By Jenna
Posted in Nurse Safety, Nursing, Nursing News
Whistle-blowing is both a morally important choice and one that is frequently very difficult. This article on Nurse.com explains that it can be a long and difficult process, that can chip away at a whistle-blowers’ sense of self-worth. They may be shunned by peers or lose their job. It’s not uncommon for people who have been through the whole process to say that if it happened again they’d just look away. This despite the fact that studies have shown that…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing News
The future of the Affordable Care Act is uncertain. The Supreme Court has heard arguments about whether or not the ACA is constitutional or not, and will be announcing their decision in June. Meanwhile, the ACA itself is quite complex. Gina Kolata of the New York Times spoke with Jonathan Oberlander, an expert in the field, about the law and its future. Mr. Oberlander starts by explaining what the ACA is, exactly. He calls it “a series of policies and…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing News, Obesity
The Look AHEAD trial funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that lifestyle changes have been effective in reducing disability in people with type 2 diabetes. This article appearing on Nurse.com indicates that the risk of losing mobility in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes was nearly halved with weight loss and increased physical fitness. Look AHEAD (Action to Health in Diabetes) is a randomized clinical trial that is intended to figure out whether losing weight…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nurse Safety, Nursing, Nursing Jobs, Nursing News
While this Op-Ed that appeared in the New York Times is written from the perspective of a doctor, a lot of it applies to various healthcare providers who have more information than the patient does. The doctor, Danielle Ofri, writes of a patient she calls Julia, with whom she had a lot in common; both were about the same age, both were mothers with two young children. They were even about the same height and the same build. But only…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing News
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its March 6 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that 75 percent of all C.difficile infections originated outside of a hospital setting, and that more than half of patients with C.diff infections treated by hospitals had the infection upon admission. As nurses know, a C.diff infection can have life-threatening consequences, especially now. There has been a 400 percent increase in the number of deaths since 1999. From 1999…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs, Nursing News
Nursing has traditionally been a field that is dominated by women. While men were still only about 7% of all nurses in 2008, that’s more than double the percentage from 1980. And the numbers continue to increase.. And as nursing remains an unusually strong profession in an economy where it can be very difficult to find a job, more men are finding that when they lose their jobs, nursing might be a viable alternative. The New York Times profiles three…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs, Nursing News
It’s been drummed into us women for decades — annual Pap smears and mammograms, especially once you’ve reached a certain age, are Good Things. If you’re responsible, you go to your annual exam. However, more and more research is indicating that annual exams are unnecessary and can actually cause more problems than they solve. In her “Well” blog, Tara Parker Pope notes that national guidelines are urging less frequent screening for breast and cervical cancer, while other factors such as…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs, Nursing News, Nursing Specialties
Deborah Watkins Bruner Ph.D., RN, FAAN, is a nurse who has always been interested in oncology patients. In an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she says, “Standing as a young student in the ICU watching patients on monitors at life’s end was my first experience with death and dying. As a nurse, I wondered how to make that experience as best as possible.” She is now the associate director of cancer outcomes research at Winship Cancer Institute, and also a…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs, Nursing News, Nursing School
When new nursing school graduates are out looking for jobs, interviews are frequently the deciding factor as to whether they will be hired or not. But in this article on Nurse.com about the importance of letters of recommendation, one person who makes these kinds of decisions, Linda Bell RN-C, says that she is given pause if a reference letter does not match up with an excellent interview. “Then I’ll wait and see other candidates,” she says. “I have to see…
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By Jenna
Posted in Nursing, Nursing News, Nursing Specialties
Shortages of cancer drugs aren’t the only drug shortages making news. The January 2012 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases reports the nation’s supply of go-to drugs to fight infectious disease is running dangerously low. So low, in fact, that hospitals have had to design contingency plans just in case an emergency arises. So why is this happening? The answer is complicated. One problem is that often only one drug company manufactures a given. Should an ingredient in the drug become…
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