I recently had the privilege to attend a Zoom session hosted by Lorie A. Brown RM, MN, JD of Empowered Nurses. The guest speaker was RaDonda Vaught, the former Tennessee nurse who was convicted in 2022 of criminally negligent homicide after injecting the patient with the wrong medication. This was after the Tennessee BON cleared her in 2020 and told her they “had bigger fish to fry.” How and why that changed two years later needs your attention! You can watch the replay of the Zoom session. I encourage all nurses to watch the replay and to share it with colleagues and co-workers. Learn how Nurses Need to Be the…
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Time Management Essentials for New Nurses
A lot is researched and written about the major struggles for new nurses. Some are blamed on not being taught in nursing school, and others are inherent in the normal adjustments to a new profession. Time management is something that is always included in this discussion. Time management essentials for new nurses is something that is always included in the discussion about major struggles for new nurses. If you don’t learn to manage time, time will quickly manage you! You’ll find yourself always working late especially to complete the charting you’re way behind on, skipping meals, and never getting to the bathroom. Your body will be stressed out, and you’ll not…
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Soft Skills vs Hard Skills — What’s the Difference?
We often hear a lot about soft skills vs hard skills today. What’s the difference and how do they apply to the nursing profession? Both are required for nurses to provide quality care to patients. They are also very different by definition. Soft skills are basically innate personality traits such as interpersonal (people) skills and behaviors. Soft skills are very difficult to learn or to perfect. Hard skills are learned skills and often defined as specific abilities and skills that enable a person to excel in a profession. Nurses need to have strong communication skills, work well with others and be a good team member. Nurses should be flexible and…
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The Art of Delegation in Nursing
Have you learned the art of delegation in nursing? Or are you quickly burning out and constantly staying late to chart and complete tasks because you feel it’s faster and easier if you do it all yourself? Delegation is an art and a science. You need to understand how and when to do it, but sometimes it’s essential and you need to practice before it gets that desperate. Admittedly, most nurses are overachievers and asking for help can be perceived as a weakness or even a failure. You might also feel like you’ve not met your goals, or lived up to your ideal of perfect if you ask someone to…
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Setting Intentions for Self-Care in 2023
Typically, the end of the year or the first couple of weeks of the new year are times when people think about new year’s resolutions. It’s a time for letting go of the past and planning new goals and focus on the blank slate. It’s a time for renewal and reflection. A time to begin new and rediscover yourself. Sadly however, many of those great resolutions fall by the wayside in the first few weeks and are just a reminder of things gone bad, or inability to focus. Instead of being renewal and positive experiences, they become cumbersome and distracting and focus on failures and lack of successor follow through.…