<span itemprop="author">Rachel Basham, RN, CCRN

Author's posts

How do we explain the unexplainable? Are there words for the things we’ve experienced?

I’m usually good with words. The last year and a half of being a “front line nurse” has left me struggling to find the words. The frustration, anger, trauma, and sadness have so muddied my mind that I find it hard to sort through all of the complexitie…

Our health system is stealing a free ride on the broken backs of the nurses

Nursing has always been my passion. The idea of spending hours at a patient’s bedside, putting in blood, sweat, and tears to save a life. Now that is living! I was made to be a nurse. I’m not afraid of hard work. I have worked 13 consecutive hours with…

A great nurse shares their knowledge and does not judge

As a new nurse, I was constantly overwhelmed.  I had spent four years of my life learning how to become a nurse, and then here I was, being “a nurse” and wondering all the time whether I was even any good at it. My heart was in it. But every moment of …

Nurses are sick of being treated like hotel workers

“Compassion fatigue” is a phrase thrown around easily when talking about the health care professions. It is often spoken in the same breath as “burnout” and “turnover” while discussing the crisis of a diminishing wor…