The Intensive Art

I really like the picture I put on this blog. I’m referring to the picture of the nurse on the right that seems to be watching over everything I write. She is hard as stone but appears soft; she is young but is definitely mature; she looks warm-hearted but ready to dispense tough love at a moment’s notice. She has many dichotomies as most nurses do.

It’s as though she is my own personal goddess or Saint that watches over everything I do as a nurse. She follows my evolving practice. She is ready to pick me up off the floor when I’ve had a horrible day. She is ready to pat me on the back when I feel as though I’m really coming along.

Is it strange that I contemplate what a picture on my blog is doing or thinking? I think I’m just imaginative. Any opinions from the mental health nurses out there?

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They say the first year out of school is the hardest. After you’ve finished that year, you’re golden, right? You automatically become a perfect nurse, right?

 I find it hard to believe that in a couple months, my initial year out of school will be done. Some days it feels as though I’m barely ready to pass my very first nursing clinical, let alone be done school and out there working on my own!

I’m in limbo though. Some days I’m treated as the new kid on the block who doesn’t know a thing. Other days, I’m plunged into leadership positions with new staff, graduates and students lined up to ask my opinion. I’m always amazed at how much I know! I really am learning!

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Illness sometimes happens right when you need it to. For the past couple weeks I have felt dopey. My head has been foggy, and some would even say it has been “up my ass.” I have been missing details, moving slowly and struggling to put forth my best effort. And nurses always have to be at their best, right?

So, a few days ago, I came down with a nasty cold. It has forced me to lie on the couch, surrounded by pillows and a quilt, sipping tea, and watching TV. I may still be a bit sick, but my mind feels rested and much MUCH clearer. I feel ready to go!

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I have a confession. I’m supposed to be working on my critical care course right now. I have a test in a few days on the pulmonary system. Right now, I’m learning about perfusion versus ventilation, and what the different ratios between them indicate. I must say, I adore the detail of knowledge that I am gaining. This detailed anatomy/physiology that focuses the main acute care systems is much more appropriate right now than the broad scope of nursing school anatomy.

Let’s face it, it’s nice to know the anatomy of a taste bud, the structure of the eye, and how earwax is produced, but that’s really not what gets me through a shift! This course focuses on the lungs, heart, kidneys, brain, cells, and defense. This is the stuff that I work with on a daily basis—it’s my bread and butter.

I still can’t believe that here in Canada, critical care is so lacking in Universities. Many (like me) spend their entire four-year degree without stepping into or even discussing the ICU or ER. If you want to work there, you need to train for it following your Bachelor’s degree.

Edit: After actually doing the studying, I am feeling completely defeated by pulmonary physiology. This is complex stuff! 

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I have a sinking feeling that this will be ER’s last season on TV. I feel it in my gut. What will I do without ER? I even credit it with sparking my interest in nursing. I highly doubt that Gray’s Anatomy or House could ever do that!

I’m terrified about having that void in my life!

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I hate having to write an entire post twice! Yes, I did indeed type this post twice…ARG!

You know how it is… 

You have a busy week, and there’s just no time to blog. Then, before you know it, it’s been three months! And since it has been so long, it starts to get harder and harder to blog at all. We’ve all been there, right?

I have to admit, this summer was not overly exciting for me on the nursing front. It was as though life was on fast-forward. That part of the show that just feels like filler, so you zip through it with no regrets.

Fall is proving to be exceptionally busy. I have started my critical care nursing certification. The first course is physiology, which I am absolutely loving! It skips over the parts of physiology that acute care nurses rarely use (anatomy of the eye or the physiology of the tongue for example) and focuses on the critical systems for survival: lungs, heart, kidneys, and brain. There’s also a unit on defense systems. I love learning the intricate details of life. 

A coworker and I were discussing the ICU. She stated that she wasn’t overly interested in working there because she had heard it described as, “nursing dead bodies” and that she would miss the human interaction. I’m sure sometimes it feels as though you’re nursing dead bodies, but I highly doubt that it is a constant.

Regardless of the level of consciousness of ICU patients, I realized more at that moment than ever before that it isn’t the human interaction that drew me to nursing, but rather my fascination with anatomy/physiology. I also realized that what is great about nursing is that no matter what brought you to the career, you can find a place that matches your desires perfectly. 

