Nursing Voices

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Choosing to be a Nurse


Our good friends at NJO are giving away three nursing school scholarships totaling $5,000, and today I’m posting the essay of one of the contestants. Stella wrote about why she chose to go into nursing. If more young people like Stella enter nursing, I know that our profession will thrive. I feel honored that I’ve been asked to showcase this wonderful essay.

All of my life I have been fascinated with medicine. I watched as my mother cared for other people, and marveled at the way she just knew what to do and how to do it. I used to go to work with her from time to time and “help” her on her rounds. Most of the time, I was just providing company to the residents of the geriatric ward that my mother worked in, but sometimes I got to help out at mealtime.

My mom was always such a gentle soul, but she was fueled by passion. She loved what she did, and did what she loved. Her passion spilled over into every area of her life, and I treasure the memories and know that I have truly been blessed to know a person as wonderful as she is.

If I had to choose any one reason for why I chose nursing, she would be it. Words cannot express the dedication, honor, integrity, and love that I found in my mother. I chose nursing because I want to live my life like she did, with purpose and conviction. She made the world a better place one person at a time. I want to do the same. I want to make this world a brighter, better place just one person at a time. I want to be a nurse.



Thank you, Stella, for entering NJO’s contest. Your essay is inspiring and I’m sure your mother is very proud of you. To find out more about contest rules, visit NJO's website today. Deadline for entering the contest is March 19th.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Go Ask Mother

It’s snowing like crazy outside, and I’m getting ready to go into to work. Ordinarily, the bad weather wouldn’t bug me, but I just got a phone call from my unit. I was told that my boss wants me to be prepared to work throughout the night if the next shift can’t make it in. Of course, my boss isn’t interested in coming in to help us out. That’s not her management style. Perhaps I’m being too judgmental, but good leaders don’t ask someone to do something that they aren’t willing to do themselves.

I’ve worked under some very good nurse managers in the past, and I’ve worked under some who must have read this book. Actually, this is a good book, but as you know, Attila the Hun has a bad reputation. He always got the job done, but it was always at the expense of his followers. He was a heck of a guy.

I’ve been receiving mail from my some of my readers, and they have been asking me some very interesting questions about the nursing profession. In today’s edition of Go Ask Mother, I’ll be responding to your questions.


When describing the ideal job, many nurses talk about the softer attributes of nursing such as teamwork, managerial attitudes and feeling valued. Why do you think that is?

ANSWER: Nursing is a touchy-feely profession, so it doesn’t surprise me that nurses would describe the ideal job in those terms. Yes, teamwork is important. Look at the two nurses in the picture. They look like they can beat anyone because they are working together as a team. Like I’ve always said, nurses have to stick together or they hang separately. If a manager were smart, he or she would understand that if they treated their nurses with respect, they would get hard working, loyal employees in return. Unfortunately, it’s been my experience that managers “don’t get it.”



What do you look for when you are looking for a job?

ANSWER: The type of work is one of the most important things I look at when considering a new job. I have to like what I’m doing or I won’t stay in a position. But I also take a critical look at staffing ratios, and how acuity plays into staffing numbers. Frankly, when I leave work, I want all my patients to be breathing. I’m not being sarcastic (OK, maybe a little) but I’m a psychiatric nurse, and I don’t want a suicidal patient to slip off and hang himself or herself because there wasn’t enough staff to watch everyone. The nurse in this picture looks happy. I wonder if her hospital is hiring new staff.





What is the single greatest attribute in a boss?


ANSWER: A good boss is someone who acts as an advocate for the nurses on his or her unit. I’ve been in healthcare for almost 30 years, and during that time I’ve had bosses who were saints. I’ve also had bosses who reminded me of Satan’s older, meaner sibling. In the view of most hospital administrators, bosses don’t need outstanding clinical skills to run a unit. Hospital administration wants managers who are good bean counters, and someone who can stay on budget and turn a profit for the hospital. I think that to be truly successful, bosses need good people skills, as well as a mastery of the specialty practiced on the unit.


What manager attributes do you think younger nurses prefer compared to the seasoned? For instance, do you think younger nurses may seek a manager to help them with their clinical skills while a seasoned nurse likes a manager to have good listening skills?

