The light in the dark of 2020

I have failed so many times this year.

I have failed to get out of bed on days where my body wouldn’t listen to me.

I have failed to be open with my family, friends, colleagues, and clients when the despair was too great to function.

I have failed to be as present as I could have been during this most unprecedented time – historical mostly due to failures in leadership, process, and procedure that have cost our country 289,000 deaths and counting as of the writing of this post.

But most of the time, I am able to do so much – get up, work, smile, speak, write, advocate, care, support, listen, live, be – and each action is a success that must be celebrated.  

These are the days that will define my life.

I was a high school student during 9/11, graduated college in 2008 during the Great Recession, and worked as an emergency and radiology nurse during disasters, epidemics, and the worst days in the lives of so many of my patients. But this pandemic, this year, these moments – these will be what I tell future generations about.

And while I will speak to them about working through PPE and supply shortages, not knowing what to do when others needed it most, shouting reassurances to patients through masks and goggles, managing the public misinformation, and drowning in cleaning supplies at work yet not being able to find basic hygiene products at home, there are other more important moments that I will share first and most frequently.

I will tell the future generations of nurses and other healthcare workers about the fear of others, fear of an unknown, and a fear of bringing an evil home that could harm or kill my loved ones. I will tell them about the loneliness – missing my family, my friends, and not knowing when it will be safe to be around them again. I will tell them about the isolation – not just the feeling of being alone but also the physical distance between people – eating lunches outside, not in the break room with my coworkers. About edging away from others because of the unease of being around people without a mask. And the feeling of fear that was not always of others, but of myself, not knowing if I was unwittingly passing on a novel evil to others.

I will tell them about the crushing weight of shame when I called out of work as an essential frontliner, not for COVID-19, but for anxiety and sadness that I could not get under control, no matter how much mindfulness, self-care, and therapy I sought out. I will tell them about the days when I couldn’t move without my husband physically hauling me out of bed and into clothes to get even the most basic things done.

I will tell them that even in the darkest, loneliest moments that I was still me.

I was still a nurse. And I was no less of a nurse because of my struggles. Every time I took a stronger dose of my SSRI - I was a nurse.  Every call to my therapist, appointment with a psychiatrist, and day I stayed in bed and streamed 12 hours of TV in an attempt at harm reduction – I was a nurse. I was nursing myself. I was nursing my mind and my brain chemistry. I was nursing chronic conditions called anxiety and depression that were exacerbated by the most unprecedented year in medical history.

And I never did it alone. I had my husband, my amazing partner in all things, who cared for me every day. I had my family and friends, IRL and online, who helped support me during my best and worst moments. I had my incredible nurse community – because we are a community that can withstand all things – who checked in, sent me packages, emails, texts, DMs, messages, and the most hilariously inappropriate memes to make me smile on days when I thought the world was ending. I will tell them that my nursing and healthcare people came together to support me because that’s what we do when the shit hits the fan – we roll up our sleeves and figure out how to fix it.

I want to tell everyone going into healthcare in the future that you are never alone.

You have generations of us - nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, techs, phlebotomists, imaging technologists, respiratory therapists, social workers, therapists of all varieties, and all the other medical roles that make up our incredible healthcare team – who have had those dark days, been in those paralyzing moments, and gotten through to the other side. We are here for you to lean on, get guidance, and receive all the wealth of our collective experiences. We are also here to represent those who have not made it. We know how impossible the work is, yet we continue to do it. Through the hardest moments, we are there to care for others, keeping them alive and comforted, making them better. 

But know that you will have dark, challenging moments too. And often those moments will be in your car, on the way home, or at 0400 when you are unsuccessfully trying to sleep. You will be replaying things in your mind, wondering what you could have done differently, or thinking about how all of it doesn’t matter anyways. You may despair. You may want to give up. And it’s OK. I want you to know that I have despaired. I have wanted to give up.

But I haven’t, and you shouldn’t either.

I have seen the dark, and yet I eventually got up out of bed again. I showered, grabbed coffee, and put my scrubs back on. I got my PPE. I grabbed food and my nurse bag and went to work. I put on my mask and goggles. I cared for others because that’s what I do because I am a nurse.

 When I tell others about 2020, I want to make sure they know all the parts.

And I want to make sure that no matter what year it is, the dark moments have happened and will happen again, but despite the darkness, there is so much light to be had. I show up every shift for the light. I am here to help you see it too.

Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life. 

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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To gather or not to gather, that is the question.

Thinking about getting a small group together for Thanksgiving this year?

Many are, but is it worth the risk? And what is the risk?

COVID-19 is raging across America.

The United States is facing another huge surge in COVID-19 cases across the country. As a nation, we have hit new highs of cases per day, hospitalizations and have now surpassed 250,000 deaths from COVID-19.

What does this mean for me?

COVID-19 is basically everywhere. People have been testing positive at a progressively higher rate across the country since September. When more people have the virus, it spreads faster and faster because more people have it to give to others.

And when more people have it, more people wind up in the hospital. In many states, hospitals are FULL meaning they have no beds or no staff to take care of you if you have a medical emergency.

Read that again - MANY HOSPITALS DO NOT HAVE SPACE OR STAFF TO TAKE CARE OF YOU.

That means medical staff have to start making choices about who gets care and who does not. This happened in some states already this year, but this round may be worse. Earlier this year, hospitals were at max capacity in some states but other states were able to help out by taking patient transfers or sending medical workers to help ease staffing shortages. Now, everyone is facing a mounting surge of COVID-19 patients. There are fewer and fewer hospitals with beds available to take any transfers. And no one has staff to send. No help may be coming.

What does this have to do with Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a holiday where families and friends traditionally gather together to eat and visit. This is an especially enticing idea as so many of us have been isolated from our loved ones, and everyone is desperate for a feeling of normalcy in this most not-normal year.

And what I hear from healthcare workers is an even greater desire for something normal. We are carrying huge burdens in our professional and personal lives. That burden is now threatening days that are so special to our family and friends. We are used to working on the holidays but not having our work cancel the holidays for everyone.

However, gathering this year is riskier than you may think. With the rates of COVID-19 so high across the country, the possibility of being able to safely get together, even in small numbers, without someone in that group having COVID-19 is small.

Now you may be asking how I know that. That’s a great question! I know that thanks to the good people at Georgia Tech who have created a website called the “COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool” where you can assess the risk level of attending an event, given the event size and location.

I don’t care what Georgia Tech says. I WANT TO GATHER!

As a University of Georgia alumna, I completely understand where you’re coming from (sorry GT). However Georgia Tech isn’t the only group trying to show the risk of gathering for Thanksgiving and other upcoming holidays.

The Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has on their website - “…the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.”

The CDC goes on to break down the risk of holiday activities:

Lower Risk Activities

• Having a small dinner with only people who live in your household

• Preparing traditional family recipes for family and neighbors, especially those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and delivering them in a way that doesn’t involve contact with others

• Having a virtual dinner and sharing recipes with friends and family

• Shopping online rather than in person on the day after Thanksgiving or the next Monday

• Watching sports events, parades, and movies from home

Moderate Risk Activities

• Having a small outdoor dinner with family and friends who live in your community (Lower your risk by following CDC’s recommendations on hosting gatherings or cook-outs.)

• Visiting pumpkin patches or orchards where people use hand sanitizer before touching pumpkins or picking apples, wearing masks is encouraged or enforced, and people are able to maintain social distancing

• Attending a small outdoor sports events with safety precautions in place

Higher Risk Activities

Avoid these higher risk activities to help prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19:

• Going shopping in crowded stores just before, on, or after Thanksgiving

• Participating or being a spectator at a crowded race

• Attending crowded parades

• Attending large indoor gatherings with people from outside of your household

• Using alcohol or drugs that may alter judgment and make it more difficult to practice COVID-19 safety measures.

Try to get creative!

This year won’t be like the past, but there is an opportunity to make it memorable for fun reasons. Try to get creative with how you are going to connect with the family and friends that you may not be able to see IRL. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a great blog (who knew?) that put out a recent post with some fun ways to celebrate Thanksgiving remotely this year:

Send Gifts. Although COVID-19 has changed our lives in many ways, sending cards or gifts remains a relatively easy way to let loved ones know that you’re thinking of them. Who wouldn’t want to receive some home-baked goodies, a basket of fresh fruit, or a festive wreath? If you enjoy knitting, candle making, or other ways of crafting gifts for the holidays, now’s the time to start planning for Thanksgiving through the New Year.

Make Videos. When I’m visiting family, there is often music involved—with guitar, piano, and maybe some singing. But, this year, I’ll have to be content with video recording a few songs and sending them to others by text or email. Come to think of it, the kids and the grandkids might enjoy these songs just as much—or even more—if they can watch them at a time and place that works best for them. (On the other hand, some of them might roll their eyes and decide not to open that video file!) If you don’t play a guitar or like to sing, you can still make your own holiday-themed videos. Maybe share a dance routine, a demonstration of athletic skill, or even some stand-up comedy. The key is to have fun and let your imagination run free.

Share a Meal Remotely. Most of our end-of-the-year holidays involve the family sitting around a table overflowing with delicious food. With all of the videoconferencing platforms now available, it is easy to set aside a block of time to share a meal and good conversation remotely with friends and family members, whether they live nearby or across the country. Rather than one cook slaving over a hot stove or a certain person monopolizing the dinner table conversation, everyone gets a chance to cook and share their stories via their smartphone, tablet, or laptop. You can compare your culinary creations, swap recipes, and try to remember to leave room for dessert. If you have a tradition of playing games or giving thanks for your many blessings, you can still do many of these activities remotely.

Take an After-Dinner Walk. Due to the physical demands and psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been difficult for many of us to stay physically active. The key is making exercise a daily priority, and the holidays are no different. After your holiday meal, go on a virtual group walk through your respective neighborhoods to work off the food. Thanks to your smartphone’s camera, you can share your time outdoors and all of the interesting sights along the way. (Yes, the new playground in the local park looks fantastic, and the neighbors really did just paint their house purple!)

