Smoke-Free Hospitals and Patients

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Nurses and doctors and other members of the health care team strive every day to provide quality patient care.   We focus on patients by understanding their needs. We listen, assess and evaluate.  We work together as a team focusing not only on the patient, but family members as well. We formulate individual care plans addressing each and every need. Providing quality patient care is the single most important goal…

Read More...

Women’s Fitness: Simple Moves to get you Fit and Toned at the Office or at Home

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA My good friend works at a major company in NYC and she’s fortunate since she’s able to hit the gym on her lunch hour.  If you have a job that allows you the time to go to the gym, that’s great. Not everyone is that fortunate. As women we have so many responsibilities and we’re so busy.  Trying to juggle work, family and friends can be a struggle and…

Read More...

Huffingtonpost Readers Comment on Heart Attack Post

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA I recently posted a blog, “Do You Know the Signs of a Real Life Heart Attack, Not the Hollywood Version?” on Huffingtonpost and I thought I would share a few comments that the blog received from Huffingtonpost readers. Thank you to the HuffPo readers for their comments and thanks to those readers for re-tweeting the blog on Twitter. Here are a few comments from the HuffPo readers as well…

Read More...

Prescription Drug Abuse: Superwoman Syndrome Fuels Concern

Part I By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA There’s no doubt that prescription drug abuse is a major problem in America, and it’s escalating in epic proportions.  Prescription drug abuse affects men, women and teens.  Concerning trends include older adults, adolescents and women. On MSNBC’s website, Karen Asp writes, Superwoman syndrome fuels pill-pop culture, and it’s about how “Overwhelmed overachievers turn to prescription drugs for an edge.” This article is a little misleading since there…

Read More...

Do You Know the Signs of a Heart Attack?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Are you thinking about the classic Hollywood example? The classic example of a Hollywood heart attack is a person clutching their chest, gasping for a breath and falling to the ground. After all, Hollywood is hot for drama, and when it comes to portraying a person having a heart attack, the exaggerated Hollywood version is far more riveting than a person sitting quietly wondering if their very slight arm…

Read More...