March 3rd, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips
No Comments »
How do you know if you’re having a heart attack? Are you thinking about the classic Hollywood example?
Hollywood Loves Drama – Know the Signs of a Heart Attack
The classic example of a Hollywood heart attack is a person clutching their chest, gasping for a breath and falling to the ground.
After all, Hollywood is hot for drama, and when it comes to portraying a person having a heart attack, the exaggerated Hollywood version is far more riveting than a person sitting quietly wondering if their very slight arm discomfort is anything they should be concerned about.
The Hollywood version can be very misleading. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
February 27th, 2010 by MotherJonesRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor
No Comments »
These young ladies are prancing back to their nursing dormitory after a snowstorm. They look really happy to finally make their exit from the hospital. I identify with these girls because I got snowed in at my hospital for eight days last week. It was tedious, but I used my time constructively. I studied human nature.
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 just makes you look pathetic. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
February 17th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, True Stories
No Comments »
Seems like I’ve been on a real run of chest pain patients lately. Which is fine — it’s part of the gig. I did have a very interesting pair the other night. They were seen in sequence, right next to one another, in room 7 and room 8. They were both totally healthy women in their mid-fifties. And they were both over-the-edge, crazy, crawling-out-of-the-gurney anxious.
Anxiety is an awful red herring in the work-up of chest pain. People who are having an anxiety attack often if not always manifest some chest pain (pressure, tightness, whatever) as a prominent symptom of their anxiety. On the other hand, someone having a heart attack who is experiencing chest pain will also be anxious — and for good reason! Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
February 13th, 2010 by PhilBaumannRN in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
The Pharmaceutical industry has effectively made a mockery of itself with television advertising (harsh assessment, I know, but bear with me). In the late 1980s – 30 years after television advertising was figured out – Pharma finally jumped into the game after regulatory constraints were lifted. Some of it worked – but mostly, the efforts just amplified the industry’s public relations comorbidities.
I actually believe that the industry could learn a few things in this video I came across. It’s a road safety advertisement and it brilliantly weaves together a simple idea with visual and emotional vigor. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
February 11th, 2010 by Emergiblog in Better Health Network, True Stories
No Comments »
Something is in the air.
Work has been uncharacteristically crazy, nuts, bananas busy since I returned from my influenza-induced hiatus. Scores of very sick people, no real pattern. And a ton of pediatrics.
Feverish, coughing, runny-nose, wheezing, stridorous, vomiting, diarrhea-having, screaming, combative, medicine-spitting small humans.
It’s not easy triaging these little folks. You have to get the history over the crying/screaming, try and obtain vitals while they kick off any and all probes, do a rectal temperature if they are under 2 years old (wrestling to keep them still), and weigh them for medication dosing. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
