Book Review: "Nursing From Within" by Elizabeth Scala #nurse #bookreview #selfcare

Elizabeth Scala is a nursing colleague and friend of mine, so I was happy to review one of her latest endeavors. One of Amazon's hot New Releases from the Nursing book list: Nursing from Within

Lighting A Spark Within Me
It was pure pleasure to read such an inspirational book for nurses, the read came at a time in my own life when I needed some inspiring and healing words. As nurses we are taught to care for others and we do that very well, so well that we sometimes (most all the time) take on more and more challenges. We care for others so well that we don't take the time to take care of ourselves. I have to admit this book resonated with my soul as I turned each page. I am that nurse that has always been way to busy to take care of herself. What the heck is "self love" I had to ask myself, do people actually do that? They did not teach this concept in nursing school way back when (we won't discuss how long that's been...lol)
Self-care is such an important part of nursing care, if we are not well, how can we help others get well?
This is something I am actively working on day by day, one day at a time. Elizabeth's book has helped me light a spark within me that I hope can ignite an inferno that will glow from inside out.

"Nursing From Within" is about a true deep and inner connection with the spirit of self"

You Can Teach Old Dogs New Tricks (or Tools for Life)
As an older (yikes) more experienced or well seasoned (or burned out) nurse I can relate to Elizabeth's advice throughout the book, even though her advice hit home way to often. Positive thinking throughout the book was very refreshing and kept me engaged with each page turn. I needed this self evaluation and inner focus to the "Nurse" within me. Young or old, most of us went into the nursing profession for the same reasons, we care about others. We just need some positive tools to help us do our jobs better, starting with the most important person first, you..... the nurse!

Elizabeth teaches some simple tools that she developed to help nurses become happier and healthier. These are tools for not only nurses but all health practitioners and healers.


3 Tools for Happier and Healthier Nurses:

1. Self Love: "To reconnect with the Nurse Within, you have to love this person that you are" Only when we love ourselves and let our light shine from within can we truly begin to be that nurse that we were "called" to be. Such a simple thing, but why is this so hard for us?

2. Being Present In The Moment: "You need to exist in the here and now" " All you need in peace and quiet"
Taking the time to listen, be still and be quiet sometimes is the best way to find out exactly what your patient needs.

3. Every Situation Is A Gift: " Each moment is a chance to learn something new" A way for you to grow through something and thrive on the other side. (I think this is true in all aspects of our daily lives)

Read more great tools in Nursing from Within: A Fresh Alternative to Putting Out Fires and Self-Care Workarounds " by Elizabeth Scala (available in paperback and Kindle formats)

Elizabeth is a nurse, Reiki Master, healer, certified coach, facilitator, teacher, author and speaker. You can find more about this awesome lady at Elizabeth Scala [dot] com





Get your copy of "Nursing From Within" via Amazon today!

A Prestigious List :Top Blogs 2014 #nurses #nursebloggers #healthcare

I am a bit late with this Prestigious list of Top Blogs, but these colleagues of mine are awesome all year round, not just in 2014, they have been stellar for many years!

Awesome Sauce!! This is a list of some of the best of the best nurse bloggers from all walks of life! I am so blessed to be included on this list in such fabulous company. Congratulations to all the incredible writers, authors and bloggers on this list, be sure to visit each one. There is a wealth of information and talent here, WTG friends!!

This list of top nursing blogs was compiled based on Facebook likes, frequency of postings, and number of followers. Many of the following blogs are top hits when conducting online searches and can also be followed on Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. This list has been divided into sections for the reader’s convenience: general nursing, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, nursing student, nursing career, and women’s health.

