Jurisprudence (Nursing Law ) Seminars

I am going to be speaking at the San Antonio Advance for Nurses Job Fair. I am thrilled to be able to speak before the nurses attending the job fair, but I find these frustrating because I only have an hour and there is SO MUCH I want to tell nurses. When I give seminars, I spend 6-8 hours cramming in all the information nurses need to know (not dry, I include lots of humor and interesting facts to keep you interested).

I have been asked when are my next seminars. The problem is that too many of you are getting your CUEs online or by mail and the demand for speakers to give in person seminars has diminished. I am looking for a seminar company that is still providing in person seminars and occasionally, hospitals hire me to come speak to their nurses, but so far no seminars are scheduled. I am finishing up my book and looking for a publisher, so that may be the only way to get all the information out to nurses. Thanks for all your inquiries.

Careful Advance Practice Nurses

I just heard from another APN that was about to accept a position and was relying upon the assurances of the agency/employer that was offering the position and the assurances were incorrect. It is your license, so you have to know the laws and requirements for practice. Do not rely upon someone else's assurances. Also, be sure that you check all paperwork because if there is an error, you are the one in trouble.

APNs tend to get in trouble over paperwork issues, not patient care issues. It is extremely heartbreaking to have a nurse in trouble for signing a paper they did not review closely or for following the recommendations of an administrator at an agency.

Watch out when renewing your license

Be sure to watch for when it is getting close to your renewal period for renewing your license. The Board is getting fingerprints on every licensed nurse that has not already submitted fingerprints and they are also conducting CEU audits. So, if you wait until a couple of weeks prior to the end of your renewal period, you might find yourself without an active license to practice with. And do not be fooled by the Board's wording about "delinquent" licenses, if you do not have an active license, you can not work as a nurse. There is no grace period while your license is delinquent.

So, play it safe and renew 2 months prior to the end of your renewal period.

Laugh a Little

Here is a little humor for the day:

Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he! didn't need my help to leave the hospital.
After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator.
On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him.
"I don't know," he said. "She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown."