Amazing story!!
.......One of my mom's best friends is a survivor, Thank God, and all the nurses, docs, physc, that helped her. The other two are with Jesus........

Breast cancer is something that can be prevented with diet, exercise and check ups...maybe that's one of the reasons why it's so devastating. And for such a whirlwind illness to take someone so full of life...It's hard to see God's reason and purpose thru it

One woman, Judy, who is fighting breast cancer at this moment pointed this out to me....If you want to find inspiration, talk to a woman that has a few months to live her life out and listen to her say, "I know there is a God, there is a reason, there is a purpose, even if it's not God's will....He has a purpose. I am willing to fulfill that. If this is a way to tell people about God, reach out to them, save them...I will do it."
WOW!
What an inspiration!!
She said more, but there's only so much you can say without bursting in tears. It's hard to see someone slide down that slope and not be able to help them. You look at pictures of them cancer-free...They were that same person, tho they may not be able to do the things they could before cancer.
John 3:16

After the chickenpox vaccine was launched in 1995, one of the least deadly diseases in the nation became even less deadly, as reported by a recent study. The study found that as inoculations rose, fatalities fell. The proof is here: Sharp drop in deaths from chickenpox credited to vaccine.

Who is Montel Williams? A nice story though.

NCLEX Review | Pearsonvue Trick | Kaplan NCLEX

Please don't call it "swine flu". It's H1N1. This is devastating to farmers who are trying to sell their products to foreign markets. Vet experts say it's more likely to spread H1N1 to pigs than it is to get it from them. In any case, you cannot get H1N1 from pork. I'm a former farm girl and have been a nurse for 40 years.

My child got the chicken pox as a infant at the babysitter's who had the same mind set to get the chicken pox when they were small. It turned out when she started kindergarten and there was a outbreak of chicken pox she got a very severe case of SHINGLES instead. The pediatrician said that is what can happen when they get the chickpox at preschool age. She was miserable and has scars from the shingles.

If she talks about it and works on her weight publically, it's a very good thing. I also wonder though how much she really weighs and how tall she is. Just because someone is short, squat and big busted doesn't necessarily mean she is overweight. I've never seen an picture of her that wasn't just from the mid chest up. You also have to remember that she gets paid in food sometimes by her patients. It would be very rude to tell a poor person, no I can't take your food as payment because it will make me fat when they have no other way of paying you and want to pay you SOMETHING..

Great Post, I would like to talk to him as a person and get his view on how it has been as a patient in the health care system today too.

Great post! I'll be in touch.

I wrote the above blog entry just prior to swine flu hitting the news.

It occurred to me that there might be people exposing themselves or their children to swine flu--just as they are exposing themselves to chicken pox, as described in the above posting--for the purpose of establishing immunities while the virus is still in a weakened stage. They would be doing this with the thought that if/when the virus returns in the fall and if it has mutated into a more lethal form, they will have protection.

Has anyone heard of people doing this?

What would I suggest is needed about healthcare reform? There are so many, but simple frustrations stated: I am All over the thought of single payer system or a socialized system per se...in that I may then feel I do not work for free. I know that in some way shape or form, all of these folks who walk through my ER doors have paid for service and will recieve it (equally based on need)....via the gas pump, groceries, etc. It often appears that many of those who repeatedly come in as "self pay" act as if owed something and my job is that of customer service. I constanly have to find creative ways to nicely remind them that I am here to provide them perfect care and strive toward making them feel better. Amazingly, it (my efforts) go unnoticed because always it comes down to time. They don't want to wait,I'm taking to long, they have things they have to do, they need to eat, they can't get their tylenol/motrin written as an rx so medical will cover... etc....I want my job to feel rewarding, that I made a difference in someones life or lives and not feel I am catering to competition or a business; and above all not feel I am going to put my job in jeapardy because I am making priority decisions and not worrying about someones negative survey submission because they came for a simple headache that could have been treated at home. I want to be a helping hand for those who accept my care regardless of circumstance. And not be judged for the way I have been taught to triage care. A single payer system may allow for a government to state to individuals what is appropriate for emmergent care and what is not. Lord knows as care givers we cannot. What do I know, other than that,I am greatful to be working in the field I am trained during these hard times...I just learn to cope, appreciate, adjust and take the punches. I also know there are some patients that really bind me to the field I have chosen and remind me why I am here, for them I am trully greatful.

Amazing that even as nurses we preach the value in advanced directives and pray to goodness that our fatally ill patients that come through the door have one; but still ourselves have not pulled the trigger as far as getting one for ourselves. I encountered a touchy situation not too far back where my patient in respiratory distress did not have one and ethical dilemmas arose. Long story short, able to advocate for the patient and a positive outcome is worthy of one step closer for me to have one for myself. It's easy to preach it, but we must too practice what we are preaching so that the educated are educating properly.

