DiversityNursing Blog

Diversity in the Nursing field is necessary to progress health equity and improve patient outcomes. As a result of efforts in recent years, the Nursing workforce today is more diverse than it was a decade ago, but there is still work to be done. The goal is to have a health workforce that mirrors the nation’s diverse population.

“Latinos make up 17.3 percent of the U.S. population,” said Norma Cuellar, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor of Nursing at The University of Alabama, director of the BAMA-Latino Project, and president-elect of NAHN. “Unfortunately, as the number of Latinos continue to rise, the number of Latino RNs does not. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, there are about 2.9 million RNs in the country, and just three percent are identified as Latinos. This results in a failure to provide culturally congruent care, language barriers, and health disparities in the Latino population.”

As the principal investigator over the NIH-SEPA grant, Angie Millan, RN, DNP, FAAN, NAHN project director and the Nursing director of Children’s Medical Services for the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, aims to inform new generations of Latinos to consider Nursing as a worthy and rewarding career, and provide the guidance, support and resources needed to achieve Nursing career aspirations.

“The Hispanic community is very young, with an average age of around 26, and our numbers continue to increase,” Angie said. “However, the number of Hispanic Nurses is not keeping up with the growth.  We need help in communicating with parents, students, teachers, and counselors that Nursing is a great career, and that to be prepared, students need to know the math and science requirements.”

Teri Murray, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing at Saint Louis University said, “Racially diverse students, from populations currently underrepresented in Nursing, will be paired with peer mentors, faculty mentors and seasoned Nurse mentors who are out working in the field. “Mentoring has been shown to be effective for students from underrepresented backgrounds in serving as role models, assisting students to navigate college life and the profession, and in general showing the student the ropes,” Murray told the American.

2018 marks the fourth year of the NAHN Hispanics in Nursing campaign to increase the number of Hispanic Nurses, which is made possible through a grant received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science Education Partnership (SEPA). In addition to providing information about which classes to take in high school to prepare for Nursing prerequisites and highlighting the profiles of Latino Nurse role models, the campaign also provides access to Mentors Connection, a database of Latino Nurses who can provide career guidance, advice, and cultural perspective to prospective Nurses.

“It is imperative that we encourage these Latino students not only to obtain their degree in nursing, but to pursue advanced degrees. There is a dire need to increase the number of Latino nurses who are academically prepared to be leaders in a variety of healthcare roles,” said Dr. Cuellar. “In this ever-changing healthcare landscape, it’s more important than ever for Latino nurses to have a seat at the table. We have to be leaders in nursing, and we have to be the voice for the Latino population.”

First generation college students (FGCS) face many obstacles which affects enrollment and graduation rates. Some barriers include lack of college readiness, familial support, financial stability, racial under representation, low academic self-esteem, and difficulty adjusting to college.

A National Center for Education Statistics study found that among students whose parents had completed high school, 54 percent enrolled in college immediately after graduation, while only 36 percent of students whose parents had less than a high school diploma immediately entered college. 

Students with at least one parent who attended college are nearly twice as likely to graduate as first-generation students, according to a long-term study by the National Center for Education Statistics released in 2015.

Racial under representation is a difficult barrier. 20% of first generation college students do not consider English as their first language. Household income is another. The median annual household income for students whose parents earned a degree is just shy of six figures at $99,635. For first generation students, this number plummets to $37,565.

In recent years, colleges have become aware that students with sparse financial resources and thin networks of adult support can struggle to adjust to campus life, with many failing to earn a degree.

First-generation students may feel uncomfortable in the collegiate atmosphere. They may come from a different cultural background or have different levels of college preparation than their peers. Reasons for limited communication and interactions among peers and faculty include the absence of similar interests, experiences, and resources. These differences contribute to low levels of academic self-esteem and difficulty adjusting to the college setting.

