Cliche as it may seem, when people ask me what I did for Christmas, I unashamedly say: “I slept and watched TV.” My line of work requires the use of many brain cells at a time. For that reason, sleep and the opportunity to be idle are blessings that are often overlooked. One of the movies that Mico and I watched was Dreamwork’s Kung Fu Panda. There, Master Oogway stated: Quit, don’t quit… Noodles, don’t noodles… You are too concerned…
This year marks my and my Fidelis Christi Mariae 1993 college classmates’ 30th year as Paulinian nurses. Maybe for that reason, I am a little bit introspective and reflective as I think back on our years in the storied halls of St. Paul College of Iloilo. Those four years were never walks in parks. In fact, they were hard, challenging, and at times, maddening. Nevertheless, I appreciated every skill, knowledge, and attitude (values) I learned from the sisters and our…
“Why did you come home? Don’t you have a nursing board review class tomorrow?” Nanay asked me these questions when I got home at 6 pm on April 22, 1993. She asked those questions because it was unusual for me to come home in the middle of the week. We lived an hour away from the city and it was so uncharacteristic of me to leave the dorm for home on a school day. I answered: “We have a review…
First off, let me start with an apology since I have not posted anything lately. For whatever reason, I am going through writer’s mental block. For those of you who personally know me, you may think that I always have something to say, yet I cannot articulate it through an article. So uncharacteristic of me, right? By the way, here are the podcast links: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/DdrxyNi5Sxb and https://open.spotify.com/episode/6JtHGPF0qoXrRyec0OPexI?si=9bb2079f3d1148e3 Well, I have started writing about a variety of topics lately. Yet, I never felt…
Every nurse in the world knows who Florence Nightingale is. Otherwise known as the “Lady with the Lamp,” she was credited as the founder of modern nursing. Her environmental theory helped soldiers who fought in the Crimean War recover. That very theory included seven assumptions. One of which is: Nursing requires a specific educational base. So what has that got to do with “Operation Nightingale” you may ask? Or better yet, what is it? By the way, here are the…
Are you like me who shudders at the thought of taking an examination? I consider myself a decent test-taker. However, that does not change the fact that I find the prospect of taking a test intimidating. This anxiety increases tenfold if it has something to do with consequential exams such as those that are required by my job or those that may be professionally beneficial in the future. So, what is a girl to do? If you answered that good…
Sadly, that title is not clickbait! Unfortunately, you read it right! A neonatal nurse in the United Kingdom is indeed currently on trial for allegedly murdering seven babies. She is also accused of trying to do fatal harm to 10 more infants. The nurse, Lucy Letby, denied these allegations. Maybe like me, you are shaking your head in disbelief. I should know because I felt the same exact things – maybe even more given my Pediatric and Neonatal Nursing backgrounds….
Ever heard of the line: “nurses eat their young?” If you have, that is really scary, don’t you think so? In this world where the likes of us nurses are dwindling in number, complicated by the more complex needs of our patients or clients, lines like these are unwelcome. You may or may not have experienced this firsthand. However, don’t you think that it is about time for us to improve our workplace cultures for our own sake and those…
Healthcare is multi-faceted. We all know that. Different stakeholders or team members have different roles and responsibilities. Doctors or providers, for the most part, lead a multi-disciplinary team in addressing a patient’s or a client’s health concern. However, they cannot treat a patient all on their own. They do need the cooperation and the participation of other healthcare colleagues: nurses, therapists, social workers, and even housekeepers, to name a few, in order to adequately address the holistic needs of a…
Ooops, I almost wrote Upgrace instead of Upgrade in the title. Pardon me. Hard habit to break, I guess, haha! Kidding aside, our team has been busier these few past weeks because of our scheduled electronic health record (EHR) system Summer Upgrade. Clinical informaticists from all of our sites have been working collaboratively with so many stakeholders to bring about this change. Analysts, principal trainers, information technology (IT) folks, hospital and system leaders, and vendor representatives are some of our…