If you do gather, be safe.

I know some of you will read this and then gather with your loved ones anyways. If you do, please be safe and follow the CDC guidelines and consider these recommendations from the NIH Blog for safe gatherings:

Stay Safe. If you plan to go ahead and join a holiday gathering in person, it’s important to remain vigilant, even when interacting with dear friends and loved ones. The greatest risk for spread of COVID-19 right now is these family gatherings. Remember there are risks associated with travel and with interacting with people who’ve not been tested for the coronavirus prior to the event, especially if they reside in a COVID hot spot—which is almost everywhere these days. Try to keep any family gatherings brief and relatively small, about five people or less. If the weather permits, hold the get-together outdoors.

To protect yourself and your loved ones, both now and over the holidays, please follow these 3 W’s:

• Wear a mask when you are out in public and when you are indoors with people who are not part of your immediate household. The only exception is while eating or drinking!

• Watch your distance, staying at least 6 feet away from people who are not part of your immediate household.

• Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently.

I don’t have all the answers, but as a nurse I would say do not gather. As a person, I understand if you do but please do it safely.

As an Emergency Department nurse for 10 years, I want you not to gather this holiday season. I will be spending Thanksgiving with my favorite non-family people - my ED co-workers at work in the emergency department. We want to be able to help you if you need it, so please consider not gathering if you can so that we can gather safely next year without the risk of COVID-19.

As a person, I have not seen my family in a year. They live in the Southeast while I live in California. I am a nurse during a pandemic. It has not been in the cards to travel safely this year to see them.

For the holidays, I am going to be flying home to see family. However I am taking a huge amount of time off to do so as safely as possible. I will be flying to Georgia and quarantining for 2 weeks with planned COVID-19 testing for me and the husband, then seeing family in small groups outside with masks on and at least six feet apart when possible with so much hand washing and sanitizing that my skin is already raw thinking about it. I am staying in a separate space, a rental that we have for the entire time we are there plus a rented car. Then upon the return, I will be quarantining for 2 weeks at home.

(I am incredibly lucky to have the flexibility and resources to be able to make this complicated trek. I know that this is not realistic for most.)

This is an impossible time, and we are having to make impossible decisions. Please just know that every decision you make will have repercussions that you must be ready to face if and when they come.

Be well and be safe.

Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life. 

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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Have PPE Shortage Stories? Congress wants to hear them!

Have a story about challenges with PPE while working in healthcare during COVID19? Congress wants to hear from you!

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is asking for health care workers to submit their experiences trying to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want to hear the stories of the people being affected by these shortages—nurses, EMTs, doctors and health care providers struggling to get PPE. Lifting up these stories in the coming weeks will be crucial to Congress’ understanding of the work ahead.”

Stories can be emailed to PPEshortages@finance.senate.gov. The deadline for submissions is August 31st. All personal information will be redacted unless requested otherwise

This is your chance to have your stories, your stress, and your frustrations heard. I shared my story. I would love to have our collective stories shared to see if we can make a difference in the availability of PPE for all frontliners in the United States. 

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

Here is the testimony I sent to Senator Ron Wyden via my emergency nurse colleague, Penelope Blake:

“My name is Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL. I am a Registered Nurse who has worked in emergency and radiology medicine since 2010. I live in Oakland, California and work at two hospitals in the Bay Area.

I am writing to you today to share my experiences with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shortages that are facing the frontline healthcare workforce in the United States. For nearly 10 years, I have worked in the hospital setting. As a nurse, I come to work each shift to care for those in need. In the emergency department, I see patients from newborns to the elderly and am responsible for being able to care for minor to the most complex medical conditions in collaboration with interdisciplinary care teams. I am trained to respond to disasters in often hazardous conditions and have learned to utilize a wide variety of PPE to prevent exposure to infectious diseases and hazardous materials. From being trained to care for patients with Ebola to those suffering from chemical burns, I know that I must protect myself so that I can care for others.

The majority of the PPE that I am trained to use is single-use, single-patient items. This means that I would wear PPE for use with one patient encounter and then dispose of it. Imagine a patient with tuberculosis, an infectious disease spread through airborne transmission. Historically, I would have that patient in a private, isolation room in the emergency department. To enter the room safely and care for the patient, I would put on a N95 respirator mask, a specialized mask that filters out approximately 95% of airborne particles, along with other appropriate, single-use PPE per my facility's policy, enter the room, complete my patient care, exit the room, and throw that N95 respirator mask and other PPE away in the trash. I would then perform the appropriate hand hygiene and move on with my work day. Whenever I needed to re-enter that patient's room, I would then put on a fresh N95 respirator mask and PPE, complete the necessary care, and dispose of PPE upon every exit from the patient's room. In this way, I never put on "dirty" masks or other equipment, meaning masks that have been exposed to germs from previous encounters in the tuberculosis patient's room. I never risk exposing myself to that patient's germs by putting on the "dirty" PPE, and I would never wear "dirty" PPE into another patient's room. I have gone through dozens of masks per shift in the past without thinking twice because it was the standard of safety and best care for my patient and the policy of my employer.

All of that changed this year when COVID-19 came to the United States. In March, early rumors of N95 respirator mask shortages started to circulate. Then there was discussion that we may need to start extending the use of our single-use N95 masks. This seemed impossible. How could we re-use a single-use item? It went against our infection prevention policies and put us at risk for exposure to infectious germs. I assumed this was just talk until my emergency nurse colleagues from across the United States started to tell me that it was true and happening. And soon, it was not just re-using the N95 masks for a few hours, but the whole shift, and then multiple days. By the end of March, I had colleagues telling me that they were using the same N95 masks for weeks at a time. And then, I was told by many friends and acquaintances that nurses and other medical staff were caring for COVID-19 patients with no N95 masks at all because there were none to be had. This would have been an unacceptable situation in January and now, it was becoming the norm.

At my facility in California, we did not face this reality until sometime in April. We have thankfully never completely run out of N95s. However we have been encouraged to extend the use of our single-use N95s for multiple shifts, being given cardboard containers that you would normally use in our cafeteria to get a hamburger to-go, to store our masks in between uses. Our emergency department, like most in the United States, also has a limited amount of Power Air Purifying Respirators (PAPRs) units, battery powered machines that are attached to plastic hoods, that can be used for working safely with COVID-19 patients. However these units are expensive and most emergency departments only have a hand full. These are sufficient for caring for small numbers of patients, but not for managing large quantities of COVID-19 patients all at once. And then there are emergent situations, for example where a person's heart stops and a team of people are needed in the room to perform life-saving measures, you may need 3 to 5 PAPRs at the same time for just one patient. That can easily be the department's entire supply of PAPRs. If a department is out of N95 masks and all the PAPRs are in use in one room, there is no way to safely care for the dozens to hundreds of other COVID-19 patients that you may have at the moment in your emergency department.

Furthermore, there is the rest of the hospital to consider. While the emergency department is specially trained to handle disasters headon with advanced PPE and a supply of PAPRs at the ready, most inpatient units have even less training and PPE supplies available. When COVID-19 initially hit, the majority of hospitals quickly depleted their PPE reserves and were scrambling to train all their staff to safely take care of our high-risk patients. And then the supply chain for PPE was broken, and facilities could not refill their supplies of PPE or procure more PAPRs. The inpatient units were caring for patients with not just re-used PPE, but insufficient PPE which put themselves and their patients at risk. Caring for a COVID-19 patient with a surgical mask is not safe because the surgical mask does not protect the person from COVID-19 exposure. Surgical masks only prevent my germs from spreading to others. And while many facilities are requiring all staff and patients to wear surgical masks, which in theory will greatly limit the spreading of germs, most of our hospital patients cannot keep a mask on due to their oxygen support needs, feeding tubes, anxiety, or confusion. Nurses and medical staff must have a N95 respirator at minimum to ensure they are not exposed to COVID-19 germs. This lack of PPE has had deadly consequences. Since this pandemic has started, there have been nearly 115,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 600 deaths due to COVID-19 among healthcare workers in the United States. 

In addition to being a practicing nurse in the hospital setting, I also am the Founder of New Thing Nurse, a company committed to supporting the nursing community through a variety of services and platforms. Through New Thing Nurse and my nursing professional organizations, I have contacts with nurses across the United States. When I started getting reports of the limited PPE in the United States, I started making calls and inquiries to see if I could find PPE sources for those in need. I quickly found that the normal sources for N95 respirator masks available to the public, such as hardware and paint stores, were completely out of inventory. I made contacts with hospital buyers, the staff in charge of stocking PPE for healthcare facilities, to see if there was a way that I could purchase N95 masks in bulk. I was quickly told that no sources were to be found.

I started reaching out to the community. I started receiving donations of PPE from individual citizens. People who had a few masks here and there for emergencies or painting projects. I started fundraising and putting small PPE orders together where I could find small sources online on the secondary market, from sources like Ebay and Craigslist, paying outrageous prices but getting small quantities of masks and other PPE items that were also becoming short supply.

To date, I have sent out and coordinated nearly 5,000 PPE items donations to frontline healthcare workers to 14 states with an estimated cost of $9,000+. I am just one small example of such an effort to keep friends, colleagues, and other medical workers in the appropriate PPE that they need to care for COVID-19 patients safely. Huge organizations like GetUsPPE.org and A Million Masks have emerged to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and distribute millions of masks. These are projects created by private citizens to close a basic supply gap that employers and the government have failed to remedy. This failure has caused the illness and death of care providers across the United States, dedicated citizens who have devoted their lives to caring for others. While they were caring for us, we failed to care for them.

Here is one email that I received from a mobile x-ray technician in Texas who requested PPE from New Thing Nurse: 

“Hello Sarah! I heard about you in the ... group on Facebook. It’s funny the timing as today after my shift I sat in my car and broke down crying.

