New Year, New Resolve!  Happy New Year!  So far this year I have had three nurses tell me about professional and work resolutions and goals they have set for 2012.  Research, abstracts and presentations are all in the works.  They were very excited, motivated and seemed up to the challenges.  That got me thinking about my own resolutions and wondering if I am prepared for the challenges.    “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” --Antoine de Saint Exupery, Writer & aviator No doubt many of the rest of you began the New Year with re... [More]

  Halloween A Day for Professional Reflection In a mere week Halloween will be upon us and we will see nurse costumes galore.  This is a perfect time to evaluate how our profession is presented to the public.  No, those trick or treaters will not be dressed in scrubs or the nurse uniform of yesterday.  Instead, you will see young women wearing the traditional nurse cap and perhaps a stethoscope or Red Cross insignia on the costume and looking as if they had just emerged from a Russ Meyer film.  Mr. Meyer influenced such directors as John Landis and Quentin Taranti... [More]

  Bullying Part Three: Prevention, Reaction, Recourse and Resolution    So what can be done to prevent bullying or avoid becoming a bully's target?   Educate yourself.  A good place to start is with your hospital’s policies.  As a general rule, most people, regardless of their profession, do not regularly read their organization's policies and procedures unless they have a specific question.    Policies regarding workplace violence and bullying tend to be broad in order to cover a wide variety of bullying behaviors.  Our own poli... [More]