Sanity is madness put to good use. – George Santayana
Did You Miss Me?
19May2011 Author: Mother Jones, RN
I use to blog everyday, and sometimes in my sleep, but I’m back now and I have a lot of catching up to do. First, let me start off my saying thank you for all the emails from my friends and family asking me if I was dead. No, I’m not dead, and I’m writing again to prove it. I took a time out for a couple of reasons. First, I was making some extra money writing for other people, which is always a good thing, and I needed a break to collect my thoughts.
I’ve had a lot to think about over the last year. Let’s start with widowhood. It sucks, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m dating again and I’m living my life to the fullest. This has upset some people. Yes, seriously. A member of my late husband’s family thinks that I’m terrible that I haven’t cloistered myself and joined a convent. I guess you can’t please some people. And then there is the world of nursing. There is so much going on there that I can hardly keep up with all the news. Hat tip goes out to Johnson and Johnson for supporting the nursing profession. They went all out this year with some new kick ass commercials, praising the nursing profession. J&J has always been a big supporter of nurses. You guys rock. J&J also invites nurses to check out their new app at iTunes. It’s called Happy Nurse and the app sits prominently on my iPhone. Another bit of news from the world of nursing is about a bill that would establish the Office of the National Nurse for Public Health. Click here to read the bill, and then head over to the NNNO website for the details.
Take me off your MIA list. I’m back!
17 Responses to “Did You Miss Me?”
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Disclaimer
There has been a lot of chatter in the blogosphere about medical bloggers and HIPAA regulations so let me make this very clear: I write composite stories about many different people that I've cared for over the years.
Cecile
May 19th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
You have been missed – good to see you again!
You are right about J&J – they really are doing a good job of promoting nursing.
tammy swofford
May 20th, 2011 at 7:24 am
Missed you? MISSED YOU?!! Absolutely!
Thank you for returning to blogland!
Glad you are doing well!
Regarding widowhood and dating: My husband knows I will remarry on his gravesite as soon as he is buried. I can barely screw in a lightbulb in my home.
Smiling and so happy you have returned!
Love,
Tammy
Jo
May 20th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Welcome back, MJ!
The Curmudgeon
May 20th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Yaay!
Nonpareil
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:20 pm
I’m so glad you’re back! I’ve missed your posts.
The Nerdy Nurse
May 25th, 2011 at 2:04 am
Welcome back to the blogosphere!
RehabRN
May 28th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Hooray! So happy the reports of your death are exaggerated (to steal a quote).
Life is what you make of it. So sorry the in-laws still can’t make anything of their life. I understand they’ve lost their brother/son/etc., but you have to go on and live life.
Maybe they will too again someday. I feel for you.
Go have a glass of whatever you like for me on one of those dates. You deserve it!
Will await your next work.
RehabRN
Brenda
May 30th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
So glad you’re back and appear to be doing well!
Sandy
May 31st, 2011 at 9:28 am
When a woman finally starts dating again or gets over a death it is a problem, but if it were a man in your case they’d be saying good job. Ignore them and take time for your life. It’s okay to miss a few days blogging now and then.
Nurse Talk
May 31st, 2011 at 11:48 am
Hi Mother Jones, RN…now that you are back…we’ve been waiting too, would you be interested in syndicating your blog posts on our site? We think they would be perfect. We don’t have any money to offer you, but there is the glory, and the link to your site. Get in touch.
Nurse Stella
May 31st, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Welcome back! You have been sorely missed by this nurse. And as Ricky Nelson sang in “Garden Party”: “You can’t please every one, so you gotta please yourself”.
Be happy!
Cathy Lane RPh
June 4th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Welcoming your return to internet discussion! Glad to hear recovery is imminent.
As a pharmacist I’m not so happy about J&J! With McNeil division involved in severe violations of good manufacturing practices, I think J&J has to do something to be able to hold their heads up again.
Even as late as March of this year, the FDA has threatened to shut down its factories in Puerto Rico, and two TWO! in Pennsylvania in the US for vermin-infestation, poor recordkeeping, and generally unsafe conditions. J&J’s association with this is a huge embarrassment to US pharmacists, as well as an indictment on the US drug industry as corruption.
BIG BUSINESS hand in hand with reckless abandonment of certain health care standards (which incidentally is rampant in the health insurance industry as well) does nothing for the segment of health care providers whose integrity in some way is closely associated with providing safe drugs, what has been going on the past few years with a state of ‘deregulation’ is untenable.