I am VERY seriously contemplating heading up north to do some short-term stints in the North West Territories. There a town I’d like to work in called Inuvik with about 3000 people. It’s just above the arctic circle; the kind of place with 24 hour dark in winter and 24 hour light in summer. The town is up near the arctic ocean, surrounded by tundra, in the middle of nowhere. The hospital there serves all the little aboriginal towns in the area (A BIG area). It’s rural nursing at its best! There is a lot of flight nursing in an outpost like that, which excites me even more! So, I’m going to try and contact the management there to see what I can do. They’ll pay for your travel expenses, and they have residences for hospital staff. I’m becoming obsessed with the idea!

The biggest problem I have always had with nursing is that there are just too many things I want to do with my degree!   

Hi everyone,

I wanted to write a quick update considering it has been several days since my last post. I am on a long stretch of eight hour night shifts, so I’m feeling a little beat up. Last night was a particularly tough night! One of my patients unfortunately went downhill and passed away. I’m looking forward to writing about the experience.

I also have a post in the wings about lateral violence in nursing (AKA: Nurses Eat Their Young). It is a controversial topic and I look forward to putting my “spin” on it. Especially in light of all the “blog wars” that seem to be occurring in the nursing blogosphere.

Thanks everyone for keeping me entertained with your awesome writing! Keep those posts coming! And don’t forget, if you have a blog or link that you would like me to add to my roll, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Bye for now!

Sincerely,

Nurse Sean

I recently renewed my membership to The New Democratic Party of Canada. I am very proud of this fact! If I were an American, I would probably be crucified for being part of such a left-wing party. I’m proud to live in a country that doesn’t put you down for supporting a party that supports socialized health care, gay rights/marriage, strong environmental solutions, equality for women/minorities, and strong social programs to help alleviate poverty.

Here’s a link to their position on public/socialized/universal health care.

I have seen so many blog posts/comments and discussions at allnurses.com that are very much against universal health care. I thought I would start a list of reasons I love Canada’s health care system. This will be added to on a continual basis as I think of new reasons or examples.

1. Currently on my unit there is a homeless woman who found refuge at a homeless shelter. The nurses who assessed her at the shelter were worried about her condition and sent her to the hospital. She was dirty, weak, malnourished, and on death’s door.

There is also a very rich businessman who was sent to our unit after many weeks of traveling Canada and the U.S. for opinions on his condition. Every surgeon told him to go to our unit, to our surgeon. He is considered the best of the best.

Both of these people had the exact same condition; a deadly cancer that was slowly killing them and needed to be removed. Both of them received the same surgery from the same surgeon. Both of them received the same care from nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, residents etc. They lived in identical hospital rooms next to each other and recovered at the same rate.

Both patients walked out of the hospital on their feet. The wealthy business man (back in his suit and tie) went back to his mansion and luxurious life, and the homeless woman went to her new apartment with homecare nurses put in place and adequate government funding for her to survive (away from the streets). The social safety net had successfully caught her.

The treatment they had cost approximately $500,000. If health care were privatized, the homeless woman would never have been able to receive the surgery. She would have died on the streets.

When it comes to health care, we are all treated as equals. Some will go home to mansions, some will go home to crappy apartments. However, we will all be treated with respect and dignity when we are sick.

I strongly believe that health care is a right, not a privilege.

2. Hospitals in a socialized health care system are not-for-profit. This is an extremely important detail for many reasons. However, for number two on my list, I want to focus on the idea that in a not-for-profit hospital, health care professionals (read: nurses) are not forced to become customer service agents.

Our hospitals are functional. They aren’t overly “pretty” or filled with pleasantries to attract “customers.” Hospitals here are there to serve the needs of the community, without having to stoop to gimmicks like having food courts in the lobby so that patients will choose that hospital first!

Our professionals are truly professionals and can focus on executing their skills, rather than focusing on whether or not patients like them. We are not insulted by being presented with satisfaction surveys or “customer” complaints. When I’m putting a tube through your nose, poking you with needles, and shoving Foleys in your bladder, is it really an appropriate time to ask if you are happy with me?

I’m not even directly affected by the American system of treating patients as consumers, but I am continually insulted by it. The idea that well-educated, skilled, brilliant professionals can be lowered to feeling like a fast-food worker, is horrifying*. Does an architect, lawyer, or manager submit themselves to satisfaction surveys? NO! They let their work stand for itself. Nurses should the same.