Bernadotte is trying to ensure that first-generation, low-income, and minority students avoid the pitfalls she faced getting through college. She founded Beyond 12, a nonprofit that uses technology to work with high schools and colleges, helping coach students, track their progress and ensure that they earn their degrees. 

Beyond 12, tracks about 50,000 students, alerting them via an app to deadlines for course registration or financial aid applications, connecting them with campus resources, and ensuring that their grades and classes are appropriate. It has also coached, in-person or online, about 2,000 students on 180 campuses, many of them on the West Coast. A handful of charter schools in Boston and Dartmouth College have also tested out the platform.

Using apps like Beyond 12 is one way to help overcome obstacles, here are a few other tips that may make a difference in your college experience.

Take Advantage of Campus Offices: For FCGS, adjusting to college can be difficult. Students can be unsure of financial responsibilities, academic expectations, and social involvement/activities, which can not only be discouraging, but it can also be intimidating. So use the resources provided to make sure you're up to date on everything you may need to know.

Don’t Be Ashamed to Live On A Budget: It's not uncommon that college students are broke. It is not a secret that college can be expensive, so don’t feel bad when you see your friends going out to movies or bars on the weekends while you are staying home.  You need to  remember what you are in college for. You're there to get an education and to hopefully set yourself up for a great and successful future.

Get Involved: Being a FGCS, you may feel like you don't fit in with other students on campus due to financial differences, social differences, and/or differences in ethnicity or religion. Your thoughts and feelings about not fitting in are not unique to you, but are shared by so many people on campus. You will find more people that share things in common with you than you would believe. So check out organizations and clubs on campus that tap into your interests and you will not only make new friends, but you will also be able to fully take in the college experience.

Were you a first generation college student? What was your experience like? We would love to hear from you! Comment below!

Nurses are talented and caring, they often go above and beyond the call of duty to care for their patients. You don’t have to look very far to find great Nurses who make a habit of getting involved and giving more of themselves than they are asked. Below are a few heart warming examples of when Nurses truly went above and beyond for their patients.

Nurse Fills Empty Fridge With Food For Patient

Home Nurse Amanda Mary Perez was asked to clean her patient's fridge. But when she opened the door, she was shocked to see the fridge was empty. She was absolutely horrified that he had gone so long without food and this broke her heart. Amanda knew she had to do something.

The Nurse went to social media and wrote a message where she said the client is responsible for buying his food and he only buys food when he has the money. Amanda finished her shift and went straight to the store where she took all her income tax money and bought food for him.  This experience showed her the difference between wants and needs. She said "I opened my eyes and realized I need to stop being so mad about what I don't have and start appreciating what I do have."

Nurse Donates 1,000 oz of Breast Milk

Ashley Chesnut, a mom of two had just been diagnosed with lymphoma and learned that she had to stop breastfeeding.  “Breastfeeding to me is a privilege, because for one reason or another, not all women can do it,” Chesnut, 30, tells PEOPLE. “I loved this special time with each of my kids, and I felt like it was being stolen away from me and there was nothing I could do to stop it.”

Jaclyn Kenney, a Nurse at Nebraska Medical Center noticed the baby was the same age as her daughter. Kenney was overproducing milk and had been thinking about donating the extra ounces to a milk bank, but hearing about Chesnut during her shift at the hospital changed her mind. She made the donation of a lifetime and donated 1,000 oz. of her breast milk.

Previous Music Student Sings Song For His Teacher In Hospice

Maria was a lifelong singing and piano teacher with students from all over the place. Music was something so dear to her heart and when she was in hospice she had one final wish before she passed. She wanted to hear the song "How Great Thou Art". It turns out one of her students worked at the hospice care home in Austinburg, Texas.

The student’s name was Joshua and he had known Maria since he was only 9 years old. Maria had started teaching him music then, and his passion for singing and piano only got deeper as time went on. It was his honor to deliver a performance that Maria wanted to here.

