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 ...

My mother was barely 15 years old when she began her first real job working the ticket window of a theater in downtown Kansas City, MO. One day, a group of soldiers came to the window and requested four adult tickets to see the latest hit movie. Newly trained and eager to please, mom did what she was told to do and passed four tickets ...

If you haven’t been vaccinated for the flu yet, it should be on your weekend to-do list. October is the unofficial start of flu season, and you don’t want to come down with the nasty virus — or have your kids miss school because of it. Only 46% of Americans get the flu shot every year, according to CDC statistics, but there are so many reasons why ...

I thoroughly enjoy editing articles. Whether written by a trio of PhDs, a CNO, a staff nurse writing for her first time, a freelance journalist or another ADVANCE editor, I just can't let a sentence be until it sounds right in my head.  A long-time telecommuter, I've often turned away from my computer after a long day to find my house has ...

As I search the Internet for information on the contributions of great African American nurses in history, I find myself wishing I had more time. More time to learn more about people like Mary Eliza Mahoney, RN, (1845-1926), who in 1879 became America’s first African-American graduate nurse. According to the Bridgewater (MA) State University ...

A healthier lifestyle is a resolution set by many at the beginning of the new year. However, as the holidays pass and our busy schedules get the better of us, the best intentions often fall by the wayside. With the first few days of 2012 behind us, how are you faring on your resolutions? Dian Griesel, PhD, and Tom Griesel, authors of the ...

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC is endorsing vaccinations against human papillomavirus (HPV) for boys of ages 11 and 12. This announcement comes on the heels of new research that reportedly documents the rise in cancers caused by HPV Research published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows HPV-16, the ...

On my morning drive into work today I heard a radio report that, rather nonchalantly, described the increasing incidence of community-associated MRSA - explaining that the condition is more treatable than the hospital-acquired variety, which was said to also be more dangerous specifically because it largely affects older patients. While this all ...

We all know Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin; most of us don't know it was 1928. I had to look that up. Also, few of us know when penicillin became a common treatment. There's an interesting and tragic story behind how this miracle drug made its debut to the world.Early on, support for the production and further development of penicillin ...

In 1976, more than 120,000 female registered nurses signed on to the first Nurses' Health Study to volunteer information that would be used to assess risk factors for cancer and heart disease in older women. In 1980, questions were added looking at diet and other factors. The aim was to look at risk factors for major chronic diseases in women and ...