I’m a mobile X-ray tech for ... in Texas. We service facilities, homes, long term care and jails all over Texas. Every single facility we service has Covid patients. Nursing homes and jails are especially rampant with it.

In the past three weeks there has not been one day I have done several x-rays on a positive patient. The majority of the facilities expect us as an outside contract to provide our own PPE. We are a very small company so finding them is scarce, I have been reusing the same gear several times over. My neighbor got me an N95 from her husbands laboratory. That’s how serious it is. Working at a small company we worry about publicly reaching out for PPE for fear of getting reprimanded. I don’t have anything negative to say about my employers, I honestly believe they are trying to get us PPE. But each day I literally go to work trembling worrying that it’s not going to be enough and I’m going to expose my family by not being adequately protected. I’m typing this in tears.

Today was an especially hard day as staff at one of the jails I was servicing were fighting over who was to receive a single mask. This is the same jail apart of a very large corporation that told me I needed to bring my own PPE but calls me everyday to image their Covid patients. Tensions were high and I reminded them we have to protect ourselves and our patients. There is a nurse who sneaks me PPE when she can, it is a very humbling experience to have to beg for that every shift. This is one of the most stressful times of my life. I will send my company info in the next email I’m typing on my phone.’’

The PPE shortage in the United States is a completely inexcusable failure. There is no reason that in a country as rich and powerful as ours that our medical workers should ever be without the appropriate equipment needed to provide the best and safest care to our patients. In the year 2020, healthcare workers have begged for PPE by going door-to-door in their communities, for PPE that should be provided as a standard workplace safety item by their employers. I implore you to take the necessary steps to finding a solution and keeping our frontline healthcare workers safe by providing appropriate PPE for all.’’

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The Beauty of Masks

Masks can be such a simple thing.

From a just a piece of cloth across your lower face (always covering your nose and mouth) to high-end pieces of technology with valves, filters, full eye protection, and many more bells and whistles, the mask has recently become a major part of everyone’s lives.

As COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket across the United States, the wearing of a simple cloth mask (along with washing your hands, staying at least 6 feet from others, and staying home when possible) has been hearalded as one of the best infection prevention measures that any member of the public can take to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Monday, the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Nurses Association (ANA) even joined forces to issue a joint letter to the public urging them to wear masks to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19:

July 6, 2020

An open letter to the American public,

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have urged the American people to protect themselves, their neighbors and their loved ones amidst the worst global health crisis in generations. After months of physical distancing and staying at home, infections and deaths began to decline.

But in the weeks since states began reopening, some of the steps that were critical to the progress we made were too quickly abandoned. And we are now watching in real-time as a dramatic uptick in COVID-19 cases is erasing our hard-won gains. Hospitals in some states are at or nearing their ICU capacity. Shortages of personal protective equipment and testing supplies continue to pose a dire threat to health care workers and patients alike. And last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress that the U.S could see 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day if we do not take more precautions.

This is why as physicians, nurses, hospital and health system leaders, researchers and public health experts, we are urging the American public to take the simple steps we know will help stop the spread of the virus: wearing a face mask, maintaining physical distancing, and washing hands. We are not powerless in this public health crisis, and we can defeat it in the same way we defeated previous threats to public health—by allowing science and evidence to shape our decisions and inform our actions.

The toll of this pandemic is already staggering, and it will take many more months, perhaps years, to truly understand its impact on our country and our way of life. But what is certain – and what the science and evidence are telling us – is that COVID-19 is not behind us and we must resist confusing re-opening with returning to normalcy. Doing so will escalate this crisis and result in more suffering and death.

To those of you who are doing your part in helping turn the tide of this pandemic – thank you. Your actions are critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19. Moving forward, we must all remain vigilant and continue taking steps to mitigate the spread of the virus to protect each other and our loved ones. There is only one way we will get through this – together.

Your continued partners in health,

American Hospital Association
American Medical Association
American Nurses Association

Masks are here to help. They will help keep our communities healthy. Masks are simple and accessible to everyone. And they can be ever so cute!

I am personally loving the many styles of masks that I am seeing being made available for donation and sale. Here are a few of my favorites from free to high-end (click any of the images to go to the company websites):

Dhvani Mask from Dhvani - Free

Black Floral Face Mask from LAFaceMasks.com - $6.50

Reversible Non Surgical Fashion Mask and Head Wrap Set from SonSon.com - $45.00

It’s a simple thing, the cloth mask. And how easy it is to wear, style, and use to prevent the spread of illness is a true thing of beauty.

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

*None of the companies featured in this post are affiliates of New Thing Nurse. I just truly love their stuff.*

Resources:

AHA, AMA, ANA Joint Letter to the Public Supporting Masks

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC): Use Cloth Face Covers to Slow the Spread of COVID-19

World Health Organization (WHO): When & How to Use Masks

And if you have any Hamilton lovers, this is for you:

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Hate is a public health issue.

Hate for others.

Hate for yourself.

Hate due to misinformation.

Hate that leads to violence.

Hate that results in isolation.

Hate that creates poverty.

Hate that leads to fear.

Hate that causes inequality.

Hate that prevents people from getting what they need - including appropriate healthcare.

Hate causes illness, pain, injury, mental health problems, trauma, and death.

Hate is a public health issue.

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

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Corona Conversations Vol. 3: Living with the Trauma from COVID19 for Nurses with Lauren Funiestas

Being a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic is not just hard, it’s traumatic.

Did you ever think of that?

I was lucky enough to sit down with my dear friend and favorite human, Lauren Funiestas, an experienced mental health provider who is passionate about providing multicultural, trauma informed care, for an insightful conversation about the stress and trauma that working during COVID19 has caused for the mental health fo frontline healthcare workers. We talked about how best to manage that stress and what you can do to be mentally and emotionally well during this challenging time.

And like any good conversation, we recorded it on Zoom! Enjoy the latest edition of Corona Conversations over on the New Thing Nurse YouTube channel. Cheers!

Bio: Lauren Funiestas is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who has worked exclusively in the forensic/community mental health field since 2007. She is currently preparing to take the California BBS license exam. She’s provided multicultural, trauma informed and mindfulness based individual/group therapy, case management and psycho education services within residential treatment facilities, school-based children’s mental health programs, public health clinics and detention facilities. Lauren received her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from San Francisco State University and her Master of Arts from John F Kennedy University’s Holistic Counseling / Transpersonal Psychology program. Lauren self identifies as a Transnational feminist, Filipina/Island girl and a champion for the advancement of communities of color within the mental health field. She believes strongly in decolonization, honoring the spirit and using all of your paid time off for self care. Lauren is a former body builder, white belt jiu jitsu champion (that counts) and her favorite TV character is Olivia Benson from Law & Order SVU.

Resources for Mental Health Support:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-273-8255

• Crisis Text Line - Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the USA

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - https://www.nami.org

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Corona Conversations Vol. 2: Working a COVID-19 Relief Travel Assignment in NYC, Being a New Nurse during the Pandemic, & more with Mica David of @registerednoire

Remember how hard it was being a new nurse? No imagine that you are a new nurse during a pandemic.

COVID-19 has been a challenge for everyone in the medical field but for our new nurses, it has been a real shift show. No one taught them to be prepared for a pandemic in nursing school. This year has been a real baptism by fire for us all, and one new nurse has jumped in head first into the chaos.

I want to introduce you to Mica David of @registerednoire. Mica and I met through the Emergency Nurses Association this year, and I have been following her ever since. Mica is a young nurse from Georgia (my home state!) who started her career at a busy Level II trauma center emergency department last year and has recently transitioned to travel nursing. Mica is currently working NYC on a COVID-19 relief contract as her first assignment!

I got to sit down with Mica on one of her days off to discuss what it is like working in NYC on a disaster relief assignment, being a new nurse during COVID-19, and what she is doing to cope with the stress of it all. Mica has some great tips for newer nurses considering travel nursing and shares her post-shift COVID-19 decon process for her apartment (this was fascinating to me - i’m a mega-nerd). Happy watching!

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

Follow Mica’s adventures on social media:

Instagram - @registerednoire

YouTube - @registerednoire

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Corona Conversations Vol 1: Nursing, Stress, Mental Health, PPE, & more with Sarah of New Thing Nurse & Anna of The Burnout Book

Is this pandemic over yet?

We’ve officially been sheltered in place for over a month here in Oakland, California, and I am feeling it. The stress of everything related to the novel corona virus/COVID-19 is making life in and out of the hospital hard. I have had up’s and down’s with my mental health. I feel that I am now on an upswing, but that definitely can change day-to-day. Some shifts at work are awful - I had a total meltdown this week in the ED. Other shifts are just fine.

On Monday, 4/13, I had the chance to sit down and chat with Anna Rodriguez of The Burnout Book via the almighty Zoom and discuss everything that is going on with nursing in the time of COVID-19. We decided to record the conversation and share it with you all. I hope you enjoy!

Without further ado, I present to you Corona Conversations Vol 1 on the brand new New Thing Nurse YouTube channel:

Description: Sarah from New Thing Nurse and Anna Rodriguez from The Burnout Book have a Corona Conversation about the status of their nurse mental health and wellness as of 4/13/2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah and Anna also have a robust discussion on COVID-19 stress and the PPE shortage, how that affects our ability to provide compassionate patient care, and tools on how to reconnect with our patients and nursing community. Plus get Anna and Sarah's Top 3 Tips of the Week on how to make it work as a nurse during the novel corona virus crisis. Enjoy!

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COVID-19 & My Nurse Mental Health - I feel like shit that has been trampled by elephants.

I literally can’t get out of bed some days. 

Everything makes me cry. 

Going through the day feels like walking through waist-deep mud.

I am tired of talking to people who are not my nurse or healthcare friends. No one else understands.

