Wash Your Hands With Elmo: Stay Healthy, Wash Your Hands!

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA (Updated 2/24/20) Elmo helps kids to protect themselves and to keep germs away. Elmo the adorable Sesame Street character who has been a house-hold staple for many years, teaches children about the importance of hand washing and staying healthy. In an effort to prevent the spread of the swine flu, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), teamed up with the popular children’s show Sesame Street to help…

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Guess What You Can Do in 15 to 20 Seconds to Keep You Healthy?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Have you ever been in a public bathroom and noticed the number of people that don’t wash their hands? It doesn’t matter where you are. You can be in a mall, an airport, a hospital, a restaurant, a school, a concert, work, a sporting event and the list can go on and on. People are not washing their hands. Hand Washing Isn’t Sexy Okay so this topic isn’t so…

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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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