ANSWER: New nurses need a boss that won’t eat their young. This boss looks like he is about to yell at the new nurse. Hey, you, get your hands off of that young woman! I’ve seen so many kids get run out of the profession because bosses were too harsh. Bosses need to support new nurses while they learn new clinical skills, but they also need to mentor them on a more personal level. Reality hits new nurses right between the eyes when they take their first nursing job. A boss needs to be supportive, not a bully. I think older nurses just need to be shown respect, period!


What can administrators do to make nurses feel valued?

ANSWER: If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m full of opinions. I feel valued at work, not because of what the hospital thinks of me, but because I value myself as an individual, and because I’m valued by my co-workers. A few years ago, the morale on our unit was in the toilet. The hospital routinely put the psychiatric nursing staff in a dangerous working environment. One day, after telling hospital administration we needed more staff because of the unit’s acuity, I was severely beaten by a dangerous patient on the unit. Instead of crawling into a shell or quitting my job, I took action, and found a mentor who taught me how to legally protect myself while making changes on the unit. The nurses on our unit were the first to use our state’s whistleblower law to improve the safety on our unit. Things still aren’t perfect, but I no longer feel powerless.


Remember, you don’t need anyone’s permission to value yourself as a nurse. Every nurse deserves a trophy.

Friday, February 23, 2007

The Material Girl, or the Things I Can’t Live Without


Doesn’t Madonna look adorable in her….by the way, what is she wearing? When I was growing up as a little girl in Iowa, no one told me that a girl could become rich and famous by wearing her unmentionables in front of millions of peoples. Obviously, someone forgot to fill me in on that little secret.

Shane from NJO has started a meme that asks the question, “Name four things that, as a nurse, you can’t live without, and one thing that you covet.” I have to admit that I’m having a problem compiling a list. Outside of my book collection, I’m not really a material girl. My father once told me, “If you can’t eat it or wear it, you don’t need it,” and the older I get, the more I understand what he was saying. Things can’t make you happy; it’s the intangibles that are the most important things in life. With that in mind, allow me to list my items that I can’t live without.


Knowing that there is something bigger outside of myself helps me get through a bad shift. A cornerstone of my life is the belief in a higher power, and that everything happens for a reason. I stop and ask myself what the universe is trying to teach me each time the shift is falling apart around me. Sometimes I think that I’m being taught patience, and other times tolerance, but sometimes I think the universe is pulling a prank on me, and it makes me laugh.






I can’t imagine life without my family, and that includes the members of my nurse-girl posse. Life is incomplete without a girlfriend you can share secrets with, and no one understands a nurse like another nurse.











This is the Cambridge University Shield. I'd love to take a class there, and meet my friend,The Angry Medic. People can take away all of your possessions, but they can’t take away the knowledge that you hold inside your mind. To keep from going stark raving mad, I indulge my intellectual side by taking classes at my local community college. The classes allow me to focus on things that I’m interested in, like writing and photography, and they serve as an escape from the stresses of work.








I could not live without the wisdom and knowledge of those nurses who came before me, and taught us through example, how to lead extraordinary lives.









If there were one “thing” that I have to covet, it would be Curt’s book collection over at The Groovy Age of Horror. You know I LOVE books!


Now it’s my turn to tag two people, so I’m tagging Nurse William and Deacon Barry. Tag, you’re it!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

I'm Not Dead, So I'm a Nurse


Here’s a nurse that I can relate to. She’s mature. That’s code for “old as the hills.” She is in the medication room, getting ready to pass medications to her patients. Look at the frown on her face. She’s not happy about all the new technology she has to deal with at the nurses station and in the medication room. Mature nurses occasionally wish that they could dump clumsy glumeter machines, and go back to checking a patient's blood sugar by using urine dipsticks. Sometimes we yearn for the good old days.

I’ve had many youngsters fresh out of nursing school ask me why I’m still working as a nurse. Nursing is a stressful job, and they wonder when I’m going to retire. I tell them that I’ll have plenty of time to rest when I’m dead, and as long as I have a pulse, I'll keep working as a nurse. Besides, who will teach young nurses what they need to know if all of the mature nurses go out to pasture?


I remember when a guest speaker came to talk to my class during my first week of nursing school. Her name was Minnie, she was 80 years old, and she was working as a nurse at a local nursing home that was located across the street from our hospital. When Minnie walked into the classroom wearing her white nursing uniform and cap, we all gasped. She resembled my idol, Mother Jones. She was barely five feet tall, wore a pair of wire rimmed glasses, and her snow-white hair was tied up into a bun. I thought, “My God, why is she still working as a nurse? She looks like she should be living at the nursing home, not working there as a nurse.”



