by Rosie Moore | Apr 16, 2020 | Uncategorized
In the words of Florence Nightingale:
“Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires as exclusive a devotion, as hard a preparation as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God’s spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts; I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.”
In today’s world, many people do not respect nurses and the work that they do. There are many types of nurses in different fields. I personally have had the privilege of working as a nurse in medical-surgical units, labor and delivery, legal nursing, home care, case management, workman’s comp, and field nursing. The experiences that I gained in working in all of these different areas of nursing make me who I am today.
Through out the past month, these same nurses that did not receive any gratitude have now started to receive recognition, some negative and some positive. Nursing as we know it has changed many lives. We have had to adapt to the way that we reach out to our patients for their protection and ours through telehealth nursing. For many patients, this has been a great thing because they can still talk with their nurse and their doctor. I see clients in their home and doctor’s offices, but during the COVID-19 shelter in, I have had to reach out by telehealth to my clients in order to continue to provide the services that they need.
Many people have been so scared that they are losing sleep and feeling stress due to not working and how are they going to pay their bills. Then there are the nurses that work frontline in the hospitals and doctor’s offices and the nurses that now have to see patients through telehealth measures. One would think that those of us that have jobs still amidst this pandemic would be grateful and kind, but instead, for some people, it is causing stress and anxiety as a result of undisclosed fear.
Fear’s acronym that has been shared is false evidence appearing real. In this case, though it is fear of the unknown. Will there be work, will I get infected? Will my family be okay? These are all questions that go through people’s minds. What can we do as nurses? Pray and ask God for that peace to be the light in the midst of darkness. Second, understand that we can’t change the world and those that are in it; but we can change the way we look at it and how we handle circumstances.
A friend paid me the greatest compliment the other day, he said “Rosie Moore you followed The Great Physician! Bringing healing and hope to those in despair. keep up the good work. There is a crown waiting for you!” So today know that every type of nurse is important whether in the frontline or via telehealth. When COVID-19 is over, never forget what our country went through and the work that nurses and other healthcare workers did.
Source: Rosie’s Nurse Corner
by Rosie Moore | Mar 13, 2020 | Uncategorized
There is a lot of stress and fear globally regarding the COVID-19 and what we are supposed to be doing to protect ourselves. The media, friends and family, popular theme parks, businesses including airlines, cruises, and places of attractions, all have something to share about the COVID-19. This is a household word that gets used in households on a daily basis probably more times than we want it to be. Should we be concerned? That is an outstanding yes!! Why? Well, first of all, let’s dissect what is happenbing, fear ( false evidence appearing real).
There is a lot of things that we are uncertain of and many times people will provide us information that may not be accurate. They are not telling us to be mean, but they themselves are scared because they do not have all the facts. Our healthcare professionals are leaning on the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization ( WHO) to provide them the latest facts. I am sure there are doctors who specialize in microbiology ( that famous petri dish that I hated in college) to do a battery of tests on this organism. They learn something new each day. There is not a specific cure as the virus has not been here long enough to develop a vaccine against it. This is what causes the fear of not having a cure, not knowing if you contract it what will happen to you, your family, and your job, not to mention your friends. So now that we dissected what the real issue here is fear, let’s see if we can put your mind at ease while we let the professionals figure out how to eradicate this virus.
“First of all Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness
that can spread from person to person. The virus that causes
COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that was first identified during
an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China.”
“The virus is thought to spread mainly between people who
are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)
through respiratory droplets produced when an infected
person coughs or sneezes. It also may be possible that a person
can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has
the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or
possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main
way the virus spreads.”
The symptoms are Fever, Cough, and Shortness of breath. Pretty common symptoms that can be overlooked for many upper respiratory infections. These symptoms can manifest themselves at any time in the 2-week window after becoming infected.
The way to protect yourself and others from catching the COVID-19 is to practice washing your hands for 20 seconds with antibacterial soap before eating, after eating, after using the bathroom, after touching your nose, eyes, or mouth. You should also wash your hands after coming from the grocery store or any other public place that is not your home. If you do not have access to soap and water right away uses the antibacterial right away. If you shake hands with someone, do not be afraid to use your antibacterial. I know people may frown at that and think you are germophobic, but really it is okay if questioned a simple explanation stating that you want to practice good infection control and want to be certain that you do not compromise them or your family is enough stated.
Always wash your hands after preparing food and serving or taking care of others ( no matter age). Avoid contact with people that are sick and if you feel sick, stay home. do not try to go to church, restaurants, activities, school, or any public spaces with multiple crowds and pawn it off on allergies. Everyone knows allergies are not contagious so many people who cannot afford to stay home because they do not get paid for being out, tell everyone that they have allergies. Yes someone may have allergies but until this is verified by a doctor or nurse practitioner, stay home!
