Asthma is a terrible, frightening disease. It is all about not being able to breathe–to not be able to take a breath. Exhaling is long, but inhaling is brief and unsatisfactory with your breath choking you. And it goes on and on with an interminable sense of never being able to breathe again. As a...
Category: <span>Nursing Issues</span>
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Causal Relationships between Diabetes and Heart Disease
The USDA committee that writes the Dietary Standards for Americans has consistently refused to use the research on the low-carbohydrate diet in making its dietary recommendations. Are they responsible for all the deaths from diabetes and heart disease? I think so.
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DID YOU KNOW?
I am passionate about Patientology – a focus on the patient and not on the system. Explore with me the various ways in which the patient is ignored or neglected
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Does the “Good of the Many Outweigh the Good of the One?”
I am probably not quoting Star Trek correctly, but you get the idea. When do the needs of one person outweigh the needs of the community? It’s a question I struggled with throughout my career as a nurse educator. What to do with the poor student? In the days when nurses were trained in hospitals,...
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A Plea to Catholics for the Physically Handicapped
When I was growing up my brothers and I frequently heard admonitions to be ‘courteous to others’ which meant, for my brothers, lessons on how to be a “gentleman.” My mother frequently reminded my brothers to stand when a woman entered or left a room, to take off their hats indoors, give up their seats...
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Rebecca “Becky” Self: Her Story
My family called Rebecca Self, Auntie Billie. She was not a blood relative but she was such a close friend to my parents, it seemed too formal to call her “Mrs. Self.” Becky Self was an army nurse. During World War II, she and her husband, Leonard, were imprisoned with us in Cebu and Manila...
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You are the Triage Nurse in the ER
You are working the night shift in the emergency room. Four ambulances arrive at the admitting door at the same time. The attendants say they have gunshot wounds to the head. All four patients are critical. Which patient do you see first, second, third and last? This is the job of triage. There is not...
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A review of Patientology: Toward the Study of Patients by Nancy L. R. Anderson, RN, PhD, FAAN
Reading this book brought back many memories for me. Some beginning when I as a young child, I first became a patient. Other memories originated from my nursing career as well as from being an adult patient. Those memories came along with me as I read this book and periodically pricked at me, resulting in...
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If you want Patient-Centered Care, Put Patients on Your Team!
Today’s rant is about clinical prescriptions for modifying other people’s behavior and habits – specifically the addictions, diet, and gambling. I have conducted research on diets and dieting because I was obese and wanted to lose weight. Over the years, I tried several suggested weight loss strategies including the Kelly Brownell plan which is essentially...
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I Have a New Review on my Book “Patientology” on Amazon.
The review says: “Are some patients like victims of some crimes blamed for their illness? By an Amazon Customer on April 25, 2017 Format: Paperback A very interesting and thought provoking perspective. Provides a detailed exploration on the relationship of patients with the Health Care Delivery System from a victimology perspective. Draw parallels to identified...