When I tell nurses they have stories to tell, I can
practically see these cartoon text bubbles over their heads. Yet ideas are everywhere in
your practice. Just saying this evokes stories from my CNS and ER days: a
patient with spina bifida who figured out how to keep coming back to the
hospital because it was her only means of socialization; the 19-year-old MVA we
could not save in ICU; the father who did not make his 8-year-old daughter wear
a helmet when he took her out for a ride on his motorcycle; the man buried in a
construction accident…you get the idea.
One way to keep track of these stories is to keep a file, whether
on your computer, smart device, or on paper. When you think, “This would make a
great article,” write it down somewhere and file it. Then dedicate time in your
week or month to review those ideas and start writing.