This is what COVID-19 has done to me. I have not caught it. I am physically well but mentally, I feel like shit that has been trampled by elephants over and over again.

If you are in the healthcare field, you may know what I’m talking about. There is a constant dread during every waking moment. It is a heaviness that for me, is often on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I have heard others describe a giant pit in their stomach that will not go away. 

And your dread is valid. This effing novel corona virus is a REAL bitch, and it’s killing healthcare workers around the world. 

Plus, we are often being expected to work without the equipment we need to stay safe and keep our patients safe. It’s a time when we are being called “heroes” but are being treated like trash. 

Yet there are people out there who care. I see social media posts, public displays of appreciation, and huge philanthropic efforts to support us. Everyone I know texts, calls, or emails. They all want to know the same thing - “How are you?” 

I don’t know how to answer.

I want to say - “I am awful. I am afraid. I am worried about every one of my friends and loved ones getting sick or dying. I can’t see my family or best friends. I’m terrified that I am going to bring this wretched virus home to my husband. I am so lonely that I can’t move. Every shift gives me a panic attack before and after and sometimes during… but otherwise, I’m good. Have you watched Tiger King yet?”

I don’t think that’s what people are hoping for…

Thankfully, I have amazing friends.

A brilliant nurse friend and colleague of mine posted the most eloquent response to this question, which I have now borrowed with her permission and will use as the response for me, and I think, most nurses right now: 

“People keep asking how I'm doing. I wanted to be very honest, so here it is. Strap in - this is long.

We are struggling.

The burden of this pandemic weighs so heavily on us. We are bearing the weight of the world on our shoulders and we aren’t sure that we are strong enough.

We carry a rock in our stomachs and a lump in our throats which have taken up permanent residence and from which we cannot be released.

We put on a brave face, but we are taking enough antacids to medicate an elephant. If we are already on antidepressants, we’ve increased them. If we aren’t on them, we are considering starting them.

We’ve stopped worrying that we’ll bring this home to our families anymore. We’ve taken that as a given. We worry that our family members could be the vectors who unknowingly spread the virus to somebody else. We need to protect the world from US.

For that reason, we take social distancing extremely seriously. Guess what? That social distancing, though? It’s killing us. We are empaths. It is both our nature and our job and now we can’t give our love to anyone. Do you know how much we could all use a hug right now? We can’t have one. Our children miss their relatives and are begging for real in-person hugs and we can’t let them. Our hearts ache.

We worry.

We worry about all of the same things that you do. We worry about our families, but we don’t get to dwell on that because we’re worried about your families, too. We worry that you will be the patient we have to tell, “I’m so sorry, but due to the isolation precautions we will all be trying our best not to enter your room after I leave. Here is your call bell. Let us know if you need anything!” We worry that you will feel alone. We worry that it will be the last words you hear from another human before you are gasping for air and we have to intubate you with no family present and nobody to hold your hand.

We worry that our kids will internalize our grief, anxiety and depression due to what we face each day.

We worry that you call us heroes. We don’t feel like heroes at all. We are just as frightened as you are.

We feel guilty to be gainfully employed when so many are not. However, we worry what the ultimate price will be for continuing to do the job we love so much.

We feel sorrow for the lives lost and for the many more that we are bound to lose due to poor planning and preparation.

We feel disposable. Under a president who refuses to acknowledge the severity of this pandemic, the CDC making subpar recommendations for PPE, a national administration that has been unable to equip its frontline staff appropriately to protect themselves so that we can SAVE FUCKING LIVES – WE FEEL DISPOSABLE.

Despite all of this, we will still SHOW UP. Because when you are a nurse, it is more than a job. It’s a calling. It’s what we do. We SHOW UP.

To all of our colleagues – from EVS to RT to MD and everyone in between – THANK YOU for showing up.

To all other essential employees of the world – THANK YOU – for feeding us, delivering our mail, picking up our trash, keeping the streets safe. THANK YOU.

And to those who are forced and/or able to stay home, THANK YOU for doing your part to flatten the curve. We know that it is not without great sacrifices for many.

To those who are donating, volunteering, sewing masks and caps, lifting us up in prayer, helping your neighbors, and spreading kindness and love – THANK YOU.

This is a battle that we are all fighting together and everyone plays their respective part, so THANK YOU.”

 - Ginelle Rasch, Emergency Department Nurse

I know. Ginelle is THE BEST.

Things are so hard. If things seem impossible for you too, know that you are not alone. I feel the same. Ginelle feels that same. But somehow, together, we are going to get through this. 

And if you need a little extra help to push through, that’s totally ok too. In the past few weeks, I have switched my SSRIs, increased my talk therapy appointments (via telephone), and have had to be very open with friends and colleagues about my mental health needs. 

Your mental health is important, just as important as your physical health. Take time to care for yourself. And know that you are definitely not alone. 

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

Here are a few resources that I am using to help me get through the days. Maybe they will help you too:

Crisis Text Line - Mental Health Support via Text

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) COVID-19 Resources & Information Guide

Podcast: Kate Bowler - Everything Happens, “The Emergency Button”.

Podcast: The Hilarious World of Depression - Call a Friend, Find Out How They’re Doing.

I tried yoga once so far. It was nice. This yoga is free! - Down Dog

Connecting with friends:

Art of Emergency Nursing Podcast Episode with Me, Kristen Cline, & Kevin McFarlane

FB Live Fill Your Cup Virtual Meetup with Anna Rodriguez of The Burnout Book

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Crafts for Healthcare Workers: Make Headbands with Buttons to Save Our Ears with Mary Olp of The Irish Thread Creations

If you’re a nurse, doctor, respiratory therapist, CNA, PCA, or any other healthcare worker right now, I bet your ears hurt from wearing a surgical mask 24/7. Pain, skin breakdown, and more are happening to our ears as we work to care for COVID9 patients.

Well like all of today’s problems, the internet has given us a remedy for our surgical mask induced ear discomfort! Headbands with buttons sewn to them which allows healthcare workers to place ear loops over the buttons instead of their ears! #happyears

There are a lot of photos circulating on social media, and all of them look great! But my friend Mary Olp, a former emergency nurse, sewing guru, and the brain behind the Facebook page The Irish Thread, has created a pattern for all you crafty nurses and nurse supporters out there!!!

Note - These headbands SHOULD NOT be used with N95 masks as it may affect the seal. 

Ear Saver Headbands for Healthcare Workers

Wearing Surgical Masks Pattern & Instructions

by Mary Olp of The Irish Thread Creations

Once done, consider distributing to your nursing department, local hospital, and beyond! Make sure to take photos and send them to New Thing Nurse - newthingnurse@newthingnurse.com and The Irish Thread Creations.

Thanks to Mary and all the crafty folks out there who will be saving our ears!! 🧵💛 

To learn more about Mary Olp and The Irish Thread Creations:

The Irish Thread Creations Facebook Page

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COVID19 at the Border: How Nurses are Caring for At-Risk Patients & How You Can Help Too

I met Helen Perry through the Emergency Nurses Association grapevine and the almighty Facebook. Helen is a Nurse Practitioner and veteran of the United States Army as well as an Emergency Nurse sister, and I could not be happier that our paths collided as she is a most inspiring nurse leader and humanitarian.

Let me tell you about Helen Perry…

After serving five years as a nurse in the military, Helen went to Georgetown University and received her Nurse Practitioner (NP) degree. While on break during her NP program, Helen went to Mosul, Iraq with a humanitarian organization called Global Response Management (GRM) and helped run Trauma Stabilization Points for civilians who were injured in the fighting. She was hooked! Helen loved how GRM applied military medical philosophies to civilian situations and managed healthcare challenges with an outside-the-box approach. 

Today, Helen heads the day-to-day operations of GRM and founded a program and clinic in Matamoros, Mexico that has provided medical care for over 3,000 asylum seekers and refugees since opening in September 2019. The GRM teams of highly trained medical volunteers work in the camp seven days a week to help families facing acute and chronic medical conditions to get the care they need. 

Find out more about Global Response Management

Global Response Management’s Mobile Medical Unit and Better Shelter tent structures, currently sit in the middle of the camp allowing residents full access to medical care every day of the week.

A view of the tents housing thousands of refugees at the border between Texas and Mexico.

A Global Response Management staff member plays with a young patient through the fence at the border.

COVID19 & Border Health 

Now that COVID19 has arrived, the needs of the patients in Matamoros are rapidly changing. The GRM clinic is the main medical resource for the area and is planning to increase their level of operations in preparation for higher acuity patient care needs as COVID19 continues to spread. 

Give to Global Response Management

Helen and the Global Response Management team need our help! To get the GRM Matamoros clinic ready for the potential COVID19 patient surge, Global Response Management needs funding. If you are a nurse, know a nurse, involved in emergency nursing, management, or have a passion for supporting at-risk patient populations, consider donating to the Global Response Management program in Matamoros. They are urgently in need of financial support to care for those who have no where else to go. 

Donate to the Global Response Management Matamoros Program

A Global Response Management clinic offering medical attention to asylum seekers and refugees.

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life. 

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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COVID-19 is here! 😳 What does that mean for nurses?

COVID-19 is here! 😳 What does that mean for nurses?

Generally, it means chaos in our workplaces. The information related to COVID-19 (aka Corona Virus) is constantly evolving creating confusion and misinformation everywhere. This can make every shift 12+ hours of stress for nurses and other healthcare colleagues.

Here are my top tips for managing the stress of being a nurse during a pandemic:

1. Stay up to date! - The information is changing hour to hour. Keep informed by following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 page. It has the most current information available with the recommended guidelines for healthcare workers.

2. Keep clean! - Washing your hands seems like an eye roll worthy recommendation, but it is necessary to decrease your risk of exposure and transmission. I found this great article that gives some of my favorite songs as tunes to use to make sure that you are washing your hands for the recommended 20+ seconds.

