Please Santa, Bring Some Presents for My Patients

I wrote out a Christmas “wish list” for my patients today since we were told to get it in to the social worker by November 1 this year. Anonymous donors in our community go Christmas shopping for the patients that we have selected for gift-giving. I’ve chosen three patients that meet the financial need criteria that we [...]

Obama Supports the Nursing Profession

 Obama has a long history of supporting the nursing profession. As an Illinois senator he worked on such issues as limiting mandatory overtime for nurses and improving nurse-patient ratios. His commitment to improving health care and addressing issues close to the heart of nurses has won him the endorsement of the American Nurses Association. Obama for [...]

Nurse Talk: Constipation in the Elderly

       
Anna, the eight-six year old patient I saw today told me that she takes a fiber pill with a glass of water twice a day and a stool softener once a day and yet she still doesn’t go regularly. I’m not surprised. Like many seniors, she also takes an iron pill for anemia, a pain pill for [...]

Old People in Cold Houses

My elderly patient sits in the dark with a knit cap on her head and a wool scarf wrapped around her neck. Even though it is only October,  I suspect she is already trying to save on fuel costs. She, like some of my older patients, lives in a big old house built in the early 1900’s. Last [...]

Sweaty Living

 

Everyone has sweaty hands from time to time. Remember that scary ride on the roller-coaster or that near-miss while driving?  I bet you had sweaty hands. If you did it would be quite natural.  Sweating is our autonomic nervous system’s response to fear and anxiety. But what if your hands were sweaty all the time even when [...]

Breast Cancer Awareness: A Poem

       
I am very aware of breast cancer this month. 
My patient is dying of it.
My supervisor just found out she has it.
My neighbor survived it.
My mother-in-law died from it.  
Breast cancer.
When was my last mammogram?
I can not remember when.
I am a nurse who should know better.
Hear the wisdom of breast cancer sisters.
Get one now. Get one now.
And for your dying [...]

Visiting Nurse Journal

My new patient isn’t doing very well. There is so much going on with her. She’s having trouble swallowing and her lungs remain totally congested. More cancer treatments loom in her future. Although I am seeing her everyday, alot of my work is done behind the scenes.