June 28th, 2010 by Emergiblog in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: American Nurses Association, ANA, Chief Nurse Officer, Definition Of Nursing, Knowledge Base for Nursing Practice, Non-Endorsement, Nursing Organization, Office Of The National Nurse, Reluctance To Endorse, Social Policy Statement, The National Nurse Act, U.S. Public Health Service
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To the American Nurses Association,
I am a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and a dedicated supporter of HR 4601 The National Nurse Act. For the life of me, I cannot understand ANA’s reluctance to endorse the National Nurse Act. The infrastructure already exists, in fact the position already exists. The Act seeks to have the Chief Nursing Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service designated as the National Nurse.
There is nothing political about this –- the nominating procedure for the position does not change. It is not a presidential appointment, nor is it a Cabinet position. And it costs nothing to implement -– it’s already funded. It takes no resources away from other nursing initiatives and competes with no other nursing organization. But more importantly, it gives the public a visible nurse leader as our healthcare delivery system transitions to one that focuses on health and the prevention of disease.
And yet, the ANA doesn’t endorse the Chief Nurse Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service being known as the National Nurse. Why? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
June 28th, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Doctor-Patient Communication, Dr. Matt Handley, General Medicine, Group Health, Home-Based Healthcare, Patient-Centered Medical Home, PCMH
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Probably not yet. I think everyone would agree that Group Health of Seattle probably has a pretty good “take” on issues dealing with primary care redesign and the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). That’s why I surprised by a recent comment on a Group Health blog from by Matt Handley, M.D., in response to an earlier post here about patient question-asking. Dr. Handley is an Associate Medical Director for Quality and Informatics at Group Health.
Dr. Handley writes:
“While doctors often take pride in how open they are to patient questions, our self assessment doesn’t match up very well with empirical evidence. A recent post on Mind the Gap summarizes a small study that is relatively terrifying to me –- the take home is that doctors spend very little time explaining their recommendations, and that patients rarely ask questions.”
I picked up the phone and talked with Dr. Handley about his comments and work being done on PCMH at Group Health. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
June 27th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Association Vs. Causation, Cancer Risk, Cause-And-Effect, CNN, Coffee, Evidence, Gary Schwitzer, Health News Consumers, HealthNewsReview.org, Inappropriate Use of Terminology, Language, Media Coverage, Media Inaccuracy, Misinterpretation, Misinterpreted Observational Studies, Online User Comments, Science And The Media, WebMD
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People aren’t dumb. Even if — or maybe especially if — news stories don’t point out the limitations of observational studies and the fact that they can’t establish cause-and-effect, many readers seem to get it.
Here are some of the online user comments in response to a CNN.com story that is headlined, “Coffee may cut risk for some cancers“:
* “I love how an article starts with something positive and then slowly becomes a little gloomy. So is it good or not? I’m still where I was with coffee, it’s all in moderation, it ain’t gonna solve your health woes.”
* “The statistics book in a class I’m taking uses coffee as an example of statistics run amuck. It seems coffee has caused all the cancers and cures them at the same time.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
June 27th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Blood-Thinning, Cancer Treatment, Cardiology, Dangerous Dose, Early Detection of Cancer, Effective Dose, Internet Forums, Narrow Therapeutic Window, Oncology, Online Health Conversations, Patients in the Internet, Pharmacology, Social Networking, Warfarin
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In cancer treatment, detection of a tumor in an early stage markedly increases the chance of favorable outcomes.
Can the much-aligned blood thinner, warfarin, occasionally help in early detection of cancer?
Few pharmacologic agents receive more bad press than warfarin. Stories, which are too numerous to count, like “Did warfarin kill my father,” can be widely found on Internet forums, search engines, and are often quoted by reluctant patients — whose numerator of bad warfarin experiences is one.
It is true that warfarin has a narrow therapeutic window — a small difference between an effective dose and dangerous dose. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
June 26th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Book Reviews, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Cheryl Alkon, Endocrinology, Gestational Diabetes, Healthy Baby, Healthy Mom, Moms-To-Be, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pre-Existing Diabetes, Prediabetes, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Six Until Me, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Women's Health
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For anyone who has been reading my blog since my engagement three years ago, you know that motherhood has been on my radar for a long time. Longer than marriage. That quest for a decent A1C, that desire for a “normal” pregnancy, and that hope for a happy and healthy baby.
Part of the reason I wanted to write about my pregnancy here on SUM is because there wasn’t a lot of information out there about pre-existing diabetes and pregnancy. There was a LOT of information on gestational diabetes (obviously), and type 2 diabetes got some good press, but type 1 diabetes was sort of swept under the rug. Thankfully, there were a few diabetes bloggers who had chronicled their journeys, and I wanted to add my voice to that hopeful chorus.
But also thankfully, Cheryl Alkon had taken the topic to her publisher, and she penned the first book on managing pre-existing diabetes and pregnancy. And I’m very honored to have been both featured in her book (as a woman preparing for pregnancy) and to have her contributing here on Six Until Me (SUM). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
