Nurses are tough cookies, but every now and then they need some room to vent and rant too. This list is compiled of the best nurse practitioner blogs, some other good-egg nurses’ blogs, nursing resources and news Web sites and a few surprises. These nurses aren’t grumpy; they’re just tired of listening to the rest of us complain.
Nurse Practitioner Blogs
1. The Nurse Practioner’s Place – This is a straightforward blog that deftly mixes humor with practical advice. The author blogs about everything from medical news and office etiquette to her discovery of the world’s most delicious cake.
2. What School Doesn’t Teach About Being a Nurse Practitioner – Just like the name says, this site is about giving you the nurse practitioner lowdown that school doesn’t. This includes humorous posts about dress codes, PCP, and the lady lumps that Fergie wasn’t talking about.
3. The Nervewracking Nurse Practitioner – This site tackles head-on the issues of practitioners needing physicians to practice, as well as being snubbed by insurance provider lists. The blog also offers time-saving resources, healthcare tips, and more.
4. New NP – As the name implies, this blog is about dealing with being the new NP on the block, and dealing with everything from surviving the first day on the job to dealing with patients’ tears.
5. A Nurse Practitioner’s View – This blog explores the politics of medical news, such as how tighter tobacco regulation will affect the medical world. It also offers practical medical advice as well as thoughts on the medical industry.
6. Bailey Blog – This blog offers tales by and from the Bailey family, including the civil litigation lawyer David and the nurse practitioner Michelle. This image-filled website is full of laughs for the whole family.
7. The Beast… – In the blogger’s own words, this site offers “A chronology of my husband’s treatment for multiple myeloma.” While something of a tear-jerker, this site is an amazing read.
8. A grumpyRN – This blog offers advice from a nurse practitioner with over 25 years of experience under their belt. Advice touches on topics such as patient mobility, whistle blowing, and the world of medical IT.
9. No Place For Old NP’s – This southwestern blog tackles outpatient follow-up, so-called “immaculate conceptions,” and the lifestyles of visiting patients.
10. HospiceNP – This inpatient hospice blog cuts to the chase with advice on patient restraints, prescribing controlled drugs, and dealing with patients who are also friends.
11. DukeNP99 – This family nurse practitioner’s blog deals with humorous home life topics as well as tales from the medical world.
Nurse Practitioner Industry News and Blogs
12. Nurse Practitioner Business Owner Blog – As you’d expect from the name, this blog offers advice on the business side of the nurse practitioner industry. The advice is straightforward and practical, with topics such as getting quickly credentialed as well as putting your business on the map.
13. www.npplace.com – This passionate blog examines emerging controversies in the medical community. In-between, there are helpful, entertaining posts with titles like “How Not to Choke Your Non-Compliant Patients.”
14. American Academy of Nurse Practitioners – An association specifically for the advocacy of nurse practitioners. Established in 1985, nurse practitioners turn to this organization to network and get the latest developments in nurse practitioning.
15. The Nurse Practitioner’s Place – This thorough site offers information about specific medical conditions, as well as tackling questions about doctors versus nurse practitioners, hospital acquired infections, and more.
16. NP Freebies.com – This site hosts a variety of free NP-related downloads, such as process protocol templates, practice agreements, and more.
17. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners – You can browse current or past issues of this prestigious journal, as well as submit your own manuscripts for publication.
18. Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Jobs – Like the name says, this site is all about scoring you a pediatric nurse practitioner job. There’s tips on hiring practices, job placement, and contract negotiation.
19. NP Central – A site for nurse practitioners seeking useful information on anything and everything that affects the nurse practitioner field.
Nursing Industry Goodies
20. Dear Nurses – This image-filled site offers tips on improving clinical skills and patient communication. The specialty of the site is colorful, printable PDFs to help explain the nature of various medical conditions to your patients.
21. Career Transitions and Other Nurse Topics – This site aims to be your one-stop nursing needs shop. In addition to her informative posts about the medical community, the Nurse Connect family of sites offers links to nursing jobs, educational opportunities, and a variety of nursing resources.
22. About a Nurse – This colorful site offers tips for teaching (and learning), finding (and keeping) a job, and navigating the dreaded operating room.
