Not everyone finds writing about stressful experiences to be stress-relieving, especially with a sick child in the hospital. However, expressive writing, also known in the medical setting as Narrative Medicine, has been shown to enhance empathy and resilience and mitigate burnout for healthcare practitioners, patients, and their families. A recent [...]
The concept of self-governance in nursing has been around for more than 30 years. Since then, the push to include direct care nurses and NNPs in hospital leadership and management decision-making has continued to grow. Self-governance in neonatal care and all disciplines of nursing stems from the premise that nursing [...]
As hard as it may be to read the title of this article, it’s even harder to hear “withdraw care” uttered in the NICU on a regular basis. Should we retire and replace this phrase? Should we instead say, “redirect care as appropriate?” The power of language Alexander Wolf, [...]
In the job arena changes are, for the most part, always evolving. While some employees handle the changes well and in a positive manner, other employees find it most difficult. Even when working with the tiniest of patients in a neonatal unit, a new manager will often bring changes that [...]
So you’ve accepted a position with another employer. You resigned from your current job and went through the bright light treatment of the resignation process… but now they offer a counter-offer to stay. What do you do?! Is this a good decision, or even in your best interest? Let's put [...]
There are lots of stress points when considering making a job change: What type of job would warrant making a move? What level of compensation would you consider? Are you willing to relocate...and if so, to where? What about acuity level, delivery, transport, shifts, etc.? And these don’t even take [...]
Having a sick child in the NICU is a stressful, if not traumatic experience for many parents. Not surprisingly, most studies on this experience focus on how it psychologically affects parents in a negative way. However, some studies show the experience can also lead to positive psychological growth. A recent [...]
A recent, two-week-long study used daily emails and an online survey to measure resilience among NICU workers. You would be justified in wondering if the study itself was meant to test the workers’ resilience. Shockingly, a high percentage of participants dropped out of the study. All joking aside, this [...]
As of Monday, February 22, 2021, we’ve lost more than 500,000 of our fellow Americans to COVID-19. It’s a heartbreaking and sobering milestone for us all. New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are decreasing. Still, the numbers remain stubbornly high, begging the question, how are you and your staff coping [...]
If candidates actively apply for all your open jobs, one might believe that the hard work of recruitment is over. But just like every coin has two sides, so does recruiting. Sometimes the best candidate isn’t someone who's actively seeking a job change. Finding ways to work with passive candidates [...]
