Nurse in Hollywood | Richard Prince

A painting of a nurse by American artist Richard Prince recently sold for $6,466,500 at auction.

The painting, Nurse in Hollywood #4, was just one of 19 nurse paintings Prince created in the 2000s.

All are highly valued: Overseas Nurse sold for $8,467,258 in 2008.

The series was inspired by Prince’s massive collection of 1950s and 1960s pulp fiction books featuring naughty nurses.

Man Crazy Nurse | Richard Prince

The collection caused quite a stir during its original 2003 exhibition in New York. While nurses at the time fretted over the display (Slate magazine called Prince’s nurses ” ciphers of femininity: accessible yet forbidden, wholesome yet on intimate terms with strangers’ bodily fluids”), The Truth About Nursing ultimately gave the show 3 out of 4 stars for its representation of nursing.

Overseas Nurse | Richard Prince

Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH of The Truth About Nursing wrote, “Interesting is the fact that the white-clad female nurses in these paintings are effectively gagged…Trapped in their oppressive clothes and our oppressive attitudes, the pulp nurses may reflect the continuing plight of nurses, and women generally.

The blood spots on their bodies are stigmatas of caring…Though it’s unlikely Prince intended it, it’s possible to see this exhibition as a harsh but constructive critique of nursing’s invisibility and a call to action.”

What do you think of Prince’s paintings?

You probably celebrated National Nurses Week last year with a cake that looked like this:

Image: iStockphoto | Thinkstock

But what if you could have had a cake like this?

Image: CakeWrecks.com

For the Maternity Nurse…Ack!

CakeWrecks.com, a blog dedicated to professional cakes gone “horribly, hilariously wrong” posted a treasure-trove of nurse-related cakes in honor of nurses, and then we searched around to find even more shockers to include. Click through for a gallery of the craziest nurse cakes!

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Shirley Chaplin, a 54-year-old nurse, has worn the crucifix necklace without incidence throughout her 31-year nursing career.  Her employer asked her to remove the necklace in the fall of 2009 after a risk assessment showed it could be pulled by one of the confused elderly patients in Chaplin’s care.  Chaplin refused and was reassigned.

She’s currently telling her story to an employment tribunal.  Chaplin told the tribunal that she was “forced to choose between her job and her faith.”  Seven Anglican bishops have issued a letter of support on Chaplin’s behalf.

The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust Hospital, Chaplin’s employer, maintains that their request reflected hospital policy and was motivated by health and safety concerns.

What do you think? Do you wear religious jewelry to work? And should there be any jewelry restrictions for nurses?

Image: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | Blend Images | Getty Images

Shirley Chaplin, the 54-year-old British nurse who claimed religious discrimination when her employer told her to remove her crucifix necklace at work, has lost her claim.

Chaplin plans to appeal the ruling and issued a blistering criticism of the National Health Service Trust.  “What the Trust doesn’t realize,” Chaplin says, “is that it sends out a very clear message to Christians working in the Trust…The message is clear:  Christians whose faith motivates their vocation and care of patients do not appear to be welcome at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust.”

While the Trust argued that their request was motivated by health and safety concerns — and backed by an official uniform policy — Chaplin’s proposal to add an easy-off clasp was rejected.  Chaplin also noted that female Muslim employees are allowed to wear the hijab.

Did the Tribunal make the right decision?  Or is Chaplin a victim of religious discrimination?  What role should religion play in the workplace?

NPs have struggled for years for full recognition and equal pay. According to pennlive.com, Pennsylvania NPs received the right to prescribe meds in 1979 — but were unable to exercise the right until the year 2000, when the state’s nursing and medical boards actually ironed out the details.

Highmark officials have stated that the move is partly a response to the shortage of doctors. Like other health insurers and healthcare experts, they expect the demand for health services to increase when and if the Healthcare Reform law is fully implemented — and they’re looking to nurse practitioners to fill that gap.

A recent report by the Institute of Medicine supports Highmark’s action. Their report,“The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advocating Health,” advocates eliminating barriers that keep nurses, especially advanced practice nurses, from practicing to the full extent of their license.

Does your state recognize NPs as primary providers?

Sources:

www.pennlive.com

www.iom.edu

The study, “Nurses’ Work Schedule Characteristics, Nurse Staff and Patient Mortality,” examined the relationship between patient mortality and nurses’ work schedules. The researchers controlled for staffing levels (long known to be a factor in patient mortality) and found that longer shifts and lack of time off were independently associated with increased risk of patient death. Pneumonia deaths were more likely in hospitals where nurses reported long work hours. Death from abdominal aortic aneurysm was more likely when nurses reported a lack of time off of work. Congestive heart failure deaths appeared associated with nurses working while sick and heart attack deaths were positively related to what the researchers termed “weekly burden,” the number of hours per week or days in a row.

While previous studies (and nurses themselves) have linked nurses’ lack of sleep with poor patient outcomes, the current study suggests that 12-hour shifts or 7-on, 7-off schedules may not be the best for patients. The study also seems to emphasize the importance of time away from work for nurses.