GENERAL NURSING

1. Confident Voices – Beth Boynton is a national speaker, professional coach, facilitator, and medical improv trainer. She writes this blog founded on respectful communication for nurses, physicians, patient advocates, and support staff to encourage safe, respectful work cultures.
   Highlight: National Council of State Boards of Nursing Website Has Some Great Teaching Tools re: Social Media
2. Disruptive Women in Healthcare – This blog targets challenging and inspirational concepts in the current healthcare field. There are over 100 individuals that actively contribute to this blog including elected officials, healthcare workers, patient advocates, researchers, and economists.
   Highlight: The Hospital Discharge Race: Is Sooner Always Better?
3. Diversity Nursing – Diversity Nursing offers a variety of articles on all topics pertinent to nursing including health and wellness and career tips. This blog also includes a job board and a forum for open discussion amongst nurses and student nurses.
   Highlight: Nurses Among Most Influential People in Healthcare
4. ER Nurses Care – Written by emergency room nurse Leslie Block, this blog uses her passion for nursing to demonstrate caring and compassion through her posts focusing on healthy living, injury prevention, and various current trending topics in healthcare.
   Highlight: Cardiac Arrest vs. Heart Attack: Do You Know The Difference?
5. Living Sublime Wellness – Elizabeth Scala MSN/MBA, RN is a motivational speaker who focuses her writing on encouraging nurses to make the necessary changes in healthcare by facilitating out-of-the box critical thinking.
   Highlight: Ode to the Bus Driver
6. Not Nurse Ratched – A nurse and freelance writer, Megen Duffy blogs about all things nursing while using her humor to lighten the mood as necessary. Duffy’s blog is highly followed online and on Facebook likely due to her down to earth writing style.
   Highlight: Tips for CNAs and New Nurses and Students (Oh My)
7. Nurse Barb’s Daily Dose – Barb Dehn, RN, MS, NP is committed to deciphering convoluted health information in order to assist individuals in achieving optimal health and wellness. Nurse Barb’s Daily Dose contains articles pertaining to women’s health, parenting, caregiving, healthy living, and medical conditions.
   Highlight: Menopause: Frequently Asked Questions
8. Nursetopia – Nursetopia features timely articles on all pertinent topics in healthcare. This blog inspires nurses by highlighting and displaying the positive influence nurses have on the healthcare culture.
   Highlight: Give Grace to Grow
9. rtConnections – Renee Thompson is a motivational speaker and the author of  Do No Harm” Applies to nurses too! Strategies to protect and bully-proof yourself at work.Thompson gears her presentations toward clinical competence and bullying within the workplace and works to enhance effective communication within a healthy organization.
   Highlight: What Does It Take for Nurses to Believe They are Heroes?
10. The Nursing Show -The Nursing Show is not your typical blog. It is filled with hundreds of short podcasts and easy to read articles pertaining various nursing topics geared toward nurses of all skill levels. All nurses are sure to find topics of interest in this diverse, educational blog.
    Highlight: Nurses Lead the Way for Organ Donation, End of Life Support

REGISTERED NURSES

11. According to Nurse Kateri – Kateri, RN, BSN, started this blog while on a personal journey to discover herself and now uses it to detail her personal experiences as they pertain to health and happiness. This blog features narratives relating to her career in pediatrics and pediatric intensive care.
    Highlight: Nurse
12. JParadisi RN’s Blog – Julianna Paradisi, RN is an accomplished artist and an oncology nurse who incorporates art into patient care. This blog focuses on the same while featuring some of her personal pieces of art as they relate to her writing.
    Highlight: Where Science, Humanity, and Art Converge
13. Nurse Eye Roll – Nurse Eye Roll was established by a newly seasoned nurse wishing to provide encouragement, inspiration, support, and laughter to student nurses. Nursing school is tough and Nurse Eye Roll is there to offer tips and suggestions about navigating the path toward graduation and successful board examination.
    Highlight: Orienting a Struggling New Grad
14. The Nerdy Nurse – Brittany Wilson, RN, BSN is a nursing informatics nurse who prides herself by incorporating technology into healthcare in order to improve and streamline patient care. This blog is found on various lists of top nursing blogs and is highly followed on social media. For more information, see what is nursing informatics?
    Highlight: 3 Resolutions Every Nurse Should Make

