Upcoming

November 29, 2015

Hey y'all,

So as I am currently sitting on my couch at home I realized how terrible I am as a blogger and have nothing planned for this week and did not post last week. But with that being said I do have some great upcoming posts which include announcing the giveaway winner and a holiday gift guide made specifically for nursing students. I will also have a holiday section titled "Allheart Ambassadors Giveback" in which Allheart has sponsored some amazing presents for me to hand out to those really making a difference this holiday season. 

I hope you all got some great deals from Allhearts back Friday deals, I know I did and cannot wait to share with you ! 

Hope y'all have a great week,

Thanksgiving

November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope that if you were lucky enough to get this holiday off that you are spending it with some loved ones. 

I know I have so much to be thankful for this season. I am so glad that I was able to sneak away from work and school for five wonderful days at home. And thank you to all of you who still continue to read the blog and interact with me on various social media platforms. 

Enjoy Thanksgiving !

The Nurses by Alexandra Robbins

November 16, 2015

Hey friends,

So a little while ago I was given the opportunity to read The Nurses by Alexandra Robbins and unfortunately have not made it very far related to all my school work. But what I can tell you is that it is a beautifully written narrative of four real RNs throughout one year.

The author Alexandra Robbins is winner of the 2014 John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism, and author of four New York Times bestsellers, and was voted Goodreads' Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. She has written for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and other publications, and has appeared on numerous television shows. 

The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital follows four nurses in different hospitals throughout the year. 

  • Molly: the funny, confident nurse
  • Lara: a nurse battling a drug addiction
  • Juliette: the outspoken nurse
  • Sam: the new nurse trying to find her way
In order to write about nurses, Alexandra did an in-depth investigation of hospital culture that included doctors behaving badly, violence in the workplace, nurse bullying, and why nurses are heroes. 

Alexandra Robbins has received advanced praise for the narrative from nurses and nursing students alike. 
  • "Alexandra Robbin's insightful new book is a must read for all patients, family members, hospital administrators, policy makers and healthcare providers. She highlights the price nurses pay remaining in the profession despite toxic workplaces, bullying and lack of self-care." -Eileen Spillane RN, NP, BSN, MA, Founder, The Balanced Nurse
  • "Remaining true to herself, Alexandra Robbins presents great insight into emergency nursing. While humanizing ER nurses, she also exemplifies the obstacles and interpersonal challenges they face when advocating for patient care. Anyone utilizing emergency care or who is interested in emergency medicine as a career should read this book." -Michelle Cota, MPH, BSN, RN
  • "The Nurses, similar to From Silence to Voice, belongs on everyone's shelf who encounters the US healthcare system. Written by a journalist, it paints the gritty picture of nursing today, but it also personalizes the experience. I kept turning the pages late at night and thinking, "yes I've seen that," and "yes that's happened in my hospital...this is real life!" For validation, entertainment, and eye-opening, The Nurses will appeal to both nurses and the public." -Megen Duffy, RN, BA, BSN
I do not know about you but I cannot wait to finish this book! Stay tuned for my own review of it, too.

Enter below to win your free copy of it! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway






A huge thank you to Alexandra Robbins for sponsoring this post!

Nursing School Update

November 15, 2015

Hey friends,

I am so sorry that I had to miss my scheduled post last week. It was right in the middle of midterms for me, so I was very busy. I have a couple of exciting holiday posts coming up for you! As well as a couple of guest interviews planned. So stay tuned.

In the meantime I wanted to give y'all an update on how my nursing school is going so far. Quick refresher... this is my senior year in my BSN program and I am currently in my leadership position. 


  • I only have one more clinical shift left with my preceptor on an ICU unit. For this clinical I complete twelve-12 hour shifts with one preceptor for a toal of 144 hours. I was lucky enough to be placed on days on an ICU unit at a local hospital. Unfortunately I do not feel that I am in a true ICU related to the level of acuity we have. However, the environment has really allowed me to grow my organization and documentation skills all while taking care of one or two patients.
  • My school has sort of being putting us through resume and interview bootcamp. I now realize that I need to practice more for my nursing interviews. It is quite difficult to think of an example on the spot. Luckily I have some great friends who are willing to drill me in preparation for the big days. One challenging question my school posed to us was what is your biggest pet peeve on the unit? What a toughie!
  • I registered for my last semester of undergraduate!!! I am only taking 12 units total which consist of mental/community nursing classes and one literature course on poetry. These leaves me plenty of time to study for the NCLEX and job hunt. I do not know where I am placed for clinicals, but I hope that I get the chance to follow a school nurse. 
I cannot believe how fast my time has flown by in nursing school. It feels like just yesterday that I got my acceptance letter. A lot of my assignments lately have been reflective pieces of my journey in school. Maybe I will share them here once I remove any school affilations from them. 

I hope school is going well for everyone! Let me know if I can be of any help!

The Change of Shift - Where Nursing Meets the Internet

November 1, 2015


Hey friends,

I wanted to share with y'all an amazing podcast I came across, or rather introduced to from Sean Dent. Sean Dent is a MSN, RN, CCRN nurse who has worked in critical care for the last twenty years. 

The goal of the Change of Shift nursing podcast is to help inform and educate nurse by discussing pressing issues that we will, or possibly have, experienced during our career. Instead of "nurses eat their young", the authors of the change of shift want to support other nurses. Specifically to change the paradigm and stop tearing one another down. 

So who created Change of Shift? That would be the wonderful Sean Dent and lovely Emily Bennett. Emily has an extensive background of nursing as a combat and flight medic. She is currently employed as a flight nurse/paramedic. Like Emily, Sean is also involved with critical care nursing. You may also recognize him from Scrubs Magazine. 

What kind of topics are covered? Sean and Emily love to tackle current pressing issues in healthcare. Past podcasts have addressed patient advocacy, body modifications, advice to nurses, and interviews with numerous nurses in the blogsphere. I have the interview with Nurse Beth Hawkes on queue for when I have some free time.


I highly encourage you to listen to one, or all, of their podcasts on the way to work or running errands. I especially encourage you to listen to the upcoming podcast featuring ME.

 ***UPDATE I WILL BE HAVING AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CHANGE OF SHIFT ON NOVEMEMBER 17 8pm Eastern. BE SURE TO TUNE IT***









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