Minnie was quite a lady. When she was 23 years old, she joined the American Red Cross in 1918 and traveled to France to care for wounded troops during World War I. She told us about her adventures in Europe, and fought back tears when she talked about the soldiers who died in her arms. She also showed us her extensive collection of nursing school pins and explained the history of each school. When one of my classmates asked Minnie what she did at the nursing home, Minnie laughed and said, “I give people hope. They figure if I can still work, they can at least get up and live another day.” She said that since she wasn't dead yet, she was going to keep working as a nurse. Minnie never married, and her life revolved around the nursing profession. We heard several months later that when Minnie didn’t show up for one of her shifts, the nursing home administrator became alarmed and met the police at Minnie’s house. They broke into the house and found that she had passed away in her sleep.


I don’t know that I’ll be working when I’m 80 years old, but I can’t imagine that I’ll leave nursing anytime soon. I'm glad that Minnie never retired. She served as an inspiration, and taught me about nursing’s history. I hope someday a young nurse will hear my words and think the same thing about me.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Monday, Monday, So Good To Me

Do you remember the Mamas and the Papas? I was listening to them on the radio today, and now I want to go home and find my love beads. I’m feeling nostalgic today. My favorite Mamas and Papas' song is “Monday, Monday.” That’s because, unlike the rest of the world, I look forward to Monday mornings. I’m sitting in one of the most wonderful places in the world. I have discovered wireless Internet at our local Panera Bread coffee shop. The pastries are tasty, as well as fattening, the people who work here are friendly, and there is an electrical outlet for my computer right by the self-serve soda machine. I’m currently nibbling on a scone, and drinking my second cup of Diet Coke. I’ve died and gone to heaven.


As a weekend alternative nurse, I love Monday mornings. I’m sure if one of the other Panera customers were reading my mind right now, they’d come over and kick me in the shins, but please remember that I’m beginning my first day of freedom after being cooped up on a locked psych ward for two days, working short of staff. I see blurry-eyed people ordering coffee-to-go before they make their way to work. A huge number of people in our town commute by car everyday into Washington, D.C., on what’s called the Beltway. People sit in their cars for hours everyday to go to jobs that they hate. It’s crazy. Road rage is a very popular pastime in our part of the country.


This nurse took the Beltway and she’s now at work. What a good nurse. She is an angel of mercy, caring for a fallen soldier. She’s taking his pulse and he’s asking her out on a date. Some things never change. I hope she keeps the conversation light. If she doesn’t, she could get herself into a lot of trouble.

One of my friends won’t be going into DC anymore. She’s a nurse, and she was forced out of her job because she asked a pertinent question about the war in Iraq while she was at work. She worked at a military hospital, and asked a forbidden question behind closed doors away from the patients and their family members. She asked a group of military nurses why the Pentagon does not count the patients that die in the hospital as casualties of the Iraqi war. The numbers we hear in the media only include those who were killed on the battlefield, and not those who died in hospital beds as a result of their injuries. My friend is a civilian, and her question was not well received. She was summoned by her boss at the end of her shift, and she was basically asked if she was Un-American. The writing was on the wall and she eventually was asked to resign. She won’t have trouble finding a new job. General William Sherman said, "War is hell." The man knew what he was talking about.



I try to keep my blog political-free, but that’s not happening today. I’m guess I’m just an old hippie with a lot to say. Now, where did I put those love beads?

Friday, February 16, 2007

The Old Hen



I’ve made a shocking discovery this week—I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I never think of myself as getting older, but this last week has taught me a valuable lesson. We lost power on Valentine’s Day, and my prince and I sat in our house, without power or heat, for 28 hours. Snuggling under the covers with the man of my dreams on Valentine’s Day by candlelight would have been a romantic adventure in youth, but now that I’m becoming an old hen, it wasn't that much fun. Let’s face it, things change when we get older.



First, lets talk about arthritis. Cold weather makes joints hurt, so it’s tricky getting comfortable in each other’s arms when the old lumbago flares up. What does the pain feel like? Try piercing your nipples and holding this yoga position for eight hours, and you’ll get the idea. And forget about “dancing under the sheets” when you and your significant other are both in pain. When old folks hurt, no one is thinking about Viagra. Our drug of choice is Motrin.