NURSE PRACTITIONER

15. Barefoot Nurse – Barefoot Nurse reviews real life experiences as they occur through the eyes of an advance practice nurse. Kelly Arashin, the author behind this blog, is unique in her profession because she is a dually board certified nurse practitioner in acute and critical care and a clinical nurse specialist.
    Highlight: Not a Physician, Not a Nurse…What?
16. My Strong Medicine – Sean Dent is an acute care nurse practitioner by day and weightlifter and coach by night. This blog was originally designed to share his experiences as a nurse but now it contains more commentaries on his personal life, his love for CrossFit and weightlifting.
    Highlight: Advice to My Pre-Nursing Self
17. NP Business Blog – Nurse practitioners whom are in private, independent practice are breaking the mold of traditional NP employment status and are often found without the available resources to answer common questions. Barbara C. Phillips developed this blog as a means for NPs to offer support to others in all avenues of business NPs may be involved in.
    Highlight: 7 Reasons Not to Start a Healthcare Practice
18. NP Odyssey – In existence since 2009, this blog contains a wealth of valuable information and insight including what it takes to become a nurse practitioner and the challenges NPs frequently encounter. This blog also incorporates articles pertaining to recent headlines in healthcare and how they pertain to NP practice.
    Highlight: New Grad RN and NP Jobs: Spread Your Wings
19. The NP Mom -Brett Badgley Snodgross is a family nurse practitioner with a passion for pain management and palliative care. She writes informative, easy to read articles related to common concerns she sees in her practice ranging from dieting to hypertension to allergies and beyond.
    Highlight: Weight Loss 101 – The Making of a Healthy Life – WATER!

NURSING STUDENT

20. A Journey Through Nursing School and Beyond – This blog takes the reader through the entire process of climbing the ladder through nursing education. The author began this blog as a certified nurse assistant, became a LPN, then an RN, and is currently seeking a master’s degree in nursing education. Most entries are brief and include an update on coursework although others offer valuable tips and tricks of the nursing trade.
    Highlight: Test Taking Tips for Nursing School
21. Adrienne, Student Nurse – Adrienne, RN is passionate about the way nurses and nursing students use social media in their professional lives. Adrienne, Student Nurse is written with the goal of telling the story of being a student nurse in an effort to motivate others to accept the challenge of becoming a nurse.
    Highlight: Charting Lingo
22. Becoming a RN – Follow Amy on her journey through nursing school through her blog where she recounts her trials, tribulations, and triumphs. This blog includes insight on navigating through the various challenges presented by nursing school and inspires nursing students to prevail.
    Highlight: My Most Effective Study Tool

NURSING CAREER

23. Digital Doorway – Keith Carlson, RN utilizes his blog, Digital Doorway, to coach nurses so they may feel fulfilled in their nursing careers. One of the most well known bloggers in healthcare, Carlson blogs about career opportunities, social media in healthcare, and burnout prevention.
    Highlight: Is The Nurse’s Glass Half Full?
24. Innovative Nurse – Kevin Ross, RN is the ‘Innovative Nurse’ behind this blog. Ross writes about numerous areas of career nursing such as time management, salary, mobile apps, networking, and workplace happiness in the healthcare arena.
    Highlight: Why You Need to Take the Phrase “Just A Nurse” Out of Your Vocabulary
25. International Nurse Support – International Nurse Support provides nurses with the necessary strategies to be confident in their positions while empowering them to climb the profession’s ladder as they progress in their career. This blog is owned by Joyce Fiodembo, however guest bloggers are featured frequently.
    Highlight: Handling the “Write-Up” You Do Not Deserve
26. Off the Charts – Off the Charts is the online publication of the well renowned American Journal of Nursing. While this blog lacks the personal touch many other blogs convey, Off the Charts presents up to date research data provided in an easy to read format. Various bloggers are often featured on this blog including many other bloggers in this list.
    Highlight: Ebola: A Nurse Epidemiologist Puts the Outbreak in Perspective
27. The Nursing Site Blog – Kathy Quan, RN, BNS, PHN, has been a nurse for greater than 30 years and utilizes this blog as a means to share her extensive knowledge with fellow nurses. Quan is the author of five books including The Everything New Nurse Book which helps new nurses transition from nursing school to bedside nursing.
    Highlight: Use Common Sense with Social Media
28. Your Career Nursing – Tina Lanciault, RN helps her readers find their niche in nursing by writing about alternative nursing careers. Your Nursing Career contains articles related to online learning, networking, lifestyles, product reviews, and entrepreneurship.
    Highlight: Nursing Certification

WOMEN’S HEALTH

29. At Your Cervix – At Your Cervix is written by a newly graduated nurse midwife and nicely portrays the trials and tribulations a new nurse midwife may encounter in practice. The blog contains educational articles that pertain to women’s health as well as commentaries based on the situations she came across over the course of the bloggers first year in practice.
    Highlight: What I Wished I Learned About in School
30. Mimi Secor – Mimi Secor is an accomplished family nurse practitioner with over 30 years experience in women’s health. Outside of her private practice, Mimi Secor is a public speaker and nurse consultant who prides herself in promoting quality care in women’s health.
    Highlight: STIs in the Aging Population: What? I thought only my teenager could get that!

