Ever wonder what (if anything) the academics are saying about nurse bloggers?
Searching for nursing content on the Internet, I came across this:

Schloman, B. (October 20, 2006). Information Resources Column: “Is it Time to Visit the Blogosphere?” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Available: www.nursingworld.org/ojin/infocol/info_21.htm

Shloman discusses blogs in general, how to find them, how to publish them. She mentions codeblog.com and a couple of doctor’s blogs. Interestingly enough she misses the boat on Change of Shift and Grand Rounds. She does however, conclude on this somewhat positive note:

“Although many of us may be thinking we really do not need yet one more communication channel, blogs are worth keeping in mind as an option that may serve a particular need very well. The potential currency of posts, the possibility of encouraging interactive discussion, and a means to share file types other than text may provide communication opportunities not as aptly delivered by other means.”

So what are our strengths?

Have you ever tried searching for nursing books at Barnes & Noble? All they have are reference books, study guides and the ubiquitous “Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul.” Where are all the stories? Where are all the personal accounts of what it’s actually like to be a nurse?

You, as bloggers are filling that gap – you are providing the narrative. This is an invaluable service for the many who are considering a career in nursing. I’m sure you’ve seen the Johnson & Johnson ad campaign for nurses, showing nurses caring for patients, all hazy with the soft filtering to make them look angelic. What exactly does that tell you? Not much. I wish someone would have told me how much poo I would have been cleaning up. I wish someone would have told me what “a good death” means, or what it’s like to save someone from dying. All of this you can find in the nursing blogosphere.

Where are we headed?

We are definitely headed somewhere good. The academics of the nursing world are slow to catch on to new technology. Take my “nursing informatics” class. We spent the first few weeks learning how to create a word document, a spreadsheet and a powerpoint presentation. How in the heck are you going to get people interested in nursing informatics with that approach? The good thing, however is the growing number of nursing student blogs. There seems to be high ratio of nursing student blogs to actual nurse blogs. As these students become nurses, what does that mean? It means that we as a community are growing rapidly!!!

As a result of all of this (and all the free time I have had since taking maternity leave) I have started a new project: orientedX3.com. So far this is simply a blog that I am using to give you a daily digest of as many nurse blogs as possible. It’s really quite simple – I’ve subscribed to about 45 blogs and I will use these feeds to update orientedX3.com. That way you can check in from time to time to see who’s updating and how often and you might even discover some new blogs. Coming soon, I will publish the list that I subscribe too, so if you aren’t on the list, you can let me know and I will add your blog. Also on the horizon: I also hope to use news feeds to bring you nursing news.

Keep in mind this site is not meant in any way to replace or compete with Change of Shift – rather, orientedX3 is more of a daily digest – if you can’t wait for the next Change of Shift, you can simply go to orientedX3 to peruse the latest posts. I would also urge anyone who is interested to subscribe to orientedX3.com. Also keep in mind that as my due date approaches (3/27) you may see a rapid decline in ANY updates from pixelrn or orientedX3 for obvious reasons. But after I get things sorted out baby-wise, I hope to keep updating both sites on a somewhat regular basis.

And hopefully that will be sometime before he’s ready to start college and blogging has become as archaic as the walkman!!!