Ignorance...on behalf of the mother or the doctor who did the procedure to me is the million dollar question. This has ethical issues all over it.

I totally agree. I am learning to cook instead of ordering take out. I am enjoying learning something useful around the house.

I wrote this before I learned this woman had 6 other children. Sigh...another hero with feet of clay...I wonder what she would do if she had this to do over again.

"Wonder Mommy"
I wonder what Mommy was thinking? Or was she? Three of her last litter are disabled from their birth experience. Why would she risk any more suffering, disabled children? Breast feeding is the least she can do for them. My idea of a hero would be if she adopted out all she could not comfortably financially support through college.

DebRNTx

You must work in Baltimore...is that right? How is Baltimore preparing for the inauguration?

I'm 30 miles away, and working the next 4 days. We're ready for anything here @ my hospital, so bring it!!

I never heard the term "jumbotron!" Very cool and I'm very happy to hear about all the portapotties!
I hadn't even thought about that. Keep giving us the insider information! Thanks

This is what I would do: I would talk with whoever is writing the orders--probably the physician--and ask the rationale for those orders. Say that you you thought (whatever you thought) and say it in a voice that says you want to understand better--just make sure it is not know-it-all, challenging the physician's judgment, or accusatory.

Also, ask to have your mom transferred to the unit where you worked and where you trust the care. Talk to the manager and say you know you have had differences in the past, but when it comes to the best care for your mom, this is where you want her to be because this manager's unit is the best unit. You may have to swallow your pride or put aside any past grievances, but it will help to remember that this is about your mom, not you, and you are there to be her advocate and participate in her getting the best care she can get.

Best to you--anyone who has felt helpless when a loved one was in the hospital knows what you are going through...

Pammer - see "chit chat forum "thread 'IMPORTANT NEED ADVICE PLEASE READ" BY BACCOLOVE -

It just screams, exactly, the problems nurses face trying to justify their worth like the nurse 'Martha' in your blog.

There certainly IS a relationship between good nursing care (salary) and the hospitals economic viability.

The issues in the thread remain the same as they did 20 years ago - preference for hospitals to use ''grads without a clue' over returning experienced nurses, and DON's keeping lazy nurses that give "inadequate care".

Scaling back and making a nurse 'expendable' only worsens the problem and further creates real and preventable heath care problems that increase the COST instead of eliminating them. Since that is what hopsitals are trying to avoid - how do we MAKE them understand. Martha did it on a small scare, how can we, as a group, make them LISTEN (they've seen the stats for years - it's not sinking in).
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(THREAD: Important need advice please read!!!!
hello,

i am a seasoned nurse that needs a little advice. my mom is in the hospital and very sick. this is pretty sudden and renal, cardiol, med do not know really what is going on yet. she needs to get her creat. down to 1.6 before they will do a r/l heart cath, which will provide a lot more answers.

the problem is this....i was fired from this hospital about 6 months ago. mainly, it was differences between my manager and i. she fired me for absenteeism, but in reality she added days that i didnt miss and thats that....needless to say i was over this job, needed a kick to get me on the move, and am much happier now and learning a totally new side of nursing doing mds.

here is the problem. the care is AWFUL! stat orders not being taken off (vit k b/c her inr was really high), lasix (shes in r sided failure), high resolution ct of her chest.(her lungs, heart, and kidneys are all involved). i found these orders when an old cn of mine and i were looking at the progress notes....cn called this units cn and i told the cn to please only assign her to the best nurses and she assured me she would.

tonight we go in a she is a complete mess. she has 3+ pit. edema. they wrote for ace wraps, and the nurse put them on from the knee to the ankle. it stayed like this all night last night and today......her feet now look like balloons, but her ankles look better.....she has fluid orders, they finally were hooked up like hours later, then they were dec. to kvo....same bag since she was in the er was hanging tonight.

there have been other issues and she has only been there 2 nights so far.....i feel like i should stay there day and night!

so any advice on what to do without looking like a total bitch? i would really like her on the unit i was fired from because i worked with some awsome nurses, they are competitive, professional, and awesome in emergent situations. my mom is really ill, that is stressful enough. is it so much to ask you to weigh her when she has orders for daily weights and she is up about 20 pounds, can u help her with her bath? change the bed? its christmas, census is down and its not that busy!!

so, what would anyone do if you were in my shoes????? i am thinking of asking the doc to move her across the hall to the other unit, or to another hospital.

becca
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