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…
Read More...Real Simple Magazine Taps Experts for Emergency Care Advice
Preparing for Life’s Mishaps by Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Having this card in your wallet could save your life in an ER When Real Simple Magazine reporter contacted me for a story on emergency rooms, I was delighted to help out. I think it’s important for readers to have the perspective from a nurse on the front line of the ER as well as ER doctors. The March edition of Real Simple is on…
Read More...Leaving the Emergency Room – It’s Great to be Discharged, but be Sure to Follow Instructions!
By Barbara Ficarra Have you ever been a patient in an emergency department? If your visit to the ED didn’t require an admission, that’s good news. After being told by the ED doctor that you could go home and armed you with discharge instructions, you most likely want to high tail it out of there as fast as you can. Wait! Not so fast. It’s really vital that you do not leave the ED until…
Read More...Home-Centered Health Care
Congressional Testimony: Home-Centered Health Care by Mike Magee, MD As a health policy professional and weekly media commentator on health care issues, I am often asked for my opinion on where our health care system is headed. I have the advantage of being able to share perspectives with a wide range of thinkers in the health care arena, and their opinions on what needs to be done about our health care system cover the entire…
Read More...A Personal Story…Voice for the Uninsured – the Campaign
By Nancy H. Nielsen, MD President-elect American Medical Association (Nancy H. Nielsen, MD was a recent guest on the Health in 30 Radio show with Barbara Ficarra. Click here to read more and to listen to the show). The American Medical Association wants to give a voice to the 47 million Americans without health insurance – because it has become too heavy a burden on too many hard-working people. Recently, we launched a three-year national…
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