Scoring points with pickleball
As someone who has played pickleball, I enjoyed reading about how to care for patients and prevent injuries when playing this game ("Caring for Patients with Pickleball Injuries," Clinical Queries, April 2019). Last year, I took a course in Spanish at a local community college. As a final project, our team presented a "telecast" in Spanish. I covered sports and reported on pickleball injuries and how to prevent them. In addition, I used the cover of Nursing2019 as a prop-modified for our Spanish-speaking audience, of course.
-SHANNON E. PERRY, PhD, RN, FAAN
PHOENIX, ARIZ.
Too few hospital librarians
Thanks for publishing "Health Science Librarianship: An Opportunity for Nurses" (New Horizons, December 2019). The author did a nice job of describing the position, its requirements, and the opportunities for nurses. However, the author did not address the fact that these jobs are not always easy to find and the pay for librarians is typically low. Many hospitals don't have librarians or libraries, and many library jobs have been cut or eliminated entirely in the past couple of years. Budgets for libraries are also being cut drastically. Too many hospitals are going the route of expecting staff to help themselves when they don't have the expertise or experience to do so. The availability of a trained and experienced medical librarian is invaluable.
-COLEEN SAXE, LIBRARIAN
SSM HEALTH GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL
MT. VERNON, ILL.
Nursing: A lost art?
After reading "When Nurses Talk, Nursing Organizations Listen" (January 2020), I'd like to offer one more point: Most nurses today are "book-learned" and not trained by observing an instructor work with patients to complement classroom learning. These nurses often do not relate to patients as nurses were once trained to do.
I became a nurse 52 years ago and have never stopped being one. I use my knowledge on a daily basis. I've worked with today's nurses and find them to be knowledgeable but not really interested in the "art" of nursing.
-BETH ANN PUSEY, MSN, RN
BEAR, DEL.