Blog Entries for NurseKeith

Oh dear, is right!

nursekeith@gmail.com — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0100

So, as my second week at my new (temporary and part-time) job as a Public Health Nurse begins, I am seeing how 10 hours really pushes me to my limits of time management.

When I arrived this morning, a woman from a Caribbean island was there with a child who was not actually hers, and the child was said to need "lots of shots". A few calls to the school who sent her to see me helped me to glean what was needed and why her parents were not bringing her to see me, but the entire [...]

Oh dear

nursekeith@gmail.com — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0100

This Monday, I will begin my new position as the interim Public Health Nurse in my town, and I find myself wondering about what that actually means. After two rushed training sessions with my kind but harried predecessor, I feel somewhat prepared for the challenges ahead, but uncertain about what I will actually do each day. So far, I know that I will:

Coordinate flu clinics for town residents and town employeesCase manage active cases of TB, pertussis and other diseases, including home v [...]

Wow!

nursekeith@gmail.com — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I am so excited about the changes happening here at NurseLinkup, and I'm doubly excited that we successfully hosted Change of Shift for the first time amidst all of those changes!

It's gratifying to see people coming to the site, and we want to make it very clear that more great changes are on the way in the coming months. We will be improving the social networking aspects of the site, and never fear, many functions will become more user-friendly with time.

Thank yo [...]

New Interim Position!

nursekeith@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Today I accepted a temporary position as the Interim Public Health Nurse for my town of residence, ten hours per week! The nurse who has been in the position is leaving after thirteen years (to become a school nurse, of all things) and I am stepping in for at least three months and will be responsible for disease surveillance, immunization tracking and clinics, and other public health issues. I am excited and nervous, and could be in the running for the permanent 26-hour position at the beginnin [...]

Interesting Work Prospect

nursekeith@gmail.com — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Sometimes things just happen. Yesterday I received an email from the person who serves as the Public Health Nurse for the little college town where I live (population: 20,000 residents + 25,000 students, more or less). She's stepping down from her post and the town is looking for an interim part-time nurse (10 hours per week +/-) to organize, plan, and implement the town's flu clinics for the season, as well as track the handful of TB cases and other reportable diseases in the area. < [...]

Mindless Meds and My Restless Mind

nursekeith@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Yesterday, I called the community health center where I sometimes work as a per diem nurse, asking if they needed any help. I didn't really help out there all summer because they hired several school nurses who needed temp work for the summer, so now that Fall is here (well, almost), it seems my services are needed again several times a week.

Now, I am not one to complain, and I do what's asked of me in any given situation. When I go to the health center, what they really need [...]

I Did It

nursekeith@gmail.com — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Well, I did it. After twelve years of eschewing taking a job in a hospital, I have applied for a part-time position in a local inpatient psychiatric unit. Things have been very slow at all of my per diem jobs, and while I'm very hesitant at this juncture to commit to a solid position, finances are telling me that it may be time to at least have 16 or 20 hours of assured work each week. So, this 24-hour per week position consisting of two 12-hour shifts may fit the bill.

Although I [...]

Uniforms

nursekeith@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

That old subject of uniforms and professionalism keeps coming up here and there. All of those scrubs with teddy-bears and angels hearts and flowers---I understand the sentiment, but I feel personally that it is making us look less and less professional.

Some facilities are now mandating that each clinical discipline wear a certain color uniform or scrub so that employees, patients and visitors can tell who performs what function on the facility staff. The more I think about it, the mor [...]

Creative Responses to the Nursing Shortage

nursekeith@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I am an occasional guest blogger on NurseConnect, and I invite you to read my latest post, Creative Responses to the Nursing Shortage, posted on NurseConnect today. I think the post offers an interesting perspective, detailing ways that individuals, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities are responding to the crisis at hand.

From Silence to Voice

nursekeith@gmail.com — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I am currently reading From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Need to Communicate to the Public, by Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon. I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough for any nurse interested in how nurses are perceived by society at large.

While I have yet to finish the entire book, I can say that Buresh and Gordon are touching on every aspect of nursing that irks me:

Why are nurses not quoted more often as experts on healthcare?

Why do nurses [...]

Lobbyists, Healthcare, and Open Secrets

nursekeith@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Please click here to read my recent post on my other blog (Digital Doorway) about the role of lobbyists in healthcare. A recent study shows clearly how much money is spent in the halls of Congress by the healthcare industry. You may be shocked.

Religion and Discrimination in Healthcare

nursekeith@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Please click here to read my recent post on Digital Doorway (my long-standing blog) about the recent decision by the California Supreme Court vis-a-vis reproductive rights, sexual orientation, gender, and doctors' rights to refuse to treat selected groups.

Lonely Blogger Still Seeking Friends Willing to Blog......

nursekeith@gmail.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I hate to beg, fellow LinkUpians, but I'm hoping that several of you will join me in posting blog posts and other interesting tidbits here on Nurse LinkUp. While I do maintain a blog elsewhere, Nurse LinkUp is an easy place to post one's thoughts and observations about nursing and life, and I would be thrilled if some of you would join me in that practice.

As we grow, we hope that more and more nurses will realize that Nurse LinkUp is actually the only online nurse netwo [...]

A Visiting Nurse and the Puzzle of Humanity

nursekeith@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Please click here to read a recent post on my blog, Digital Doorway , about my reactions to class differences in patients observed during home visits.

One Hundred Years of Laughter

nursekeith@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Please click here to read a recent post on my blog, Digital Doorway, about a wonderful 100th birthday celebration at an inner-city senior center for low-income Latino elders.

Pain, Depression, Service, and Healing

nursekeith@gmail.com — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Please click here to read the story of a journey of service and healing that I experienced in my personal life today.

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NurseKeith is a nurse, consultant, writer and blogger. Please feel free to visit his blog, Digital Doorway .

Lonely Blogger Seeks Others NLU Bloggers

nursekeith@gmail.com — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Although I've been blogging for years about nursing, healthcare, and medicine at my own blog, Digital Doorway, I enjoy blogging here on Nurse LinkUp and am looking for other NLU members to join the blogging world.

Over the years, I 've mentored several new nurse bloggers, and if you have any inkling to start writing about your experiences as a nurse, please feel free to email me and I'd be happy to walk you through starting a blog and connecting with nurse bloggers in [...]

Graduating From Hospice

nursekeith@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Sometimes patients on hospice get better. Please click here to read a recent post on my blog, Digital Doorway, about a patient who "graduates" from hospice care.

Be Silent and Listen

nursekeith@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Please click here to read a recent post about an enlightening home visit with a psychiatric patient on my blog, Digital Doorway.

The Happy Hospitalist Catches Some Flack

nursekeith@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:00:00 +0100

A blog post over at The Happy Hospitalist ---a popular medical blog by an anonymous doctor---has spawned a somewhat heated and contentious debate by individuals commenting on the post.

What I gather most from the post was that said doctor blogger was trying to convey his appreciation of the magnitude and complexity of nurses' work while also lamenting the ballooning costs of healthcare in the United States. Unfortunately, some readers seem to have taken offense to his descriptions [...]