Despite objection in July from the New York State Nurses Association, New York has imposed a mandate for all health care workers to be vaccinated against the flu virus this year. New York was very hard hit last spring by the H1N1 Swine flu and is experiencing another rush of the illness so far this fall. According to a survey by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) less than 50% of health care workers take the annual flu shots. There are a variety of reasons cited, but many state that they “got the flu anyway” the last time they took the shot. The moral issues weigh in as…
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Is Your Drug Book or Application Up to Date?
Do you have the latest version of your drug book, smart phone application or software? The advantage of smart phone or PDA applications as well as any medical software is that it can be updated frequently where as a hard copy book cannot. But whatever your personal or professional choice, you need to update them at least once a year. Each year thousands of new drugs become available or have significant changes in applications, side effects, etc. Nurses have the responsibility to teach patients, caregivers and family members about medications and unless they have the most up-to-date information at their fingertips, this basic process can be severely hampered. Remember to…
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Voices of Meningitis Initiative
The National Association of School Nurses is hoping to help save lives this year and inform parents about the dangers of meningitis for teens and preteens ages 11-18. This can be prevented if children receive the vaccine. Actress Lori Laughlin is a mother of 3 herself and is the national spokesperson for the Voices of Meningitis Initiative. She has made a public service announcement video (see below) and along with school nurses across the country the initiative hopes to inform parents about the dangers of meningococcal meningitis. Although this disease is rare, it is also hard to recognize in early stages because the symptoms are similar to those of other…
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Health Care Reform for Dummies
For those who want the FACTS about the proposed health care reform and not the rumors about death panels etc…..here’s some plain, simple information.
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How to Become a Nurse Practitioner
For those of you thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner, be sure you understand the education process before applying to or starting an education course. All too often students find themselves in an ADN program staring at six more years of education when they could have gone into a BSN program. I always suggest that nursing students keep an open mind throughout their education because typically they will fall in love with more than one rotation, and change their minds more than once. A good six months or a year of med/surg after graduation is also a good consideration for building confidence and honing skills. But for those of you…