Be sure to clean surfaces with antibacterial wipes or household disinfectants as the virus can live on surfaces and if touched it can cause someone to get the virus. When you come home from the outside, take your shoes off outside clean the bottom of the shoe and do take a shower at night before bed or if possible as soon as you come home from work.
I know this all may sound excessive, but if you follow good infection control, it will help decrease the stress that the media is causing you by playing the news 24/7. Limit the times that you watch the news so that you are able to function on a day to day basis. Have a cup of chamomile tea for bed to allow your mind to relax and get rest. Start your day with something positive such as a daily devotion, prayer, or if you do not do any of the latter, watch a tv show that brings laughter to you. Listen to the news midday or afternoon, this will give you at least what happened in the evening and the morning and not bombard you.
I hope that this has brought you some comfort. For specific updated information go directly to one of these sites:
CDC/Center for disease control
WHO/World Health Organization
OSHA/Occupational and Safety Health Administration
As a nurse, I have to practice above and beyond the CDC, WHO, and OSHA rules so that I can protect myself and my patients. So I understand and get everyone’s concerns right away.
Be blessed and be safe.
Source: Rosie’s Nurse Corner
by Rosie Moore | Feb 17, 2020 | Uncategorized
When I was a manager of a team of nurses and social workers, collaboration existed in my direct report team, and as a team, we functioned using critical thinking, interdisciplinary team approach and collaboration on cases together. But in the big picture of corporate America under the manager that I reported to, this was not acceptable, it was more along the lines of a multidisciplinary team. In this type of team, you only have individual thinking in the group, meaning their way and no other opinions. The focus would be on tasks and check off systems regardless if it was feasible to do (Rubenfeld & Scheffer, 2014).
Nurses do have the ability to be leaders, educators and changers of a system, if assertive enough to make that change, but in order to do so, a good team of interprofessional people is needed (Denisco & Barker, 2012). Because at the end of the day, the patient is who counts and why changes are necessary. If more companies were focused on having a management style that was transformational vs transactional, this would alleviate the unnecessary resignation of employees, corrective action plans and disgruntled employees.
In my team, for instance, a good way that we incorporated learning was to have one person do a case study every week. They would team up with another person on the team to present the case study on a difficult patient. During this time the team had the ability to comment on the case, make suggestions and also refer to our medical director for review. This allowed me to mentor the nurses and social workers during our weekly meetings so that we could continue to go over any other cases that may have been difficult or of concern to them.
References
Denisco, S. M., & Barker, A. M. (2012). 25. Advanced practice nursing: Evolving rules for the transformation of the profession (2nd ed., pp. 547-567). [Vital Source Bookshelf] Retrieved from https://campus.capella.edu/web/library/home
Rubenfeld, M. G., & Scheffer, B. (2014). Critical thinking and patient-centered care. Critical thinking tactics for nurses: achieving the IOM competencies (3rd ed., pp. 155-180). [Vital Source Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://campus.capella.edu/web/library/home
Source: Rosie’s Nurse Corner
by Rosie Moore | Feb 10, 2020 | Uncategorized
I had the opportunity to interview Mary Alice Cullen, a Director of Patient Care Services. She oversees the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), labor and delivery, pediatrics, maternity ward, and the women’s clinic. Mary graduated in May, 2016 with her Doctorate of Nurse Practice. Mary has always wanted to get her MSN. As she started to study to get her MSN, it opened her eyes to endless possibilities of what she could do with her degree. When she graduated with her MSN, the position that she was in opened up for her and she took on the job. As she went through her role she wanted to make more of an impact on the role and the clients and staff she was supporting. Mary decided to continue school for her Doctorate in Nurse Practice (DNP) with a concentration on Executive Doctorate in Nurse Practice, and this degree is also approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Her attributes are that of a caring leader, one that will work with her staff to encourage and teach them and empower them to be the best that they can be, even when they do not see that they can.
Mary does not often do hands-on care she is in an executive role. However, she does round daily. She provides support to her managers that manage the staff, in order to provide better care for the patients. Her leadership model is Kouzes and Posner, but if she is scrubbed in for surgery in labor and delivery, her transactional model side comes out. Meaning this is a time as a transactional manager, where following directions the same way every day is crucial. Mary most recently participated in a study that involved strategic planning of having single-family NICU rooms for the parents. These were her visionary plans and the hospital agreed after the research was completed, that having individualized patient rooms in the NICU, would benefit the staff and the parents of the babies.
My leadership style is very similar to Mary’s in that I lead by example and I am not afraid to do the work that my staff does. This makes a strong leader because the people who follow you will know that although you are in a position of higher authority, you will still be humble enough to do the job your staff does and be able to explain it from their side and understand the position that they are in. Knowing your staff’s job by example, allows the manager to know the timeliness of things that need to be accomplished and the ability of each worker’s caseload and what they can manage. There are seven attributes to being a good leader and Mary possesses those in her character, her track record to be given assignments and projects that have been successful and in the skills that she shows handling her staff (Baer, 2012).
