My Holiday Wish List - Clean Hands, IV Normal Saline & Full Staffing for All.

Christmas is almost here!

Everyone keeps asking me what I want under my tree. My list is going to challenge Santa because there are some supply issues this year, but I'm hoping that he can place all these items under my hospital tree & all the other nurses who made his "Nice List" this season - 

Please make everyone wash their hands with soap & water.

Soap. It's a simple & beautiful idea. Everyone wash your hands with soap & water. Anti-bacterial gel is ok, but there is nothing better than plain, old soap & hot water. Imagine a world of snotty kids, homeless patients & confused elderly patients all with pristine & germ-free hands. I wouldn't be afraid to let people use my pen or touch door knobs. Maybe.

IV Normal Saline

You may or may not know that there is a shortage on IV Normal Saline injection bags. I work in the ER, so we use A LOT of IV NS. It is the miracle fluid. It cures everything from hangovers to the dehydration effects of GI bugs. There are so few interventions that make a universally positive impact on patients. Santa, please bring me some extra 1000 cc NS bags this year.

Full Staffing

Cue Mariah Carey voice - "Alllll I wantttt for Christmasss is full staffffinnnnnnggggg!"

I am lucky enough to work in California where we have state mandated nursing ratios.  These ratios put a max number of patients assigned to each RN based on their patients' acuity or the unit specialty where the RN works. This makes busy days more manageable because you know that there is a limit to how many train wrecks that you may have to take on during a shift. But California is the exception & not the norm. I worked in Georgia for several years & know how crazy the holidays can be in the ER with 8 hour wait-times & ambulances flying in faster than you can count. Some shifts I would have a dozen patients, all with active orders & no help because of call-outs... AHHH! Even with patient ratios in California, staffing is often short in other departments during the holidays making everything a challenge. You've never appreciated EVS or lab staff more than when there isn't enough of them & suddenly everything is taking twice as long to get done.

That's why this year for Christmas, I hope that staffing is full for all departments across the land! May your care team be plentiful & your patients kind.

Now - A GIANT SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE WORKING THIS HOLIDAY!!!

THANK YOU to everyone working, on-call, who just got off or if you're getting ready to go in! You guys are the heroes that make it possible for the healthcare machine to keep going during the holidays & enable so many to be home with their families. You guys & gals are incredible & deserve all the love <3

Lastly, I want to thank all the readers & #newthingnursetribe members who have started reading this little blog. I know that there are millions of medical bloggers out there & knowing that you are taking the time to read over my musings means so much this holiday & every day.

Wishing all of you & yours a very merry Christmas!

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

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Nurse Gratitude.

The holidays can be rough.

The hospitals are full with patients who need care, & the staffing is short because of co-workers who are not there....

This holiday season is unusual for me. I am currently with family due to illness, so enjoying doing some private duty nursing & family support this holiday season. But traditionally, this is the time of year when I like to look around the ridiculously full hospital (while I'm doing a million things, haven't had a break & may or may not have peed in the last 11 hours) & focus on all the awesome reasons why I have #nursegratitude.

What is "nurse gratitude"? Great question! Nurse gratitude is the thankful feeling that I get for all things nursing. This can be for simple things like coffee & gloves (essential for each & every shift). Or it can be for things like social workers & child life specialists who make terrible situations more manageable with their wizard-like skills (I LOVE ALL YOU SOCIAL WORKERS & CHILD LIFE FOLKS).  Today, I just wanted to focus on the general aspects of nursing that make me so full of nurse gratitude.

Here is the Top 5 on my Nurse Gratitude List  -

1. Flexibility.

This job has allowed me to travel the world, be available for my family in times of crisis, take classes & start a new business. I have worked full-time, part-time & PRN. As an ER nurse, I have worked ALLLLLL the shifts which has freed me up for many educational, personal & professional opportunities. My colleagues have been able to be daytime parents & nighttime workers, full-time students, fulfilling passion projects & a few have been seasonal athletes while still being fully employed three days a week. There are few jobs with greater flexibility than nursing. Cheers to Saturday on a Tuesday.

2. We have the best stories.

When at a party, dinner out or just a gathering of folks, nurses will always have the best stories. I hate the question, "What is the craziest thing you have ever seen?". Normal folks aren't ready for the real crazy. I usually give them a watered-down rectal foreign body story that gets a lot of giggles & then we move on. What I love is hearing that someone else is in the healthcare field & then getting to compare war stories. Healthcare workers, but nurses especially, have the best, most incredibly, "you can't make this sh*t up" stories. They are best not for general consumption, but get a few jaded nurse hearts together with a glass of whiskey or wine & the night will not disappoint.

