KeithRN Community Update – Sept. 4, 2024

Within a few hours of posting in the Teachers Transforming Nursing Education group, this post had almost 100 comments. Story after story is being shared about the atrocious nursing care in various units and specialties in hospitals across the country. We all have a sad story to tell.

It’s enough to make me cry. It’s disheartening. It makes me mad. This is not my nursing profession!

I take no pleasure in saying that, but the social media posts and the nurses I have spoken to only reinforce the scary and dangerous scenarios we thought were only true in exaggerated television dramas.

Educators shared examples of nurses who:

• Do not assess post-surgical patients for days.

• Ignore critical vital signs and alarms alerting them to danger.

• Tell family members to do their own assessments if they have a concern.

• Do not notice that IV lines are disconnected for an entire shift.

• Falsify documentation which may lead to denial of a patient’s healthcare benefits.

My final request to fellow nursing educators is this: Don’t be afraid to call out behavior unbecoming of a nurse in your students, colleagues, and clinical areas. Demonstrate the courage it takes to address difficult situations and to be a leader and an advocate.

We are the patient’s first line of defense. If we know a nursing student does not have the heart of a nurse, do not give them the privilege of becoming one. Don’t be part of the problem; be the solution!

Take care,

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