I have never worked within the American system, but I am in love with the Canadian system. I feel it is a much more mature, humane system that treats its patients and employees with respect. The power is balanced between all individuals, rather than just the patient, because we all pay for and use the same system. I know that if I am ever sick, I will receive the same great treatment that I give every day.

*I don’t think fast-food workers should be made to feel like lesser citizens, but unfortunately (and unfairly), they are. Please, for the love of god, be nice to fast-food workers. You have no idea how tough their job is if you have never been there. They are continually treated as lesser citizens, and that is NOT right! I just wanted to clear that up.

I just wanted to say good luck to all the new Canadian grads writing the Canadian Registered Nursing Exam today. It WILL be a long, difficult day, but you will make it!

For those not familiar with the test, it is an eight hour long test made up of hundreds of multiple choice questions, and a very large, daunting section of short answer questions. There are not a lot of questions that force you to know specific data. Instead, it mostly looks at your ability to think through situations and ensure you would act appropriately.

Some complain that the test is too focused on psychosocial/ethical/community issues and doesn’t actually test whether or not someone knows how to be a nurse (i.e. knowing every complication to every drug, knowing every nook and cranny of anatomy etc.). To those people I say, “perhaps you’re defining how to be a nurse wrong.”

All in all, it is just a test! The vast majority of those graduating from a Canadian university will pass (something like 96%) because Canadian universities have standardized curriculum. What I mean is, the test isn’t all that different from the ones you get during your education. If you passed those, you’ll pass this one.

I want to add that I am extremely proud to come from a country where almost every new nurse graduating has a bachelor’s degree! Education is far too undervalued in other countries. Even if you plan to be a bedside nurse for your entire life, PLEASE do not underestimate the value of more education.

My first thought was, “I have been incredibly jinxed with urine output lately!” It was getting to the point where I was more surprised if my patients actually peed an appropriate amount. The doctors were getting used to my frequent pages begging for boluses for my dry patients.

Yes, my patient’s urine output was only 200cc for the entire shift. I resigned myself to this fact after about ten minutes of manipulating and milking the tube, and falling short only of pushing on my patient’s bladder and begging. I had no choice, it was time to call the doctor for another bolus.

What luck! The doctor was standing by the nursing station flirting with the young nurses. Granted, he his young and devastatingly handsome, but do the girls really need to giggle like that?

I hesitantly walked over to him, taking deep breaths, attempting to overcome my absolute fear and intimidation of talking to doctors. Causing the most trepidation was having to interrupt his “professional” conferencing with the nurses.

“errr…hi….I…ahhh…have a question.” I hate the way I sound so nervous when I talk to doctors.

“What is it?” He went from flirtatious to serious, bored, and bordering on annoyed. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to be a male nurse!

“My patient has a low urine output. Mr. Smith that is, no! Sorry! Mr. Elliott!” I’m stammering. I’m getting more nervous. Why can’t I just be confident like everyone else?

“Tell me his story.” He said, not looking at me.

This is approximately the moment I panicked. I just expected him to ask about cardiac history, and order a bolus of Normal Saline.

“Errr…well….unresectable tumor of the panc…no liver….geeze…” I point to my abdomen and the doctor gives me a look that most definitely accuses me of being a complete idiot. His eyes ask who the hell let me take care of his patients. “His pelvis, it was in his pelvis.”

“I can see you don’t know anything about this patient, just get me his chart.” He sighed. I gave him the chart and ran away embarrassed. The truth was that I had been caring for this patient for days and knew him inside and out. I had read his chart front to back and knew his entire medical history. I had assessed him numerous times and knew every wheeze and bowel sound.

The patient got his bolus, but I had completely failed at my report to his doctor. As I lay in bed at night reliving the moments of the day (we all know this is a nurse’s favorite past time, and is potentially what leads us to insanity), I asked myself, “tell yourself honestly, did you know this patient.”

The answer was a definite yes. Where I had failed was in my preparation in giving report to the doctor. I didn’t organize my thoughts and the patient’s situation/needs into an organized presentation for the doctor. I failed to use my communication skills properly, and I failed to project confidence in my patient’s needs.

My hospital has begun teaching the SBAR method of reporting a situation to a doctor. Never until this moment have I fully understood exactly why it was necessary. SBAR stands for Situation Background Assessment Recommendation.

