The Handoff - Issue #11

Hello fellow Nurse, this is your weekly handoff. Some quick and dirty nursing news that’s worth sharing. Enjoy!

Something to talk about next shift

Another update on the phony Florida nurses! Last we discussed, it was uncertain if the nurses working with fake certification would also have criminal charges pressed against them. According to this article it has been decided that they will not, but they will have their license revoked. The FBI has notified the nursing board of every state for the nearly 7600 licenses that were given out illegally. In my opinion... lazy police work. You're telling me that these nurses who knowingly paid for fake licenses and worked knowing they had no training get to just walk away? I, having done my time writing nursing care plans throughout clinicals, am a little mad that there are no consequences. I guess they will have to choose a different career and that's the consequence, but shoot, in these times that could be seen as a bit of a blessing. BUT the money collecting big guys on top just pled guilty on Tuesday and now face up to 20 years in prison. So there is some justice. 

Something that is not fun 

I am SO tired of constantly posting depressing nursing news. Good nursing news is hard to come by right now. So what did I do in my desperation? Typed "fun nursing news" into the search bar... And got an article of a nursing student slapping a classmate for FUN just a few days ago. The irony of that search result and how this article was found made me have to include it. I guess *sigh* it's another week of nothing good to report. The video is a pretty horrifying display of two nursing students hitting each other. In uniform. When they were suspended from school they both claimed it was for "fun"... Certainly not the way me and my friends spend our free time... But to each their own I guess. 

Something to think about

The National Council of State Board of Nursing published results on Thursday of a survey collected to determine just how many nurses left the work force during the pandemic. 100,000 is the number they posted. It is interesting to see numerical values of the impact of the pandemic. 62% of nurses reported that their work load increased during the pandemic. 50.8% reported that they felt emotionally drained at work. The article states "Soon, the industry will rely on nurses with less than 10 years of experience to act as mentors, managers and leaders in nursing care". Soon? Whose going to tell them that there are charge nurses who are simultaneously precepting at just a year experience already? I believe those days are already here. What do you think of the statistics though? Do they align with where you work? 

If you liked this newsletter please share with your friends. Which bullet is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Email me and let me know.