23. Nursing Jobs and Gossip in the Workplace – This blog offers the thoughts of a Midwestern graduate nurse. As the name implies, entries vary from finding a job, surviving it, and thriving on the great workplace gossip.
24. Clinical Cases and Images – Blog – This site offers compilations of health news, many medically-informative Youtube videos, and info on emerging medical treatments.
25. Nursing Job A Day – This Florida blog offers thoughts on critical care, medical research, infection prevention, and more.
26. NurseLeads.org – This is another great site to help you locate nursing jobs from coast to coast.
27. Nursing Law & Order – Focusing on the legal aspects of nursing, this site offers concise updates that are ideal for reading over breakfast before beginning your day.
28. Off the Charts – This American Journal of Nursing blog offers thoughts on healthcare reform, swine flu survival, and the relationship between spirituality and nursing.
29. What’s new in nursing – Another great “portal” type blog, this site offers breaking news, links to other blogs, case studies, and much more.
30. Nursing Jobs Plus – Like you’d expect from the name, this site is all about finding nursing jobs. You can search by title as well as location.
31. Nursing Research: Show me the evidence! – This thorough blog offers tips on making surgeries easier, links to great nursing literature, and surprising sources of patient infection.
32. The MedFriendly Blog – This doctor’s blog dishes on dementia, corporate medical policy, memory improvement, and more.
33. Medblogopathy – This blog deals with medical politics, tales from the office, and surviving your medical mistakes.
34. Resources for Nurses and Families – A database of essential nursing information and links for nurses and families that are in need of medical information.
Other Noteworthy Nurse Blogs
35. A Place I Call Home – This blog offers tales from “a city girl gone smalltown,” and offers thoughts on the nature of the medical world, as well as how to give yourself a well-needed break from it.
36. NeoNurseChic – Though the updates are infrequent, the sheer thorough nature of each post on this blog makes up for it. The blogger herself takes on Octo-mom ethics, surviving grad school, and even offers her own musical compositions.
37. Head Nurse – This humorous blog offers tips on surviving arrogant surgeons, Summer sinus infections, and waxes philosophic on the healing powers of Scotch.
38. Warrior Mom – This blog comes from the wisdom of a mother, professor, and nurse practitioner all rolled into one. This site has much humanity and heart, and offers hope for a better future.
39. Nurse Pickle – Offering the perspective of one who has been a nurse for just over a year, this site offers many smiles as you read her adventures of surviving the nursing world.
40. Running a Hospital – Offering a different perspective, this hospital CEO’s blog meditates on efficiency, organization, and the reduction of waiting times to see a doctor.
41. March of the Platypi – This site focuses on wacky stories about patients and townies, and proves a very entertaining read, indeed.
42. Just Up the Dose – This blog mixes family and life musings with amusing tales from the worlds of community service and medicine.
43. Drug Pusher – This bitterly amusing blogger offers tales from “the trenches in Heroin Town ER,” and offers tips on navigating medical errors, as well as patient tales ranging from horrific to hilarious (with, admittedly, some overlap).
44. The Makings of a Nurse – This blog offers thoughts on self-improvement, dealing with patients, surviving the job, and becoming a better nurse.
45. The Magical Mystery Land of Community Health – This humorous blog deals with just how much you should share with patients, amusing haikus, winning over your PCP, and more.
Nursing Community Blogs and Forums
46. Nursing Dynamics and Clinical Issues – Another great blogger in the Nurse Connect family of sites, this blog offers hopes for the future of nursing, keys to understanding patients, and other great tips for surviving daily practice.
47. Message Boards and Blogs – This provides a place for nurses can dish about every aspect of the job, and find commiseration and camaraderie in equal measure.
48. The Nursing Site Blog – Serving as a “a blog for nurses, student nurses, and those who want to become nurses,” and addresses everything from emerging medical practices to media portrayals of nurses. Just be careful of the automatically-starting music.
49. Healthcare POV – This site serves as a portal to a variety of blogs, letting you stay updated about each one with a simple click of the refresh button.
50. Nurse.com Forums – This forum offers posts ranging from whimsical to cosmically profound, and invites you to join in on the chaos.