My brother has a lung disorder related to rheumatoid arthritis which may eventually cause him to need a lung transplant. It’s as troubling to write about as it was to hear about a few months ago. Were my brother at the top of the lung transplant list and a judge decided to change the rules and give the next available donor lung to a little girl ...

Here at the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) 2013 conference in Orlando, leagues of NPs are gathered for 3 days of educational sessions, CE credits and networking.  At today's opening session, hundreds of NPs were welcomed to the Hilton Orlando's Orange Ballroom to launch the week's events. NAPNAP president ...

As spring and summer entice the sunshine and warm weather, short sleeves or sleeveless tops and spaghetti straps are the favorite fashion. Yet some people prefer long sleeves and sweaters year-round because they feel self conscious about their arms.  Due to the social climate of southern California, patients come to our clinic ...

Working in medicine, specifically dermatology, we know there is no such thing as a ''healthy tan.'' When it comes to educating younger generations, I wish the effects of sun were immediate. I wish when a young girl stepped out of the tanning bed she saw dark spots, wrinkles and skin cancers forming on the body. Only then might ...

The time has come! I've passed boards, obtained my state license and I am scheduled to have ''temporary privileges'' at my facility next week! This is such an exciting time for my family and me! We've worked so hard for so many years and this is it. The really amusing thing? I opened the mail a couple of weeks ago when my license came through ...

Editor's note: This blog is written by Anthony J. Hall, RN, BSN, behavioral health charge nurse at Atlanta Medical Center. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) means major changes in the way Americans view health issues and treatment options. While there is increased optimism building around the plan's effect on patient care, ...

As the universities and secondary schools are preparing for spring break, it is important that we are educated and educate our young patients on the dangers of ultraviolet exposure. I am going to focus this blog more specifically towards the use of tanning beds. As a dermatology specialist and a parent, I find it unconscionable that ...

Editor's note: This blog is written by Miguel A. Bustillos, department chair and professor at California University of Management & Sciences in Virginia. Most of us have heard about the Medicaid expansion and how states like Florida, Texas and Virginia are against it. Some do not understand why the Medicaid expansion has become such a ...

As reported on Newswise, the following is a statement by Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, president of The New York Academy of Medicine, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious medical academies, on the seriousness of gun violence as a major public health issue. The statement is in response to deadly incidents of gun violence in Newtown, CT, ...

I am sitting in a building erected in a decade when buildings were square and walls could never be thick enough. Brown ivy climbs a brick exterior white-washed so many times that it seems smooth. The old steel radiators chitter like a multitude of sparrows and my seat was built for someone with a smaller number of dietary choices. The nurse who ...