Category: Clinical
Eliminating Tuberculosis One PPD at a Time
Public health is a major focus of nursing practice–and for good reason. The overall strategy is simple: improve the health of an at-risk population by targeting factors that improve outcomes. Tuberculosis is a disease that all nurses learn a lot...
Concept Mastery: CBC and Anemia
Aside from knowing essential lab value ranges, a nurse has to have a solid idea how to interpret those values, even though nurses don’t diagnose or prescribe. In this article, we will discuss the complete blood count (CBC) and interpretation...
Organ Donation & Transplant for Nurses
Even though many nurses may never navigate organ donation personally or professionally, nurses must learn to care for clients after organ transplantation, and have a solid background in the current approach to organ donation and procurement–the process of harvesting tissue...
Concept Mastery: Acid-Base Balance
Understanding acid-base balance and imbalance can be difficult. Here is a simple overview covering normal ABGs, acid-base alterations, compensatory mechanisms, client complications and symptoms, simple nursing interventions, examples from experience, and tips for novices! While in R.O.M.E. be sure to...
When A Parent Declines Vaccination: Advice From A School Nurse
There will be many situations in your career as a nurse–even after you have a lot of experience–that feel awkward, despite your best attempts. Advocating for shots to a parent who declines is definitely one. Thinking through responses and scenarios...
Nurses and Nursing Students Know Vaccines: Flu Shots
Flu Clinics Provide An Opportunity to Learn! *The following discussion involves only injectable inactivated flu vaccine (IIV4). See separate guidelines for live vaccines. Many nursing students will have the opportunity to provide flu vaccinations when they join a clinical rotation...
Nursing School Survival Supply Guide: Tips From the Experts
Here is our list of must-have nursing school supplies for “clinicals” and beyond! Stethoscope Get a good one. Don’t spend a million dollars (the digital ones that are labeled cardiac are a bit over-the-top for what you will need so...
Why the Nursing Soft Skills Matter, Too.
But I haven’t started my first IV yet! If you are reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve only started an IV on a manikin and are wondering when you’ll get a chance “in real life”. The ability to start...
EKG Basics– How to Identify ECG Rhythms
Contrary to popular belief, cardiac rhythm identification isn’t hard. What most of us need is access to a really good tutorial and lots of practice. Clinical rotations provide an excellent opportunity to get in there and look at some rhythm...
Flu Vaccine Tips for 2016 – 2017
As many as 21,000 persons die annually from flu in the U.S.