3. Sick? Stay away from others. - Like any time that you are ill, stay home, cuddle up, and watch some TV. If you want to really get into the outbreak spirit, check out the Netflix docuseries “Pandemic.” I LOVED IT!

4. Make some mental space for yourself while at work - Your shifts are stressful on a normal day but then you get to go to work in a pandemic - AHHHHHHH! Now is an even more important time to take time for yourself to create mental calm so that you can be your best self for work and home. Check out this New Thing Nurse Blog post that offers a few tips on how to keep calm during a stressful shift.

Remember - Take care of yourself so that you can take care of others.

- Sarah @ NTN

Resources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Resource Page

New Thing Nurse Blog - When the Shift Hits the Fan

Atlanta Magazine - 9 Atlanta Songs to Help You Keep Time for Hand Washing

Pandemic Docuseries on Netflix

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life. 

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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Guest Blog Post: Finding My People as a New Grad Nurse with Ted Rossini, BSN, RN, PHN

Hello New Thing Nurse Tribe! 

My name is Ted, and I am a new nurse who graduated in June 2019. I found my first job working at the Student Health Unit for the California School for the Deaf (CSD) & California School for the Blind (CSB) in Fremont, CA. When I started my nursing journey, I couldn't have known that I would end up here, nor could I have foreseen what a good fit it would be for me.

Before nursing school, I worked as a preschool teacher, a barista, a planetarium presenter, a waiter, a resident assistant for foster youth, and a summer camp director. I lived in four states earning just enough to pay taxes and in another five states for short stints with AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps NCCC. I accidentally fell into healthcare when I became an EMT while earning a FireFighter-1 Certification. All this is to say, I knew I had a lot of experience but was unsure how I'd fit into the nursing world when I graduated.

Sarah from New Thing Nurse visited my school in Fall 2018 with a presentation on the importance of self-care and avoiding burnout. At that point I was already feeling burnt out from nursing school and really didn’t know what type of nursing I'd like to pursue upon graduation. I was also hearing healthcare professionals tell the world that turning 36 hour weeks with lots of overtime is bad for them and bad for patients’ health. One thing that really stood out from the New Thing Nurse presentation was a picture of Sarah with her shift mates doing a silly dance on a slide entitled - "Find Your People." 

From my experience in EMS and non-profits, I was already familiar with how much self-care outside of the job and taking breaks was key to avoiding burnout. But this concept of "finding your people" was a new idea for me. So often I was devoted to the work that whoever my coworkers were just happened to be who they were. It was a very strong tool I carried with me on each clinical rotation throughout nursing school and sure enough, the rotations that were the most fun and meaningful had less to do with where I was than who I was with. Put me with someone who liked their job and wanted to help people, and I was happy in all kinds of clinical settings from Pediatric Heme One, the Cardiac ICU, Med-Surg, NICU, to orthopedic rehab. 

And then there was my nursing school cohort. I love my cohort dearly and wouldn't trade them for anything, but so often in class, my views and values clashed with theirs. I would often hear my fellow nursing students say things like - "I'm going to be in a level 5 NICU" or "I'm going to be an ICU nurse" . In protest, I declared - "I'm going to be a school nurse."

After I calmed down and took some breaths, I remembered once working as an EMT at a Renaissance Fair. I had met someone who was studying American Sign Language (ASL) and had just been accepted to a graduate program. In my travels and previous jobs, I had actually learned a fair amount of ASL and interacted with a large deaf community in my early adulthood. That was when I remembered that the California School for the Deaf was near my nursing school, and I had a simple thought - “It's a boarding school, so they must need nurses.”

I looked, and there was a position open! I kept my eye on that post for four months while I finished school, recovered from my preceptorship, and finally studied for and passed the NCLEX. I wasn't sure what I'd find there, and I certainly had almost no experience with the blind community. But even before I was hired, school staff were so kind and welcoming. 

Ultimately, I applied and got the job! On my second day, there was a "True Colors" team building exercise where I got to really know my coworkers and felt immediately at home. I quickly discovered a friend, who is now one of my mentors, who loves theater (like me!) so I joined her and her husband for a play my very first weekend on the job. I quickly realized that I had found my people - we're huggers, we like to laugh, we like watching kids grow from children into adults, and we wear fun scrubs. A great moment came when my mentor and her husband joined my grandmother, aunt, mother, and myself for Hamilton. She wanted to get a picture with just her and me, and I quickly thought we should make a sign together as one. She immediately knew the best sign: Nurse!

- Ted, School Nurse

Photo: Ted and mentor make the American Sign Language sign for “nurse”.

Photo: Ted and his colleagues are doing "serious” work at the California School for the Deaf (CSD) & California School for the Blind (CSB) in Fremont, CA.

Photo: Ted and colleagues in the fun scrubs on Crazy Hair/Punk Day during spirit week.

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About the Author - Ted Rossini, BSN, RN, PHN works at the Student Health Unit at the California School for the Deaf (CSD) & California School for the Blind (CSB) in Fremont, CA. When Ted is not at work, he enjoys attending the theater with family and friends.

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Let's learn about Nursing Informatics: An Interview with Shaina Onnagan, MAS, RN-BC, CEN

Shaina Onnagan, MAS, RN-BC, CEN

I have been so lucky in my nursing career to meet some incredible people who become friends and continuous nurse inspiration. One of those people is Shaina Onnagan, MAS, RN-BC, CEN who was kind enough to answer a few questions for the New Thing Nurse Blog. Shaina and I met in the wildest emergency department that I have ever had the pleasure of working in. Since working together at the bedside, Shaina has jumped into the world of Nursing Informatics and is going to share about her experience with us today. Enjoy!

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Sarah @ New Thing Nurse (NTN): Hello and welcome to the New Thing Nurse Blog! I know and LOVE you from having worked with you in the craziest emergency department in the world, but our readers do not know you yet. Please introduce yourself to our #newthingnursetribe!

Shaina Onnagan (SO): Hi there #newthingnursetribe! I’m Shaina Onnagan, and as Sarah mentioned, I had the absolute honor working with her in by far one of the most insane emergency departments. I’m originally from Hawaii, but I’ve called San Francisco home for over 15 years now. Professionally, I’m a board certified nurse informaticist currently working as a clinical informatics RN. In my free time, I like to run around with my puppy, bake lots of yummy desserts, and, honestly, sleep.  

NTN: The New Thing Nurse Blog is all about learning from each other by sharing our professional journeys. How did you fall into nursing? And what area of nursing did you start in?

SO: Funny enough, I started college as an English major. I was sitting in my Intro to British Literature class in a room that was straight out of Harry Potter. It was tiny – it barely held the 12 students and professor– and covered from floor to ceiling with books older than time. I had the sudden realization while listening to the professor talk about the syllabus that I had no idea what I was doing in that class. It didn’t feel right to be there, so I left and started to think about what I really wanted to do. I’ve always liked human physiology; I’ve always been fascinated by how the human body works (um, hello endocrine system??). I was also lucky enough to be attending a university that had a stellar Nursing program, so I almost immediately decided to change majors into something that felt more natural for me: Nursing.

I’ll save you the story (and it is quite the story) of getting into Nursing school. I graduated in 2010 with my BSN, and I was lucky enough to be accepted into a new grad program in the emergency department at a hospital in San Francisco. Although I still work at the same hospital, I now work in a different role as a clinical informatics RN.

NTN: You currently work in an area of nursing that I feel I often hear about but still know so little about. Can you tell us all about nursing informatics? 

SO: And that’s completely ok! I hear that all the time – not many people know about nursing informatics. It’s only been recognized as an official nursing specialty since the 1990s! And to add to that, there are so many TYPES of informatics – medical informatics, nursing informatics, biomedical informatics, clinical informatics, etc. Each specialty has its own focus, and not surprisingly, nursing informatics focuses on nursing.

This is directly from our Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards or Practice (2015):

“Nursing informatics (NI) is the specialty that integrates nursing science with multiple information management and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage, and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice. “

That definition sounds nice and great and professional, but the quick 15 second elevator pitch I normally use to explain what I do is imagine if you take nursing, information technology, education, project management, and sprinkle in the theory and background of different analytical sciences and combine them all together – you get me, a nursing informaticist.

NTN: What drew you away from the bedside and into a new nursing role?

SO: I think Sarah can attest to this – but that super crazy emergency department we both worked in? It took a toll on me, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I have always been a firm believer in the importance of self-care for nurses, and I did as much self-care as I could. I did the things I loved outside of work. I spent a lot of time with my loved ones. I set my boundaries. I left work at work – or at least I tried. But I learned that I was not the kind of person who could grow skin thick enough to block out the constant physical threat and emotional abuse that came with being an ED nurse.

During one particular shift, I realized that I wasn’t providing the kind of patient care I expected of myself. On top of that, I recognized that I had signs of compassion fatigue. My health was suffering too – I started having migraines, GERD, and physical pain in places I never injured. My body was telling me something that my mind didn’t want to grasp: I was burnt out. I didn’t want to admit it since I was basically a “baby nurse” with only a few years under my belt, but I knew I needed to go.

I took a step back and started asking myself a lot of questions about where I was, what I was doing, and where I wanted to go in my career. There was a moment where I even questioned whether I should still be a nurse at all. I did a lot of soul searching and spent time talking to my mentor because I knew I wasn’t ready to leave the profession, but I knew I needed to do something different.

That’s when the opportunity for a clinical informatics RN role appeared, almost as if as magic, and I took it. I had no idea what “clinical informatics” was at the time, but it sounded like something I could be interested in. I’ve always gravitated towards computers and technology in general, so a role where I could use my nursing experience and knowledge and work with computers? I’m in!

NTN: How did your nurse friends feel about you leaving them for an office? What challenges did you face in your transition to your "new thing"? And how do you feel now that you have been working in it for quite a while? 