Then there’s the issue of taking medications in the dark. Yes, my prince and I take a variety of “old people” pills to keep us going, and they all look the same when the lights are out. As I get older, I must have a lot of light when I’m reading the small print on pill bottles. A pair of flashlight shoes would have come in handy. Fortunately, my prince and I worked as a team, and we took our medications without a hitch. My prince was very careful about taking his pills. No man wants to call poison control because he overdosed on his wife’s Premarin.




I’m glad the ordeal is over, and that we are settling back into our routine. My prince is at work, and I’m back at the computer blogging. The house is warm and life is good. There is an upside to getting older. I’m excused for being cranky when the hospital calls asking me to work on my day off. I mean, really, what can they expect from an irritable old woman who isn’t a spring chicken anymore?

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

A Cold Valentine's Day



Hi everyone, and happy Valentine's Day. I hope you're keeping warm. What a miserable day. It's cold, wet, the roads are slick with ice, trees are down, and the power is out. And of course, the hospital called. "Hi Mother Jones RN, we love you sooooo much, we're willing to come to your home, and pick you up for work. We know you worked your butt off last weekend, and that it's your day off, but will you come in oh valued employee?" I declined their generous offer. It's too dangerous to be out on the roads, even in a 4 wheel drive truck.


There are two Valentine's Day rules you must remember if you know a nurse. The first rule is about candy. Don't get between a nurse and a box of chocolates. I promise you that things will get ugly if you take the last piece of candy without permission.




The second rule is about flowers. Gentlemen, if you want to make points with a nurse, send her roses when she is at work. The delivery of a dozen long stemmed red roses causes sheer pandemonium at the nurses station. The nurse receiving the flowers will be the envy of every other nurse on the unit, and you will be well "rewarded" for your thoughtfulness. And remember, if the nurse of your dreams is allergic to flowers, diamonds are always an excellent gift.


I have to run now, it's time to throw another log on the fire.

The Hilton Hospital



The hospital where I work is putting its best foot forward in an effort to attract new “customers” to our doors. Gee, in the old days we use to call them patients. Oh well, the times are a changing. Too bad Conrad Hilton, the paternal great-grandfather to the infamous Paris Hilton, isn’t our CEO. He knew how to turn a buck while making his customers happy.









Our CEO is such a clever guy. He hired an expensive consulting firm that told him to add some patient friendly niceties to our hospital. “If you build it (or buy it), the customers will come,” said the consultant, and being an obedient fellow, our CEO went to work. Our hospital is beginning to resemble a Conrad Hilton Hotel. It’s bigger and prettier than ever before, and we now have wireless Internet access for our patients’ use. New patient rooms are equipped with flat-screen televisions, and there are plans to start up a valet service and a gourmet coffee bar in the lobby within the next few months. This sounds wonderful, but when I go to the hospital, I want good patient care, don't you? To pay for the niceties, our CEO became a grinch. Remember Christmas? He is making nurses work harder with less staff, and patient satisfaction is declining. Patients stop noticing the wonderful flat-screen televisions when they have to wait a long time before a nurse is available to put them on a bedpan. I think most people would gladly trade in luxuries in exchange for good nursing care, but because our goal is to become more like a four star hotel, perhaps we can keep the luxuries and just hire bellhops to do patient care.


Come, be our guest!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

It’s Valentine’s Day at Change of Shift


Welcome to Change of Shift, Volume 1, Number 17. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m using some of my Harlequin Romance novels to accompany the posts. Yes, Harlequin Romance novels are cheesy, but I really enjoy reading about people who get to live happily ever after. I want to thank Kim at Emergiblog for allowing me to host Change of Shift. Check out her post about a commode. What we nurses won't do for our patients. I also want to thank everyone who submitted their posts, and I apologize for not having enough space for all of the submissions that I received. I really enjoyed reading the submissions, and I hope that you enjoy reading them, too.


This book is about a couple of nurses who want to get on the good side of a grumpy, yet handsome, hot doctor. Yes, nurses strive to please doctors, but did you know that doctors work just as hard to stay on the good side of nurses? In his post Doctor vs. Nurse, Scalpel, from Scalpel or Sword , discusses his adventures with nurses who drive him a little crazy. He also talks about nurse-to-nurse lateral violence in the workplace. And speaking of lateral violence, Just Call Me Jo at Sinus Arrhythmia presents, Is it Really Eat the Young?

