The Handoff - Issue #6

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

Something to frustrate us nurses 

I entered the nursing field with the wild idea that I was going to be helping people. Then would quickly become discouraged when I found myself just chasing my list of to-dos to keep patients alive. The closest thing I could have to a meaningful conversation with my patients would be the brief chat we would have while I waited for them to finish on the commode. This article really resonated with me reading that hundreds of Minnesota nurses feel the exact same frustration. "There's not enough time and resources to care for patients the way they deserve to be cared for... This causes moral injury. I'm not burnt out. I'm morally injured." Last month, Minnesota nurses and legislators came together to make the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act. Safe staffing levels being the topic at the top of their priority list so that nurses could return to being the good nurses they signed up to be. The response? I'll let you read what the Minnesota Hospital Association responded. Let's just say it comes at no surprise that the article also gives the statistic that 90% of concern expressed to hospital management received no response. 

Something to inspire us nurses

On the most recent episode of "Don't Eat Your Young: A Nursing Podcast" Rachel Murray, a neonatal nurse practitioner turned professional development trainer, talks about her passion for "redefining what nurses need today". Essentially, she focuses on assisting nurses with real life clinical skills- not the classroom skills needed to pass boards. She does hands on teaching on both medical skills but also conversation and coping skills. One of my favorite points of hers is that many can learn to be a great nurse, it is the figuring out what it is that makes nurses frustrated at the end of the day and learning how to handle that that can become a real challenge. The amount of days I would swear I was quitting nursing all together just because of a way an older nurse made me feel- I could have really used this help. Rachel discusses her methods in this podcasts and really inspires nurses to continue their learning beyond school.   

Something to make us nurses laugh

"The only definition of 'viral' I knew was illness-related" John Dela Cruz says as he tells his story of what it was like to accidentally become the face of nursing TikTok. He talks extensively about his struggles in the profession and how much making these videos helped him to cope. For me, one of the hardest things about being a nurse is trying to relate to those around me with such different careers. Our bad days look a lot different than our 9-5 friends. I actually happened upon John's TikTok months ago and not only found him hilarious- but found him relatable in a way that really gave me a lot of comfort. I too have cried many tears in the supply closet! John's skits usually involve many shots of him in wigs and exaggerated night shift bags under his eyes. In this interview, John becomes even more endearing as he opens up and shares not only his passion for nursing, but also his mental health struggles and severe burnout. 

I just had to include one of my favorite videos from him to give you all a taste. 

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.