May 12th is International Nurses Day!

May 12, 2024    |   ,

National Nurses Week runs May 6th through May 12th. The celebratory week culminates on Florence Nightingale’s birthday. May 12th is recognized as International Nurses Day by the International Council of Nurses. This year marks the 30th year of celebrating National Nurses Week.

I have been a nurse for 24 years this June. I still remember the day I took my NCLEX exam. I also remember my first job as a nurse tech, as a new graduate registered nurse, as a travel nurse, and every other nursing role that has led me to where I am today.

I believe that the education, training, preparation and experience of becoming and being a nurse prepares you with the ability to not only assess someone but also something. Your nursing knowledge, skills, and abilities are necessary not just in your day to day work but in your life as well.

Additionally, being a nurse holds so many opportunities for you. Whether you opt to change direct care areas of focus, choose to travel, choose to pursue an advanced practice role, choose leadership, education, informatics, or any other role, there is that possibility for you to explore.

Nursing as a profession has a long history of evolving and advancing through the determination, intelligence, and forward thinking nature of other nurses.

Today in 2024, we continue to extend the boundaries of where nurses can and do have an impact on the delivery of quality care to others.

You may be inspired by Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole, Clara Barton, Anita Dorr, Mary Mahoney, or any other nurse in the world who has advocated for better.

Now consider that someone may be inspired by you and your nursing abilities, your role, your education, your accomplishments and/or any other characteristic or attribute that differentiates you from the nurse next to you.

Happy International Nurses Day to you! May you have a year that provides you with continued inspiration and meaningful moments as a nurse.

~ Dr. Kelley

It is all about the process.

May 06, 2015    |   , , , , ,

I am a nurse, an informaticist, and at times, I am also a patient. Last summer, I made an appointment for a vision exam. I was getting into my car to drive to the office when I noticed I had a voice mail. The voice mail was from the office letting someone else know that her glasses were in and she could come pick them up. I thought, ‘well that is strange, I’ll have to let them know when I get there that they called the wrong number’. What I should have done was call right back. Had I called back, I would have found out that my appointment needed to be rescheduled due to a malfunction with the equipment that day. (Instead, I drove to the office and found out in person). Although, had I called when I got the voicemail, I wouldn’t have identified the informatics challenge I saw upon arrival to the office. Read more

The Opportunity to Use Technology to Effectively Engage Family & Friends

May 06, 2015    |   , , , , ,

Promoting patient-provider relationships and patient engagement in one’s own health care delivery are two topics that often come up for current discussion. I believe both are necessary for quality patient health outcomes. However, establishing a patient-provider relationship and engaging the patient are both areas that require continuous efforts from the providers and the patients. We as health care professionals are responsible for educating patients and their families about the patient’s health condition. Yet, the patient (and family) is also responsible for ensuring an understanding of his or her health condition, as well as asking questions to clarify the disseminated information. Read more

“Where’s my sheet?!”
Introducing Know My Patient™

May 06, 2015    |   , , , , , , , ,

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“Where’s my sheet?!”

Nurses, you know the sheet I’m referring to…you also know the feeling of panic that rushes over you when you can’t find it. “Where did I leave it? I need that to know my patients!” This sheet is a piece of paper that is the nurses’ daily lifeline to knowing their patients.

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I have an idea.

May 06, 2015    |   , , , , , , , ,

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Hopefully that sentence resonates with you. Everyone has ideas that come to us – all of a sudden – and usually when we are faced with a challenge. Ideas are important because they are the currency for innovating – for developing new solutions to existing problems. Without ideas we would be limited in creativity, change, and improvements in our lives. In health care, ideas have led to new solutions that transform the way we collect, communicate, exchange, analyze, and evaluate information. Yet, we need more ideas that lead to new solutions that can even further improve the structure, process, and outcomes of quality health care delivery.

A few months ago, I was invited to guest lecture to graduate nursing students at Northeastern University about innovation. I asked each student to formulate a problem that they see each day while working and bring it to class. During class we identified each problem and then I asked each nursing student to formulate a potential solution. Every student had a very real problem they are faced with each day at work – some were more complex than others – but we were able to form solutions that were reasonable and achievable with the right support, enthusiasm, and guidance. The nursing students felt empowered to work to address the identified problems. I hope that they did follow up and begin the process toward improving the desired outcomes.

I offer this scenario to encourage others to develop their ideas and foster further innovation in health care. Each day I see new problems that need to be solved. This blog, Know My Voice™ started as an idea. I wanted a way to share my informatics perspective, or voice, with a larger and broader audience than I could physically reach in the same amount of time. I look forward to seeing the future developments and impact of Know My Voice™ over time.