Nurse Creates The No One Dies Alone program

Sandra Clarke, RN, was working as a staff Nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center. While making rounds at the beginning of her shift, she entered the room of an elderly man with a DNR order on his chart. He asked, "Will you stay with me?" Sandra promised him she would return as soon as she checked on her other patients. After taking longer than she had anticipated, she returned to his room, ready to apologize for the delay. As she approached his bedside, she saw his pale, outstretched hand. He had died alone.

She knew his final moments were not supposed to be this way. It is unlikely that any human being would ever choose to die alone. Sometimes, however, circumstances are such that a person has no family or close friends.

Fourteen years later, while working in ICU, Sandra still was harboring thoughts from the 1986 incident. She had volunteered to participate in a pilot program at her hospital to develop an ethics resource team for staff members. The Director of Pastoral Care, Bob Scheri, overheard Sandra discussing her concept of having volunteers stay with patients. At his request, she outlined a proposal. PeaceHealth, the corporate organization of Sacred Heart Medical Center, endorsed her idea. No One Dies Alone (NODA) became a reality in 2001, and the rest is a heartwarming history.

Nurse Adopts Baby She Cared For In Hospital 

Nurse Amber Boyd was caring for 18 month old, Nicole at a New Mexico hospital where she was being treated for a rare condition called omphalocele, in which the organs develop outside of the body. It was too much for Nicole’s biological parents to take so they left her in state custody.

“The first day I met her actually, I don’t know, I just remember walking into her room, just instantly feeling an attachment,” Amber said. When it was time for Nicole to leave the hospital, Amber took her duties as a Nurse to another level and adopted the little girl.

Nurses and Care Team Members Help Ill Woman Get Married

The IU Health Nurses and Care Team members created a special wedding ceremony in the hospital for one of their patients. Hillary Deckard was awaiting a lung transplant due to cystic fibrosis, which she was diagnosed with at age 3. IU Health music and art therapists worked on the wedding march and decorations, while social workers and staff secured flowers, cake and a wedding dress. Click Here For Photos 

Nurses Help Sneak Dying Patient's Dog In To Say Goodbye

David King, was at a Missouri hospital, losing his battle with cancer and he was worried he’d never see his dog, Lil Fee, again. 17 year-old Ellie Miguel tweeted, “My grandpa is losing his battle with cancer so the nurses helped my grandma sneak their dog into the hospital to say goodbye.” Ellie also said “The Nurses always heard my grandma talking about Lil Fee. So they encouraged her and helped her get the dog in. They had my aunt carry the dog in a really big purse."

King passed away not long after, but not before saying goodbye to his best friend and loyal companion. Although most hospitals have a strict no-pets policy, this isn’t the first time family and staff have bent the rules. Sometimes, a visit from a beloved furry friend is more powerful than any medicine.

Do you have a story of a Nurse who went out of their way for a patient? We would love to hear about it, comment below!

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth reported the percent of males in Nursing has steadily grown since 1960 from 2% to 13% in the United States. We have seen women entering male-dominated fields for a long time, but it’s less common to see an increase in men joining a predominantly female occupation. The NY Times interviewed many male Nurses, here is what they had to say.

For some men, the idea that caregiving jobs are women’s work is old-fashioned. “This narrative that men can’t provide care in the way that women can is part of that broad cultural narrative that misunderstands what Nursing’s about,” said Adam White, the V.A. hospital student nurse, who is earning his Nursing degree at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. “We need to talk with young people about caring as a gender-neutral idea, but also as something that’s rooted in skills, in expertise.”

John-Flor Sisante, recent Nursing graduate, said “When my wife told her grandfather that I graduated from Nursing school, he just laughed. But I think there are more men who are less afraid to take on what have traditionally been considered feminine roles.” 

Economic factors play a role as well. There has been a decline in some jobs because of automation. “A lot of those manufacturing jobs and things of that nature just aren’t there anymore,” said David Baca, an emergency department Nurse in Oregon. “We get paid a really livable wage, and I think that is now starting to attract more male Nurses.” Even though men are a minority, they are paid more than women.

