Holiday Exercise Made Easy

Guest post submitted by MD Anderson Cancer Center Forget the excuses for not exercising this holiday season. Even if you’re too busy to make it to the gym or your usual spinning class, you can still get the 30 minutes of daily moderate physical activity that your body needs to help fight off many forms of cancer and other diseases. All it takes is adding some heart-pumping twists to the tasks already on your holiday…

Read More...

The Patient, the Most Important Part of the Medical Team

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA (A follow-up post to “When Doctors and Nurses Work Together.”) Do you feel that patients are the most important part of the medical (health care team)? In a recent post on Healthin30, “When Doctors and Nurses Work Together” I wrote about the team-based approach for caring and treating patients, and it addressed the relationship between nurses, doctors, patients and the importance of a multidisciplinary, team-based approach to patient care….

Read More...

Everybody Hurts: Powerful, Gripping, Emotionally Charged Piece About Drinking and Driving

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA A powerful and gripping piece by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in Victoria about  drinking and driving, and the use of illicit drugs. Words cannot depict this powerful and graphic piece.  Take a look: TAC Campaign – 20 year Anniversary retrospective montage “Everybody Hurts” “On December 10, 1989 the first TAC commercial went to air.  That year the road toll was 776.  20 years on it has fallen to…

Read More...

Share Your Insightful Thoughts, Readers Comments on Empathy Post at KevinMD

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA In my recent post published on KevinMD, “Deeply connect and engage your patients with empathy,” I would like to thank the readers for their insightful comments. The first comment is from Winslow Murdoch, a primary care physician who wholeheartedly believes that empathy is essential; however due to the real world frustrations with insurers etc., he writes, he left his practice.  Now he practices patient centered medical home concierge medicine…

Read More...

Rules of Patient Engagement: How to Deeply Connect with Empathy

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA In my recent post on KevinMD, “Deeply connect and engage your patients with empathy,” I write about how empathy is essential to help empower our patients. “It is with empathy that we can engage and empower our patients.” Doctors and nurses are leaders in health care. Being a great leader means having a clear vision, mission or goal.  It means being committed, and knowing how to listen and communicate,…

Read More...