Speak up to stop workplace violence
Your article, "Ten Strategies to Extinguish Potentially Explosive Behavior" (August 2011), inspired me to respond. As a nurse leader, I attempt to take every precaution to keep my caregivers safe from workplace violence.
This article lists 10 approaches to keep nurses and others safe. These are good strategies to help bring more awareness to direct care nurses. However, I was a little surprised that the article didn't encourage staff to speak up and report incidents of violence. Reporting each incident of violence to the leadership team will help them understand how much violence occurs and how often. Taking a zero-tolerance approach should be the standard, but reporting is essential to tell us if the strategies and polices for workplace violence are effective.
-MARY BERCZY, BSN, RN
Montgomery, Tex.
Join and be counted
Many nurses can now join the Harvard Medical School's Nurses Health Study 3. This influential women's health study is seeking nurses who are female between ages 22 and 45. To join the study or get more information, go to http://www.NHS3.org. Then tell your colleagues about the study!!
-MELISSA GILLILAND, RN
Mooresville, Ind.
Room for all in nursing
I'd like to add my voice to those who've written to oppose mandatory BSN degrees for nurses. Looking at this discussion, I find myself asking: What's the nursing profession afraid of? There's nothing to fear if we continue our high standards academically and ethically-not if we continue to offer care from the heart. Why aren't we confident enough in our own strengths to appreciate what other healthcare professionals have to contribute?
Nursing care becomes increasingly complex with each passing year. To give the best possible patient care, we need BSNs, ADNs, and LPNs. Instead of trying to eliminate a segment of our profession that's sorely needed, we could better use our energy to define each level and then provide the means to help those who are motivated to pursue graduate studies to provide the best possible healthcare for our patients.
-BARBARA FORD-LATTY, MA, RN
Roanoke, Va.
Call for DNPs
I totally agree with Deb Cantlin ("Nurses Must Define Nursing," Letters, July 2011), who said that "we need more master's- and PhD-prepared nurses as well as BSNs." I wish she'd also mentioned the doctorate of nursing practice (DNP), now the fastest-growing doctorate in nursing. I believe that DNPs are in the forefront of healthcare and changes that DNPs implement benefit patients and improve quality of nursing care.
-JOSEFINA I. ALEJANDRO, MA IN NURSING, BSN, RN
Gulfport, Miss.
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