I lived in a nursing dormitory while I attended a three year nursing school in the Midwest. I won’t tell you what state it was in because I don’t want to incriminate anyone. Every resident was expected to follow the dormitory rules. The number one rule was that no man could step foot in the inner sanctum of the dormitory. That meant that no males could go past the housemother’s desk. Suitors and other male visitors were only allowed to visit in the parlor under the watchful eye of the housemother. She was a tough chaperon. There was to be no hanky panky when young men came calling. Few males were ever allowed past the housemother’s desk. Exceptions were made when a girl needed help carrying heavy objects, like suitcases, up the staircase. The housemother walked the gentleman up the steps and yelled, “MAN ON THE FLOOR” when they reached the top of the staircase. Then she escorted him to the girl’s room, and then back down the steps again. In three years my father and my brother were the only men who ever saw the inside of my room.

We weren’t angels. Sometimes we broke the rules when the housemother wasn’t looking. On one occasion a young man made it all the way up into a girl’s room. He crawled in a third story window via the fire escape on a dark and snowy night. The boy was half way up the fire escape when he slipped on a patch of ice. He started to fall and then, from out of no where, a beam of light guided him up the rest of the steps. A hospital security guard who was watching the escapade switched on his flashlight when the boy slipped. He told the young suitor to get out of his girlfriend’s room before the housemother woke up in the morning.

Maybe that’s why those three nursing students are smiling. There’s a man under their bed.

Giving report to the next shift is an art and it can take years to acquire the proper technique. Giving report requires good communication skills, diplomacy, and a sense of humor. Unit comedians deliver the best report. They use their witty sense of humor to keep the listeners’ attention. Diplomacy is essential. You can’t tell it from this picture, but things get really loud in the report room. Nurses eat and drink during report. They also gossip while you are trying to talk, and professionalism dictates that you cannot tell chattering nurses to “shut the hell up.” Then there’s the blame game. People get steamed when the off going shift passes things off to the next shift. This is known as dumping. Things get contentious when there is even a hint of dumping. Chill out people. Nursing is 24-7, but here’s a word of warning: God help the nurse who continually passes his or her work off to the next shift. Nurses are brutal.

I hope the teacher in this picture gave her students a heads up about the realities of nursing report. Things look too calm and orderly. This picture was staged.

Here’s the scoop: Stay tuned to the Better Health blog for more information about HIMSS coverage… Or meet Dr. Val at HIMSS during her “Meet The Bloggers” panel discussion.

Your social media guide to HIMSS:

1. Watch live interviews of exhibitors, conducted by physicians on UStream. Tune in to Dr. Val’s UStream coverage (beginning at 9:30am each morning at HIMSS, March 1, 2, and 3rd). Click here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-from-himss-what-s-hot-in-health-it

2. Participate in real time via Twitter. Follow @drval and tweet your questions to her during the interviews. She may ask the interviewees YOUR questions LIVE. To follow Dr. Val, go to: http://www.twitter.com/drval or follow the Twitter hashtag #HIMSS10 during the event to see tweets from UStream attendees and others.

3. Meet the bloggers at HIMSS. There will be a special panel discussion with Dr. Val and other popular health IT bloggers scheduled in the HIMSS Social Media Center. Check here for times: http://www.himssconference.org/education/socialmedia.aspx

4. Watch Dr. Val Reporting from HIMSS on ABC News (DC only): Tune in to News Channel 8 at 10:50am, Wednesday March 3rd to get Dr. Val’s take on the hottest technology presented at HIMSS. Dr. Val will join ABC News’ Dave Lucas via Skype.

5. Follow the Better Health blog team. Better Health contributors – nurses, doctors, and health writers – will offer feedback via their blogs on HIMSS events, speakers, and exhibitors. You’ll see their blog posts on their individual blogs and also at Better Health. Flip cam clips of HIMSS events (captured by one of the Better Health MDs at HIMSS) will be featured as well.