About the author:

Jamie Bond has been a registered nurse since 2002 and returned to the college scene in 2012 to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. She has a passion for all things nursing, especially the care of the at–risk population. Jamie has first hand experience navigating the complicated, multifaceted field of nursing. A married mother of two school-aged sons, Jamie enjoys spending her spare time cheering on her kids at their various activities.

Credit to the http://www.bestmasterofscienceinnursing.com/30-nursing-blogs-2014/

Check out their site for more great nursing information

Emergency Room or Urgent Care, Where Do I Go? #supportthescrubs #nurseup

Just when do you come to the Emergency Department(Room) to be seen and worked up for a problem? Of course Ebola is first on the list these days of problems people are scared to death of, but things like chest pain, shortness of breath, stroke like symptoms, severe abdominal pain, bleeding uncontrollably, sudden thunderclap type headaches (totally different from your regular headache), your newborn infant has a high fever etc. (see the infographic below for a good list of things to go to the ED or Urgent Care for) Are complaints that you seek emergency care for...

There are many people that seriously just don't understand the process of who needs to be in the Emergency Department and who does not! ER nurses and providers are totally frustrated with the minor complaints that show up on our door steps that could have easily waited until their primary care doctor, clinic or the urgent care was open. Even trying some home care measures before you run to the ER is OK, giving your child some Tylenol or children's Motrin and actually waiting to see if it works is A OK you know (or do you know?). Have you called your own doctor, pediatrician or dentist? most of them have an on call service? Or did you just panic and freak out?
Coming to the ER for something stupid and uncalled for just exposes you to more germs, adds to the wait times in all the ER's, takes a bed away from someone that actually may need it (yes really) and adds to the stress of the already overburdened system. (Yes I am on my soapbox today)

Coming to the ER with complaints like these drive me nuts: (yes these are actual complaints that I have heard as an ER nurse over the last 25+ years) --no names of course to protect privacy, some things have been changed. Picture the look on my face when I heard these complaints.....lol

• A cough for 3 years  ( today was the day to get checked out)
• My toothpaste made my gums hurt (she really wanted a work note and narcotics)
• My big toe is sore (pt had new shoes and wanted a work note)
• My toe nail polish made my toes red (rash) - noted pt had on red nail polish
• My partner cheated on me and I want to be "checked" (she actually cheated and had 3 std's)
• I have something stuck in my teeth ( omg you don't want to know what it was)
• I have had a condom stuck in my vagina for 3 months (it was a French tickler- smelled so good)
• My period is way to heavy... ( she was crazy actually )
• I have had chest pain for 3 years (and I needed a ride in the ambulance closer to my house)
• My vibrator is stuck and I need the batteries changed soon ( you can only imagine)
• I have money stuck up in my vagina and I need change for the laundry mat (a frequent flyer)
• I need you to give my child Tylenol here in the ER so I will have money for the laundry mat.
• I have a rash on my hand (no rash to be seen anywhere)
• My child has a fever of 99.1 (child running all over the room eating chips and drinking Pepsi)
• I flushed my pain medication down the toilet by accident and need refills (oh by the way I am from out of state) -- wanted drugs, was lying of course
• I fell off the roof in 1986 and my back still hurts, I want my back surgery now!! (it is 2006 now)
• My baby needs to be checked (had not been to well child checkups since mom had been busy she said)  (I want a check mark stamp)
• My child needs his football physical (mom was told that the ER does not do physicals, she wanted to check in and wait anyhow) (the doctor told her no after she waited 3 hours)

I could go on and on with these ridiculous type of complaints that are all actually real, these patients also think they should be seen first, even before your chest pain or stroke symptoms, they can make the most noise in the lobby. One lady told me once "I don't care if that baby is not breathing, I am going to be late getting home and my probation officer will find out I am not at home, so I need you to write me a note NOW!!!" I just smiled at her and walked away..................

Next time you are in the ER or even a Urgent Care facility, tell the nurses and providers thank you for all the hard work they do, putting up with bull-crap and just smiling-- then saving your loved one's life.