Many people change careers to Nursing later on in life. Male Nurses are more likely than females to have worked as emergency medical technicians, military Nurses or lab technicians. Nearly half of Nurse anesthetists, one of the highest-paying Nursing jobs, are men.

Jorge Gitler, Oncology Nurse manager says, “Forget about the stigma. The pay is great, the opportunities are endless and you end up going home every day knowing that you did something very positive for someone else.”

When Nurses closely reflect the patient population, hospitals and patients benefit. Some patients prefer a Nurse of the same sex, particularly for procedures like inserting a catheter, Nurses said, and some men feel more comfortable talking openly with another man.

Children being involved with sports and other physical activities is a normal and healthy part of their life. Unfortunately injuries can happen. Thankfully healthcare professionals are working to find ways to better treat and prevent injuries. Here are a few examples...

Almost half a million children visit emergency rooms annually in the U.S from traumatic brain injuries due to sports. CT scans have risk of radiation, can be costly, and don't detect concussions.

According to Dr. Shireen Atabaki, emergency medical specialist at Children's National Health System, "It's been estimated that people who get a single CT scan in the first 22 years of life have a 300 percent increase risk of cancer in their lifetime."

Dr. Atabaki has been working on creating a diagnostic tool for concussions that would reduce the need for CT scans. The technology she developed is now used in the electronic health record at Children's Hospital. The hospital saved more than $800,000 in one year by reducing CT scans by 556.

Gregg T. Nicandri, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and assistant professor in the University of Rochester Medical Center division of Sports Medicine said, "The biggest trend I see currently is an epidemic of ACL injuries. An ACL tear is something that usually requires surgery to repair and typically requires a year-long recovery."

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, about 70 percent of sports-related ACL injuries happen through movements like pivoting, cutting, sidestepping and awkward landings, while about 30 percent result from collisions with other players.

ACL injury prevention programs have shown great results. Dr. Nicandri, who was involved in a URMC ACL injury-prevention program in Rochester said, “We found that we were able to decrease the rate of ACL injury by about 70 percent in the group of athletes that did the program.”

Dr. Mark Link from UT Southwestern says commotio cordis is the second-leading cause of sudden death in youth sports, with one medical study declaring it "the single, most common cause of traumatic death in youth baseball." He also went on to say, "It is a tragic, unfortunate event that happens to normal, healthy kids when they're struck in the chest. But there has to be multiple things that occur at the same time."

A teenager's rib cage is more flexible than an adult's, which means a sudden blow to the chest can cause the ribs to bend inward and touch the heart. "That allows the energy of the ball to be transmitted to the heart," Link explains. If the blow hits at "the upstroke of the T wave," in the last part of a heartbeat -- a window of time that's 15 times faster than the blink of an eye -- the heart will go into ventricular fibrillation.

"The heart is being electrocuted," Dr. Link says. "It's the sudden-death rhythm. The pumping chambers just quiver. When they quiver, they can't effectively pump blood. There's no blood flow to the brain."

After Dr. Link told Karen Acompra what had really killed her son, she wanted to find a way to prevent deaths like this from happening. She believes that learning CPR and having an automated external defibrillator (AED) at all sporting events can make a difference between life and death. She says there are still 30 states that don't mandate AEDs on school grounds but is working to make it a national law.

As a Nurse what are your opinions on children playing contact sports? Do you agree it should be mandatory for AEDs to be on school grounds? Please comment below with any thoughts!

There are many Nursing specialties to choose from. There may be jobs that suit your needs and interests perfectly, but you had no idea they existed as an option. Here are some positions you might not have considered as a career path for yourself.

Camp Nurse

Camp nurses serve typically children or teens, in a camp environment. This can include summer camps or other camps that last from days to weeks to even months at a time, but are usually temporary.

