HEALTHCARE BLOGGER CODE OF ETHICS

Hey!  I'm trying to get my blog 'certified' by this organization that reviews medical blogs (askapsychnurse.net is considered a medical blog vs. a patient blog) that meet its standards.  http://medbloggercode.com/ Watch for the icon or logo that signifies it!  That will help legitimize me to other medical bloggers and folks like YOU!  :)
Peace, Sylvia

NURSE EDUCATORS!! CONFERENCE AT UMD/SON!

I had a really good time today with colleagues, co-students, professors and speakers.  Today's Main Conference was part of the three-day Institute for Educators in Nursing and Health Professions, Excellence in Teaching Nursing, presented by the University of Maryland, School of Nursing!  I'm so proud, because I am a part of this Institute.  A portion of my Master's education is through the Institute.

I always sit up front--as close to the instructors as possible, so I can make eye contact with them.  I did it in the Keynote/Endnote Speeches and in each class.  We learned so much and I met and networked with some very nice people, who have allowed me to mention them here ON MY BLOG!  I'M SOOOOO EXCITED!

I was also able to pass the word on to some Psych Nurses in attendance, so I'm hoping they'll drop by, check the blog out and comment and/or write an article!  Thanks, Psych Educator Colleagues!

I've also posted a couple of photos from the conference.  Me between  (on the RIGHT) Institute Co-Director (and one of our professors), Louise Jenkins, PhD, RN and (on the LEFT) my classmate and Institute Poster Presenter, Susan Dukes, Maj, USAF, MA, MS, CCRN, CCNS, RN

Me with Anita Stineman, PhD, RN, a presenter at the Institute.  Her seminar on Pre-Post Clinical Conferences was very informative and I enjoyed it!

FEATURED NURSE EDUCATORS from the Institute for Educators Conference

• SUSAN BOYER, MEd, RN, FAHCEP, Executive Director of VNIP (Vermont Nurses In Partnership), an organization dedicated to supporting nurse development.  Her organization has initiated a movement to provide curriculum for and regulate nursing preceptorships.  She gave a very energetic lecture--at the Institute for Educators on March 11, 2010.  Check out her website at www.vnip.org!
• DEBRA WEBSTER, EdD, MS, RNBC, of SALISBURY UNIVERSITY, Salisbury, MD.  She was a Poster Presenter on 'Addressing Academic Uncivility in Nursing Education'. She can be reached at dawebster@salisbury.edu
• TRACY BARR, BSN, RN, CEN, TRACY KOSTELEC, BSN, RN, CEN and Monica Nelson at Mercy Medical Center, who were Poster Presenters on 'Writer's Block: Improving Nurses' Professional Writing Skills'.  Their In-House Workshops educated the Mercy Medical Center nurses on Basics, Getting Published, Grant Writing!  20% of their attendees have gotten published!!  This is something I'm very interested in.  I want to become (more) published and learn how to write grants!  Tracy Kostelec can be contacted for more information at tminard@md.mercy.com

It was also a pleasure meeting Julie Cook, MSN/MPH, RN, PHCNS, who works with the Programs of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS)

NURSE EDUCATORS IN PSYCHIATRY and OTHER SPECIALTIES

Here's a link to updates in standard texts and references in the field.
Peace, Sylvia
http://www.whatcounts.com/blog/lww/lippincott-authors

ADVANCE PRACTICE NURSES

WHERE ARE ALL MY CNSs and PMHN-NPs?
I'd like to hear from you!  Email me if you'd like to write an article about what you do, what you've learned, what you like the Health Reform to do for the Severely and Persistently Mentally Ill (SPMI).  Fresh ideas are always welcome!

WHAT TYPE OF SETTING DO YOU WORK IN?

Are you:

• In a psychiatric hospital (state or privately owned/operated)?
• At an outpatient clinic
• In a community health setting
• Working for a mental health managed care company or the mental health divsion of a managed care company?

What settings have you liked? Hated?  What would you want to change?

I wanna hear from you!

Peace, Sylvia

JOINING NURSING and/or NURSING SPECIALTY ORGANIZATIONS--HAVE YOU?