#supportthescrubs 

On a serious note, if you are truly sick or just don't know, then by all means come in to the ED. I would much rather help you make that decision than you stay home having chest pain, shortness of breath, an allergic reaction to something or stroke like symptoms. Trust your gut, especially if you are a parent, you know your child, if they are just not acting right.... seek treatment... call your peds doctor first and then come to the ER. Most pediatricians want to talk to you first before you head to the ER. Unless your child is an infant under 90 days old with a fever over 100.5 rectally, that is a real emergency and needs to be seen, unless you have made other arrangements with your pediatrician already. 

Call 911 if you need to, they can treat most emergent problems in the field before you even get to the ED. They are highly trained in their profession and can make the choices you might not be able to in an emergency. 

It is really easy to send you home, when we have ruled out all the bad things that can "kill you dead today" . It is much harder to tell your family that you are gone :( 

Weeeeeeeeeee! little piggie

The Future of Nursing---- No Where But Up! #nurseup #nurses #careers

Why We’ll Always Need More Nurses

There is a reason that nursing is not only the biggest industry, but also the fastest growing. The need for nurses doesn't show any signs of stopping; and that’s because it probably never will. (6, 7)

People are living longer. Greater life expectancies and advances in modern medicine mean that people will need care longer. By 2020, it is estimated that more than 20% of the population will be 65 and older.

Globalization. With the linking of healthcare for individuals around the world and the option to travel to different countries to work, the demand will eventually outweigh the supply of nurses.

Specialist care. More and more nurses are migrating from the hospitals to other facets of healthcare, like complementary care, specialist care, physical therapy, long-term care and hospice care.

Outpatient care. Hospitals are being pressured more and more each day to release patients earlier. As such, more nurses are needed for outpatient care centers to give recovering patients the time and attention they need to continue to heal.

Home care services. Hospital jobs are expected to grow 17% by 2018. But home healthcare jobs are expected to grow by 33%.

                                          Source: TheNursingBible.com

No Butts About It....Colonoscopy Saves Lives #justdoit

Holy Crap............thats about all I can say about my colonoscopy adventure last week. Nurses are the worst kind of patient, yes tis true. I recently turned another year older and had been putting off this most anxiety producing procedure for several years now. Due to the fact that my family history includes a father who had colon cancer and died with liver cancer, it was a "no brainer" per my internal medicine doctor. I should have had a first screening at age 40...............well just 9 years late, I put my mind to it and got it done.
Yes, I survived and it was not as bad as I had imagined at all.

If you have been putting off having this life saving test done, don't. Besides the prep the night before, it is not all that bad. It is the best test to detect precancerous and cancerous polyps or lesions in your large bowel or colon.
The prep that I endured was called "Suprep" and it was more like a ticking time bomb that went off several hours after I drank the 2nd bottle at 9pm the night before. It did take a couple of Zofran ODT(nausea medication) to get thru the prep, it made me sick on my stomach. It sure does work well though....sheesh. I highly suggest that you plan ahead to stay home and rest while doing your prep. You will go to the bathroom, have some abdominal discomfort and watery diarrhea that can be hard to control until it finally stops. Have a path to the bathroom and place a towel or protective barrier on your bed that night....just in case. I had several uh oh moments when the bathroom was just not close enough..... I told you this stuff worked well.....lol

I arrived at the Endoscopy center at 8am, got my IV started (took 2 sticks as usual, I am a difficult pt I told you) , hooked up to a bunch of monitors, rolled back to the procedure room and the anesthesia staff gave me some happy milk of anesthesia (propofol--Michael Jackson death juice) to sedate me. I don't remember any of the actual procedure and woke up as they rolled me into the recovery area. My hubby was waiting for me there. I felt safe and never embarrassed while I was there. The staff was great and made my experience much calmer and less stressful.

How is the procedure done? 

A colonoscopy is an exam that views the inside of the colon (large intestine) and rectum, using a tool called a colonoscope.

The colonoscope has a small camera attached to a flexible tube that can reach the length of the colon.

How the Test is Performed

You will usually be given medicine into a vein to help you relax. You should not feel any discomfort. You will be awake during the test and may even be able to speak, but you probably will not remember anything.

You will lie on your left side with your knees drawn up toward your chest. The colonoscope is inserted through the anus. It is gently moved into the beginning of the large bowel and slowly advanced as far as the lowest part of the small intestine.

Air will be inserted through the scope to provide a better view. Suction may be used to remove fluid or stool.

