Most of us enter nursing with a noble mission of serving and caring for others. You may have experienced the illness of a loved one during your childhood or had family members that were in healthcare that influenced your decision to join nursing. You may have experienced health crisis or circumstances in which you received […]

Guest Writer: Donna Elrod, PhD, RN, Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Executive Director of Clinical Programs, Institute for Digital Health and Innovation What if your patient complained of pain, you brought the pain medication to the patient and as you administered it, documenting their current pain score, you said to them, “In about 30 minutes, you […]

Hello from Atlanta, GA! A team of UAMS RNs has been at the ANCC Magnet Conference this week, and we have enjoyed representing all of Team UAMS here! The ANCC Magnet conference is the largest annual nursing conference (over 13,000 RNs this year!) with hundreds of organizations represented, both Magnet-designated and those on the journey […]

It’s that time again – time for Annual Performance Evaluations! Evaluation of our practice and performance is a hallmark sign of the autonomy and accountability we have for our professional practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) notes that annual evaluations should consist of a self-evaluation, a manager performance evaluation, a peer evaluation, and documentation […]

Shared governance, the engagement of frontline nurses in the decisions that impact the work environment and patient care, is a critical component of nursing excellence. Involving frontline workers in the decisions that impact their work started in the automotive industry and is definitively recognized as the best methodology to enhance the work environment and improve […]

In 2011, the Institute of Medicine released a report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, which outlined how nursing roles, education, and responsibilities needed to change in order to meet the complex needs of patients and address the ever-evolving world of healthcare. They challenged healthcare organizations to create structures to support three major […]

I recently had the honor of receiving the Mary Helen Forrest Legacy in Nursing award at the UAMS Awards of Excellence (a total shock, considering I had only found out I was a nominee the day before the ceremony). I stood among other nurses who have spent their careers pouring out their knowledge, skills, expertise, […]

Besides a heart to serve and the knowledge and skill learned for specific conditions and patient populations, nurses use an enormous number of things in the provision of care –tools, medical equipment, healthcare supplies, assessment scales, monitoring devices, and others. Every single device or supply, or psychometric tool was designed by someone who recognized the […]

One of the most exciting and important parts of a project is getting to share and celebrate the outcomes through the dissemination of information in written publications, outcome posters, and podium presentations at conferences. However, dissemination of information is often overlooked as a key component of the project. I would venture that so much energy […]

In 2011, the Institute of Medicine (IOM, now National Academy of Medicine) published a key report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, in which they called on the profession of nursing to advance our education and expand our professional practice in order for the “health system [to] reap the full benefit of nurses’ […]