Navigating the Gray Areas: When Symptoms Don’t Fit the Textbook
Real Life Isn’t Always a Case Study When I was in nursing school, I spent a lot of time studying symptoms and patterns. Chest pain meant you need to rule out a heart attack. A high blood sugar reading meant you talked about diabetes. A sore throat means you swab for strep or covid. These […]
From Blood Pressure Checks to Big Picture Care: How Routine Visits Add Up
Learning to See the Whole Picture As I first start working as a nurse in an outpatient internal medicine clinic, I’ll admit some days feel repetitive. Another round of vitals. Another vaccination. Another follow-up for a patient I saw just a few weeks ago. I don’t mind it, but at the very beginning, I didn’t […]
Chronic Doesn’t Mean Hopeless: Supporting Patients Through Long-Term Conditions
Learning to See the Person, Not Just the Problem One of the first things I learned in outpatient internal medicine is that chronic illness is never just about lab results. Behind every A1C level or blood pressure reading is a real person with a complicated life. And the longer I do this work, the more […]
From Triage to Trust: Building Patient Relationships in Primary Care Nursing
First Impressions in Primary Care When I started working in an adult internal medicine clinic, I thought the biggest challenge would be keeping up with the pace—charting, lab reviews, and managing the revolving door of short appointments. But it didn’t take long to realize that while the medical side was busy, the real work happened […]
From Hobbyist Photographer to Nurse: Seeing Healthcare Through a Different Lens
When I tell people I’m a nurse who loves photography, I often get a curious look. At first glance, those two things might seem worlds apart—one is a science-driven, fast-paced profession focused on patient care, and the other is an artistic hobby about capturing moments. But for me, photography and nursing aren’t separate at all. […]
Self-Care for New Nurses: Finding Your Own Rhythm in a Fast-Paced Career
Starting out as a new nurse can feel like jumping into a hurricane. There’s the constant buzz of alarms, the rush to answer call lights, the whirlwind of tasks—and in the middle of it all, you’re expected to be calm, cool, and competent. When I first graduated and stepped onto the floor, I quickly realized […]
Crisis at the Bedside: What I Learned from Volunteering with Stop the Crisis Philly
When I first got involved with Stop the Crisis Philly, I didn’t really understand how big of an impact it would have on me—not just as a student, but as a future nurse. The organization, which aimed to combat the opioid crisis through community outreach and Narcan training, was one of the most hands-on, eye-opening […]
Nursing with a Lens: How Photography Helps Me See My Patients More Clearly
Long before I ever considered becoming a nurse, I was drawn to photography. I picked up a camera as a teenager, mostly to capture the places I traveled with my family and the way the light hit the lake near our home in North Jersey. I didn’t think of it as anything more than a […]