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

Something to absolutely not believe

A woman in Las Cruces, New Mexico was indicted on 34 felony counts last week after allegedly impersonating licensed nurses to work at four different nursing facilities. Prosecutors say Margarita Gonzalez assumed the identities of real Texas nurses, illegally dispensed narcotics to eight minor residents, and at one point nearly administered a wrong dose of insulin that could have killed her patient — saved only by her orienting nurse stepping in. She faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Honestly, the fact that this got past four separate hiring processes is its own scandal. Somewhere a credentialing department has some very awkward questions to answer.

Something to make you furious

Thousands of nurses at Endeavor Health in Chicago are moving to unionize after the system slashed their wages by anywhere from $5 to $22 an hour — for some experienced bedside RNs, that's tens of thousands of dollars a year disappearing from their checks. Meanwhile, a single Endeavor executive pocketed over $5 million in compensation in 2024, including a $1.4 million bonus on top of retirement and deferred comp. The system, which calls itself a non-profit, says the cuts are necessary. Apparently "necessary" only applies in one direction inside the C-suite. Solidarity to the nurses fighting back.

Something to make us nurses proud

During National Nurses Week, oncology nurse Alicia McCullough at St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia was sitting in the cafeteria on her lunch break when she noticed a patient choking. Without missing a beat, she performed the Heimlich maneuver and saved his life — then went back to her shift. The hospital honored her during the week's celebrations, but as any nurse can tell you, this is just a Wednesday. Off the clock, on the clock, mid-sandwich — nurses save lives. Cheers, Alicia. You make us proud.

Something from a Subscriber

"I work float pool in a medium-sized hospital, and last month I picked up a shift on a med-surg unit I'd never been on before. About two hours in, the charge nurse hands me an admission and tells me the patient is 'a little anxious' — which is nurse code for 'good luck.' I walked in, introduced myself, and the patient burst into tears. Not anxious-crying — full-on sobbing. Turns out she'd been admitted three times in six months, and every time her husband promised to visit and never showed. I sat with her for twenty minutes and just listened. By the end of my shift she was laughing about her cat's bad attitude. Sometimes the most important thing in our toolkit isn't a thing at all." — Megan R., RN (Float Pool), Ohio

We want to hear more from you! Submit your funniest or strangest or most heart warming nursing stories and we will pick one to share every week! This will be shared anonymously- so don’t be afraid to add some humor and flare and cursing, just like we love here!

Please submit all stories to: [email protected]

Please be conscious of HIPAA and omit any PPI or detail that may give hints to the people, hospital, and nurses involved in your story. We may slightly alter your story or change names for this reason. Your story may also be shortened and slightly altered to fit the size of the blog. Happy writing!!

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