For many of our patients, their HIV status is the least of their problems. The population of people we deal with not only suffers from the disease, but from their addictions, homelessness, abusive relationships and indifference. I've come to learn that these people view our clinic as much more than just their doctor's office. For a lot of ...

Here is something to ponder:  What do you do as a nursing student (or a nurse) when one of your parents is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease? Such was the case for me in early 1998 when my dad was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I was in the first year of my practical nurse schooling, and I didn't know how much of a ...

It seems unlikely that anyone could sleep through their toe being bitten off by their pet dog, but that's exactly what happened to 56-year-old Linda Floyd of Alton, Illinois. Floyd recently woke up from an afternoon nap only to find that the big toe on her right foot was gone. Her miniature dachshund had chewed it off, and because of nerve damage ...

June 27th was National HIV Testing Day and the first day our clinic offered free HIV screening. We weren't really sure how the response would be, but it turned out to be fantastic. We saw 25 people between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. We had a real broad range of people walk through our door. Asians, African Americans Latinos, Whites; men and women from as ...

The article starts out promising good PR for nurse practitioners: ''Peggy O'Donnell, a Lynbrook nurse practitioner, knows a thing or two about picking a good primary care physician.'' This is O'Donnell's opportunity to explain that an NP often can be your primary care provider — and even better, that there are studies that show that NP care is ...

I was having a bad couple days at work recently, and it left me wondering why I went into nursing in the first place. I think all nurses think that from time to time I was doing what I always do in my clinic: talking to my HIV patients, drawing their blood and listening to their stories. But I was struck by one patient who shared a story of her ...

Living with and caring for people with chronic illness can be extraordinarily frustrating. I know, I've lived with very symptomatic fibromyalgia since a bout of Lyme disease in 1991. There are some great resources online for both you -  if you have health challenges -- and for your patients when they need help. But You Don't Look Sick is ...

  Yesterday morning my spouse's high school friend, John, had prostate cancer. By afternoon he didn't — at least we hope the prostatectomy did the trick. John found out he might have something to worry about when he got his PSA level checked last fall at a booth at the Texas state fair. He didn't think he needed the test (he's only 38), ...

It is almost the end of February. Spring can't come soon enough as far as I am concerned. I am undoubtedly experiencing the RSV blues. This has happened before, so at least this time I am better able to recognize it. I'd like to share it so you can be familiar with its effects and know, too, that this shall pass. Let me start by sharing my ...

Follow nurse practitioner Lois Wessel's lead and make national policy briefings your second job. Wessel wrote a touching and informative article for Tuesday's Washington Post, explaining her position at a mobile health clinic in Silver Spring, Md., and the barriers to care the U.S. health system throws up before her mostly immigrant patients. ...