Nuggets for September 24

Yes, it's been awhile, but since I've been on vacation, I figured I should just stop the early Christmas shopping and get with posting a few of these goodies. Hope you all enjoy!

Pandemics-R-Us

Since it was on my list of things to do, I got my seasonal flu shot this week.

It's easy to get caught up in the hype, but keep your wits and learn something from the CDC's page on H1N1 flu.

On the subject of flu, my personal favorite in the "when people get carried away" section appeared recently in the NY Times with some great photos and is called City Critic- What not to wear when worrying about the flu. No, Tyveks are not fashionable this year. Big thing to remember: hand hygiene people!

Family fun

The myriad of articles on family dynamics, etc., really surprised me. Here are some I found interesting:

Seven ways your siblings may have shaped you (from Yahoo!Health)

Mama wasn't always right: 9 updated health rules (from cnn.com) Guess I won't get in trouble for reading in low light anymore!

Medical news of note

I am always fascinated by brain stories (I guess in another life I was somewhere in neuro) and this one was really interesting: Brain pacemaker for a rare disorder (from msnbc.com)

The BBC has been having some very interesting articles on health, and here are a couple below.
Antibiotic resistance clue found

And because most of my patients are in the target demographic for this...
'Viagra cream' could prove safer

Tools you can use
And finally, since I've been embarking on a few home improvement projects, check out these nifty health related tools. No batteries required!

The ANA has a new site on Safe Patient Handling. It's got a lot of information you don't want to miss to keep your work environment safe.

I found this one thanks to a nursing newsletter from the ANA. Statistician George Fernandez at the University of Nevada at Reno has devised an even simpler implementation of BMI called MWL or Maximum Weight Limit. The calculation is a breeze, especially if you don't have a calculator handy.

Nuggets for February 17

I'm luxuriating in my regular day off, and I feel a little better so far. Here are a few things I've encountered recently and some interesting news and sites I've found online.

Stuff from the mailbox and in my neck of the woods

Hospitals fight to keep new nurses from quitting (from www.msnbc.com)
All I have to say to this one is "Duh!". As I learned many moons ago in school, some people only respond to problems if they have a dollar sign (i.e. how much money will it cost you) attached.

And if you stick around...
Nurses Have Many MSN Choices to Advance Their Career (from www.nursezone.com)
I'm pondering this myself, and happily, the number of online choices is quite large.

One of our patients was on methenamine hippurate. I had to look that one up, but alas, my Nursing Central didn't have it listed in my Palm's Davis Drug Guide reference.

We had an interesting case of staph epi on our unit. BTW we don't isolate people for this bug.

From the blogosphere...

From www.aboutanurse.com I found out that Fat Doctor got downsized. Go apply at your nearest VA, doc! We need you!

Head Nurse always has her interesting neuro What to Expect articles (the latest is lumbar drains). In addition, I am very much in agreement with this post on nails. And some people wonder why people don't take nurses seriously!

More later, folks! Have a great day!

Nuggets for April 12

Here are a few items of note from the internet.

WSJ Health Blog
It's billed as the "WSJ's blog on health and the business of health". As a former subscriber (and business major in another life), I really enjoy the Journal's take on this subject. There are several posts on current healthcare business topics, so go on over and check it out.

Salt 'n Pepper Nursing (from EDNurseasaurus)
An interesting take on experienced nurses sharing information for the rest of us from someone who knows.

Before Code Blue: Who's minding the patient? (from Hell on White Clogs)
This post references a http://www.msnbc.com/ article of the same name (see the article for the link) addresses one of the most common causes of death in the hospital these days--failure to rescue.

I posted a reply to this conversation that followed because I felt a little uneasy about people dissing one year or accelerated program nurses and got an interesting reply.

Phones vs. Physicians-The Showdown (from fatdoctor)
Doc, it's not just you...those rascally patients drive us nurses nuts chatting all day on the phone, too. Somedays, you just wish they'd hang up!