This I Believe

A universe of hope

A universe of hope

This nurse midwife believes that it only takes a moment to open a universe of hope. The tools are simple: Graciousness, humility, and love.

Image: © iStockphoto.com

The inviolability of human life

As a nurse caring for both children and the elderly, she has had the profound honor of caring for people during some of their most challenging and life-altering experiences.

How do you measure success?

How do you measure success?

One nurse’s powerful essay about success and how it is measured not in material things but in character. Although she shared her beliefs in 1954, her words resonate as powerfully today as ever.

I can make things better

I can make things better

My first time doing CPR on a real person was the night I learned how to be a nurse. In that long first year of nursing, I had learned the science and the mechanics, but that shift taught me so much more.

I believe in: Humility in our daily lives

I believe in: Humility in our daily lives

This nurse practitioner learned this from her father: Humility is realizing that the world keeps turning without you.

Did you choose nursing to become a hero?

Did you choose nursing to become a hero?

Don’t assume “heroes” are just comic book characters. The world is full of heroes…and we need them all.

This I believe: we will commune with endurance

This I believe: we will commune with endurance

I am a nurse. I am not a doctor. I don’t try and cheat death. I offer comfort, a smile, a skilled hand. For many days I will open my eyes in the morning and I will have a choice. To find joy or not. To help or not. To continue or not.

The obnoxious nurse who inspired me

The obnoxious nurse who inspired me

An “unprofessional, disrespectful, rude, obnoxious, uncaring, and heartless” nurse inspired this woman to become a nurse herself…so she could treat her patients the way they would want to be treated.

Veteran’s Day

Veteran’s Day

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the armed forces personal that are serving now and all who have served before.  I thank all of you for the freedom and safety that we all so much enjoy. …

Keeping things in perspective

October has been a pretty busy month for me.  I left a job I did not like, and am starting a new job that I hope will be my new home for a long time. I helped my daughter get …

Image: Hemera | Thinkstock

Stranger in a strange land

Male nurses are almost not existent in the clinics. Other than the MDs, I am the only guy on the floor.

The RN across the street

The RN across the street

Claudia had been our neighbor for about 8 years. She was our nurse on call. Any time my dying father needed pain relief, she would simply walk over and administer his medication. Even in the middle of the night.

Image: Hemera

Nursing unions

I’ve blogged about how I felt that unions are only out for one thing, that is to increase the power of the union. Not the power of its members, the nurses, but the power of the union leaders. But…now I’m a union member.

Make it big

If you are going to make a change, I say make it a big one.  That’s what I am doing.  I am having problems at work right now, I am not at liberty to say, but I will as soon …

It’s great to be a mammal

It’s great to be a mammal

I look back on thousands of hours spent sitting beside nursing mothers and babies in my career as a hospital nurse and board certified lactation consultant. The process of nurturing young mammals still enthralls me.