October 27th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, News
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Only in the United States could a virus like H1N1 bring out the worst in medical politics and greed. We are facing a “pandemic” that requires coordination, communication and the best of medical practice. But what are we getting? Strikes, lawsuits and anything BUT putting patients first!
The strong nursing union, California Nurse Association (CNA), is taking this opportunity to call a strike on three large Catholic hospital chains (including 34 hospitals) throughout California and Nevada. The union bosses say the chief concerns are a lack of protective gear, improper isolation techniques and staffing that requires nurses to work (oh horrors!) 12 hour shifts during the flu crisis.
Although the nurses seem to want to walk out during a pandemic to “protect patients”, the nurses in New York and Washington also filed a lawsuit over the idea that they should be required to get the flu vaccine. You can’t have it both ways, nurses! You either want protection or you don’t. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 25th, 2009 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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The next time you head down the food aisle, check out the front food labels.
The front of food labels or front-of-packages (FOP) are misleading and often confusing, leading the consumer to believe that the food they are about to buy is healthy, when in fact it is not.
In a recent post, Healthy Eating? Find Out What Could Be Hiding In Your Foods, I asked the question if we need to be detectives to find out what’s hiding in our foods.
Unless you turn the package over to read the list of ingredients, it’s impossible to tell. The front of the food label is constructed in such a creative way. Words and symbols highlight the product as healthy. It captures your attention and it gives you the impression that the food you are about to buy is good for you, but it is not. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
October 19th, 2009 by CodeBlog in Better Health Network, True Stories
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He knew she was angry with him.
“Whenever I come to see her, I reach out and take her hand, but she looks away.”
Husband and wife for well over 50 years, they had been through a lot. They met in another country in another time, and to hear him tell it, it almost seemed fated that they’d end up together. Since then, they’d moved many times, raised a family, supported each other through myriad illnesses. They were growing old together.
Unfortunately, “growing old together” doesn’t always work out like we hope it will. Diseases and illnesses ravage our bodies; dementia ravages our brains. She’d long ago given up on their little garden in the backyard. It was her favorite hobby, but she couldn’t manage it anymore. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at code blog - tales of a nurse*
October 17th, 2009 by DrRob in Announcements, True Stories
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I am sitting now in the medical blogger track at the Blogworld Expo.
As is generally the case, I got here too late to bum around with the med bloggers last night. It happened when I went the the “Putting Patients First” summit in DC as well. I just seem to have that kind of luck.
Anyway, the medical bloggers are forgiving and did not think I was being snooty. They also didn’t mind it when I missed breakfast with them. Why did I miss breakfast? I was being interviewed by Ira Glass from NPR. For some reason, this little ol’ blog got the attention of the producer from This American Life, the show that Ira hosts. They are doing a series on health care costs being out of control, and read the post I did in January about the insanity of medical codes. She felt that I would be a good person to discuss the reality of medical codes in the daily life of a doctor. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
October 16th, 2009 by MotherJonesRN in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories
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I felt like an antique this weekend thanks to some medical students on my unit. Why do students seem to get younger every year, and please don’t place the blame on my chronological age. I refuse to believe that I’m getting older. I forget how we got onto the subject, but somehow I told a group of medical interns that I graduated from a three-year diploma nursing program.
One of the interns innocently asked me, “What’s that?” I felt so old when he asked me that question that I expected a museum curator to come out of the woodwork and cordon me off with a velvet rope. I answered his question. They were fascinated that they were actually talking to an “old time nurse.” They had more questions:
Question: “How did you keep you nurses cap on?” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
Only in the United States could a virus like H1N1 bring out the worst in medical politics and greed. We are facing a “pandemic” that requires coordination, communication and the best of medical practice. But what are we getting? Strikes, lawsuits and anything BUT putting patients first!