I had a Eureka moment as I lay there in bed desperately trying to find a way to improve myself. When I need to talk to a doctor, I just need to stop, organize my thoughts using SBAR, and then proceed. If I had done this, my side of the conversation would have looked more like this:

“Mr. Elliott had an output of 200cc concentrated urine for my shift. He had a laparotomy on Wednesday for an unresectable tumor with a colostomy creation. He has had a low output for the past 72 hours and has received two 500cc Normal Saline boluses, the last one at 23:00 yesterday evening. He has a history of hypertension and a MI in 2004. His vital signs are all stable and unremarkable. I think he would benefit from another bolus.”

I couldn’t help but wish I were the type of person that could just roll words off of my tongue with no effort at all. While earning my degree, I had more than one professor tell me that I sounded very confident and intelligent in my writing, but verbally I struggled. It’s true!

The next morning during report I was told that Mr. Elliott had been causing problems overnight. His lungs sounding worse, his Sats were dipping low occasionally, and he felt short of breath.

Not a problem, I gave him some ventolin for the wheezing, lasix for the crackles, ordered a physiotherapy chest assessment, taught him breathing/coughing exercises, and kicked him out of bed for some walking. He had none of the problems night shift experienced.

During morning rounds, one of the doctors (the same one that caused me to stutter my words in nervousness) had a hunch that Mr. Elliott was having cardiac problems and ordered an ECG and Troponins.

Oh what joy! The ECG shows a block, and the Troponins were sky high!

Moments later, a severe looking women entered the room. She was definitely high on intimidation factor! She introduced herself as a cardiologist here for a consult.

“Can you tell me about your patient?” She said, in a way that told me she was completely bored with the situation. You could tell she would rather be elsewhere. And seriously, how did she get here so fast. And OH CRAP, I need to talk to a doctor again!

“84 year old male for unsuccessful laparotomy to remove abdominal tumor, diverting colostomy created. Low urine output times four days, chest has wheezes and course crackles, at 05:00 this morning he experienced episode of decreased Sats and shortness-of-breath, oxygen delivery was increased, and Lasix and Ventolin were given. All vital signs have been stable since. His ECG showed a block, and Troponis were 0.28” I rattled off with definite confidence. I liked the way it all sounded! I forgot to use SBAR, but I think my bedtime talk with myself had worked a little bit.

“OK” she said, and went to assess the patient. I didn’t receive one condescending look from her!

Nursing is a reflective practice. We learn how to do our jobs by examining our performance, and critically thinking in order to find ways to improve. In nursing school we called them “Reflective Journals,” and we all dreaded them. But I really do understand why the practice is important.

My conversation with Doctor McFlirty kept me up late at night because I knew that I could do better. I knew that I was not happy with my performance. I laid there in the dark, picking apart my performance until I discovered a method to improve the way I communicate with doctors.

Sure, my performance the next day was not perfect, but it was a vast improvement. With practice and reflection, I will develop the confidence I feel my patients deserve from me.

I have decided to refocus my blog into a strictly (or perhaps 90%) medical/nursing blog. While I will still update regarding my personal life, those posts will be few and far between.

Here’s what I want my blog to look like:

1. Stories from the front lines! I want to share stories of my triumphs and failures from my life as a Registered Nurse.

2. Reaction to news articles

3. Sharing nursing/medical journals that I have found and read.

4. Links to nursing/medical blogs, nursing websites.

In general, I want to create a professional themed environment with an meta-theme of nursing advocacy.

I apologize, but I will be removing personal links from my sidebar and specifically listing nursing blogs etc. (see above). I still love you all and will read your blogs every day, but it just doesn’t fit into my theme.

The reason I am doing this is because blogging about my personal life just doesn’t work for me anymore. When I first started blogging many years ago, it was an anonymous world. I could share my deepest secrets. Now, the blogging world is full of friends/coworkers, and I just don’t find myself interested in sharing my secrets (meaning…things I wouldn’t tell you in real life…which, to be honest, isn’t much). I am bored of just making superficial lists of what I have been doing (which isn’t much).

On top of that, I an a nursing geek. I want an outlet for my love of research. I want a place where I can shed a positive light on this profession I love. I also want a place where I can show that nursing education does not end when school does!

OK, I made this sounds way less casual than it will be. We’ll see what shape this place is molded into. For now, you will see the format/look change frequently as I seek a website I’m happy with. If you have any suggestions or feedback, PLEASE send it my way!

Let the construction begin!

