Balance in my life has meant different things at different points throughout my nursing career.

There have been times where I was the nurse that came to work-did my work-and went home. Never committing to a project, helpful but not going above and beyond for my unit or organization. These were my earlier years as a nurse, while working nights, and focused more on my personal life than my career.

In healthcare settings, staff continue to face busy, non-stop work environments. Finding appropriate breaks and downtime to mindfully refresh is increasingly difficult.

We have found at my facility that pet therapy dogs are just the right answer to providing a break from the constant daily work stresses. Many organizations have pet therapy programs in place for patients, but pet therapy is just as beneficial for the staff!

Cardiac and respiratory monitoring of patients in medical-surgical units (MSUs) is minimal, even though approximately 40 percent of medical-surgical patients experience an acute respiratory event.¹

Generally, patients in MSUs are assumed to be less complex and more hemodynamically stable — not requiring additional or continuous monitoring,² however, many patients receive opioids for pain control, increasing their risk of opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD).

In healthcare settings, staff continue to face busy, non-stop work environments. Finding appropriate breaks and downtime to mindfully refresh is increasingly difficult.

We have found at my facility that pet therapy dogs are just the right answer to providing a break from the constant daily work stresses. Many organizations have pet therapy programs in place for patients, but pet therapy is just as beneficial for the staff!

The American Nurses Association (ANA) state nurses work tirelessly to identify and protect the needs of the individual (nursingworld.org).

Nurses are known for being caring, kind, gentle, and trusting. They are also known to be very altruistic, which is defined as a selfless concern for others even to their own detriment.

Nurses’ work! They work overtime even when physically exhausted and mentally drained. Nurses meet their patient responsibilities even if it means no lunch, dinner, or bathroom breaks.

CEO's Corner - November 2021

I love fall. It’s my favorite season. I love watching the leaves change. When I lived in Canada, the fall colors were amazing.

Now that I’m in the US, I don’t see the same colors I did before, but the ones that I do see bring me joy. I spent the weekend in New Hampshire visiting my daughter at university. It was amazing to see the rich, deep fall colors as the leaves prepare to fall and the trees to sleep until next spring, when they’ll magically sprout new leaves and start the cycle again.

Happy Medical-Surgical Nurses Month!

Usually, we celebrate Medical-Surgical Nurses for only a week in November (1-7), but this year we decided to commemorate the whole month.

After all, this is AMSN’s 30th Anniversary, so we might as well take the month to celebrate!

In all honesty, AMSN's board of directors were worried. The numbers for Covid-19 infections were on the rise in Florida, the location of this year's national convention. Since our first concern was for the safety of the attendees and their families, the decision was made to make the convention 100% virtual for the second year in a row.

CEO's Corner - October 2021

What an absolutely wonderful convention. We had informative and engaging educational content, fantastic conversations and connection in the convention platform, and some community fun at our 30th anniversary painting party on Saturday evening.

Some of the highlights included Terry Foster’s funny opening “COVID Power Talk,” where we all acknowledged the difficulties encountered during the pandemic - but also how to cope using humor, positivity, and healthy attitudes.

AMSN Urges Congress to Support Building the Nurse Pipeline, but Action has Slowed

AMSN has been consistent in urging Congress to support nurse workforce development initiatives that build the pipeline advancing the supply of nurses needed now and in the future. Even working together with the Nursing Community Coalition to advance this important goal, congressional action has slowed this fall on the major legislation carrying these AMSN priorities.