The health care provider gets a better view as the colonoscope is moved back out. Therefore, a more careful exam is done while the scope is being pulled back. The doctor may take tissue samples with tiny biopsy forceps inserted through the scope. Polyps may be removed with snares, and images may be taken.

Specialized procedures, such as laser therapy, may also be done.

More information can be found HERE 

Gas is what you will have post-procedure--lots of it, be prepared to toot toot toot it out as instructed by the staff, this is the only time when it is perfectly acceptable to let it all out...lol. You want to expell the gas so you don't have problems later as it rises up and causes pain & nausea. 

I feel very blessed that my colonoscopy results only showed a couple of diverticula areas and no cancerous areas. Now I only have to have this test every 5 years ( due to my family history). Normally it is every 10 years after age 50. 

Top 30 Nursing Blogs 2013: Boy I am Proud To Make This List

Wow is all I can say, the names on this list are some incredible blogs that I have read and loved for a long time now, then I notice that my name is also on this list and  all I can say is WOW! Yes I love being a nurse in the ER and can't imagine doing anything else as a career. So I wanted my blog to reflect that and inspire others into nursing. Congratulations to all nursing blogs on this list, everyone deserving of many awards.

Best Nursing Blogs

1. Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Blogs feature a wide variety of perspective from their various bloggers. The blogs are written by some of the foremost minds in the nursing field and offer insights into both the worlds of practice and academia.

Highlight: Hospital Waste

2. Codeblog is one of the oldest and most consistent nursing blogs out there, dating back 11 years. Codeblog very simply covers the nursing experiences of its writer and records them for the entertainment and education of others in the field or considering it.

Highlight: Rookie Mistake

3. Nurse Barb is a very popular advice blog that covers a wide range of treatment options for common ailments. The blog stands as a good example of the sort of niches available to nurses interested in blogging.

Highlight: Walk in Retail Clinics More Popular

4. At Your Cervix is a blog featuring the musings of a labor and delivery nurse. The blog also chronicles her journey from nurse, to nurse-midwife.

Highlight: Suturing

5. RehabRN features the thoughts and experiences of a rehab nurse. The blog is engaging and shares stories of both success and failure, seeking always to provide the reader with a realistic sense of the job.

Highlight: Awww, Some Lucky Folks

6. Madness: Tales of an Emergency Room Nurse features tales from the emergency room, and the perspective of a nurse working in this necessarily high pressure environment. The blog features topics from stories derived from personal experience, to advice for surviving the day to day insanity of the ER.

Highlight: The Reality of Being an ER Nurse

7. Health Care Renewal is focused on addressing major issues that threaten to compromise the core values of the health profession. The blog turns an especially critical eye on management and the centralization and abuse of power.

Highlight: A Physician Rebels Against Micromanagement by ‘Leadership Trained’ Management Extenders

8. Provo School Nurses is a collaborative blog run by a collection of school nurses from the Provo Utah area. These nurses share insight into the lives of school nurses, and advice for nurses in or considering the school nurse field. The blog also features posts centered on providing resources for local readers. This blog is a great example for school nurses looking to maximize their impact on their local community.

Highlight: Health Classes

9. Tales of a School Zoned Nurse features the stories and thoughts of a school nurse. This is a more intimate, personal look at school nursing. The tone of the blog is light, with a good sense of humor.

Highlight: Mama Bears

10. Diary of a School Nurse is all about what really goes on in the nurse’s office. The blog features stories about and advice dealing with the unique day to day situations faced by school nurses everywhere. Many of the posts are in a poetic form, which gives the blog a unique feel.

Highlight: I am a Foster Child

11. Nurse Education seeks to provide a place where debate and discussion about the nursing profession, and nurse education in particular, can be had. The blog tackles all of the major nurse education issues, and the impact of those issues on the field of nursing in general.

Highlight: Where did All the Compassion Go? (A Question to the Government)

12. A Journey Through Nursing School and Beyond chronicles the journey of a nurse pursuing her BSN degree. The blog deals a lot with the unique challenges of working a nurse’s difficult schedule, and balancing that with school and life.

Highlight: Fake it ‘Til You Make it

13. The Makings of a Nurse is all about taking readers on the journey of nursing by communicating the writer’s thoughts and experiences of day to day life as a nurse. While the blog is primarily about nursing, it also throws in posts dealing with the world outside the workplace.

