In the news

Since I'm taking a break, I thought I'd have a look at the latest health news.

Here are a few that caught my eye. Hope you enjoy.

What not to say (from www.cnn.com)
Um, yes, some things really ARE important enough to not be busy for, Mr. Professional Basketball Player. Cancer doesn't give a rat's (fill in your favorite anatomical part) who you are.

A hypoglycemia dilemma (from www.nytimes.com)
This interested me, because I often feel hypoglycemic. Think you can figure out this dilemma? Check it out.

A different type of dilemma if you have back pain (from webmd.com)
Steroid injections may help some folks with back pain...or not. Read more here to learn more about a recent study.

Just another reason (also webmd.com)
Please be careful with supplements! Bee pollen for weight loss could cause other potentially life-threatening conditions, even if it sounds like a good solution for you.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Happy weekend all!

In the news: Byproducts edition

One of my friends posted recently, "I just got hit by C-diff and VRE all at once." Yes, the gross part of being a nurse sometimes stands out more than others.

Note to new nurses: always know where you can get an extra set of scrubs. If you have a good sized locker, this is something you may want to stash, along with an extra pair of underwear and socks. It's good for those gross days, as well as for those times when you have local emergencies, due to snowstorms (as we did recently.)

Blow up
Yes, if you have enough methane in the form of gas and belches, you can indeed cause an explosion, as these folks in Germany found out recently (thank you BBC).

Tales from the ER
I really enjoyed this post from Florencenightnday about gross stuff in nursing. Yes, the trick is really: don't breathe through your nose (sometimes you have to limit how much you breathe through your mouth, too.)


Take a picture
Someone did here. Yes, it's gross, but this is the holy grail of rehab nursing.

Not a nurse, but worried about caregiving?
The Visiting Nurses of New York have this article for you. Don't worry. They won't gross you out too much. 

Last, but not least
Probably one of the mother of all poop posts you can find on the internet from jo at Head Nurse. Read the comments, too, they are valuable.

In the news

Since I haven't done one of these in a while...why not?

Here are a few goodies I've encountered in my meanderings on the internet. Hope you enjoy!

Surprise, surprise
I guess we shouldn't really be surprised that a reality show producer would try to get some free publicity for a new story idea via Twitter, should we?

I know a couple of my friends were crowing that they figured him out right away. I just thought it was funny.

A hot ride
The good folks at the BBC gave an account of some stolen cobalt-60 in Mexico. The authorities are looking for the thieves, since they have been exposed to radiation.

My expert, Dahey, says there's no such thing as a little, harmless cobalt-60. Nice.

Finally, if that wasn't scary enough...
This may be. Millions of passwords compromised. All you need for Christmas is a new one. Change yours accordingly, so the bad guys can't masquerade as you on social media.


Cross this off your Christmas list
23andme, the genetic testing firm got in trouble with the FDA this week. So much for my brother and Aunt Martha's Christmas gifts.

In the news

It's not Wednesday, but it's pretty close, so here are a few things I've encountered so far this week in my meanderings around the internet.

Should you be sincere?
Maybe not according to this CNN article.

Goals
Sometimes you just need a big, hairy, audacious goal to get you going where you want to be (from LinkedIn).

Tips from Harvard
As an escaped business student, I've read the Harvard Business Review for years. Despite the cases, they have some exceptional tips on management and growth. 

It's short and sweet, but Make a plan for professional growth will get you started.

Pearls of wisdom
This article was very appropriate for a couple of folks at the Hotel who just happen to be agitated on the evening shift.

Enjoy!

You think you have it bad

Here are some items I saw recently in the news, thanks to the folks over the pond at the BBC.

Can't pay your hospital bill and you just had a baby? Be glad you're not in Greece.

The man who invented the remote control died this week. Should we blame him for selfish husbands who hog the remote and monopolize the TV?

Cherry wood and crystal in a car? What? Apparently this guy has that in his car.

I thought I had some obnoxious relatives until I read about hers.

I don't feel so bad anymore...

