The polls are now open in the Sixth Annual Medical Weblog Awards.
Gary Schwitzer’s HealthNewsReview Blog
Musings of a Distractible Mind
Please vote here… Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
I entered the wonderful world of blogging in 2006, full of enthusiasm and wide-eyed innocence. I still have the enthusiasm, but the naivety is fading fast.
Over the years I’ve seen so many scams and dishonest “partnership” propositions that I’m beginning to wonder if the Internet is an exceptionally seedy place. The medbloggers I know are genuine, caring people – and that’s probably why they are regularly targeted by unscrupulous people trying to make a buck off blogger credibility.
Take for example an online salesman who contacted me recently. He began the conversation with, “Better Health has such great content. My online network has 5 million unique viewers per month and we’re looking for more high-quality content, so would you like to talk about a content partnership opportunity?”
Silly me, assuming that he meant he’d like to syndicate our content and understood the value of good writing. Here’s how the conversation actually went: Read more »
I have a lot of friends in Boston this week who are attending the annual meeting for the American Academy of Family Physicians (ie – Congress of Delegates or AAFP CoD). And, they may not be too happy with what they read in this post, but here goes.
As some of you know, I’m scheduled to present at BlogWorld Expo (BWE) later this week in Las Vegas. I’m going to be moderating a panel about how patient privacy and the HIPPA law can impact blogging, podcasting, and interacting with social networking. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
I’ve received some emails from nurses who would like to start a blog. Some are a bit nervous about starting, others are not sure how to begin. There are a million sites out there on how to start a blog; in fact, I wrote a post specifically on how to be a “nurse blogtitioner”.
But their emails got me thinking about the blogosphere in general and the most important considerations in starting/maintaining a blog.
1. The blogsosphere can never be saturated.
Think you have nothing to add to the dialog? Think that everything about your topic has been said? Think again. If you aren’t blogging there is still a voice that needs to be heard. What exactly do you bring to the discussion? You! No one has had your experiences or can express your opinions. More importantly, no one else can bring your voice. And unlike a meeting or an email, there are no time limits or physical boundaries to the blogosphere. There is room for everybody, and that means you!
2. The heart of the blogosphere is interactivity.
If you read blogs, you probably leave comments. Comments are the soul of the blogosphere. With them, the blogosphere is a conversation. Without them, the blogosphere is simply a virtual collection of “articles”. By starting a blog, you bring the dialog to your “home turf”, so-to-speak. You are the host/hostess of a virtual “salon”, providing information on your sphere of expertise, initiating the debate and most importantly, learning from those who comment on your posts.
3. The blogosphere is the great equalizer.
There is no hierarchy of blogs. Don’t confuse size with importance. Some blogs may have a million readers a day and some may have ten, but in the blogosphere, no one is “better” than anyone else. Your blog, with that first post, is just as important and just as relevant as anything you see on “Instapundit” or the “Huffington Post”. It’s unique and cannot be replicated, because it is based on your outlook and experiences.
Here are some things to keep in mind as you start your blog:
1. Content is King
Maybe you look at the blogs with the sidebars and the graphics and the ads and the widgets and think, “Man, I don’t know how to do all that!”. You don’t have to do all that! All you have to do is start posting. One post. Later, if you want, you can add a blogroll or a few widgets. But the way to start is to begin writing, and keep writing. People will come for your content. Everything else takes a back seat to that.
2. Promotion, Ur Doin’ it Right
You’ve just put up your first post. A few folks might stumble on your site by accident, but you need to get out the word that you’re on the web. This is where you start promoting your blog. The best way to do this is find a carnival for your niche and submit a post. For those of us in the medblogging community, examples would be Grand Rounds, Change of Shift, Patients for a Moment and The Handover. Make your url part of every email signature and blog comment you send. Write it, and they will come…but they need to know you’re there.
3. Prolific Perfection…Not
Blogging can be addicting, and in a good way. It can be challenging, therapeutic, frustrating, and energizing – all in one post! But…you do not have to be the “perfect” writer. Just find your style and run with it. And while consistent posting makes it easier for readers to find your blog, you control your posting schedule. “Prolific” is what you say it is, be it once a week or once a day. But know this: the more you write, the easier it becomes to write; the more you are interacting with the blogosphere, the more inspiration you will find and the more you will want to write. It’s the blogosphere “circle of life”!
So…if you ask me, should I blog?
I’ll say YES!!!!
Been there, still doing that, and if I can do it, you can do it.
It will clarify your outlook.
It will recharge your batteries.
It will change your life.
Really, the bottom line?
You’ll never know unless you write…
That first post.
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
I love the Internet. It has a way of bringing people closer together. I saw Governor Howard Dean at a town hall meeting in Washington D.C earlier this month. He’s a dynamic speaker. I wanted to ask him some questions, but the place was packed, so I couldn’t get close to him. Not to be deterred, I emailed Governor Dean in hopes of getting a response to a couple of my questions. He not only responded to my email, he agreed to an interview for my blog. See, the Internet really can bring people closer together. I want to thank Governor Dean for stopping by Nurse Ratched’s Place to talk about healthcare reform.
Question: What is your take on the state of our healthcare system? What do you envision for our system, and how do we get there from here? Can America really afford a public option plan?
Answer: Our system is in disarray. We need a system in which the American consumer has real choices, including allowing people under 65 to sign up for Medicare, which is what the public option will look like. That way people can get affordable insurance which can never be taken away, which can’t be denied, and which will follow them through every job, every loss of job, and every move. We can’t afford NOT to have a public option.
Question: How flexible is the public option: will a person be able to move between the public option and private options as their needs and circumstances change?
Answer: People will be able to move back and forth between the public option and private insurance plans as they see fit, up to once a year.
Question: Given your unique perspective as a physician, can you tell us one aspect of the public option that you like and one aspect that you might not be happy with?
Answer: As a physician I would sign up for the public option at once if it is cheaper than what I have now. I would definitely sign my twenty something kids up; it would give them insurance for life at a reasonable cost no matter what they were doing and where they were living.
Question: One of my nursing coworkers wanted me to ask you this question. How will healthcare reform impact nursing workforce issues? Will we see mandated caps on salaries, and how will healthcare reform impact nurse to patient ratios?
Answer: Workforce issues are not addressed in any of the health care options being discussed in Congress. Most Democrats I know favor nurse/patient staff ratios to protect quality of care.
Question: Preventative healthcare is a key component in the healthcare reform debate. What are your thoughts on a proposal that would make the Chief Nurse Officer of the United States Public Health Service the National Nurse? In your opinion, would establishing the Office of the National Nurse have any impact on health promotion or on healthcare reform?
Answer: As a lot of people know, I am a huge supporter of the Office of National Nurse, and since Congress has been slow to act, I am hoping some changes can be made directly by HHS while we await more complete action by Congress.
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
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