Hey iSBAR, pick up the PACE!
Transferring the responsibility of caring for a patient between two nurses is commonly referred to as change-of-shift report or handoff report. This report ensures continuity of care across time. It is best done, at least partially, at the patient’s bedside...
Concept Mastery: Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis means the liver is scarred beyond repair. This normally rubbery, vascular, filtration organ, the liver, becomes so scarred that it cannot carry out its duties. In addition to not being able to perform correctly, a cirrhotic liver causes many...
Brain injury basics
The brain contains nerve cells that manage thoughts, behaviors, sensation, and movement. The brain is divided into two hemispheres lobes, each with specific tasks to control. The cerebrum, cerebellum, and the brainstem communicate with the spinal cord and nerves to...
Critical Thinking, UGH!
Critical thinking – Critical reasoning – Clinical reasoning – Clinical Judgment From day 1, the nursing professors and instructors talk about how students have to use critical thinking. WHAT IS THAT? Critical thinking is a mental process. It requires observation, experience,...
Nurses Support Everyone
Nursing and NCLEX Mastery is passionate about working with nurses and our nursing community about the phenomenon of nurses “eating their own” and lateral violence issues. When we post to social media about this cause, we hear from our users in...
Planning your week
Nursing school is easily a 40 hour per week job. For many of us, that is in addition to a paying job and parenting. How to juggle it all? You may find that your traditional 8am-5pm planner with its little...
Professional Communication — Phone Calls
When a phone call is required, consider what you need to say. Seems obvious, but unless you are calling your mom or bestie, keep rambling to a minimum. Calling Health Care Providers Simple, right? I-SBAR! Not so fast, dear nurse!...
Concept Mastery: Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation occurs when the atria in the heart quiver, rather than contract and beat. Instead of a normal and perfusing heart rate of about 80 beats per minute, the person gets a heart rate of roughly 200 beats per...
No one knows everything.
Sick of hearing about evidence-based practice? The idea has always been there: check your facts before you do a thing, right? Otherwise we’d all still be using old-wives tales to provide care. Old-wives tales include not allowing a pregnant woman...
Cardiovascular disease and Diabetes
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) Non-communicable conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory illness cause over half of the deaths every year worldwide, according to the WHO. It’s almost a certainty that most of your clients will have not...