Yes, it has been more than a month since my last post. However, after about seven years of blogging, I’m quite aware that my desire to post ebbs and flows. There will be times where I excitedly blog every day. Other times, I will go weeks without posting. Lets face it, blogging is a lot of work! I think the only regret I have is that regular posting generally equals regular readers. I crave the hordes of readers other bloggers have, but they typically post at LEAST once a day.

That’s enough talk about how often I post! Too many of my posts start with a similar speech. I also want to mention that I’m aware that I have been tagged for the “eight random things” meme. I will try writing that in the next couple days. For now, I would like to update my last few weeks!

Believe it or not, I took a vacation! It was the first time I had more than two or three days off in a row since I went to Boston for ten days…four years ago! And before my Boston trip, I hadn’t had more than two or three days off in a row since 1997 when I went to Seattle. One vacation in ten years is insanity! My habit was to just get my vacation paid out.

So, to have two weeks off felt great! I didn’t go anywhere and I didn’t do anything. I watched a lot of television, walked my dog often, played on the Internet, and read. The most exciting experience was buying my new car! I bought a 2007 Galaxy Grey Honda Civic LX coupe with a manual transmission.

The absolute highlight of my vacation was my David Lynch film festival. I watched Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., and several episodes of Twin Peaks…all in the same day. This weekend I am going to see his new movie, INLAND EMPIRE. I’ve heard it described as one of the craziest movie going experiences of all time. Apparently it makes no sense…and well…what else would I expect from David Lynch?

Charlie really is driving me to the brink of insanity. He’s a walking contradiction! He is so easy to train with simple obedience exercises. He has no problem learning how to sit, lie down, loose leash walk, and his recalls are nearly flawless and reliable. Unfortunately, his potty training is getting worse every day (despite taking him out every 2-3 hours and watching closely for signals that he has to pee. He is also SO destructive when it comes to ripping up paper. And after trying everything in the books and out of the mouths of our obedience trainers…he still bites…A LOT! So, sometimes it feels as though we have the greatest, smartest dog, and other times I’m nearly in tears wondering what I’m doing wrong.

Charlie is actually done his puppy classes (sadness). They were incredibly fun! A lot of it involved him just running around socializing (playing) with other dogs. Charlie loves chasing puppies, being chased by puppies, and play fighting with puppies. Even more than that, we adored our Friday nights watching dozens of incredibly cute puppies running and jumping. As one woman put it, “you can feel your blood pressure going down by the minute!”

He will be starting true obedience classes on June 7th. It’s time to get a bit more serious with the training! He will learn to increase his attention span, gain self-control, and all the usual basics (sit, lie down, loose leash walking, etc. etc.). I truly love the facility I’m using. They are so incredibly friendly and knowledgeable!

Well, I have worked three shifts since the end of my vacation. I feel calm and at peace while at work. There is definitely a different vibe within myself while I go about my day. I will admit that I lucked out with my patient assignment, but in general, I feel as though I am starting to really enjoy this career.

Which reminds me!!! I received my RN license in the mail! When people ask me if I’m an RN, I no longer have to answer, “Sort of…I have my degree…and I passed my test…but I’m waiting for my license to arrive in the mail.” Yes, it’s all over and official, I’m the real deal!

It has been fun during the last few days watching the undergraduate nurses starting their jobs on the unit. I’m fascinated by the fact that only one year ago I was exactly where they are now. I am amazed and proud of how far I have come since then. It has been one hell of a year!

Of course, I celebrated my graduation from school and my registration as a nurse by promptly signing up for the “Advanced Studies in Critical Care Nursing” program at Mount Royal College. It is five courses long (physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and assessment of critical care patients, followed by a practicum) and will provide me with the beginning training needed to transition to the ICU or ER. So yes, starting in fall, I will once again be a nursing student! I’m still very disappointed in the lack of critical training in Canadian schools as a basic part of becoming an RN!

Well, after going a month without posting, I could go on for ages. However, this post is getting long! So, I have decided to stop here. I will try to be a better blogger in the coming weeks.

I am tired tonight. I’m switching from days to nights by staying up all night, and my body is NOT happy about it. Normally it’s not a big deal, but three days ago I was asking my body to switch from nights to days. Seriously, how cruel is it to give me a schedule that involves working night shifts for two weeks, then two day shifts, and then back to nights for two weeks. Yes, I shall be dead before I’m forty!

Charlie had his splint off today. I dropped him off at the vet early in the morning and took off to run errands while the vet took an x-ray and examined his leg. When I picked Charlie up, he had a cone on his head and he looked miserable! The leg is just fine; however, he would not stop licking his foot/leg. So, until he stops, he will have to wear the cone (all that licking could cause an infection). He spent the afternoon under the coffee table looking completely unimpressed with the entire day.

