Cancer patients have a lot on their plate when they cope with chemotherapy and radiation as they try to stamp out the run-away cells in their body. New findings show these same cancer patients have some unexpected sleep problems as well. Three of four cancer patients are affected by insomnia and other sleep disorders, according to ...

You're ailing. You have respiratory symptoms of all sorts from a runny nose to coughing fits. Is it the flu? a cold? Or for real pessimists -- pneumonia? How do you know? How does your doctor decide? It's a bit of a sticky dilemma. Sometimes a physician's guess is as good as your own; but when optimal treatment depends on an accurate diagnosis, ...

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 numbers. Nurses need to question whether something can be considered evidence based on the ...

Valerie M. Chapman, MSN, RN, has been a pediatric nurse for 25 years and is a 3-year breast cancer survivor. She lives in Medford, NJ. I am a wife, a mother of two awesome kids, a daughter, a sister and a nurse. I am also a survivor. At the age of 43 a routine screening mammogram picked up an abnormality in my left breast that turned out to ...

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 nurses to increase vaccination rates, in light of the public health emergency posed by the H1N1 ...

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, gall bladder disease, vertigo, hypertension, insomnia and muscular and joint ...

Nursing takes on new ''heights'' for those who choose to practice the profession at sea. Imagine climbing into a basket lowered from a helicopter hovering over a ship in mid-ocean. Up and away, and you're in the copter. The basket is lowered again, this time to retrieve a sick passenger, now your patient, in dire need of a ship-to-air ...

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, that does not mean you are sick or should stay home. If you do feel you must report off ...

Have you noticed nonchalance about seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines in young adults? The way that H1N1 is affecting those under 25, and the way that patients in that age group seem to treat their own health, could pose a big challenge to NPs trying to keep them healthy. Some young patients may be shocked to find that they aren't invincible when ...

In attempt to increase awareness on infection prevention and call attention to the need to protect patients and the public from the risk of healthcare-associated infections, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), in collaboration with 3M Health Care, is pushing for statewide recognition of International ...