November 25th, 2009 by MotherJonesRN in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Dear Uncle Sam:
I know it’s been a rough week. I’m sure you’re grieving the lost of life at Fort Hood just like the rest of us, but I’m compelled to write you this letter. I hope you take it in the spirit in which it is meant.
I read an article at Salon.com today that made me wonder about your judgement. Since when did you stop listening to your doctors? The article was about Dr. Kernan Manion, a psychiatrist who wanted to help troops before they went postal on military bases. Uncle Sam, Dr. Manion use to work for you at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Then he got fired. Why did you give Dr. Manion the boot for stating the obvious? He pointed out that troops at Camp Lejeune are getting bullied by superiors and dumped into an overwhelmed mental health care system when they asked for psychiatric help. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
November 18th, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Opinion
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In a comment on my last post, faithful reader and frequent commenter Anonymous asked, “How do you get a good reading on interpersonal skills in a brief interview?”
That’s a good question. I suppose the simplest answer is, you don’t, at least not in any sort of comprehensive way. In some cases you can — a person who is warm, engaging, and able to hold up their end of a lively conversation in an interview setting is always going to be near the top of my list. But I make a lot of allowances for people in their interviews — they are nervous, know they are being watched and judged, it is a high-stakes encounter for them, and most people are a lot more constrained in an interview than they are in their day-to-day lives. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
November 17th, 2009 by Emergiblog in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Browsing through my October ENA Connection the other day, I noticed the theme was “Government and Advocacy”. Came across an article on domestic violence. It’s a short article, written by Carrie Norman, RN, CEN, member of the Government Affairs Committee. The quotes below are taken from Carrie’s article.
“The CDC estimates that 37 percent of women who sought emergency department care were victims of domestic violence.”
What? 37 out of every 100 women I have triaged?
Seriously?
“Domestic violence victims are more likely to seek treatment for chronic and psychological conditions.”
Okay. But no way have I been taking care of victims of domestic abuse – I mean, hello, wouldn’t it be obvious? The hovering, overbearing abuser who answers all the questions for the patient? The bruises that aren’t explained by the story? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
November 17th, 2009 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Expert Interviews
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Information on the H1N1 swine flu vaccine continues to mount, and questions linger.
In a recent post, H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Fears Addressed – Single vs. Multi-Dose, Adjuvants, Thimerosal and More, Bruce B. Dan, MD, a specialist in infectious diseases, answered a series of questions related to the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Our readers have a couple additional questions and our expert, Dr. Bruce B. Dan answers them to help alleviate your fears.
Our Reader, Arly Helm writes:
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
November 12th, 2009 by Emergiblog in Better Health Network, True Stories
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Sam Nouv runs a little donut shop about a mile from my house.
When John was in the hospital, that’s where I bought the donuts for the nurses.
After immigrating to the U.S. from Cambodia in 1987, Sam started working at the shop and by 1990 he owned it (Update via Steve in comments: When he was 13, his parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. He spent several years in a displacement camp in Vietnam before finally being sent to the States as part of an entire plane load of orphans).
With the exception of a few holidays, Sam is in the store every morning at 3:30 am and works until 6:00 pm.
Seven days a week.
His wife, Lori, works with him, but she wasn’t there on that Wednesday morning in October.
Thank God. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*