“I have strong reservations against Nurse Practitioners.” This statement was one of the first things that came out of my physician’s mouth when I told her I was a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. I was her patient sitting on the exam table, fully clothed while she clicked away on a computer, typing in questions I had just answered on a survey. …
The Most Haunted Hospital in America
An apparition of a woman walks down a narrow corridor, clad in a hospital gown, singing to herself while lugging an IV pole. A television mysteriously flips itself on in the middle of the night. Ominous creaking footsteps set your heart racing and then make your skin crawl when you slowly turn to see that no one is there. We’ve …
Do TV Nurses Represent You?
“Healing, helping, fixing—fantastic! That’s why you’re a nurse. When I was a little girl, I took a butter knife and opened up a dead bunny. That’s why I’m a doctor!” — dialogue from the pilot of Nurse Jackie This scene between the title character of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and her physician sidekick is a rare example of Hollywood capturing what …
Social Media Can Cure You Or Make You A Hypochondriac
“Nurses are not on Social Media! It’s only for people in Hollywood!“ Those were the words uttered at a professional organization meeting I attended a few years ago. I was trying to beef up the organizations social media presence. Specifically on twitter. A few weeks after the meeting and comment, several million nurses took to social media and twitter when …
FlueMist Has Met It’s Expiration Date With The CDC; What All Nurses Need To Know
A year ago, I was covering for a doctor who was on emergency medical leave. I was hired as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner through a locum tenum company for temporary coverage. His clinic was small. On an average he saw of 30-40 Pediatric patients per day. After the first day, I asked the office manager (the doctors daughter) if her father …
Does Art Imitate Life? Using Film As An Educational Tool In Nursing
I started to crack up when Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) confronted Mayor Bradley (Andy Garcia) and uttered the above quote in the movie ‘GhostBusters 2’ which premiered this weekend. I was the only one laughing in the theater. Jaws is one of my favorite movies. That’s not why I was laughing. I was laughing because I used that exact scene …