• More than one right answer – learning critical thinking skills

    For the present, the COVID19 virus has students around the world pretty much excluded from in-person, hands-on nursing programs of any sort. Although some classes have been able to carry on with online sessions, these may be even more challenging for some students who struggle with this venue. Nursing at all levels from CNA to Advanced Practice and Ph.D. programs, is a very different type of learning altogether. All our lives as students there has been basically one right answer for test questions. For example, 2+2=4 in math no matter where you are and what language you speak. Common core and other ridiculous versions may take you through multiple unnecessary…

  • Healthy Eating for Nurses Who Work Long Hours

    When you work long hours, finding time to eat healthily isn’t always easy. Grabbing dinner from a fast food joint or having pizza delivered often seems much more appealing than taking the time to prepare a healthy meal from scratch but doing so can have a detrimental impact on your long-term health. As a nurse, you already are well aware of the importance of a healthy diet. You know what you should be doing in terms of taking care of your body, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing it. Nurses work long and often erratic hours. Getting on a schedule and eating healthy on a regular basis can…

  • Time to Enforce Safe Living to Defeat COVID19

    In the US we used to live in just a few years ago, the public health reporting of communicable diseases both bacterial and viral was such a very different picture from what we’re seeing on the news today. We need to factor in the vast number of people who aren’t being tested and realize how very many more people are actually sick with the coronavirus COVID19 or are positive carriers spreading the disease faster than we can keep up. That number is one we can only estimate in our minds. But the point is, the real picture of this disease is much grimmer than we know – and than we…

  • What a way to celebrate the Year of the Nurse and Midwife!

    Misinformation about the coronavirus COVID19 has been rampant for weeks, and now that factual and informative information along with strong directives from the CDC has emerged, we’re experiencing the exponential growth we’ve heard about in locations such as Asia, Europe, and Australia. Nurses are scrambling to meet the needs of patients in every possible setting. In this Year of the Nurse and Midwife, no one could have imagined we’d find ourselves in the midst of such a crisis. But nurses are the backbone of the health care system and will work to educate the lay public on how to prevent infection and protect themselves and their loved ones from exposure.…

  • It’s the Journey

    I don’t know about you, but for me, 2019 was a year I couldn’t wait to see end. It was indeed one of the worst of my life. Getting past some of the dates of those worst days has been difficult too so far. Lots of PTSD. And to boot, 2020 hasn’t been exactly easy so far. Today was an emotional roller coaster with the Celebration of Life for Kobe Bryant. Living in southern CA and being a sports fan, Kobe found a soft spot in my heart. I’ve seen him on the court and in the community. One of the things that hit me today was a quote from…