The Wisdom of Reflection
He sat on his mother’s lap clinging to her for dear life as he screamed in fear. The hospital bed seemed to hug them as they sat in the center of it, leaning against the head of the bed that was at a 75 degree angle. […]
An Exercise of Compassion
The ER is in total chaos today. All 23 rooms are full, the behavioral health suite is full, the waiting room is full, and even the hallway is full. Full of sick patients. The nurses are frazzled, working as hard as they can delivering treatments, […]
Transpersonal Caring Relationships in Nursing
I walked into room 15 to introduce myself to my new migraine patient and I found her rocking back and forth on the stretcher. Both of her hands were firmly pressed into her forehead and covering her eyes. The chart says my patient is 17 […]
Experience, Knowledge and Caring: Good Nursing Requires The Whole Package
Her little blue eyes darted from her mother to me repeatedly as tears built up and dropped onto her cheeks. I smiled at her and set my equipment down on the counter. Her little chin quivered with fear as she struggled to compose herself. Her […]
The Heart of a Nurse
Something was said to me on Christmas that has left me pondering just why being a nurse is so wonderful. The comment was, “She is such a smart girl. She shouldn’t be in the nursing program. She should be a doctor.” Well…Hmmmmmmmm. I admire the […]
Holistic Nursing and the Surgical Patient
A category 2 abdominal pain patient was brought into room 5 from the waiting room of my ER. She was an early 20-something who happened to be 17 weeks pregnant. She was complaining of diffuse belly pain, fever and nausea that had escalated over 48 […]
Hand Massage and the Migraine Patient
I went to retrieve the 13 year old patient from the busy ER waiting room. I took her chart and looked around the waiting area. Amongst the noisy crowd; I saw a young girl, head in hands, lying in her mother’s lap. I called her […]
Rape, Fear and the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner | Love Your Nursing Life | Bobbi McCarthy
Fear has crawled into my heart and its talons are gripping tighter…As I sit on my stool, hands in my lap, I silently scream to God to help me. I know that what this young woman is going to tell me is going to haunt […]
Behavioral Health Teen and the ER Setting | Love Your Nursing Life | RN Bobbi McCarthy
I stood in the doorway and watched my 15 y.o. behavioral psych. patient. She sat cross legged on the stretcher, hands tightly clenched in her lap, head down and eyes closed…rocking back and forth. A loud,continuous hum escaped through her throat…not a song kind of […]