The Angry Medic wrote this post about a nurse with a hard, tough exterior, and a heart of gold. He says that she likes him. Well of course she likes you, Angry Medic. You’re a good guy. That’s why those nurses you write about on your blog want to drag you into the nearest closet just like you see on Grey’s Anatomy. You better watch out. One of those nurses that you are so fond of may have special plans for you on Valentine’s Day.

ERnursey writes about her relationship with an emergency room doctor who doesn’t always listen to the nursing staff. The poor fellow learns a painful lesson , no pun intended.


Nurse Roberts is a typical healthcare professional. Just like the rest of us, she strives to be professional around patients, even when it’s a difficult thing to do. Sometimes we want to laugh out loud, and sometimes we want to cry, but no matter what we may be feeling, we always wear our professional face. Susan Palwick from Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good writes about an incident when she was shocked by a patient’s physical appearance. Susan wants to know if others have ever had a similar experience.

On the lighter side, Nurse William gives us a sidesplitting commentary about patients who leave us all shaking our heads in dismay in his post, Behold, the Awesome Power of Human Stupidity. I think William has a future in stand-up comedy if he ever decides to leave nursing. Warning: Don’t drink anything while reading this post, otherwise you’ll be cleaning off your computer screen with Windex.

Girlvet, from Madness: Tales of an Emergency Room Nurse, presents, And Now the Next Contestant. She shares her observations about patients coming into her ER.



Nurse Sandra is calm and confident as she swaddles her tiny patient and holds him in her loving arms. You would never guess that she is swamped with work. The phone is ringing off the hook, call lights are going off, and there is a stack of orders waiting to be transcribed sitting on her desk. Maybe the doctor can stop posing long enough to give her a hand. Or maybe not. I bet the nurses won't share their Valentine's Day candy with him. We only share with special doctors, like the ones who give us the candy in the first place. Hint, hint....



At Your Cervix also had a busy day in L&D. She is a great team player , and I hope her colleagues appreciate her extra effort in making their day less stressful.

Labor Nurse proves that it is a small world in her post, The Red Thread. It’s a hauntingly beautiful story about how someone from her past reenters her life.

ApgaRN gives us a humorous glance at one mother-to-be in her post, Girls Just Wanna Have Babies. My heart goes out to Dear Hubby.



Doctor Geyer is working in his lab developing life saving medications for his patients while his nurse, who is standing by, is admiring the scenery. Yes, she’s in love with Dr. Geyer, but does he know that she even exists? She’s thinking about sending him flowers and a Valentine’s Day card. Maybe that will get his attention, or maybe she should lose her uptight pinafore and wear something a little more revealing.

Medications are a very important part of our patients’ care, and pharmacists are an essential part of the health care team. Drug Monkey proves that he is a very patient person in his post about a little old lady who wants the world to know that she is not a slut. It’s helpful to have a good sense of humor when you are at work. This is Drug Monkey’s first post at Change of Shift. Welcome aboard!

Disappearing John RN says he feels cheap in his post about drug reps. Personally, I’m all for free food and the other free goodies that drug reps bring to the unit when they present inservices about new medications. I especially like the Viagra pens, and the packages of microwave popcorn with the word “Risperdal” printed on the bags.



Just as Nurse Paula had passed her nursing and midwifery finals, her fiancé backed out of their engagement. Accompanied by her loyal friend Rosalind, Nurse Paula joined the Tasmanian Tourist Nursing Service. Good grief, I’d feel so out place if I lived in Tasmania. Patients can feel out of place, too, when they are in the hospital. The Mental from Certifiable Observations presents Relationships—Me and Them, in which she talks about her relationships with mental healthcare professionals. It’s a great read.

OncRN presents a wonderful story about how she and a special patient helped each other get through a difficult shift.



Beatrice Wayne, S.R.N., sat thinking, wondering what was happening at her old hospital. She was sad that she wasn’t having tea with her friends in the nurses’ lounge back home. Nurse Wayne was three thousand miles away from home, and she was having a difficult time with culture shock. Not to worry. It looks like she’s found a doctor that will help her feel better.

May, from about a nurse, is from the Philippines, and she describes her experience with culture shock in her post, 30 minutes. It’s an eye opening story, and it reminds us that we are truly blessed.



