Ask Nurse Alice

In this episode Nurse Alice shares her advice on why working as a CNA before nursing school (or your first nursing job) can be to your advantage. Not only will it look great on your application but it will prime and prepare you for what to expect in clinical and give you tons of insight into the profession you'll be joining.

Read the article: 3 Reasons To Become a CNA Before Nurse

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been asked to pick up an extra shift at work? And even though many of us already have a set schedule - we still pick up, and for a variety of reasons. But what happens when the requests are happening more often and you really don't want to work but feel bad about saying no? Do you feel guilty or pressured to still say yes? And if you do pick up the shift, do you negotiate the deal to make it sweeter for you?

In this episode Nurse Alice explains why you may feel bad about saying no to an extra shift request, reminds you that picking up an extra shift won't solve the nursing shortage, and provides you with some tips on what you can do or say the next time you're asked to work extra.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine working a long and hard shift with no breaks or lunch relief and just when it's report time you learn that there's no nurse coming to relieve you.

In this episode Nurse Alice shares a recent personal experience of having to stay over past the end of her shift until someone could take her patients. Did she have to stay? If she didn't, would that have been patient abandonment? Tune in to learn more about what constitutes patient abandonment and what options you may have if ever in this situation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine being an experienced nurse and being comfortable in a particular specialty and then one day making a decision to pivot into a different one. It can be scary and exciting at the same time because you're not a new nurse but you are new to a specialty. How can you best prepare for the transition?

In this episode Nurse Alice answers a caller's question by offering tips on how she can successfully transition from working in telemetry to ICU. Nurse Alice provides insights and shares observations from the critical care new to the specialty transitional program she used to lead. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At one point in time, almost every nurse has toyed with the idea of climbing the traditional nursing career ladder of one-day becoming a charge nurse,  unit manager, or nurse director - even if we didn't fully pursue it. Many don't for a variety of reasons but for those that do, the truth is many will try but only a few are chosen. So what would you do if you were trying to advance but were passed up for job promotions in your unit? Would you leave?

In this episode Nurse Alice answers a caller's question about getting passed up twice for promotion on her unit. She also shares her personal experience with getting passed up for a manager position and provides some tips for others who are looking to climb the career ladder where they work and what to do if they don't get the job.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As nurses our job is to take care of other people but what happens when we're the ones that don't feel well? Or perhaps your child, parent, or significant other is sick - who takes care of them when you're supposed to be at work? For many of us this is infrequent and episodic so we're able to manage short-term issues but what if the condition is chronic or becoming more frequent in nature and you're having to call out sick from work more often? Is there anything you can do to protect your job?

In this episode Nurse Alice speaks with a nurse who shares her personal experience of how she was able to save her job and reputation as a good nurse after discovering intermittent medical leave to help her manage her chronic migraine flare-ups which sometimes resulted in unexpected, late and frequent sick calls to work which would have normally resulted in the disciplinary process and ultimate termination. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever felt nervous, sick, tired, or cried on your way to work? Whether a new nurse or a seasoned professional, you may be trying to cope with anxious feelings and thoughts before (or after) your shift.  Many nurses struggle with fears around rejection, inadequacy, making mistakes, and job dissatisfaction, which can manifest into physical symptoms.

In this episode Nurse Alice responds to a caller's question as to why his wife cries on her way to work every night as she leaves for her new night ICU job. She explains pre/post-shift anxiety, what can cause it, and tips on how to combat it. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every patient is your patient when it comes to answering call lights. And while the call light system is needed to help us care for patients, it can sometimes feel like it's being overused or not used properly and disrupt us while we're in the middle of patient care... and that's frustrating. So where's the call light for the nurse when this happens?

In this episode Nurse Alice talks about how the call light system was intended to use, the different types of call light devices, and provides tips on how you may be able to reduce the number of call lights you get from your patient and on your unit.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the podcast guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of nurse.org

Kelsay Irby is the ER Charge Nurse who made national headlines for calling 911 desperate for help with unsafe staffing at St. Michael Medical Center. Here’s her first-hand story of what really happened on the night of October 8, 2022. 

By now you've likely heard of the ER charge nurse who called 911 at St. Michael Medical Center in Washington when her staff was overwhelmed with patients and was concerned about their safety. The news sensationalized the story as she really called the non-emergent line. But nevertheless, it was indeed a staffing emergency impacting patient safety. However, in recent news, the hospital's president challenged her story and claimed she didn't follow protocol.

In this episode Nurse Alice talks with Kelsay Irby, the ER charge nurse herself, and gets the first account of what happened that night.

Kelsay Irby wrote a full article telling her story, read the article here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the most proverbial way, nurses are always fighting for our patients but recently some nurses did literally just that. Recently a man was arrested for assaulting infants at Odessa Regional Medical Hospital in Texas. Fortunately, the nurses there were able to separate the babies from the aggressor’s choking death grip. Selfless yes, but dangerous to themselves? Yes! 

Most ERs staff are required to have training for the management of aggressive patients but shouldn’t all nurses? Is calling a code grey or code silver enough? In this episode, Nurse Alice shares examples of patient aggression and tips on identifying potential problems early on and how to best handle yourself to keep you and your patients safe.

 Read the full article here

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices