HawthoRNe, the new nurse-centric show to hit TV screens this summer, premiered this week on TNT. In an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal, the star of the show Jada Pinkett Smith had this to say about what kind of tone the show tries to achieve:
We’re really going for a dramedy…. You have extremes in a hospital. You have life and death. The quirkiest, funniest things happen in hospitals. I never really thought of that. The stories that these (real-life) nurses were telling me — just things that you would never imagine that happen. And it’s something we even want to explore more…. We really tried hard and continue to do so in making this a place where you laugh and cry.
Be sure to not miss the current cycle of Cherokee’s Inspired Comfort Awards nomination season. If you work with or know an outstanding nurse who deserves to be recognized for his/her dedication to nursing, here’s your chance to sing their praises.
HOW TO NOMINATE
Nominating someone is easy – you can now electronically send in a nomination using the ICA’s online form.
If you’ve never nominated a nurse for this award before, Cherokee has you covered. Read through these helpful tips on how to write a winning nomination.
BENEFITS OF NOMINATING
Be sure to tell all your colleagues to nominate a nurse – your professional association, school of nursing or employer may be eligible to win a grant based on the number of nominations Cherokee Uniforms receives.
Winners of the Cherokee Inspired Comfort Awards as well as nominators of the winners receive prizes ranging from an all-expense-paid Caribbean cruise for two and up to a $1,000 worth of Cherokee uniforms and footwear.
And the last benefit of nominating: knowing that an outstanding nurse has the chance to be recognized for all she or he does everyday to help others.
The hospital nursing shortage as we had come to know and expect has surprisingly trickled to a near halt in the slow economy, according to health policy journal, Health Affairs:
“While we expected an increase in employment, we were surprised by the magnitude and by the shift from non-hospital settings into the hospitals,” says study co-author Peter Buerhaus, a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. “This surge in employment will ease, if not end, the hospital nursing shortage.” (Nashville Business Journal)
According to the same study, however, the real problem looms ahead. Nurses aged 50 and over – soon to be the largest group in the nursing profession – will inevitably create a huge vacuum upon retirement.
The newest edition of “Change of Shift,” the highly engaging bimonthly roundup of nurse blogs is available at florencedotcom.
“Change of Shift” is a Blog Carnival started by popular nurse blogger, Emergiblog. She writes:
““Change of Shift” is intended to be a blog about nurses and for nurses, but all are welcome to submit! This includes nursing students of all ages and in all stages of their programs!”
If you enjoy reading stories for and about nurses, you may also want to check out scrubsmag.com – the new lifestyle magazine written by nurses and their most ardent fans.
“…In the end her symptoms, and the numbers, said it all, so she went back to intensive care, still gasping for air, her mouth open and tense under the mask. Breathing took so much effort that the muscles of her neck were drawn in deeply, like gills….” (NYT)
Ex-English professor/oncology nurse, Theresa Brown tells her fish out of water story in the New York Times’ article, “Basic and Vital: A Struggle to Breathe.”
“It is our responsibility as the state nurses’ association to speak out on behalf of our profession, which often is misunderstood and marginalized by the media.”
Showtime has denied the request on the grounds that the show is clearly intended for entertainment and not meant to be a documentary about nurses. The star of the show, Edie Falco states that Nurse Jackie is not about nurses but rather, about a nurse.
After years and years of telling patients to go on a diet, looks like some hospitals have taken their own advice. Kaiser Permanente, for example, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health system, is hosting farmers markets in their parking lots. Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont, has gone a step further and brought the farmer’s market right inside their cafeteria:
The cafeteria at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont, relies heavily on seasonal, organic produce grown by local farmers. It serves entrees such as veggie paninis (made of roasted garlic hummus, spinach, tomatoes, roasted red onion and balsamic drizzle) and whole wheat flatbreads topped with roasted vegetables and basil pesto. The cafeteria attracts more than hospital visitors and employees; it has morphed into a destination spot for the downtown lunch crowd.
Three years ago, Fletcher Allen Health Care started using mostly local ingredients, such as grass-fed beef and lamb, artisan cheeses, mesclun and butter lettuce. (CNN)
This concept of connecting healthy practice with healthy preaching has begun to spread to hospitals in New York, California, and Tennessee for the benefit of patients as well as hospital employees.
Overweight nurses may find it difficult to commit to building new, healthier eating habits with busy and often irregular schedules. Hopefully more nurses will be able to enjoy the convenience of having locally grown produce available at their workplace. For more information on healthy living and (secret?) weight loss tips for nurses, visit the Health section at scrubsmag.com.
The Red Apple rolled out the red carpet last night for the premiere of Showtime’s New York-based medical comedy drama, Nurse Jackie. The controversial show however, is being received with much less fanfare from real life nurses. Nurse Jackie, which centers on a drug addicted nurse who has sex with coworkers on the job (Edie Falco), is drawing criticism from nurse bloggers including Emergiblog, My Strong Medicine andYoung and Restless Nurse who all echo the same concern:
No matter how funny, how dramatic or how well written “Nurse Jackie” is, you are doing nothing to advance or promote the nursing profession. But then I guess the goal is ratings and nothing defines a “hit” like sex and drugs. (Emergiblog)
Nurse Jackie faces stiff competition this summer from two other nurse shows – Mercy on NBC and HawthoRNe, starring Jada Pinkett Smith which premieres June 16th on TNT. To find out what other nurses are saying about Nurse Jackie, visit scrubsmag.com.
A new incentive plan offered to Czech nurses includes an assortment of plastic surgery procedures. The Czech health-care system offers plastic surgery “ranging from a €1,425 tummy tuck to a €1,300 face lift, in return for signing a three-year contract,” according to the New York Times.
“I would rather have plastic surgery than a free car,” said Ms. Kalivodova, who opted for cosmetic breast surgery that would normally cost €2,600, or about $3,500, as well as liposuction on her thighs and stomach. These were physical enhancements, she said, that she could not afford on her €1,000 a month salary.
“I feel better when I look in the mirror,” she added. “We were always taught that if a nurse is nice, intelligent, loves her work and looks attractive, then patients will recover faster.” (NYT)
Offering the plastic surgery incentive, according to the managing director of the private surgery clinic where Kalivodova is a surgical nurse, is less expensive than raising salaries. Other perks in Kalivodova’s contract include free German lessons and a five weeks paid vacation.