SO: A lot of people – co-workers, friends, family – didn’t understand the move. Most thought it was temporary, and to be honest, I thought it was going to be temporary too. Then, something amazing happened. I started my new job and things just started clicking for me. I felt like this was where I was supposed to be all along.

Towards the beginning of my new role, I harbored a lot of doubt in my heart because I had a lot of people asking me when I was going back to the bedside. Someone I knew even once made a joke that I wasn’t a “real nurse” anymore since I didn’t directly take care of patients, and that comment hurt, if I’m being honest.

Because no, what I do now may not affect patients directly. I can’t optimize a part of the electronic health record (EHR) and suddenly see a patient’s disease symptoms improve. But what I do does affect the nurses and all clinicians who take direct care of the patient. In a way, I am an advocate for our nursing staff to help develop health information systems that assist them with providing the best possible care they can. It’s a vital role and one I take lots of pride in.

NTN: Do you have any tips for anyone out there who might be considering jumping into a "new thing" of their own, especially for any of our nurse readers who might be looking for something away from the bedside? 

SO: You will know when you’re ready to leave the bedside. Listen to your instincts. It’s a scary leap, but I can say with complete certainty, it’s one that I don’t regret.

Also, remember that nursing is such a unique profession because there are SO MANY nursing specialties. You can be a Medical/Surgical nurse for 5 years and then go into Pediatric nursing. You can start off as a PACU nurse and move into a nursing administrator role. So if you move away from the bedside and into a nurse educator role or nurse informaticist role, know that you can move back. That’s the beauty of nursing.

NTN: The focus of New Thing Nurse is supporting nurses as they find their "new thing." I know that you recently became a Corgi mommy! How has it been bringing a puppy into your nurse life?

SO: She is a bundle of joy and then some! I think my favorite thing about having a corgi puppy or just a puppy in general, is that no matter how hard your work day was, you can go home to a wiggling little ball of fur who wants nothing more than you love and attention… and maybe some treats.

NTN: Do you have any "new things' on the horizon? New Thing Nurse wants to know!

SO: I do! I’m just a semester away from graduation for my Master’s in Health Informatics. Working full time and going to school full time has been quite the challenge, so I’m glad I’m almost done with that.

NTN: Do you have any other advice for our readers?

SO: Self-care. Self-care. Self-care. Self-care! Remember that you cannot take care of your patients if you don’t take care of yourself first. Don’t be afraid to branch out and try new things, like a new nursing specialty. You never know – you just might find that one role you didn’t even know you wanted.

Shaina and her puppy, Babingka, in beautiful San Francisco, California.

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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The Business of Nursing: An Interview with Amelia Roberts

I recently had the opportunity to do an interview with Amelia Roberts, RN for her Business of Nursing podcast, a project that Amelia started to showcase the variety of nursing businesses, what works, and what doesn’t for nurse entrepreneurs. Amelia is a former GI and Endoscopy nurse and digital native who officially became a practitioner of online marketing twelve years ago with a role as a virtual assistant. Student loans from nursing school inspired her to put her marketing experience to use and she started offering social media management support to a variety of purpose-driven organizations.

Shortly after, Amelia had the opportunity to become an online community manager for a health literacy association and later dove into social media data analytics with Stanford University’s MedX project. Along the way she saw a need for other health professionals to start disseminating their expertise and make reliable health content easy to find. One thing lead to another and Amelia now works as a visibility expert and digital marketing consultant, helping under-recognized professionals become thought leaders by skipping the maddening world of Facebook Ads, sales funnels, and algorithm changes. Amelia coaches her clients to engage online collaborative partners such as podcast hosts, bloggers, and social media referral networks who already have the “know, like, and trust” of thousands of supporters.

I asked Amelia a few questions to answer for the New Thing Nurse Blog. Read below to get her perspecive on transitioning from bedside nursing to starting her own business where she helps clients in optimizing their human potential.

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New Thing Nurse (NTN): The New Thing Nurse Blog is all about learning from each other by sharing our professional journeys. How did you fall into nursing? And what area of nursing did you start in?

Amelia Roberts (AR): My upbringing was influenced by women in my family who were either teachers or nurses, a group that has sometimes been called the “Pink Ghetto.” While I loved technology and computers, my mom said she would pay for school if I became a nurse like her, so I did. Yet I never loved working MedSurg, nights, weekends or holidays, so I started my nursing career in the outpatient world with GI/Endoscopy Nursing.  

NTN: Now that we know where you started, tell us about where you are now. What motivated you to make that transition into your "new thing" as you call it on your website - a Human Potential Optimizer? 

AR: Over the course of figuring out what I was born to do as a human, I looked at all of the things I enjoyed and projects that went well. They all had a common thread: I help people survive, thrive and get to their highest potential, at the bedside, in the boardroom or in their business. In short, I help people get visible, be seen and live optimized lives. 

This realization is what moved me into this work being a visibility expert and human potential optimizer.  

NTN: Do you have any tips for anyone out there who might be considering jumping into a "new thing" of their own, especially for any of our nurse readers who might be interested in launching their own business? 

AR: Yes, as nurses our greatest fear is killing someone. Please note that death need not be a concern when it comes to trying your new thing! In short, you will not die nor will you likely kill anyone by choosing a new path that serves you best. 

NTN: What has been the best thing that you have invested in to help with your "new thing"? What was the least helpful? 

AR: Investing in reputable coaching has been the best thing that has helped me with my new thing. There is a lot of information that they do not teach in nursing school, so a good coach can shave YEARS off of a pretty steep learning curve. 

On the other end, some so-called “Experts” have been the least helpful. 

Following the advice of some "Gurus" led me to think that I needed to do #allofthethings just to get my business to take off, yet when in reality is was about having a specific outbound client getting plan and then working that plan to get clients. 

NTN: I love the idea behind your blog and podcast. Can you tell us more about the podcast and what inspired you to start it? 

AR: As I started helping people get visible and grow their audience, other  people seemed to be surprised that as a nurse I had the ability to learn something new. In short others were surprised that a nurse could learn a new skill such as marketing and get people results. 

Because of this knowledge gap, I created The Business of Nursing Blog to show that nurses are capable of learning MANY new things and our skills ARE transferable and VALUABLE in places beyond the bedside and traditional nursing roles. Related, I also wanted to use my blog to bring new resources to the attention of nurses who are thinking about what else is out there for them. 

NTN: Do you have any exciting "new things" in the future? 

AR: Yes, I plan to focus on helping under-recognized professionals grow their visibility by being featured as guest experts on podacasts, in Facebook groups and on virtual summits of their best buyers, clients and referral partners. 

NTN: Do you have any other advice for our readers?

AR: Yes, when it comes to reaching out for something new, dare to believe that it will be easy. 

Sometimes we have fears related to how hard something will be, yet many times people are seeking for someone with just the sort of skills you offer. You just may be the the solution that someone has been dreaming about having in their life!

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Listen to my interview with Amelia on her podcast, The Business of Nursing here:

Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL on The Business of Nursing Podcast

How to find out more about Amelia Roberts, RN and her many projects:

Solutions by Amelia Website

Amelia Roberts, RN on LinkedIn

Amelia Roberts, RN on Facebook

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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Guest Post: Finding Balance as a Nurse and Mom with Lindsay Woolf Grainger, MPH, MSN, RN

To me, the most amazing individuals in the world are the #nursemom and #nursedad. Like unicorns, they manage to rock the world of nursing and parenting with a magic that smells like coffee and determination. While I am not a member of the nurse-parent team, I know many of our #newthingnursetribe are and that is why I invited my nursing school friend and esteemed colleague, Lindsay Woolf Grainger, MPH, MSN, RN, to tell us how she has tried to find work-life balance as an almighty #nursemom.

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Hello readers!!

I am delighted to be sharing my experiences with you on the New Thing Nurse Blog!! I am Lindsay Woolf Grainger - a nurse, nurse educator, wife, mom, and friend of Sarah’s from nursing school. Yes, I remember the “good ol’ days” of skills check offs, late-night study sessions with Sarah, and fun ,yet random, hair cutting parties (look - we had to be creative with our budgets as nursing students). I am humbled to have this opportunity to offer my thoughts on the daily quest to balance work and family priorities as a #nursemom.

My husband and I have three daughters - ages 1, 3, and 6. Our days can seem like a blur of feeding, entertaining, refereeing, comforting, and disciplining our kiddos. I love the privilege of being a parent, and with these responsibilities on my plate, my career has had to evolve.

The news of my first pregnancy created some immediate changes in my work as a new grad, nightshift nurse on a transplant unit in a large, urban facility in Georgia. For starters, I actually asked for help when moving patients. I was extra sensitive to smells and took better precautions NOT to inhale. My participation in doing CPR compressions was frowned upon. I also realized that nightshift combined with the fatigue of pregnancy was pretty intense, so I put my name on the list for a transfer to dayshift and was grateful when a position came up within a few months.

Some really groovy things happened during pregnancy too. I discovered a new-found confidence and assertiveness. This led me to schedule a meeting with our CNO to discuss my concerns about the hospital’s then-recent decision to cut the training time for new grad nurses in HALF. I don’t know if I credit the hormones or what, but I felt compelled to advocate for future nurses, and it seemed like my barely emerging “baby bump” was leading the charge.

After the delivery of our daughter, a whole new wave of realities came crashing into my life - the challenges of breastfeeding, the haze of post-partum hormone shifts, and severely truncated sleep. New career questions emerged. I had the luxury to return to work PRN, but even so I was clumsy at maneuvering pumping while on the job (in the bathroom—really people?), and I felt anxious to be away from home yet anxious to maintain my professional pursuits while at home.

So that delicate teeter-tottering of balancing career/family time began quickly for me. Today I work as a full-time nurse educator, and I appreciate the flexible schedule that it affords. I still struggle to manage all of the childcare needs (especially when the kid(s) are sick) and worry that my mind too frequently drifts to work plans or schedules even when I am hanging out with my kids. There are many competing interests to balance between the needs of our family and the demands of my job, but I try my best. And I try to forgive myself for the days of lopsided priorities.

