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Colorado Gov. Passes Law to Protect Nurse but May Not Enforce It
Colorado recently became one of the only states to pass a law that requires hospitals to form nurse staffing committees to ensure these facilities have enough providers on hand to deal with the influx of patients. All hospitals in the state must form a committee by September 1, or they may be subject to fines. But Governor Jared Polis (D) recently announced that he may not enforce the law for at least the first year that it’s in effect to avoid fining hospitals that are already short-staffed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the law, each nurse staffing […]
Nurse Cancer Survivor Now Helping Cancer Patients Do the Same
Taylor Slaughter, a nurse at the UAMS Cancer Institute and cancer survivor, became a nurse because she always wanted to help others. “I always knew since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a nurse,” she said. She started chemotherapy the same day she got accepted into nursing school at UAMS. In the month prior to her acceptance, she had been diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. She did not question her decision to continue with nursing school but rather used it as motivation to fight her cancer. “It was almost like, okay, now we know what’s wrong finally. […]
Nurses Share Positive Memories to Remind You Why You Got into Nursing in the First Place
If you’ve ever wanted to quit nursing, you’re not alone. The last two years have been particularly excruciating for healthcare workers. Budget cuts, unsafe working conditions, and disrespectful patients would be enough to make anyone consider looking for another job. But nursing can also be a tremendously rewarding experience. Some nurses stay in the field for years because they know they are making a difference in the lives of their patients. To break up all the bad news that’s been swirling around the industry, we asked millions of providers to share their most positive memories of nursing, and their responses […]
Med Student Finds Out She Has Cancer After Learning About Cancer Screenings
Gabriella Barboza, 22, wasn’t expecting to become an actual patient when she volunteered for a demonstration during one of her medical classes at an undisclosed university in Brazil in 2020. The third-year medical student was asked to play the patient while her professor, Dr. Daniel Lichtenthaler, showed the class how to test for neck cancer. But she played the role a little too well. Her professor discovered signs in line with neck cancer and encouraged Barboza to have her neck inspected for real by seeing a specialist. Barboza took his advice and went to see a doctor who diagnosed her […]
99% of Nurses Have Been Bullied by Another Nurse
Bullying remains a rampant problem in the nursing field. The saying, “nurses eat their young,” has been around for decades, but some providers use that as an excuse to tease, taunt, and degrade their colleagues in different ways. Nurses experience harassment from other providers for all sorts of reasons. They may have less experience or stand out because of their gender, disability, sexual orientation, the color of their skin, or how they choose to identify. The extreme stress that comes with being a nurse often adds to the tension. Workers may try to blame each other when things go wrong […]
Advertising Exec Becomes a Hospice Nurse After His Partner Dies of Cancer
Marc Vera was never the same after his longtime boyfriend, Jeff, died of cancer in 2011. He was working as a high-paid advertising executive at the time, but the unimaginable loss convinced him to quit his job and become a hospice nurse instead. Vera hated to see Jeff in pain while he was being treated at a hospice facility. Jeff’s parents wanted their son to be on as few meds as possible so he would be awake and alert, but that left Jeff in horrible pain, said Vera. “He was very agitated the last six to eight hours of his […]
Medical Groups Blast Vaught’s Probation Sentencing After Deadly Error
After a contentious trial where she was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult, former nurse RaDonda Vaught has been charged with three years of probation. Vaught accidentally administered the wrong medication in 2017 after overriding an electronic medication cabinet, which led to the death of a 75-year-old patient. Many nurses were relieved to hear that Vaught won’t face jail time for her crime, but not everyone is celebrating the news. Several healthcare organizations have criticized the ruling as a flagrant disregard for patient safety. They argue that letting Vaught off the hook for her crime […]
Retired Nurse Honored 71 Years After Hospital Rejected Her Because She Was Black
Betty Brown, of Elgin, Illinois, is finally getting her due 71 years after being denied entry to the nursing school of Advocate Sherman Hospital because of the color of her skin. Now the 90-year-old retired nurse has been named the school’s “honorary chief nursing officer.” Brown experienced a great deal of rejection and racism in the 1950s when she was starting out her career, but she didn’t let it stop her from making her dream come true. She eventually became the first black nursing student and the first black nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Joliet, IL. She also worked […]
Is Nursing More Toxic Than Ever? Nurses Think So.
We’ve heard the expression “nurses eat their young,” but things have arguably gotten even worse over the last couple years. Nurses are being asked to do more with fewer resources and less time than they were previously, which has led to unprecedented rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout. A recent study shows more nurses are thinking about leaving the profession than ever before with the U.S. headed for a shortfall of half a million providers in just three years. All of this is putting added pressure on nurses, which can lead to a toxic working environment. So, has nursing permanently […]
Ashley Judd Reveals Her Mother Naomi Committed Suicide Using a Firearm
Singer-songwriter and country music legend Naomi Judd passed away on April 30. At the time, her daughters Ashley and Wynonna Judd said, “We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” but they didn’t mention the cause of death. Now the family has come forward with the truth about what happened to Judd. Ashley Judd recently revealed that her mother ended her life using a firearm during a daytime TV interview. While appearing on Good Morning America, Judd said it was “obviously way too soon” to be speaking about her mother’s death but that her father and sister […]