Holy cow, those two are in a major lip lock! They are rehearsing for Valentine’s Day, and they are giving new meaning to the term “equestrian arts.”

N=1 from Universal Health also had an exciting day involving horses in her post, Nursing in the Field (The Pasture, That Is). I love horse shows.

The Bohemian Road Nurse sees horses and so much more as she travels the backroads in her post, Heavenly Whiskey & Jim Dandy Biscuits. I wonder if she ever sees our love-birds when she's out making her rounds.



It looks like Nurse Honor has a very special relationship going on with her patient, Mr. Wonderful. Look at the doctor in the background. He’s wondering if he should take back the box of Valentine chocolates he just bought for Nurse Honor. I hope they can work things out. Another challenge that Nurse Honor faces is providing excellent customer service. Julie from I’m OK – You Need Meds talks about providing exceptional customer service during a nursing shortage. I think everyone can identify with her frustration.

Nurses develop relationships as we care for our patients. Janet from Chocolate and Raspberries writes about the importance of developing therapeutic relationships with our patients in her post, The Boot. I love happy endings.

Judy at Tiggers Don't Jump presents a post about a sad bridegroom in IV Escapades - Part 3. The poor guy had a rough Valentine's Day weekend.

Keith from Digital Doorway writes about a patient who needed some extra TLC as she prepared for a test. He has a great bedside manner, which is important when developing a therapeutic relationship with a patient. Keith, you are a compassionate nurse, and a role model to us all.

Jo presents Judgements and ASSumptions posted at Coffee & Conversation in a smoky room. She tells us that we should not judge a book, or a patient, by its cover. I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I just had to say that.


It looks like Nurse Austen just got a promotion because she’s now a nurse at the top. One of her friends looks happy for her, while the other man looks concerned. Maybe he knows that life “at the top” isn’t easy. Relationships with coworkers can be strained when you’re the boss. EDMGR from ED Manger: My Side of the Stretcher gives us an inside look at what it’s like to be a manager in her post, My Side of the Stretcher Continued. Being a boss is hard work.

Rita Schwab from MSSP tells us about a question asked by a JCAHO consultant in her post, Excellent Question. It’s a question that hospital administrators really need to think about. Life at the top isn't dull.

Kris, from The Kronicles of Kris, talks about a staff in her post, The Definition of Insanity. A good boss always listens to his or her staff.





Kim at Emergiblog is hosting the next Change of Shift on February 22. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that you have a delightful Valentine's Day.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Oh Baby, It's Cold Outside

Look at Nurse Lori Waters snuggling with that handsome doctor, who is also a pilot. I’m sure she’s just trying to stay warm. Yeah, right! Hey Lori, take off your nurses cap and put your hood up. You’re loosing body heat through the top of your head, and don’t you know it’s not proper etiquette to wear your nurses cap outside of the hospital. On second thought, maybe she can’t take it off because it’s frozen onto her head. Lori moved to Alaska to escape the memory of heartbreak. She’s a smart girl. Nurses make big bucks in Alaska, and there are more men than women living in that state. Seems to be a win-win situation. You go, girl!


It’s stinking cold outside. I’m sitting by a space heater in my flannel pajamas trying to stay warm. I’m also diving into my second bag of Cheetos. And I wonder why I gain so much weight during the winter. My coworkers called me last night and said that snowbirds are beginning to flock in. A snowbird is defined as a homeless person who comes to the ER and states that they are suicidal so they can be admitted into the hospital. I don’t blame them a bit. We offer superb customer service, which includes three hot meals per a day, and a warm bed to sleep in at night. And let’s not forget about the flat screen televisions and the wireless Internet service available to all of our patients. Our cure rate is remarkable. Suicidal thoughts quickly fade when the weather starts warming up. Man, are we good.




I love this old ad. I can't imagine my life without spell check. I’m working on Thursday’s edition of Change of Shift, and I’m really pleased to see that so many new bloggers are submitting post. If you haven’t sent in a post yet, email it to
nurseratchedsplace AT yahoo DOT com.

Stay warm!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Last Call for Change of Shift



Nurse Julia just remembered that she must send in her post for Change of Shift. Good thing her friend, Doctor Hunk, reminded her about the deadline. He’s already sent in his post for consideration. Have you? Please send in your posts by February 5th to nurseratchedsplace AT yahoo DOT com.