In the news

 A few different stories out there recently on my internet meanderings.

Nurse chooses palliative care over aggressive treatment (Washington Post)
I read this article today in one of my newsletters and I agree with the saying that good doctors treat the disease and the best doctors treat the person.

Death of a Charger (from espn.com)
Could the death of Junior Seau be related to concussion syndrome?

World's fastest toilet (from bbc.com)
Who knew? I would have never guessed.

A truly new economy

I saw this article while I was online today and thought about another article I read recently, which said, "Welcome to the new economy."

It certainly seems like a different kind of idea to me. If you can have a nurse case manager or life care planner, why not a paid cemetery visitor?

Just sayin'...more to come. You never know what will show up in the news.

In the news...

Warning: Leaving a rehab nurse to her own devices to surf the 'net while the educators debate over who's doing the central line checkoff at the preceptor fest may lead to some Internet entertainment.

I had no idea...
I just found out the Ken doll was discontinued in 2004 (What did Barbie need him for anyway?) Never fear, doll aficianados, Ken is back...and he'll resemble a football player. W.T....?

Anywho, for all you Iowa State Cyclones, Kenny's gonna look like this character who won a contest.

Somehow...
I don't think this recent study featured in Reuters is going to keep any of our folks at the Hotel from requesting Viagra et al. That surely didn't stop Mr. D. from asking recently, even though his wife died years ago.

Yes, sex can kill you, US study shows

I think maybe he's just going to ask for more bran muffins and salads, if eating fiber really can reduce heart disease (from UPI)

So...
If I'm going to eat today, it's gonna be comfort food. Maybe not the recipe in this article, but it's going to be good.

Stay tuned...

In the news, part 2

Amid all the fun and excitement running errands, keeping a little boy out of trouble and working on homework, I checked out some health-related goodies today on the internet. Hope you enjoy!

Disabled?
If you are, please don't get caught doing lots of heavy, manual labor like these folks. (courtesy of our friends at www.bbc.co.uk)

I guess JCAHO is messing with tradition...
Yes, doctor slang is rapidly disappearing according to this article.(also from our friends at the BBC)

Hungry?
If you need a snack and are getting tired of all these folks telling you what to eat, check out the latest hearty muffin recipes. (courtesy www.nytimes.com)

In the news...

I found this article intriguing, and I'm sure a few other nurses out there might, too.
Gotta go? You may make the best decisions with a full bladder (from www.yahoo.com)

So does that mean most of my coworkers, when we're on a busy shift, should have tip-top decision skills? If only it were that easy...

Another fave (I love it when they count...)
Five secrets women shouldn't keep from their doctors (also www.yahoo.com)

And finally, because I just woke up from a nap and I can agree...
One in three adults sleep less than 7 hours a night 

Stay tuned...now I'm awake, you never know what's gonna happen! Enjoy your day wherever you are.

In the news

I'm really enjoying my snow day. I even took a nap.

In between all these taxing tasks of shoveling and shopping, I found a few items of note on the internet. Enjoy!

Silent and really deadly
If they get their way in Malawi, you will go to jail for letting one rip. (from BBC)

The other most wanted list
No, John Walsh doesn't have anything to do with this list, but OIG surely does. Check out the Medicare fraud most wanted list. (from www.oig.hhs.gov)

What a pain
Yes, it sure is when your insurance company doesn't believe you are in pain (from www.nytimes.com)

Holiday stuff
Valentine's Day will be here before you know it. Make sure you buy the right color and kind of flowers, folks. Otherwise you may be saying something you didn't intend.

In the news

I'm off today celebrating MLK Day with Bubba, who incidentally, was born on one holiday himself. He's having a grand old time, shopping, buying stuff, and being a little kid playing video games. 

We've already been shopping, to Starbucks, and visited Giacomo and his crew, since today really is his birthday.

So while he's busy being a kid, I get to sit down and relax, which means reading away on the trusty computer. Here are some items of interest.