When one’s profession is heavily associated with providing a “product’, even though individual pharmacists have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of the product itself, and depend on an overworked understaffed Federal agency (FDA) to ensure reputable products are available to the public (many McNeil products are sold OTC and sold in retail without a prescription), I think it’s understandable why we pharmacists are increasingly upset with shortages and other encumbrances beyond our control to provide that ‘product’. With drug company buy-outs, mergers and international recombinations of division the extremely large and divergent divergent divisions approach the business model of the ‘megalomanic monopoly’…undeniable American in concept of capitalism, but undeniably greedy and tears at the previously highly reputable American drug industry, being sold piece by piece for pieces of silver.
It used to be that pharmacy students in their last didactic year took a drug company sponsored trip to the headquarters of drug companies and manufacturing sites. My class visited Syntex Labs in Palo Alto in the 80′s and it was simply impressive, but to hear of what some previously well-respected drug businesses are getting away with before FDA cracks down is shameful.
Sorry about the sour grapes, but J&J had better DO something to get its company back in the public’s good graces.
Ken in Minnesota
June 7th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Yes, I missed you, but I don’t know how I’d come back or when.
Thought of you when I saw this, even though I know you work with a very different population. Convinced me we all ought to pay more attention to nurses.
http://ohdarling.posterous.com/nurse-reveals-the-top-5-regrets-people-make-o
Jacob
June 9th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
So glad you’re back and appear to be doing well!
Laura Marsan
June 15th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Hi, Mother Jones -
I found your blog during a google search for nurse blogs. I am writing to you and your readers now now as I am
attempting to reach as many nurses as I can for help with a project. As you will see below, my request is not specifically relevant to your site, but I was hoping that by reaching out to many nurses, I might receive a range of feedback.
My name is Laura Marsan. I’m a nurse and second-year graduate student in journalism at Columbia University. I am currently researching and writing my thesis about bullying in health care, specifically among nurses and how this affects patient outcomes.
I have read many studies that suggest a connection between units known for a culture of bullying and higher mortality rates, especially in ICU settings. However, finding actual examples with supportive data has been
difficult. I am working with an adviser from The New York Times. While I have seen workplace bullying (and experienced it), my adviser, has recommended that unless I am able to quantify a connection, either through a current legal case or a case study of a hostile unit with
documented poor outcomes, that this story may not be of interest to a readership beyond nurses. As a member of 3.1 million nurses whose role is to advocate for the medically vulnerable, my instincts tell mevthat this is a profoundly significant story, that if framed correctly would be of interest to people everywhere.
I am writing now to ask anyone reading this of a specific case you know about. It may be about you. Or, readers, about you. Or someone you know (or heard about). While workplace bullying is not illegal, as such, “intent to inflict emotional harm” gets mentioned in lots of whistleblower cases. I want to tell a story of a nurse who
was bullied and what consequences this had on patient care.
I am also interested in any data (academic or otherwise) that anyone might have possibly linking a toxic workplaces with poor patient outcomes.
My email address is lam2208@columbia edu. My phone number is 513-375-6328.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Laura
Cathy Lane RPh
June 17th, 2011 at 6:39 am
In response to the last blogger ‘Laura’, what is meant by ‘bullying’ as a nurse? Does that not mean that nurses must consider their professional obligation ahead of personal feelings? And, if the ‘bullying’ is not a significant factor in a personality conflict, then wouldn’t it behoove the nurse involved to contact the regulatory board of the perpetration of injustice to the profession?
In pharmacy, I could justify contention I was bullied if supervisors were involved in a campaign to oust me from the staff or make my work-life exceedingly uncomfortable, and in that regard one would imagine that bullying among professional peers would be the same anywhere, to be resolved by well-documented personnel and employee assistance program intervention, to go to the professional regulatory board if necessary. Bullying may consist entirely of psychologically damage.
From a pharmacist perspective, emotionally enervation affects sleep, which affects judgment, which increases personal, family, and co-worker stress, and in the case of a pharmacist impacts errors in judgment, hypervigilance, confidence and and error rate–all of immense relevance to patient care. On the other hand, this arena might be encountered to a degree on first hire anywhere; the newbies and new hires often encounter a rather hostile probationary period on their first employment in any capacity. The only remedy advised is completely objective honest assessment in one’s dealings with others i.e. feedback and openness. Those that accept dishonest blame, might find their integrity compromised.
Eddy
June 22nd, 2011 at 1:08 am
We are glad to have you back !
Welcome