According to RegisteredNursing.org, Nurses with a background in emergency care, pediatrics, and/or trauma will do well in a camp nursing environment. Beyond this, camp nurses usually work alone or fairly independently, so being able to make decisions and deal with any sort of medical emergency is a routine part of the job. Some camps may not even have reliable phone or internet service, so camp nurses need to have enough professional experience to expedite care in this type of environment. Camp nurses also need to have managerial skills, as they generally oversee the whole health office, and must be able to effectively document and record all visits and treatments administered.

NASCAR Nurse

A NASCAR medical liaison coordinator (MLC) is a Registered Nurse who no longer practices “hands-on” nursing. Five full-time nurses are based at corporate headquarters in Daytona Beach, FL.

Responsibilities consist of managing the day to day operation of the department and focusing on the medical needs of the Racing Series. A minimum of two MLCs travel to a new racetrack on a weekly basis.

Disney Nurse

Disney is the place where dreams come true. Could your dream job be there as well? With competitive wages and excellent benefits, jobs in theme parks like Walt Disney World provide Nurses with a positive place to work. These jobs require a skill set they would use to help the park's cast memebers.

Yacht Nurse

As a Nurse/Stewardess you will be expected to maintain the on-board medical ward and Nursing station. This would include stock take, ordering supplies and recording inventories. Depending on the yacht owners health you may be required for certain medical duties.

Although long working hours are required, the benefits are amazing with salaries often  higher than other Nursing positions. Yachting is not for the faint hearted though and must have a sense of adventure and an urge to travel.

Flight Nurse

Flight Nurses are Registered Nurses who provide nursing care on board medical helicopters, airplanes or jets. In the United States, flight Nurses respond to 2 primary types of cases or requests for assistance: response to accident scenes (commonly referred to as scene calls) and requests for inter-hospital patient transfers.

Transgender Youth Nurse

More children and adolescents are identifying as transgender or gender fluid, and they are being seen in a variety of healthcare settings where Nurses are present. Transgender and gender fluid youth are a vulnerable population and are at risk of poor health outcomes, including suicide. Nurses hold a unique position of trust and are therefore perfectly situated to support these youth at every health-related interaction.

Nurses interact with transgender and gender fluid youth in a diverse array of clinical settings, including primary care, the emergency department, and other hospital units, as well as in schools, community settings, and most other areas of care.

Health Policy Nurse

According to the University of California San Francisco, Nurses with policy expertise are employed by health services research firms, work in legislative and regulatory offices at the county, state and federal levels, or hold elective or appointed office. Others work in the legislative or policy offices of health maintenance organizations, advocacy organizations, health care companies or health care provider associations, or consult for these and other organizations. One can also find Nurses with careers in policy and program planning at international government health organizations and non-governmental organizations.

If you know of other unique Nursing positions please comment below!

For many people, the holiday season is their favorite time of year, with excitement building for months. Spending time with family and friends, decorating, sharing laughs and getting in the holiday spirit means so much to so many. For these same reasons, this time of year can be the most difficult time to be in the hospital.

Fortunately, there are many ways to bring joy into hospitals during the holiday season.

Shriners Hospital Celebrates Holidays with Atrium Performance Series

The holiday season brings the gift of music to Shriners Hospitals for Children — Northern California, where singers and musicians volunteer their time and talent as part of the Atrium Performance Series. Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, choirs, school bands, and local business groups perform in the hospital lobby to make spirits bright.

Gingerbread village event at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital

Gingerbread houses were assembled and decorated by patients and guests in the lobby of Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital who layered them with white frosting roofs and assorted, colorful candies. Other houses were sent to patients on the units who could not come down for the event. Whenever a house was completed, Santa or one of his helpers placed it on a large display structure designed to evoke the shape of a Christmas tree. Patients got to take a Teddy bear and the book of their choice.