In a previous series of articles, “Is It Time to Pull the Plug on 12-Hour Shifts?”, published in The Journal of Nursing Adminstration, study author Alison Trinkoff suggests a series of stategies to help minimize the risk of long shifts. Nurses’ time off must be maximized and protected, Trinkoff says. She recommends:

• No overtime for 12-hour nurses
• On-time departure. Leaving work on-time should be a guarantee, not an every-now-and-then thing.
• On-the-job napping. Nurses who work 12-hour-shifts, especially night nurses, should be allowed short, 15-20 minute naps to refresh.
• Real breaks. Nurses’ breaks should be sacrosanct and uninterrupted.

What do you think of the study? Do nurses need adequate time off to competently care of patients, or are 12-hour-and-beyond shifts no big deal?

Sources:

http://journals.lww.com/nursingresearchonline

http://journals.lww.com/jonajournal

ADF, a Christian legal organization, argued that the application materials were in violation of a federal law that prohibits recipients of federal funds from requiring employees to perform or assist in procedures that violate their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

According to studentfreepress.net, the application materials included a clause that stated, “If you are chosen for the Nurse Residency Program in Women’s Health track, you will be expected to care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy. It is important that you are aware of this aspect of care and give careful consideration to your ability to provide compassionate care in these situations. If you feel you cannot provide care to women during this type of event, we encourage you to apply to a different track of the Nurse Residency Program to explore opportunities that may best fit your skills and career goals.”

Vanderbilt said that the language did not mean that nurse residents would be required to assist with abortions, and cited a long-time policy that exempts employees from participating in activities that would violate their religious or ethical beliefs. University spokesman John Howser told the Tennessean that ”the letter was only meant to inform applicants that they would be expected to provide high-quality care to women receiving a variety of procedures, including abortion” but that it “did not mean to suggest that residents would be required to participate or assist in the actual procedure.”

Vanderbilt University has since re-written the application materials and no longer requires a signature of agreement before considering an application complete. The new application includes information that lets applicants know how they can file requests to be exempted from participating in abortions.

What do you think of Vanderbilt’s actions? Have you ever been asked to provide care in a morally uncomfortable situation?

Sources:

www.studentfreepress.net

www.tennessean.com

According to The Kansas City Star, the students were part of group of seven students who were attending an off-site lab with Johnson County Community College instructor Amber Delphia. The students reportedly asked if they could take pictures to post on Facebook. Delphia did not say no, but called Brynes about three hours after the student placed a photo on Facebook and asked her to take it down. Brynes did so. The next day, she — and the four other students who posed with the placenta — was kicked out of school.

Brynes is currently suing the school for reinstatement. While the school has said that Byrnes would be welcome to reapply for admission next fall, Byrnes was slated to graduate this May, marry in August and begin her nursing career in the fall.

In a letter to the students, the school of nursing called the students’ actions were “a disruption to the learning environment” that “did not exemplify the professional behavior that we expect.” Brynes’ attorney argues that the school does that not have a code of conduct that covers social media.

What do you think? Was kicking the students out the right move? Is there a better way to encourage the appropriate use of social media by future nurses?

Source:

www.kansascity.com

Gunderson Lutheran joins a variety of color-coded hospitals nationwide, including the Cleveland Clinic, Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio and South Bay Hospital in Florida. All have switched to color-coded uniforms as a way to differentiate staff. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many patients and family members have troubling recognizing scrubs-wearing nurses as nurses in hospitals filled with scrubs-wearing personnel. Research published in Applied Nursing Research and Nephrology Nursing Journal also suggest that patients and visitors rate white-clad nurses higher on professionalism.

Additional research suggests that nurses’ uniforms may influence nurses’ perception of professionalism as well. A small study of nursing students published on nursingtimes.net found that poorly fitting uniforms negatively influenced students. One student commented that she, “felt like a cleaner,” while another stated, “if you feel awkward because something doesn’t fit properly…you’re less likely to be assertive.”

What do you think? Does your uniform affect your self-perception? Should more hospitals switch to color-coded care?

Sources:

www.wxow.com

www.nursingtimes.net

Caril Sebastian, a Registered Nurse and author, has coined the term, which stands for Blood pressure Awareness through Basic Education. In a press release, Sebastian encourages nurses to “give patients the finger” in 2011 — to use two fingers to palpate the brachial artery before inflating the blood pressure cuff and taking a measurement.

Sebastian says her campaign is based in part on her observation that patients and care providers develop rapport through the use of simple, therapeutic touch. Brachial palpation is also an essential part of proper blood pressure assessment. According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost one-third of all American adults suffer from hypertension.

The Year of the BABE will officially launch on January 11, 2011 with the announcement of a video contest, “I Want the BABE.”

What do you think of the BABE campaign — especially in light of recent crusades to downplay the sexy nurse stereotype?