The poor guy is having trouble walking. You can tell by looking at the leg that it is much weaker than his healthy leg. Weeks of not using the muscles of caused them to become imperfect. On top of that, he seems confused by the lack of splint–he had become so used to it! Four weeks is a lot of time in the life of a fifteen-week-old puppy. So, he needs to strengthen his leg and learn to use it again. I wonder if there’s a doggy physiotherapist around here.

I enjoyed the day off with a vehicle (Richard got a ride to work so I could use the van to take Charlie to the vet). I bought a couple books at Chapters, sipped tea at Starbucks, bought Richard some pants, and wondered around the mall. I forgot how much better it is to have a vehicle of my own. I was reminded of the freedom a vehicle allowed, and it pleasantly intoxicated me! I may just decided to buy that new Honda Civic after all.

Patience! That’s what I need! I need to pay off a couple debts, then try to get approved for a mortgage…and when that fails, I can get my fancy new Honda Civic.

Work is driving me to the point of insanity. There are just too many patients and too little time. I am so disheartened by all the “solutions” that are being introduced in order to help speed up admissions to the hospital, and thereby reduce ER wait times.

For the record, I am absolutely tired of the news reporting that the long waits are due to a massive bed shortage. To whomever is listening THE REPORTS OF THERE BEING A BED SHORTAGE ARE FOR THE MOST PART A MYTH!!!!! That felt good…

The news keeps stating over and over again that there is a critical bed shortage and that we need to hurry up and build new hospitals, and add on to current ones in order to ease the crunch. The news reports that because of this shortage of beds, patients in the ER have to wait thirteen hours or so to be admitted.

The problem with that is that there are dozens of beds in my hospital that lay empty at every moment of the day. On my unit there are usually four and sometimes eight beds that lay empty all the time. So, why aren’t patients being admitted to these empty beds? BECAUSE THERE ARE NO NURSES TO TAKE CARE OF THEM.

Sorry for the capitals, but seriously, why does this fact seem to escape the media, the health region, and the Government? Why do all of these institutions insist that building more beds will solve the problem? They are building a big hospital down south, but if there’s not enough nurses to run the hospitals we have, then who will run the new hospital?

So, the “solutions” to the ER wait times? They have implemented what they call “Triggers.” For example, if someone has been in the ER for four hours (the four hour limit being the trigger), they will be sent to a unit whether there’s a bed available or not. If someone has been in the post anesthetic recovery room for a certain amount of time, they will be sent to a unit whether there’s room or not.

They expect us to admit these patients post-op and from the ER and care for them in the hallways. This is about as unsafe as it gets! Not only does it overwhelm the nursing staff (I didn’t think we could be more overwhelmed…I guess this will prove me wrong), but putting patients in hallways means that we don’t have emergency equipment available at the bedside.

What we need is MORE NURSES. We need to find innovative ways to attract AND KEEP nurses to the city. This could include great signing bonuses, competitive wages (not to nurses in other provinces, but to other, similarly educated people in this city), excellent benefits (seriously, shouldn’t nurses have good health benefits?), and more than anything…a positive work environment.

What we don’t need (which we are experiencing) is difficulty getting a pay increase that even comes close to matching cost of living increase. The government wants to give us a couple percent raise over the next few years. They are also attempting to roll back many of our benefits. Is this really a time to take a step backward?!?!?!?!

This in a city, where on a full time nursing wage, you can’t even get approved for a mortgage for a 500 square condo. If you doubled a nurse’s wage, he/she would be able to just barely get approved for that bachelor suite (assuming they don’t own a car or have an ounce of debt). On a nurse’s wage, even renting a one bedroom apartment can potentially take up half of your paycheck.

Ok, I’m going to stop there. Rant over. I could type for hours about this issue, but I need to stop somewhere.

I loved this video! He was inspired to create it after seeing that he passed his RN exam. It represents the same feelings of transformation that I am experiencing.

ARG!!! This sounds incredibly interesting! I wish it was the entire show, rather than just a short intro.

This guy made me giggle! I love the all white scrubs, complete with white cowboy shirt. I have never thought to taste my patient’s poo for blood…interesting. And, the scene of him chasing the patient down the hall…I’ve been there…I’m sure we all have.