ADVANCE Perspective: Nurses

Breast Cancer Screening: When the Evidence Scares Us

Linda Jones — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:28:00 GMT

Nurses are big proponents of evidence-based practice. Nurses are working hard to move away from "this is how it's always been done," or "I had a patient once who had a reaction to that treatment so I don't do it." A big part of looking at evidence is...(read more)

A Lone Ranger Tweets for Blood

Valerie Newitt — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:55:00 GMT

Some people scoff at the younger generation's seeming dependence on social media. "Who needs text messaging or Facebook or MySpace? What's wrong with picking up the phone and calling someone?" ask some old-schoolers. And they'll further the attack with,...(read more)

Flu Vaccine Safety

Joe Darrah — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:42:00 GMT

According to an MSNBC report, a14-year-old Virginia boy developed Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) within hours of receiving an H1N1 vaccine. Jordan McFarland, a high school athlete from Alexandria, reportedly left Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children the...(read more)

For Vets, Healthcare Gaps May Be More Deadly than Modern Warfare

Valerie Newitt — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:43:00 GMT

On a brief jaunt last week, I met a fellow traveler -- a retired military officer whose career spanned various deployments to Germany, Panama and Vietnam. We discussed at length the tone of the nation in the 1960s when he was fighting an unseen enemy...(read more)

ANA Asks Nurses to Get Vaccinated

Linda Jones — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:51:00 GMT

The American Nurses Association President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR, has written a letter to all ANA members , urging them to get vaccinated for seasonal influenza and the H1N1 virus. ANA believes it is important to get this message to registered...(read more)

Clean the Medicare House, Bring Health Reform Home

Nancy Malaga — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:24:00 GMT

A recent segment on CBS’ 60 Minutes posed an interesting solution for how to pay for health reform: eliminate Medicare fraud. Sounds like a good idea. According to the expose, Medicare fraud is a $70 billion a year scam. Times that number by 10, and the...(read more)

Prescription Drugs: A ‘Perfect Storm' That Almost Became a Killer

Valerie Newitt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:10:00 GMT

My mother, despite her 92 years of age, maintains the mind of a brilliant, life-loving 30-year-old. Unfortunately, her physical self never sipped from the fountain of youth. Her sight has dimmed, her mobility is nil, and she's done battle with cancer,...(read more)

Flu-id Thinking: Do Your Part to Educate

Valerie Newitt — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:48:00 GMT

A friend called me the other day and read an H1N1 memo that had been distributed to the approximately 120 employees at her Southeastern Pennsylvania office. It read: Workers are expected to be at their work stations. If you have been exposed to H1N1,...(read more)

Actually, That's Not Privileged Information

Adrianne OBrien — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:44:00 GMT

Know anyone -- maybe a patient or a family member -- who's taking an antidepressant to help with sleep, a relatively common off-label treatment prescribed by physicians for menopausal women? Or anyone who takes low-dose statin cholesterol-lowering drugs...(read more)

Move Over Wonderbra, Now We Have Shoes to Shape Our Legs

Valerie Newitt — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:44:00 GMT

Do shoes that promise to shape you up really do the trick? Are these claims evidence-based? Hey, inquiring minds want to know, especially when one is attached to a pair of legs happy for any help they can get! The lure of shoes capable of firming calf...(read more)

Advocacy--How far would you go?

Luke Cowles — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:55:00 GMT

The September 30th episode of the NBC show Mercy was centered on patient advocacy. Each of the three main characters had to advocate for their patients in a rather dramatic way. Yes, it was dramatic because it was television, but it left me wondering...(read more)

Who Are the Real Victims of the Winkler County Case?

Amy McGuire — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:00:00 GMT

At some point in our lives we'll all want a personal patient safety advocate to stand up for us when we're not receiving the care we need. As nurses, this job often falls in your lap. In fact, you're mandated by your boards of nursing to report substandard...(read more)

Move Over Nurse Jackie!

Luke Cowles — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:42:00 GMT

Just when you thought nurses were under-represented on TV, we now have no fewer than three primetime series about the lives of nurses. Since the "nursing shortage" in primetime has all but been eliminated, the question now is: Which series most accurately...(read more)

Genomics & Nursing: What You Need to Know

Rich Magda — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:27:00 GMT

Increasing research and application of genomics in healthcare is creating a need for nurses to know their stuff. Just ask Jean Jenkins, Phd, RN, FAAN, senior clinical advisor at the National Human Genome Research Institute. Jenkins became interested in...(read more)

Nurse inspires others by unveiling immense weight loss, on Today Show

Valerie Newitt — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:09:00 GMT

Rosemarie Jeanpierre is a nurse from Los Angeles who was featured on the Today Show, today (Monday, Sept. 15). Her story is simple yet monumental in proportion: she lost 110 pounds in 18 months. When Matt Lauer introduced the segment, which showed pictures...(read more)