Nuggets for January 20

Happy Inauguration Day to all!

Here are a few things I've encountered at work lately and some interesting resources.

Proteus Mirabilis was on the list of UTI causes for one of our folks and just so happens to be one of the major causes of SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which has a mortality rate of 20-50%.

This article discusses prealbumin levels and we monitor this frequently, particularly, since we have a lot of patients with stage 3 and 4 pressure sores.

We monitor albumin levels, too, and this article from Dr. Michael Eades talks about this lab value.

This article entitled "Nursing industry desperate to find new hires" on http://www.msnbc.com/ was my favorite. I have yet to see a lot of these sorts of tricks in my neck of the woods. Last year, maybe. I just don't think everyone's doing this right now, even though this article makes it look that way.

And now for something completely different...

I saw this on CNN.com for your favorite old-school vinyl audiophile.

One of my patients, who likes to draw, was working on an EDM schematic, instead of his usual watercolors. I didn't understand the schematic, but this guy is using these notes for the basis of a book he's writing with another author. Who says you can't do productive things on bedrest?

This isn't work-related, either, but from a public health standpoint, it's interesting. (from today's www.nytimes.com)
E-cards on the rise for notifying re: STDs