ER Nurses Blog

It's mental health awareness month in the US , and mental health awareness in Canada . There's a noticeable increase in mental health awareness. For example, it's helpful when celebrities step up and share their struggles. It normalizes what has largely been either hidden or stigmatized. Mental health is something many health practitioners know intimately. Both in what they see on the job, but also what they what they have to deal with themselves. If, as a health practitioner, and especially a nurse, you don't take care of your own health, you're going to suffer. Faced with acute issues normal in a healthcare setting, like a hospital, increases the likelihood of mental illness. High stress environments are a normal part of the job. However, the consequences of that environment need to be treated as normal too. Often, the results of losing work time and employees to issues such as anxiety impact the healthcare delivery system as a whole. What's both disa...

The knowledge and skills of nursing are portable and reflect versatility. Nurses are scientific critical thinkers who see their vocation as a calling to improve the health care of citizens through compassionate healing. Nurses’ ability to evaluate and think on their feet in a variety of situations is found in all locations of health care from the operating room to patient homes. The history of nursing reflects innovation. Since May is the month we find nursing week this article will take a look at one aspect of the future of nursing. Nursing’s bird’s eye view of health care gives nurses opportunity to see how health care delivery can be improved through new inventions of equipment and services. There are many examples in the past of nurses who have filled voids in the health care system by pioneering health care innovation. They have been mentioned in this space already, such as Frontier Nurse Services or the Visiting Nurse Services of New York and the Henry Street Settlement....