6. Blog Talk Radio: HIMSS Wrap Up With Dr. Val and Dr. Anonymous. Tune in to the Dr. Anonymous show at 8pm ET, Wednesday, March 3rd to hear final impressions about the show. Call in to discuss the event with hosts, or join the chat room. Find the show here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoranonymous

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Better Health’s UStream interviewee line up will be published on the Better Health blog on Friday, February 26th. Requests for interview are scheduled by Dr. Val Jones through the HIMSS media list – which is distributed to exhibitors at HIMSS. Most interview slots have already been booked, availability is limited.

People go through three phases when a snowstorm starts bearing down. The first phase is giddiness. I saw at lot of people become gleeful when the first snowflakes started hitting the sidewalk. They became delusional and said things like, “Look at the snow. It’s so beautiful!” People, snow is NOT beautiful. It is wet and cold. No one enjoys digging their car out from a five-foot snowdrift. The next phase of a snowstorm involves a strange survival instinct that compels people to rush to their local grocery store and buy copious amounts of milk, toilet paper, and comfort food like corn chips. I’ve never been about to understand this phenomenon, but I’m sure that grocery store chains love it. Panic in the air indicates that people are entering into the final phase of their snowstorm response. The snowstorm is in full gear and everyone wants to leave work and go home. The walls start closing in, and those with a lesser constitution make a break for the door. I understand that some people can’t deal with their claustrophobia, but please don’t yell, “You can reach me on my Blackberry,” as you run out the door. That’s just makes you look pathetic.

Trust me, it’s no fun getting stuck at work. Here are some snowstorm survival tips that I’ve learned over the years:

Pack a big suitcase, and bring in laundry detergent in case you run out of clean clothes.

Bring your pillows and blankets from home. Some hospitals expect stranded healthcare workers to sleep on army cots. Sleeping with comfy cozy items will make the experience more bearable.

Pack your cell phone charger. I packed my iPhone charger and someone was always using it.

Bring cash! Not every hospital gives free food to their staff, and don’t forget to bring change for the vending machines.

Pack comfort foods like corn chips. Hopefully your hospital won’t run out of toilet paper.

Nurse Hamaguchi was born in Long Beach, California, and lived in Los Angeles and Redondo Beach. She completed two years at Los Angeles City College majoring in pre-nursing. She then completed her nursing education at Los Angeles General Hospital. Her ambition was to become a public health nurse. She told Ansel Adams, the famous photographer who took her picture, that she was interested in human beings. She enjoyed bridge, tennis, horseback riding, and reading. Then, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese Americans were uprooted from their homes and sent from Los Angeles to Manzanar relocation center in northeastern California. Adams met Nurse Hamaguchi at Manzanor. She told him, “Only after evacuation have I come to realize the false sense of security I enjoyed prior to the war.” Eventually, thousands of Japanese Americans were forced into ten relocation centers in Califonia, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas.

Fast forward to the 21st Century. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) announced to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he believes in racial and ethnic profiling. He’s not alone. A new Gallup World Religion Survey found that Muslims face more bias in the United States compared to other religions. According to the survey, Americans are more than twice as likely to express prejudice against Muslims than they are against Christians, Jews or Buddhists, and nearly two-thirds of Americans say they have little or no knowledge of Islam. Still, just like Sen. Inhofe, a majority of Americans dislike the Muslim faith. I understand why this is happening, but racial and ethnic profiling is morally wrong. It hurts innocent people, and it won’t keep us safe. U.S. Muslims who feel alienated are more vulnerable to radical ideas.

Nurse Hamaguchi was viewed as a potential terrorist in 1943. Look at her again. Her ghost haunts us. I hope our country can learn the lessons from the past.

Personally, I’m really happy with my job, but I’m thinking about doing something wild and crazy for the new year. Did you know that there are job opportunities overseas for American nurses? I’m thinking about transferring to a hospital in Europe for a couple of years. I’ve never been out of the United States before, and I’m not getting any younger. Seriously, I think it’s now or never. Time to get a passport before I change my mind. I’ll keep you posted.