A few things that help redirect me towards balance include:

• Open Communication - I think that effective partner communication is essential (with or without kids). The more my husband and I communicate about our concerns and our needs, the better we seem to be able to work as a team to equilibrate our jobs and family.

• Landing Intentionally - To state the obvious, working in health care can be really stressful. With lots of family responsibilities in the mix, it is important for me to be intentional about where I work. I have decided that on the job I need to land somewhere in between “bored” and “stressed out.” I need a job that remains challenging and engaging without driving me nuts from the stress.

• Being Creative - My entrance into the field of nurse education started with a random phone call one year out of nursing school when I was 3 months post-partum. I was sleep-deprived, unprepared, yet curious. So (naturally?) I said yes. I am so grateful for the opportunities that this career path has afforded me and our family. Being creative and open-minded with career choices and scheduling can make work/family balance easier to achieve.

• Sharing - One of my favorite ways to prioritize my family is to include them in my job! As a new nurse, I invited (ok…begged…) my husband to occasionally visit me at work. I wanted him to understand what I was up to each day on the job. I have taken my children (even as babies) to the hospital to introduce them to co-workers and (hopefully) foster their interest in and appreciation for healthcare. Now as a nurse educator, I look for ways to include my kids in the classroom. My kids have also enjoyed volunteering (alongside nursing students) with Meals on Wheels in our community. (Full disclosure: I *might* be guilty of dressing our girls in child-sized scrubs during these events to max the cuteness factor.)

So, I have mentioned a few things that point me more towards balance, but I should probably mention a few of the pitfalls that distract me in this pursuit:

• Others! I cannot look at the lives of others (the credentials they have achieved, hours they work, activities their kids do, accolades their kids have achieved, relationships they have with their partner, etc…etc…). I don’t live anyone’s life but mine. No one is living anyone’s life but her own. The comparisons that tempt me are unhealthy and unfair and don’t help me figure out how to balance my unique responsibilities and goals.

• Sleep! For the record, I have tried (as probably most of you readers have) to sacrifice sleep for the benefit of my job and my family. Prolonged sleep deprivation has not moved me an inch closer to balance, so I would call this the ultimate “anti-balance” pitfall!

Every day can be viewed as a new opportunity to reassess our work/family balance and to move weight from one end of the teeter totter to the other. If work is suffering, then refocus on work. If family life is suffering, then refocus on family. And always know that no one (not even an acrobat, or your co-worker, or even your distant social media acquaintance) is perfectly balanced or put together. All of you nurses out there who work tirelessly to serve your families and your patients. YOU are heroes!!!

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Photo: Lindsay Woolf Grainger, MPH, MSN, RN

About the Author: Lindsay Grainger, MPH, MSN, RN is a full-time nursing instructor at the Mary Black School of Nursing of the University of South Carolina-Upstate. Her academic interests include community health, public health policy, immigrant health and refugee health. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Nursing (CNL) from Augusta University and a Masters of Public Health degree from Emory University. Lindsay has worked at the bedside in organ transplant nursing and in general surgery. Lindsay has also taught undergraduate and graduate clinical courses at Augusta University.

Outside of the classroom, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her family. (Her three daughters keep life whirling and twirling!) Lindsay's hobbies include learning languages, practicing yoga, and writing music. Lindsay currently serves as a volunteer at the Greenville Free Medical Clinic and previously served as a volunteer for Friends of Refugees in Clarkston, Georgia.

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#MakeItHappEN: The New Thing Nurse & Emergency Nurses Association Partnership to Support Nursing Students & New Nurses

Did you hear the big news?

New Thing Nurse and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) have teamed up to provide more support to nursing students and new nurses who are interested in pursuing careers in the emergency department!

Repost from the ENA Instagram: 📣 ENA has some exciting news! Whether you're a student nurse or a recent grad, ENA wants to support you during those important early steps of your nursing career. To do that, ENA has combined its resources and partnered with ENA member and popular career coach Sarah Wells!

Together with New Thing Nurse, ENA brings you career tips from an emergency nurse who has gone from student to the front line of an ED. #MakeItHappEN

- Sarah @ New Thing Nurse

Learn more about how ENA and New Thing Nurse can help you: www.ena.org/makeithappen

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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Be the Change Agent: An Interview with Lauren Plaine

I met Lauren Plaine at Emergency Nurses Association’s (ENA) national conference Emergency Nursing 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was the 2018 Emerging Professional Liaison to the National ENA Board. This was the first year that this role had been established, and Lauren was the pioneer to first take on the position. Lauren put her incredible energy and poise to work as a representative for ENA’s emerging professional membership to voice their opinions and needs to the Board of Directors.

I have had the chance to get to know Lauren over the last year and was lucky enough to get to ask her about her experience as a voice for new nurses across the county and about her next new things.

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New Thing Nurse (NTN): The New Thing Nurse Blog is all about learning from each other by sharing our professional journeys. How did you fall into nursing? And what area of nursing did you start in?

Lauren Plaine (LP): Well I definitely fell into nursing.  Growing up I always wanted to be a doctor, but that was not in the plans for me.  I completed an EMT class in high school and began running with my local rescue squad my junior year.  My initial major was athletic training until I realized that I really did not want to stand on the side of a high school football field for the rest of my life.  Through running rescue, I had interacted with the nurses in the ER and decided maybe I could be a nurse.  In nursing school, I worked as an ER Tech and my manager picked me up as a new graduate.  Honestly, had she not hired me I’m not sure I would still be a nurse today because I love working in the ER. 

NTN: You are a very active member in the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), the largest professional organization in the world for emergency nurses, and had a very special role with them in 2018. Can you tell us about ENA, why you are so active with them, and about your amazing role within the organization that you held all last year? 

LP: I am someone who will ask you all about “the why” of a decision.  I like to know how you got to your conclusion and after many questions, my manager encouraged me to join ENA to help understand why we do what we do in the ER and how our practice is guided.  From there, I became very involved in my local chapter finding that ENA truly is a resource for education and networking, but even more so a community of like-minded ER nurses who simply want to better our corner of the world.  On a whim, yes a whim (ask my mother), I applied for the Emerging Professional Liaison position for the National Board of Directors.  Stunned when I received my confirmation of appointment, I could not image the level of inclusivity that I was about to experience.  I sat as a non-voting board member, but was treated like any other director.  All of the board members valued my perspective and opinion. Millennials are the largest group in the nursing workforce, and with this role I felt that ENA values our perspective and is placing an emphasis on cultivating the next generation of nurses and leaders.

NTN: How was it being a younger nurse on a board with such experienced nurse leaders? What lessons did you learn from that experience that you have found valuable as a newer nurse and new nurse leader? 

LP: It is very intimidating to be the youngest and least experienced at a board table.  I was not sure I wanted to speak at all the first meeting for fear that I would sound unintelligent and inexperienced.  Let’s be honest, my previous baby nurse experiences in the ER were not always welcoming.  During my first meeting when I was holding back, Jeff Solheim, 2018 ENA President, called me out for my opinion and to offer the emerging professional perspective (insert sweaty palms here).  As I shared, I found everyone listening intently just as they had to other perspectives.  What I learned is that our engaged ENA leaders truly care what everyone has to say.  What I found meeting after meeting is that even as an emerging professional, I have the ability to make change with the help of this organization.     

NTN: What motivated you to make that transition into your "new thing" as the Emerging Professional Liaison?

LP: Everyone complains about their problems and the problems in their department or lives, but you are just as much of the problem if you sit idly by.  Be the change agent.  I was tired of accepting the status quo and decided that it was not enough for me any more.  You are responsible for living every moment.  So, I ask myself frequently - Are you satisfied with your life or is there something you can change to make it and the world a better place?

NTN: Do you have any tips for anyone out there who might be considering jumping into a "new thing" of their own, especially for any of our newer nurse readers? 

LP: I have three suggestions for anyone who is thinking about jumping into their new thing.  First, stop the self-doubt and go after what it is you want.  Only you can change the life you live.  Second, ask yourself what is your why?  What drives you to make this change?  Write it down and post it somewhere you can see it every day.  Third, be aggressive about your ambition.  Stop holding back, because the world could be a very different place if you actively seek to improve yourself and the world around you. 

NTN: The focus of New Thing Nurse is supporting nurses as they find their "new thing." As you have now completed your year as the first ever Emerging Professional Liaison for ENA, what will be your "new thing" for 2019? 

LP: My new thing is my national committee appointment.  I am serving a two-year term for ENA’s Emergency Management & Preparedness Committee.  Emergency and disaster management is something that I am very passionate about and I am perusing my Master’s in this field of study.  My other new thing is public speaking.  I hope to make new opportunities in 2019 for speaking engagements.  

NTN: I happen to know that you are also super passionate about physical fitness. Can you tell our readers about why physical fitness is important to you, and how it helps in your nursing practice? 

LP: I use fitness as an outlet for my stress, but I also think its important for us to be examples of health to our patients.  It’s also nice to work with a different population.  In the hospital we see a lot of people who do not value their health, but at the gym everyone in my classes comes because they actually care. 

NTN: Do you have any other advice for our readers?

LP: Find your why.  Why nursing as a career?  Why you went to the gym? Why you ate that delicious pizza (jk… maybe?).  But in all seriousness, asking yourself to evaluate the why behind the important things in your life will help you with personal development and creating a better future you.

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Aren’t you feeling amazing about the future of nursing? I know that I am.

To see more from Lauren Plaine, you can come to ENA’s National Conference, EN19, in Austin, Texas (I’ll be there too!) this fall where she will be speaking more on how to engage and support the next generation of nurses. YASSS!!!

For more details >> ENA’s National Conference - EN19 in Austin, TX

Lauren was ENA’s first-ever Emerging Professional Liaison to the National Board of Directors.