3. Nurses are the best people.

I cannot stress enough how generally amazing the people are who are drawn to nursing. I don't know why, but they are the most passionate, hard-working & funny individuals. Almost all my friends are nurses for exactly this reason. Nurses love to help. They are driven by a crazy passion to get sh*t done. No one is better suited for a high-stress, multitasking needed situation. That's why so many are balancing kids, school & a side-hustle. And nurses are HILARIOUS. Nurses can literally be facing some of the saddest & hardest situations that life can offer, but they can make light of it all. I love me some nurses. 

4. Variety.

Have you ever seen such a variety of roles that nursing has to offer? When I meet clients who are burnt crispy & telling me that they are thinking of switching careers, I almost yell - "WHY?". There is an almost endless amount of manifestations of nursing out there. Just when I think that I've heard them all, I learn about something new. Did you know that you can be a camp nurse? Or a toxicology nurse? Or a nurse podcaster? Or an organ donation nurse? Or a nurse historian? YES!!! These are all real jobs. The list goes on & on, but I encourage you to think about your passions & do some research. There is probably an amazing fit (or at least some swag) for even your nursing & knitting interests.

5. We get to help.

We get to help people. Our patients are often in their most vulnerable time of need, as are their family, friends & other loved ones. We get to help our colleagues & communities by donating to fundraisers or working at the medic booth at the health fair. We go home & help our own relatives by taking all their calls related to - "I have this spot on my back....". Our kids & their friends come to us to help with the owies. My neighbor comes by to check in after his hip operation with questions. Nurses are helpers. I live for the helping.

This holiday season you do have the option of just dwelling on how there were three sick calls, two Code 3's in the last five minutes & a laboring mother in the waiting room (where's the partridge in the pear tree?). But why? All that would do is stress me out & make my shift that much worse. Let's choose to BUMP THAT NOISE & instead find some positivity by remembering all the reasons that we can have #nursegratitude this year.

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

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The Blog is LIVE!! - Now, What Is New Thing Nurse?

The New Thing Nurse Blog is now LIVE! WOOT!!!

Hello!!!

For those of you who know me - HOWDY!!!

First, thank you for reading & following New Thing Nurse! Our #newthingnursetribe is an amazing community of veteran nurses, new nurses & aspiring nurses - plus so many more in the medical field - that come together to create a supportive platform to help each other with their new things!

For first-time readers to the New Thing Nurse community - WELCOME!!

My name is Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL. I am the Owner & Head Coach at New Thing Nurse & the main writer at our newly launched New Thing Nurse Blog.

What is New Thing Nurse?

New Thing Nurse is -

1. The academic & professional coaching service company made by a nurse for the nursing community to help with your new nurse thing! Whether you are thinking about applying to a new school, looking for your new job or have a new passion project that you need help getting off the ground, New Thing Nurse can help!!! New Thing Nurse offers an array of coaching, document preparation, writing editing & mentoring services to meet your professional & academic needs. Check out our Services page to see how we can help you. 

2. An inclusive & supportive online community for the nursing community who are trying new things. It is a forum to discuss ideas, get motivation & gain insider tips on how to succeed. No haters here. New Thing Nurse was created to lift each other up & fight against nurse bullying & nurse burnout.

3. A blog!! New Thing Nurse is now live with its blog! On here I (Sarah) & occasional guest authors will be diving more deeply into topics & trends that explore the great, big world that is the field of nursing. Many people think that nursing is just working at the bedside. However as you follow our social media & blog accounts, readers will quickly see that the world of nursing is a wide & wondrous world of diverse roles & crazy adventure! 

I created New Thing Nurse after seeing too many smart & talented nurses voice frustrations of the limitations of nursing. Many were burnt out. Others were uninspired. Most did not know the many options that are out there. New Thing Nurse is here to help fix that. I want to create a world of successful & fulfilled nurses and hopefully, this nurturing & collaborative nursing culture will extend beyond the healthcare setting for an enhanced professional & personal experience for all.

Thanks for reading & have a great shift!!

- Sarah, Owner & Head Coach @ New Thing Nurse

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