Akron Children's Hospital Holiday Tree Festival 2017

According to cleveland.com, there are 85,000 strings of lights at the festival at the John S. Knight Center. There are 140 trees, wreaths galore and holiday gifts all donated by an individual, group or business. Click Here to See Photos of all the trees!

Santa takes a helicopter to UVM Medical Center Children’s Hospital

Santa made a trip to visit kids at the University of Vermont Medical Center Children’s Hospital. According to the Burlington Free Press, No reindeer were used for this pre-holiday visit. Santa Claus hovered in a helicopter at the hospital entrance, waving to the children gathered on a balcony inside.

There are plenty of ways to bring holiday cheer to your facilities halls. Here are a few ideas:

• Have a family member bring in a LED menorah or a small tree to make it feel more like home.
• Light up a hospital room with a simple strand of lights.
• Play some classic Holiday music.
  
• Watch a Christmas movie.
• Share thank you notes and holiday cards.
• Bring Holiday desserts and treats.
• Open some presents with loved ones and staff members.

 If you have other ideas or tips to celebrating the holidays in a hospital, please comment below! Happy Holidays!

It can be difficult making the transition from Nursing student to professional. So we’ve put together a list of tips to help you during the first few months and set yourself up for a successful career. If you have any other tips you think we should add to our list, please leave a comment below!

Give yourself a chance to acclimate to shift work. 

There's a good chance you are going to be tired during the first few weeks of your shifts. Don't worry hang in there, it will get better once you're adjusted to the hours. But if you are continually fatigued and don’t see improvement after a few weeks, talk to your hospital wellness team or your supervisor to discuss some solutions.

Don’t be so hard on yourself if you make an error

Every new Nurse makes mistakes. Please don’t set that unrealistic expectation that you’ll just do it right the first time, every time. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself very disappointed in yourself, when in actuality it’s normal to make mistakes and learn from them.

Become efficient at charting

You've probably heard this a thousand times by now.  I will say it again anyway, it is worth repeating.  You absolutely MUST chart everything you do. Be careful not to chart only what was verbalized.  Wait for the orders to be placed and then document accordingly. 

Use a Mentor

If you work with a Nurse whom you admire and is simply awesome at what they do, you can watch them quietly and learn from how they go about their work. This is a silent mentoring relationship where you just learn through association and observation.

If that isn’t your style, Nurse.com recomends you actually verbalize your wish for a mentor to the Nurse in question. This could involve setting up a regular meeting for you to ask questions and receive coaching, or it could be more of an informal, as-needed arrangement.

Don't be afraid to ask questions

If you act like you know everything (which isn't possible) then you won't ever learn anything. Nurses ask lots of questions all the time, it is a constant learning process. No one expects you to know everything.

Any experienced Nurses have tips to add for new Nurses?  What helped you in your first year after Nursing school? Comment below!

You see problems with the equipment, software, bedding, clothing, etc. you use in your job every day. If you have an idea to make something better, here are a few inspirational stories of Nurses who acted on their ideas to create a better solution to the problems they encountered.

Decades ago, Bessie Blount Griffin was a a volunteer Nurse at a New Jersey hospital. According to marketplace.org, while Griffin was there, she noticed lots of veterans had lost the ability to use their limbs. She decided to create an invention that would allow paralyzed veterans to feed themselves using a tube they could bite on with their teeth.

Even though she had worked for so long and invested thousands of dollars of her own money into her invention, the VA wasn't interested in paying the $100,000. So instead, she donated it to the French government who used it in military hospitals nationwide.

Bessie was determined to prove "that as a black female, we can do more than nurse their babies and clean their toilets."

Jill Byrne is an operating room Nurse who created a garment that could help surgeons reduce heat stress. Heat shortened the tempers and focus of surgeons. So Jill fashioned a vest from scrap draping material common in hospitals. Outfitted with pockets for re-freezable ice packs placed around the body, the garment was designed to fit under a surgical gown. She created this piece in her living room.