How many of you have joined specialty organizations in the past?  Have you kept your membership current?  Why not?  What organizations have you joined?

I joined the BNA GWDCA (Black Nurses Association of the Greater Washington, DC Area) yesterday and HAD A BALL!  I networked and it felt GOOD!  I've attached some photos ...ENJOY!

TOP PHOTO--Past Nurse of the Year Honorees--1981-2009!

CENTER PHOTO--

Howard University Division of Nursing Senior Student, Erica Davis receives a Dr. Johnella Banks Memorial Scholarship!!

Millicent Gorham, Executive Director, National Black Nurses Association with me at our table!

NEW PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS

There's another new Atypical Antipsychotic  used as an adjunct for Bipolar Disorder on the market since August 2009.  It's called SAPHRIS(R) (asenapine).  Here's a link to the site:
http://www.saphris.com/saphris/index.jsp     It has most of the intended actions and side effects of its predecessors.  Let me know what you think about it. Have you used it yet?
Here are a couple of links to articles about it, too!
http://www.pslgroup.com/news/content.nsf/medicalnews/852576140048867C852576DB007F5883?OpenDocument&id=&count=10

Hey, I'm Back! Let's Talk

I want to know from you what reasons led you to choose psychiatric-mental health nursing (PMHN) as a specialty?

• Did you 'burn-out' in another specialty?
• Was another nurse in your life in PMHN?
• Do/did you have a mentally-ill relative or loved one whose life affected you to want to learn more?
• Do you like talking more than taking physical care of patients?
• Do you like finding out what people are thinking about and why?
• Did you need a different challenge?
• Was it another reason I haven't listed or a combination of some of these?

Read on and check out why I switched.

After 5 years in Critical Care at a local community hospital, I was well past the 'burn-out' stage. I was floundering in my work, I was crying many evenings when I went home from the unbelievable stress of the job. I was really torn about leaving, but I knew I had to. I relished the level of knowledge that we RNs had to have in this specialty in order to give quality care. I enjoyed learning the new technology and precepting new nurses. I had risen as high as I could at that time in that area and I wasn't going to return to school for my Master's, because the current thinking was that it wasn't going to be recognized (i.e., merit a raise and/or promotion), so I didn't pursue it.

I was also preparing to marry and the release of stress my fiance witnessed made him beg me to change jobs. I had transferred patients with Axis III diagnoses/co-morbidities from the Critical Care Area (CCA) to our psych unit several times over the years and after my initial anxieties about going onto the unit--yes, a very scary proposition for most of the uninitiated--I realized I enjoyed the atmosphere. I also realized a couple of times when I had an 'easy' assignment--2-3 patients with Mild MIs (Myocardial Infarctions), that I realized talking to them about their lives and how calming (for me and maybe for them, too) it was.

We were in the midst of a staffing shortage--that's been around FOR-E-VER--and my head nurse said that it wasn't going to change. I was carrying three patients on a regular basis with multiple drips and at least two of them had ventilators. The multiple q 15min vital signs and drip calculations and lab drawing and CSF pressure reads, EKG interpretations, etc., just got to be too much for me. This was in the early-to-mid '80's and all of these tasks were performed manually. A few of the functions were 'automated', but not many and it wore me out, made me feel guilty and depressed because I couldn't keep up. So I left. I called the psych unit's head nurse and applied for the opening they had. She was a former critical care nurse, too, so I knew she knew how I felt. She hired me! The next day, I told my head nurse that I was leaving in two weeks. My colleagues called me crazy for making this move. They didn't understand why I wanted to do this and said that only crazy people worked there. I persevered cause I had to get out of there!!

I started on 8E, the week before I got married! That was 25 years ago. Though being in PMHN hasn't been the total bed of roses or the greener grass that I thought it would be, changing specialties did save my sanity. I am forever grateful to Margaret Bynum, RN, BSN, my CCA head nurse for taking a chance on me 30 years ago and for molding me, promoting and supporting me through the years. She was a great nurse and leader role model for me, as well. I hope I was a good employee for her!
Text Copyright 2010 Sylvia Ratliff-Trappio/AskaPsychNurse.net