• The perils of the world's most famous liver transplant patient. I cannot imagine ruining financial markets if I called in sick. Just shows you how important (or not) some people are.
• Yes, it's not life or death, but I enjoy reading report cards like this one after the Golden Globes.
• And if you thought your employers dress code was crazy, at least they didn't mandate what color underwear you could wear, like UBS. Thankfully, in the spirit of the New Year, they've decided to rethink things. Just one word...duh!
•  What's for dinner? I spend a lot of time looking for recipes online, so I'm especially ecstatic when I find ones I can make quickly. Check out this article on how to make some different and new meals by putting together a few items.

And, in the spirit of the MLK holiday, check out this YouTube montage, complete with Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday to ya.

Enjoy your day, wherever you may be.

Changes

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."--John Lennon

Yes, the changes are all over place already this year. And as luck would have it, there are helpful articles.
I saw the Specialist in one today in RehabLand's paper talking about his next adventure as a teacher. We will miss him, because his successor at Private U. is the dreaded Hated Specialist, who many patients at the Hotel have lots of stories about. HS, hopefully, will stay at the Private U. and not visit, but time will tell.

Then the NY Times magazine has this article about death in cyberspace. This made me think...maybe I do need one of those digital legacy services to keep all my online account information together so it is not a burden to my family to track down, if my eternal reward is issued anytime soon.

Sobering thoughts barely a week into this new year...more to come.

Decompress

Ah, it's so nice to be done for the weekend...and able to look forward to a week in which I don't have to go to work.

There have been a few surprises. The trainwreck elderly patient I ended up with on my assignment really wasn't bad at all. For a man of few words (can't speak due to a trach issue), he's pretty funny. Lots of flailing gestures and an animated face make it pretty interesting.

My other patient was grounded, too, due to some other health issues, but surprisingly, I found stuff to keep him busy and he was relaxed and happy. I was worried he was going to get wigged out about staying in bed.

Most of the people I work with were pretty good, too. We have a lot of new people floating around the unit, so maybe people were just on their best behavior. The Slug, of course, was not. He/she literally tied up every phone at the nurses' station (with personal calls) and even the boss thought it was funny. It just goes to show you what leadership (or lack thereof) we have. Someone else will have to fight that fight...I just don't care. Put me as far away from that phone as possible, so I don't have to answer it!

We got some new toys on the unit--lifts, stretchers and a new computer. I didn't have anyone to heave around or take anywhere, so I played with the computer. I like working with new stuff, even if some of my collegues recoil around anything new. I'd rather just play with it when things are slow and figure out how it works. We had another department come around with new snappy accessories for the computers, so we had fun with those.

While they won't be doing what they do in Europe, we will be getting tested for MRSA in the nares one of these days. One of my coworkers asked to have her MRSA scheduled for when her kids are out of school if she would have to stay home. Me, too! It would be the only way I'll ever get the summer off without having to go back to school to become a teacher.

Speaking of school, it will keep me busy this weekend. I have to work on several projects and write a paper for my class. When I get done with that, I'll be tackling the house the rest of the week. It should be fun.

More to come...stay tuned!

Nuggets for June 10

Happy Birthday to my brother, AJ. (Now we're all in a row--37, 38, 39)

Here are a few goodies for the rest of you, in honor of today's birthdays and the political season.

In the news
Just in case you missed Hillary Clinton's trip to the hospital, Barack Obama shadowed a nurse in St. Louis today.

I hope no one coded on you, Senator.

After all the stories about bad tomatoes in the news lately, maybe buying local is the best thing after all.
Boosting health with local food (from www.nytimes.com)


The weird section
Monkeygirl always has something interesting, and I just about fell over when I read this one:
Life's little drain plug

It reminded me of Terry's post from earlier this year (from Counting Sheep) called Speechless.

Let them read this over your shoulder at work...
Showing the patient the door...permanently (from www.nytimes.com)
People were actually gasping behind me when they read this one over my shoulder yesterday.
It may have something to do with the fact that our docs might actually enjoy this with a couple of specific patients.