Lauren and Sarah (ME) at our first ENA rendez-vous in Pittsburgh, PA at EN18 last year.

Lauren rocking some PPE as she prepares to jump into a trauma case.

Lauren Plaine speaking at the Emergency Nurses Association's 2019 State and Chapter Leaders Orientation in Chicago, Illinois.

Perfectly poised for a 2018 ENA Connection photo shoot.

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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It's Time to Take the "Us" Out of "Uterus"

Now hear me out – I think it’s time to take the “us” out of “uterus”.

I know this sounds strange, but I think I understand now why there is all this confusion about who gets to manage what goes on inside the apparently troublesome organ currently known as the uterus.

I believe I have found the root of the problem. The problem is there is no “i” in uterus.

The Strength of the Letter “i”

The letter “i’ seems to help with the clarity of ownership related to anatomy. Think about it - there is an “i” in “penis” and “testicles”, and there seems to be no doubt about who gets to manage what happens to those.

During my career as an ED nurse, I have many times tried to tell patients with penises what to do with them with very little success. I have tried to help people with penises stop putting things up them that should not be there, remind them of the often infectious repercussions of placing their penises in holes without protection, and request them to stop touching their penises in front of myself and other ED staff at inopportune times (AKA all the time). Each time I make recommendations or assertions about a penis attached to another person, I have been reminded in strong, colorful language that the owner of the penis can and will do what they want with it. I can always ask, but ultimately, the person that penis is attached to is in charge of what happens to said body part (at least, in some cases, until the cops arrive).

And don’t get me started about trying to get someone with “testicles” to do anything with them. As soon as I ever mention an idea or procedure having to do with the testicles, a hand goes over them like a vice. It is often a moot point before it is can even be verbalized. 

Furthermore, there is an “i” in both “fallopian tubes” and “ovaries”. And while there has been comments from people without either with thoughts on how to manage biological processes that occur in and around fallopian tubes and ovaries, there does not seem to be as much fuss about these organs as with the “uterus”. I really think it has to do with the letter “i”.

The Problem with “us”

The biggest debates right now seem to be around two things with names that contain “us” – the uterus and the fetus.  It seems that certain parties feel entitled to telling humans with a uterus how to manage it and once a fetus is involved, to take ownership of said fetus even if – 1) it is not quite yet a fetus, 2) it is not housed in their bodies, and 3) they do not seem to quite understand how the process of pregnancy works. Their entitlement claims to have been founded in the name of numerous causes – religion, ethics, the law. I feel that the presence of “us” in the name “uterus” makes them feel as if they are a part of that organ, even when they are not. “Us” seems to imply a collective ownership of a uterus to others. And I really think people might be confused because of the “us”.

I cannot otherwise understand why someone else would feel the right to tell me, the person with the body that contains an organ, how to manage it. Organ trafficking is definitely illegal, at least the last time that I checked. Organ donation and procurement is HIGHLY regulated in the United States. Consent dealing with anything having to do with organs in the hospital is a complex system of legal paperwork with signatures and witnesses. And as the uterus is an organ, there must be some big misunderstanding about the ownership situation around it.

(And I want to take a moment to be very clear on a certain point – this is not just an issue for me because I identify as a “woman”. The issue of who gets to dictate what happens to the organ called the uterus will affect all kinds of humans who identify all kinds of ways. I know that this will be confusing for some people, but this is something that I want to emphasize. I am speaking out as a human with a uterus - not just as a woman.)

The Difficulty of Adding an “i" 

I really love languages, but English is a hard one. The letter “i” is often used, strangely to me, to make singular words plural. This is one challenge with my thought of taking away the “us” and adding a letter “i” to the word “uterus”.  “Uteri” does not work for this reason, talk about confusing.  And other variations are just plain bad. “Utire” is terrible as it will make every nurse (and most humans with a uterus) think of infection or a gross outfit. “Iteri” sounds like a snobby word for a place to get lunch (EW). These won’t work, but I have another idea.

The Power of “me”

I have come up with this solution: I think that we should now rename the “uterus” with the new moniker - “uterme”.

A “uterme” definitely makes ME feel that it is an organ in me and when I say “My uterme”, I feel it is doubly stated that the organ is inside of me and MINE. When I say “uterme”, the listener is reminded that me and myself are going to be navigating the events of what goes on inside my organ and most importantly, there is no implied group ownership of my uterme.

It even gets down to an almost primal level of communication that Tarzan enthusiasts might enjoy – “Me human. Me uterme.”

It definitely seems like everyone can understand that – even the most primitive humans.

And as a human with a uterme, I am going to go two steps further in declaring my ownership of this organ that resides inside me:

1. I am first going to say here, in plain words, that I and only I will ever make decisions about my body. No other person, law, or religion will ever dictate what I decide to do with it. And that should apply to ALL humans. Your body is YOUR body.

2. I am personally renaming my own uterus/uterme – my “utermine”.  Other humans should feel free to use this nomenclature if they so wish.  #uterminesunite

For more information on how to support humans with a uterus, uterme, or utermine:

Planned Parenthood

Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, & Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Source: https://www.acog.org/About-ACOG/News-Room/Statements/2019/ACOG-Statement-on-Abortion-Bans?IsMobileSet=false

These opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer or other affiliates

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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The Violence Nurses Face

When I tell people that I am a nurse, their response is almost always positive.

They will either say, “That is so wonderful! You get to help people!” or thank me for my work and tell me a story about a kind nurse that made a difference in their life or that of their loved ones. I can see them picturing me in white scrubs, holding patients’ hands, and offering comfort to those that need it most.

But that isn’t really my reality.

I mean, yes, I get to help people. And yes, I often offer comfort for those that are experiencing unimaginable tragedy. But I also am required to take annual Workplace Violence training where I learn to protect myself and escape in the case that I am choked, grabbed, or beaten by someone during my shift. Almost every day that I work, I experience some sort of verbal abuse, intimidation, harassment, or physical threat.

You know, just another day at the office.

If you’re a nurse or other healthcare worker, this isn’t news. But I bet you aren’t surprised if you experience these things during your regular work day. Sadly, many healthcare workers have grown to accept the abuse that we face almost every hour that we are in the clinical environment.

Violence in the workplace has become a massive problem facing healthcare workers across the United States.

In a 2014 study, nearly 80% of nurses surveyed reported being attacked while on the job in the last year. That is nearly 8-0 PERCENT. When I asked my non-healthcare worker husband when he was last attacked at work, he paused, looked at me funny and said, “I can’t recall.” This is not a standard concern for those outside of our industry.

In the eight years that I have been an emergency department nurse, I have been spat on, had my hair pulled, grabbed at, swung on, inappropriately touched, present during an attempted machete-assault, part of more team efforts to restrain violent patients than I can count, had my life threatened, and had the pleasure of once telling my husband that if I go missing to look for a certain person because they will know where my body will be. And all of that does not include the countless verbal abuse, intimidation, and threats that I’ve experienced almost every shift that I have ever  worked. #thisismytruth

And I consider myself lucky.

I have never really been hurt on the job. Luckily, none of the threats have been acted on. I have seen more nurses and healthcare staff than I would care to think about seriously injured on the job or who have had to leave the medical field all together due to the effects of being a victim of violence in the workplace.

The public does sometimes hear about the violence. However, these usually are the most extreme cases, and only the ones that make it to the mass media. You may remember the viral video showing a patient beating on a group of nurses with a pipe pulled off his bed. Or possibly you saw the photo of the ED nurse who was stabbed repeatedly by a patient that she was caring for in the emergency department. Then there is the absolutely tragic story of Carlie Beaudin, a nurse practitioner at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who was violently murdered in the parking garage by the hospital where she worked in January of this year.

Only one word comes to mind when I hear about these kind of events – STOP. This has to stop.  

Nurses are rated one of the most honest and ethical professions in the country almost every year in Gallup Polls.

That’s great. Now it’s time to be the most respected.  

It is time to use our voices to advocate for safer work environments and to share our stories.

There are many groups who have already started these efforts. It is time to organize and unify to get workplace protections in place. I have heard stories about hospitals who do not encourage their staff to report incidents of violence or abuse, about nurses being told not call the police when assaulted, and about cultures of “patient satisfaction first” coming before staff safety. Just writing these words makes my eye start to twitch with rage.

So, what can we do about it? How do I work to make the violence stop?

Below are a list of organizations who have started the work. They are groups that advocate for workplace safety for healthcare workers, provide trainings, support legislation to increase penalties for assailants, gather data to analyze and publish, and provide all sorts of resources from legal to mental health support. Check them out and see which might be helpful for you to get started in your journey to stop the violence against healthcare workers.

I also want to make a plug for a new campaign that I am working with – the Raise Your Hand (RYH) Campaign. This campaign was started by nurses and is being led by emergency department nurses to raise awareness, collect data, and provide insight into solutions regarding violence against healthcare workers that occurs in hospitals. We have a brand new website – CHECK IT OUT – where we are gathering stories from nurses and other healthcare workers who have experienced violence in the workplace so that our Research Committee can start to extract data to help us find evidence-based practices to help us combat this epidemic of violence.

If you have experienced abuse in the workplace, know that you are not alone, and it is NOT acceptable.

We have to work together to create a new nursing reality, really a new healthcare reality, where we can ask each other, “When was the last time that you were attacked at work?” and all respond, “I can’t recall” with a funny look on our face.

Raise Your Hand Campaign - https://www.raiseyourhandcampaign.com/

Silent No More Foundation - https://silentnomorefoundation.com/

Stop Healthcare Violence - https://stophealthcareviolence.org/

American Nurses Association “End Nurse Abuse” Campaign -

https://www.americannursetoday.com/take-pledge-end-nurse-abuse/

 Emergency Nurses Association Workplace Violence Resources -

https://www.ena.org/practice-resources/workplace-violence

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About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.

Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,

New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!

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