You may recall that I posted a blog on volunteering in March, and a blog by Keith Carlson posted on June 28 also focused on volunteering. I have received several questions about volunteering and its legal ramifications since then. Read More

I have received several comments about advance directives, including that sometimes they are not followed by hospital staff. The importance of doing so as a healthcare provider was underscored in a recent case (Doctor’s Hospital Read More

These days, many nonmedical professionals are changing careers and shifting into nursing and healthcare. We’re seeing nurses entering the profession from careers in industries as varied as insurance, banking, publishing, retail Read More

Many of you have asked about your duty to act in an emergency situation — for instance, when you are not at work and come upon an accident with injuries, a person who is experiencing a medical event, or perhaps even a woman in l Read More

Legislative agendas at the local, state and national levels often pertain to public health, nursing practice and other aspects of healthcare. Every day, legislators make decisions that affect nurses' careers and the communities th Read More

I frequently get comments from readers who have experienced burnout in at least one of the positions they have held. Nursing staff burnout is, according to a June 16 article in Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality, Read More

A nurse wrote about her situation in a physician-owned hospital where she worked in the OR for three years. One day, she was verbally berated by one of the surgeons in front of everyone in the OR and was forced to transfer to the Read More

For nurses with previous careers in the business world, you may have taken part in a SWOT analysis at one time or another to determine a business strategy or direction. For nurses new to this concept, this is a handy framework for Read More

I often get questions from readers about whether they should pursue a graduate degree in nursing or obtain a law degree. This question is a difficult one to respond to because the choice is very much a personal one and depends on Read More

Have you ever fallen asleep without turning off the TV and awakened in the middle of the night to the words, “breaking news” flashing on the screen? That’s what happened to me in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, a Read More

You nominated them, we selected them, and now it’s time to meet the 2016 GEM finalists.  The past six months have been busy and exciting ones at Nurse.com, as we worked on the first phase of our 2016 GEM Awards program — t Read More

Have you heard that volunteering is a great resume-builder for nurses? It’s true. And there are many more good reasons to incorporate volunteerism into both your personal and professional lives. Resume building You probably do Read More

A reader submitted a question about my March 16, 2016, blog that discussed a nurse’s concern about extending her volunteer services of delivering meals and eating with elderly residents to providing personal care to one particul Read More

As a nurse, how much blood, sweat, tears, money and time have you invested in your professional development? As a nursing professional in the 21st century healthcare workplace, how valuable do you feel? For many nurses, singing Read More

When a claim is filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it has the authority to investigate the claim and determine if there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination has occurred. In order to do so, each party Read More

As a nurse practitioner,  you must know legal obligations when prescribing medications. You have the authority, based on your state nurse practice act, to prescribe medications for the patients for whom you provide care. For exa Read More

Nurses once combed classified ads in the newspaper to find a job, but 21st-century job seekers use the internet to connect with salient positions and potential employers. Job boards have changed for the better over the years in Read More

(Content courtesy of the DFW Great 100 Nurses Inc.) This year marks the 26th anniversary of the DFW Great 100 Nurses. Over the past two decades, 2,600 nurses from across the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been recognized for their Read More

Nurses working in correctional facilities often face many obstacles when delivering nursing care to inmates: inadequate nursing staff, an overcrowded inmate population, tension between facility guards and nursing staff as to which Read More

It’s a ceremony that takes place twice a day every day, but last Thursday it was all about nursing! As most TV viewers know, each weekday in New York City at exactly 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., there’s a loud and clear ringing of th Read More

Nurses who want increased career satisfaction might consider defining the underlying mission upon which their nursing identity is built. Finding meaning in our work is important; our mission and values are crucial to feeling like Read More

Conflict management. We’ve heard the term and know it’s important at the workplace and in our personal lives. But what is it and how does it work? Before looking at managing conflict, it’s helpful to look at conflict itself. Read More

A reader, who was concerned about being called before her state board of nursing to answer allegations of being under the influence of alcohol when she reported to work, asked me whether she should sign a consent agreement with th Read More

Nurses at every level of leadership — from unit charge nurses to systemwide chief nursing officers — substantially impact not only patient outcomes and satisfaction scores, but also the attitudes and diligence exhibited by the Read More

In 2010, The Institute of Medicine made a recommendation that rocked the nursing world; they urged that 80% of nurses have bachelor’s degrees by 2020 to meet the demands of 21st-century healthcare. That remains a tall order, but Read More

Finding the leader within is something many strive toward but not all find. I think most of us who have known good leaders would agree with the often-quoted saying, “Leaders are not born; they’re made.” Leadership takes time Read More

A nurse manager submitted a question about a situation in which she was suspended with pay for an indefinite period of time for allegedly initiating an investigation about a male employee sexually harassing a female employee. If t Read More

Hypothetical Case You are the nurse manager on a surgical unit, which has suffered the loss of five seasoned nurses in the past year. Hospital leadership has been slow to replace these nurses and only one new graduate has been ad Read More

Recently, the nursing profession has emphasized the role of the nurse as leader. It is critical to keep in mind, however, that leadership is not a new role for nurses. Nurses have undertaken this obligation and duty for many years Read More

You’ve done it. You submitted your resume and cover letter, and you just made it through an interview with the nurse manager for a nursing job you really want. Now what? Do you wait for a call? No, you get your ducks in a row, f Read More