By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA “A robot suit that can help the elderly or disabled get around was given its global safety certificate in Japan on Wednesday, paving the way for its worldwide roll-out,” according to Discovery News. The Hybrid Assistive Limb®, or HAL, is a power-assisted pair of legs developed by Japanese robot maker, Yoshiyuki Sankai, CEO Cyberdyne Inc. The following text is an excerpt from the YouTube video below. …
Read More...Nurses Strong During Hurricane Sandy and Every Day
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA The post is dedicated to all the remarkable nurses, doctors and other members of the health care team. Your strength and dedication is extraordinary, and not only in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, but every day. The original post, “Hurricane Sandy: No Match for Nurses’ Resolve,” is published on The Huffington Post. While Hurricane Sandy’s fury wreaked havoc on the Northeast and caused massive destruction, one thing is for…
Read More...In Hurricane’s Wake, Decisions Not to Evacuate Hospitals Raise Questions
Guest Post by Sheri Fink, ProPublica At 9:30 p.m. Monday, Eugene Tangney burst into a meeting of doctors at the command center for Long Island’s North Shore-LIJ hospital system. Ceiling tiles creaked in the wind and television screens showed images of Hurricane Sandy slamming into New York City. “NYU called,” Tangney said. “They want to evacuate. I don’t know how to help them right now. They’re in a panic mode.” Tangney, a senior vice president,…
Read More...Too Much Hype in the Mobile Health App World?
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA [Original post, “Too Much Hype in the Mobile Health App World?” published on The Huffington Post on 7/23/12 in the Healthy Living/Health News Section.] The Wild West of mobile health (mHealth) is taking the health care industry by storm, but “there are no rules to the game,” said Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D., founder and director at the Center for Connected Health in a recent interview. Mobile health is a…
Read More...Engage With Empathy
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Original post, “Engage with Empathy” published on The Huffington Post on 6/27/12 in the Healthy Living/Health News Section. Do you feel connected with your doctor or other health care providers? Do you partner with your providers? How important is patient engagement to you? What words do you use to define patient engagement? Do you consider yourself an empowered patient or health care consumer? What is patient engagement? Here is…
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