A new study published in the Lancet has questioned the practice of using oral sucrose to relieve procedural pain in newborn infants. This is a practice that is common use in many hospitals (and I wrote about it recently here).
In this double-blind, randomised controlled trial of 59 newborn infants, a heel lance was performed to [...]

I have been thinking about my own use of humour quite a bit since a very short post I made a little while back blew up in my face.  There is no doubt in my mind that the use of humour is one of the more powerful tools on my belt, and like all power-tools [...]

In an article from the Journal of Advanced Nursing (2008), May McCreaddie and Sally Wiggins performed a comprehensive literature search and review of the use of humour in the nursing profession.
Their conclusion?
Nursing and nurses, have thus far had a perfunctory, token and somewhat fleeting association with humour research. Somewhat paradoxically, they have failed to [...]

I was looking after this young man with pneumonia today. At one point he waved me over to him.
“Doctor”, he mumbled from behind his oxygen mask..”are my testicles black?”
“Actually”, I corrected him, “I’m a nurse. Just relax and concentrate on your breathing”.
He wriggled around in the bed for a moment before [...]

It is well recognized that doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals are exposed to high levels of stress. Combined with a requirement to perform at a high level, for long hours through a roster of flip-flopping night shifts, it is no wonder that for some it may be a easy slip into a reliance on [...]

Spotted hanging on the door of our unit manager.
A bag full of old scrubs…

…so true.
So many great stories, from a bag full of totally amazing people.

And if you haven’t yet done so, you might like to examine my back passage…

We occasionally have patients or their relatives complain that the nurses seem far too jovial.
That we are laughing and joking around during the shift, displaying total insensitivity to the suffering of those patients around us.
Let me say [...]

The Sydney Morning Herald reports on the effects on morale of Sydney paramedics due to winter overcrowding within emergency departments:
“AMBULANCE crews are being forced to care for a soaring backlog of patients in hospital loading areas and corridors because overcrowded emergency departments cannot take over.”
Health department statistics obtained by the paper paint a [...]

Nurses. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.
But on July 15th, you have the chance to thank a nurse you admire.
Buy a small card and take a moment to write a message acknowledging their awesomeness.
Perhaps for their clinical support, or  for a particular incident that stands out in your memory, or perhaps just because they [...]

Every three months, my dog and I must engage in an inter-species struggle almost as old as the very bond between man and his best friend.
Our vet sends us wee letter to remind me of the impending conflict:
Dear Ian,
Our records show that Smudge is now due for his worming tablet….
And there [...]