Highlight: Problem Solving

14. Ten Centimeters and Beyond is the blog of a night shift labor and delivery nurse that works in a mid-sized hospital. The blogger is also a mother who has experienced many of the challenges of pregnancy on a personal level. She shares insights from both the medical and personal side of pregnancy and birth.

Highlight: LDRP

15. The Birthin’ Blog is an upbeat blog that features articles and advice beneficial to both labor and delivery nurses, and expectant mothers.

Highlight: Emergency Cesarean vs. Unplanned Cesarean

16. On Call RN… is all about the makings of an ICU nurse. The blog shares stories as well as commentary and analysis from a nurse’s perspective on medical issues and other topics.

Highlight: Black Hawk Down

17. The Nurse Practitioner’s Place features the musings of a nurse practitioner who practices in a rural area.  This mother and grandmother received her degree in 2007 and her enthusiasm for this career she arrived into later in life shows in her insightful and well written blog.

Highlight: Babies and Adulthood

18. Nurse Practitioner Business Owner Blog is a unique blog where this nurse practitioner shares insights on the business side of nursing. The blog is focused on providing resources and support nurse practitioners in private independent practice.

Highlight: Effective Today, Medicare Cuts 2%

19. Adventures of a PICU Nurse Practitioner has two areas of focus. One is relating stories and insights derived by this nurse practitioner from her time working in the PICU. The other focus is on how she sees life outside of work, and how her profession affects her day to day life.

Highlight: Chief Complaint:???

20. The NP Mom brings both the perspective of a Nurse Practitioner and a mother to the table. The blog tackles major issues of health and parenting such as eating disorders, type II diabetes in children, and online RN to BSN education.

Highlight: A Day in the Life of a Nurse Practitioner

21. ER RN brings readers advice an experiences from an ER night shift nurse. The blog recognizes that being a night shift RN takes a certain kind of person. Anybody considering night shift nursing should read this, and anybody that does night shift nursing will find a kindred spirit.

Highlight: Night Shift in the Nether Regions

22. ER Nurses Care is the blog of Leslie Block, and she loves being an ER nurse. She cares about her patients, about her co-workers, and about people on the internet she has never met. Her blog has some stories, but mostly advice, tips on staying healthy and developing healthy habits no matter who you are or what you do, but especially if you are an ER nurse with a demanding and often fluctuating schedule.

Highlight: Stand Up, Speak Out, and Do Something

23. Adventures of Hood Nurse: Hood Hospital 2, Electric Boogaloo is an irreverent look at the unique challenges faced by nurses who work in urban environments with people on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum.

Highlight: Tag

24. My Strong Medicine followed the blogger on his journey through his graduate education in nursing and now continues to follow him as he makes the transition from the Master’s in Nursing to a new level in the field.

Highlight: Attempting, Finding, and Maintaining Balance

25. Digital Doorway features the musings of Nurse Keith on the nursing profession, coaching, healthcare, and more. The blog features articles on the importance of self care, book reviews, and stories about day to day events in the life of a nurse.

Highlight: Self Care: Between Flood and Drought

26. Not Nurse Ratched features fresh new perspectives on the field from a young up and comer who was inspired to go to nursing school after being a medical editor for most of her career.  This web savvy, politically incorrect, tattooed and pierced ER nurses offers an edgier view on everything from nursing to photography to Apple products to pit bulls.

Highlight: The Reasons Nurses Yell All the Time

27. Nursing Notes of Discord features fictional stories that reflect real life problems and situations faced by a psychiatric nurse.

Highlight: Wrong Person Snapped

28. Life in the NHS is written by a 30 year veteran of nursing. While she no longer works in nursing directly, she maintains the blog and offers insights and perspectives on developments in the field from an experienced point of view.

Highlight: Where Should People be Cared For?

29. The Nerdy Nurse features articles on everything from eating healthy, to building a great RN resume. The blog is light on stories and skews more toward posts about life in general and useful tips for fellow nurses.

Highlight: What is Research Nursing and How Can You Make it Your Career?

30. JParadisi RN’s Blog is an eclectic blog that ties in science, art, and humanity to the profession of nursing, viewing the field through a variety of unique perspectives.

Highlight: Lessons About Medication Errors From Baseball

Credit here http://www.nursedegree.net/top-30-nursing-blogs/