As we recently celebrated Nurses Week, I sit here and reflect upon where we have been and where we are going as a profession. We have persevered through good times and bad, periods of war and peace, and financial booms and recessions. Yet through all of these times, the role of the nurse has remained steadfast: to promote wellness and health through our caring practices. While our practice brings about outcomes that equate to quality and satisfaction for patients, families, co-workers, and ultimately the healthcare industry, it always boils down to one key word-“relationships.”

A larger question then emerges: How do we as nurses utilize relationships to deliver care and thus, our practice? Is there a correlation between relationship development and healthcare-particularly nursing? Many schools of thought and healthcare leaders seem to believe so.

In the 1960s and 70s, nursing leaders like Marie Manthey realized that the care we delivered as a profession needed to be focused on a patient-and family-centered approach rather than a task-oriented one. Manthey also suggested that this approach needed to be the “primary” method for delivering nursing care because it promoted relationship development with our patients and families that could lead to better, more individualized plans of care as well as optimal care outcomes (Boltz, 2011).

I believe relationship-based care and its central theme of what is known today as primary nursing is the key to patient success in any healthcare system (Koloroutis et al., 2004). The relationships we as nurses develop with our patients allows us to get to know their exclusive stories, if you will, so that we can better tailor our plans to deliver the most appropriate care to meet their needs. Read more…

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We visit with RN Marsha Podd, aka the Baby Whisperer, who has written a book called Secrets of a Baby Nurse. The book is getting rave reviews and if you know of anyone that is expecting a child, already has a baby or toddler or is remotely related to a baby, they should read this book. For more info about Marsha go to gotosleepbaby.com.

And we share an interview that our media partner Laura Flanders of GRITtv did with Executive Director of National Nurses United, Rose Ann DeMoro. It’s a great opportunity to hear from Rose Ann, why the nurses are on the front lines of so many issues that affect ordinary Americans like Medicare, Social Security, access to affordable healthcare and patient safety. Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:50 — 37.0MB) | Embed

Podcast (boston-edition): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:50 — 37.0MB) | Embed

Podcast (nnu): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:48 — 4.7MB) | Embed

Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director National Nurses United
“I always knew women would lead a revolution in this country.”

In studio with RN Marsha Podd, aka the Baby Whisperer

Former Senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell wins the Nurse Talk Square Needle Award

Dan’s in Hawaii and Pattie sees an opportunity!

…Read more>

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:48 — 4.7MB) | Embed

Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director National Nurses United
“I always knew women would lead a revolution in this country.”

We share an interview that our media partner Laura Flanders of GRITtv did with Executive Director of Nationl Nurses United, Rose Ann DeMoro. It’s a great opportunity to hear from Rose Ann, why the nurses are on the front lines of so many issues that affect ordinary Americans like Medicare, Social Security, access to affordable healthcare and patient safety. Labor Day is coming up and the nurses of National Nurses United have declared it a Day Of Action. Everyone has the power to make change…but do they have the will?

Read more…

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This week on Nurse Talk Casey and Dan visit with RN and National Nurses United Co-President, Deborah Burger. We chat with Deborah about the Day Of Action as she makes her way home from an important nurses’ rally in Michigan. The purpose of the Day Of Action is to bring awareness to the growing divide in our country between the rich and the poor. Find out how you can get involved at nationalnursesunited.org.

Also New York Times best-selling author Steve Berry joins us to talk about his passion for history and his fascinating new book The Jefferson Key. Not only is this author of best-selling thrillers a fantastic writer, but he is inspiring and brilliant! A lifelong, devoted student of history, Berry is dedicated to researching his novels in-depth. This is a great story–all of it! Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:50 — 37.0MB) | Embed

Podcast (boston-edition): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:50 — 37.0MB) | Embed

Podcast (nnu): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:15 — 6.4MB) | Embed

This week on Nurse Talk Casey and Dan visit with RN and National Nurses United Co-President, Deborah Burger. It isn’t unusual that we found Deborah on her way home from an important nurses’ rally in Michigan–because that’s what Deborah does when she isn’t working her full time job at a hospital in Northern California. Deborah chats with us about the upcoming Day Of Action on September 1st. The purpose of the Day Of Action is to bring awareness to the growing divide in our country between the rich and the poor. It sounds simplistic but it’s not–and as our politicians work toward more cuts in basic services and education, access to affordable healthcare gets further and further out of reach, our jobs are being shipped offshore and Medicare and Social Security are being threatened–something must be done. Who better to lead the charge than nurses? Find out how you can get involved at nationalnursesunited.org.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:15 — 6.4MB) | Embed

This week on Nurse Talk Casey and Dan visit with RN and National Nurses United Co-President, Deborah Burger. It isn’t unusual that we found Deborah on her way home from an important nurses’ rally in Michigan–because that’s what Deborah does when she isn’t working her full time job at a hospital in Northern California. Deborah chats with us about the upcoming Day Of Action on September 1st. The purpose of the Day Of Action is to bring awareness to the growing divide in our country between the rich and the poor. It sounds simplistic but it’s not–and as our politicians work toward more cuts in basic services and education, access to affordable healthcare gets further and further out of reach, our jobs are being shipped offshore and Medicare and Social Security are being threatened–something must be done. Who better to lead the charge than nurses? Find out how you can get involved at nationalnursesunited.org. Read more…