From the Front Lines By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA As nurses we tend to focus on treating a patient’s illness and still show compassion. As a nurse I try to feel the surroundings. I try to sense not only what a patient is going through, but what the family goes through. And yes, I need to avoid being so intertwined with a patient that it becomes emotionally overwhelming. The key is to separate the…
Read More...Prescription Drugs: Keep Out of Reach of Teens
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Will Hiding Mom & Dad’s Meds Keep Teens’ Hands off Them? Keep Out of Reach of Teens While fewer teens may be trying inhalants as reported recently in The Wall Street Journal, more teens are abusing prescription drugs. “Every day, 2,500 kids age 12 to 17 abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time, and more people are getting addicted to prescription drugs,” according to the federal Substance Abuse…
Read More...Hope and Healing
By Walter E. Jacobson, MD Do you think it’s possible to heal your body with hope and heart? Barack Obama spoke of hope in his presidential campaign. Hope and change to detoxify, to unify, to restore vitality and heal a nation. The physical body is not unlike the body politic. With hope and by making better choices, it is possible to change one’s physical and emotional status, to detoxify, to revitalize and to truly heal….
Read More...Dr. Sanjay Gupta to Receive Health Communications Award
By Barbara Ficarra Dr. Sanjay Gupta may have withdrawn his name from consideration as U. S. Surgeon General, but he will accept the first Health Communications Achievement Award. Dr. Gupta, chief medical correspondent for CNN, will be cited for his outstanding contributions in health communications by the National Association of Medical Communicators (NAMC). The award will be presented at the 29th Annual American Medical Association’s Medical Communications Conference on April 1, 2009 at the Hyatt…
Read More...How to Question Doctors and Nurses — Without “Challenging” Them
By Barbara Ficarra I think there is a huge difference between challenging a doctor or nurse and simply questioning a doctor or nurse. In yesterday’s The Wall Street Journal, in an article titled “Finding a Way To Ask Doctors Tough Questions,” Laura Landro writes: “Despite efforts by advocacy groups and others to empower patients, challenging a doctor or nurse on whether they are correctly doing their jobs remain downright intimidating. Signs and posters in hospitals…
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