs, infusion…
There are many opportunities for a nurse to use her story to inform her daily actions, to bring meaning to her work, and to be a well to draw motivation from. In the medical field, you are taught (and encouraged, in fact) to distance yourself from patients. Constantly providing physical care for people is draining,…