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 ...

By Diane M. Goodman, APRN, BC, MSN-C, CCRN, CNRN Your patient is about to leave the inpatient facility for home, where they will need to manage approximately 3.4 chronic diseases (if they are a typical senior ≥ the age of 65, according to the CDC, U.S. Health Statistics). How do we assure patient readiness in our rush to find a wheelchair, a ...

Editor's note: This blog was written by Elizabeth Rosto Sitko, managing editor of ADVANCE for Long-Term Care Management. Last week, Newsweek published its final print issue. As a magazine enthusiast (I subscribe to many, I've studied them, and I work for one), I was saddened to hear the news. I remember a time when finding one ...

(Editor's note: This guest blog was written by Suzanne LeBeau, BSN, RN, CLNC.) We all know the scenario. You're getting report on your sixth patient and the nurse who is giving report is spent, burnt out and just wants to go home to her cozy bed. As you may imagine, the conversation may go like this: First nurse: ''In room 320 is Mr. Jones, a ...

By Diane M. Goodman, APRN, BC, MSN-C, CCRN, CNRN At a recent research conference, I listened to two colleagues battling back and forth about access to healthcare, and what the audience viewed as a ''two-tiered'' system; those who have insurance coverage versus those who do not. Government statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau (2009) place the ...

As most everyone knows by now, nurses have for several years been ranked the ''Most Trusted Profession'' in an annual Gallup survey of Americans. But now a new study reveals nurses are also very good at assessing the quality of care delivered in the hospital units in which they work.  In short, it turns out nurses are not only trustworthy ...

Diane M. Goodman, APRN, BC, CCRN, CNRN, is in staff development at Advocate Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, IL. Quality used to be an easier concept to define for nurses and healthcare providers. If the patient recovered during their length of stay and avoided the quagmire of hospital-acquired assaults such as pneumonia, urinary tract ...

As students in Salisbury, MD, head back to the days of homework and bus rides, the Wicomico County school district has decided to replace three registered nurses with certified nursing assistants, leaving some schools without an RN to care for children with medical needs that can't be handled by a CNA. ''We've had to be very strategic with ...

As I write this, I'm preparing to go back to Michigan (from California) for my 40th high school reunion. In addition to thinking about seeing old friends (pun intended), I've been taking stock of some of the lessons I've learned in the last 40 years. Some have been helpful (learning how to drive a stick shift) while some have been ...

This Memorial Day, as we remember our country's fallen heroes, I ask that you do not forget the brave Nurses who may have cared for and comforted them in their final hours; In the revolutionary War, Abigail Hartman Rice and Christina Hench were there... In the Civil War, Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott were there...  In the ...