Heat stress is an occupational hazard for surgeons. They must keep the thermostat in operating rooms above 68 degrees—a standard set by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services—and that's before factoring in warmth from lights, impervious layers of protective clothing and the intense physical demands of some surgeries, such as joint replacements.

As little as 30 minutes of overheating starts to tax internal organs and is associated with weight gain, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a hindrance on cognitive performance, according to peer-reviewed research and stress studies by the Mayo Clinic.

According to medicalxpress.com,  the first surgeon who wore the cooling vest showed such a dramatic change in personality, Byrne said, he was singing show tunes and was calm, polite and clear of mind during the procedure.

In a product trial at several Cleveland Clinic facilities, 97 percent of the surgeons, technicians and nurses who tested the vest said they would wear it again; it was lauded for its low cost, light weight and how its disposability does not create an additional source of contamination or laundry.

Byrne secured a provisional patent and is working with a team from Cleveland Clinic Innovations to license the property to a third-party manufacturer, and the vest could be for sale within a year.

Registered Nurse Georgann Carrubba created a product that could improve the quality of life for the more than 800,000 Americans who use ostomy pouches after surgeries. The Choice Cap System and Nurse Carrubba went before a panel of judges at the Rochester Venture Challenge and won the $25,000 grand prize.

The cap system is a double-flanged wafer that a patient could then connect to either a traditional pouch, a light-weight, air-tight and waterproof cap; or a smaller pouch stored in the cap.

Genesee Community College Director of Nursing Kathleen Palumbo said, “Put yourself in the place of these patients — having a bag on your abdomen that fills with stool, that sometimes smells. Even going to the grocery store, a restaurant, never mind swimming, playing golf, tennis or anything like that. Some of these people become virtual shut-ins, they become afraid, embarrassed.”

The Choice Cap is meant to add a more secure and less obtrusive option that will work and cost the same as the traditional systems. Carrubba said users can be more comfortable in public, in activities and in intimate situations.

“One of the biggest struggles patients had was changing their lifestyle to accommodate a pouch,” Carrubba said. “This is going to bring them back to doing the activities they’ve avoided or feared.”

A Nurse named Sister Jean Ward invented neonatal phototherapy in the 1950's. She was in charge of the Premature Unit at Rochford General Hospital in Essex, England and realized that sunlight reduced jaundice in newborns and premature infants. This discovery led to phototherapy, which probably is the most common clinical treatment applied to newborn infants.

Anita Dorr, RN invented the first crash cart in 1968. According to workingnurse.com, while working in the emergency department she became concerned about how long it took the staff to round up all the equipment needed to treat a critically ill patient. With her staff, she compiled a list of items that would be needed in any type of emergency.

Anita and her husband John measured everything and built a red-painted wood prototype in their basement. The original cart had a laminate top and included wheels for quick movement to the bedside. Everyone called it the crisis cart.

Nurse Adda May Allen worked at Columbia Hospital in Washington, D.C. in the 1940s. Allen realized it was exhausting for babies to nurse on bottles so she created a disposable liner that moms and hospitals could throw away after just one use. While a baby sucked on a traditional bottle, a partial vacuum formed, inverting the nipple. A plastic liner, however, allowed the sides to close in as a baby drank her milk.

In 1985, Nurse Teri Barton-Salinas wanted to make IV lines different colors to reduce medical errors. Barton-Salinas got the idea when she was working as a labor delivery Nurse and had to use the lines in newborns.

According to dailyrepublic.com, it remained only an idea until 2003 when she and her sister, Gail Barton-Hay, got what they call ColorSafe IV Lines patented. Now, with the help of retired California Highway Patrol officer Royce Brooks, who runs Creative Safety Solutions, the two nurses hope to make hospitals and medical centers safer with their invention.

We hope you are inspired by these creative Nurses and the improvements they contributed to the medical community. Do you have an idea to make things better for you and your patients? If so, how about acting on it? We’d love to hear about it!