References
Baer, J. (2012). Theories of leadership. In Leadership in health care (2nd ed., pp. 45-69). [Vital Source Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://campus.capella.edu/web/library/home
Source: Rosie’s Nurse Corner
by Rosie Moore | Feb 3, 2020 | Uncategorized
I remember most recently having a bad reaction to zinc when I took it on an empty stomach (yes learned that lesson) and passing out with blood pressure and blood sugar bottoming out. I felt better on the ambulance ride to the hospital after some IV fluids. The paramedics stayed with me until they had a room to take me to for an exam. But the nurse then said since I was feeling better, I can get up off the stretcher and wait in the regular waiting room. They sent an orderly to walk me to the waiting room. I had my purse, winter coat, boots in one hand and my work bag in the other hand. The orderly did not offer to get a wheelchair to help me considering I had just passed out an hour ago. I thought to myself at that moment boy he is rude as he walked 20 feet ahead never looking back to see if I was okay and two, never offered to help carry anything. My husband arrived minutes later and was appalled at the treatment of a patient this way.
Now at this moment, I still have not been seen for any lab work or by a doctor. When I finally got into a room two hours later, the doctor did not come in for another hour and a half. When he came in, he was there a whole 2 minutes and said we are going to send you for some chest x-rays, lab work, EKG and put you on a heart monitor and watch you for 23 hours. I said wait, I had a bad reaction to a medication how do you derive at all this in a 2 minutes checkup? The best part is where they make you wait for 23 hours is an open room with many other patients looking at you from across the hall. This triage area does not have curtains, it is a holding area. I grabbed my things and said I will see my regular doctor thank you very much.
I cannot understand legally or ethically how patients can be treated this way. Is there not a policy in hospitals that they must follow to give better patient-centered care? As in the Colorado model, it states there should be a management leader looking out for the rest of the team to be sure that patients are being informed of things and being involved in their care as opposed to left alone for hours at a time and not a single explanation of care and why it is being ordered (Goode, Fink, Krugman, Oman, & Traditi, 2010).
References
Goode, C. J., Fink, R. M., Krugman, M., Oman, K. S., & Traditi, L. K. (2010, August 10). The Colorado patient-centered interprofessional evidence-based practice model: A framework for transformation. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 96-105.
Source: Rosie’s Nurse Corner
by Rosie Moore | Jan 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
Most recently I was asked to comment on whether during the second stage of labor ( which is the onset of full cervical dilation) should be passive descent vs. pushing. In my opinion, it all depends on what policy the treating practitioner uses. I worked at a high level labor and delivery unit up North where women were flown in if it was an emergency or bad delivery anticipated or trauma. But we also were a Catholic Hospital and took care of the indigent. We had a teen obstetrics clinic in the area (not related to the hospital) but it was across the street. They handled all the teenage pregnancies that came through their doors. It was managed by two very caring midwives. At this clinic, the girls not only received prenatal care but they also received information on how to take care of their babies. The girls were referred to pediatricians to get healthcare for the babies and to school counselors to help them get their GED’s. But the best part was that these midwives taught natural childbirth at their clinic. When a girl came into labor, they went into the birthing room and they did perineal massage to do natural descent. They worked with the contractions. These girls rarely had any perineal tears.
One day one of the midwives was on vacation and the other one was in the clinic and could not get there this one time and one of their girls came in almost completely dilated and effaced. The resident on duty that evening was one of the most arrogant doctors I had ever seen, he had smart remarks before he even got in the room with her. He went inside to do her exam and he rammed into her and the girl nearly jumped three feet, I calmed her down as she was a scared 15-year-old girl. She screamed and he said listen you had something much bigger in there than my finger, I quickly stated, doctor that is enough. He said, yes she is dilated, get her in the delivery room, I said that the girls go to the birthing rooms and deliver there in a more holistic approach; his reply was, we don’t have time for that garbage, get her pushing and delivered. This poor child gave birth and had tears from front to back, she was in such pain, as she could not have an epidural or pain meds since she was already effaced and 10 cm. I did not have kids at that time, but could only imagine by the grips of my hand and the tears and screaming that she was suffering. I was barely 21 years old. The midwife came finally after she closed the clinic at 7pm to check on her patient and was so angry after the patient told her what happened. She brought up the incident to the hospital administrator who placed the doctor on probation. He had a few incidents with me and some other nurses and eventually was fired from the residency at that hospital. Knowing the hospital’s practice for each unit and also what the practitioner believes is very important (Denisco & Barker, 2012). Some doctors will approach labor and delivery with a more holistic approach. This would be an approach that Jean Watson’s theory on caring would fit in to.
References
Denisco, S. M., & Barker, A. M. (2012). 25. In Advanced practice nursing: Evolving rules for the transformation of the profession (2nd ed., pp. 547-567). Retrieved from https://campus.capella.edu/web/library/home
Source: Rosie’s Nurse Corner
