NursingLink

You can find some lively debates on the value of writing care plans and using nursing diagnoses. Some argue that they are a waste of time and not very useful. Others argue that they are absolutely essential to advance the field of nursing. The bottom line is that if you are a nursing student, you need to know how to write ...

Difficult Patients: Why they’re That Way and How to Handle Them They complain, criticize, shout, swear and may even try to hit you. Difficult patients are an unfortunate fact of life in healthcare. But knowing how to identify, understand and respond to them can make your work life safer and less stressful. Identify Difficult Patients It's sometimes possible to predict which ...

h4. About MRSA Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus is the full name for MRSA (sometimes referred to as the 'superbug'). It belongs to the Staphylococcus aureus family of germs. Staphylococcus aureus is a very common cause of bacterial infections such as boils, carbuncles, infected wounds, deep abscesses and bloodstream infection (or bacteraemia). It was first described in the 1880s when doctors realised ...

The Importance of Understanding Cultural Practices and Beliefs When Treating Depression It is indeed sad that depression is so often under diagnosed and under treated. I was lucky enough to go on a mission trip to the former Soviet Union. In Moldova, the treatment is still insulin shock therapy. I also learned a great deal about culture and its impact on ...

Hemodialysis is the most common method used to treat advanced and permanent kidney failure. Since the 1960s, when hemodialysis first became a practical treatment for kidney failure, we’ve learned much about how to make hemodialysis treatments more effective and minimize side effects. In recent years, more compact and simpler dialysis machines have made home dialysis increasingly attractive. But even with better ...

In 1965, a lawyer made an unusual deal with one of his older clients, Jeanne Calment of Arles, France. In exchange for ownership of her apartment, he agreed to pay her a monthly pension for the rest of her life. Because Mme. Calment was 90 years old at the time, it seemed likely that the lawyer would only have to make ...

In any given one-year period, 9.5 percent of the population, or about 20.9 million American adults, suffer from a depressive illness. Not everyone who is depressed or manic experiences every symptom. Some people experience a few symptoms, some many. Severity of symptoms varies with individuals and also varies over time. h4. Depression * Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood * Feelings ...

Homeopathy, Chinese medicine, acupuncture; there are now more terms used to describe approaches to health care that are outside the realm of conventional medicine than your average nurse can keep track of. However, it is becoming increasingly important for nurses to familiarize themselves with these terms since patients frequently use alternative healing methods in conjunction with their western therapies. This fact ...

The signs and symptoms of airborne allergies are familiar to many. # Sneezing, often with a runny or clogged nose # Coughing and postnasal drip # Itching eyes, nose, and throat # Watering eyes # Conjunctivitis # “Allergic shiners” (dark circles under the eyes caused by increased blood flow near the sinuses) # “Allergic salute” (in a child, persistent upward rubbing ...

h4. Introduction Regardless of what the obese state represents in terms of altered metabolic and hormonal function, obesity is above all a psychological or, perhaps more accurately, a behavioral disorder. Eating is a behavior, and the two most logical and direct ways of losing weight and keeping it off, a sensible diet and moderate exercise, represent, for obese persons, a challenge ...

Patients’ elevated LFT results can indicate hepatocyte injury, cholestasis, or both. Tonya L. Fancher, MD, MPH Assistant professor, Department of internal medicine Amit Kamboj, MD Medicine resident, Department of internal medicine John Onate, MD Assistant professor, Department of psychiatry and human behavior University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento Mrs. W, age 53, is referred by her primary provider for ...

When sperm is deposited in the vagina, it travels through the cervix and into the Fallopian tubes. Conception usually takes place in the Fallopian tube. A single sperm penetrates the mother's egg cell, and the resulting cell is called a zygote. The zygote contains all of the genetic information (DNA) necessary to become a child. Half of the genetic information comes ...

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. It is hard for these children to control their behavior and/or pay attention. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of children have ADHD, or approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a ...

Cells are the structural and functional units of all living organisms. Some organisms, such as bacteria, are unicellular, consisting of a single cell. Other organisms, such as humans, are multicellular, or have many cells - an estimated 100,000,000,000,000 cells! Each cell is an amazing world unto itself: it can take in nutrients, convert these nutrients into energy, carry out specialized functions, ...

There are two types of cell division: mitosis and meiosis. Most of the time when people refer to “cell division,” they mean mitosis, the process of making new body cells. Meiosis is the type of cell division that creates egg and sperm cells. Mitosis is a fundamental process for life. During mitosis, a cell duplicates all of its contents, including its ...

At the end of a long day of caring for patients, it’s time to give the end-of-shift report to the oncoming nurses. Although it may be tempting to rush through this routine duty, patient safety hinges on a complete and correct exchange of information. “We underestimate its importance,” says Elizabeth Henneman, RN, PhD, CCNS, an assistant professor in the School of ...

The first step in helping abused or neglected children is learning to recognize the signs of child abuse and neglect. The presence of a single sign does not prove child abuse is occurring in a family; however, when these signs appear repeatedly or in combination you should take a closer look at the situation and consider the possibility of child abuse. ...

What if you could drop off your children at school, work a shift at the hospital, then be back to greet your kids after classes? Such parent work shifts are ideal for nurses who want to keep a toe in the working world without sacrificing time with their kids. They're becoming more common as hospitals get creative to fill staffing gaps. ...

The Challenge of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Providers A challenge exists for health care providers related to the growing and changing demographics in our communities in the United States. In addition, there is the need of the health care providers to be culturally competent to provide quality service. The nursing literature substantiates this position. The disaster of Katrina serves as an ...

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD WASHINGTON -- Take the generic drug clonidine for high blood pressure? Double-check that you didn't leave the drugstore with Klonopin for seizures, or the gout medicine colchicine. Mixing up drug names because they look or sound alike is among the most common types of medical mistakes, and it can be deadly. New efforts are aiming to make patients ...