It is a very interesting social phenomenon how some healthcare workers have come to put up such an emotionally charged and adamant fight against getting vaccinated. This issue reached a head with the recent battle in British Columbia over trying to make it mandatory for frontline nurses to get the flu shot. I call this a “social phenomenon” because the surprising resistance is exponentially spurred by forces beyond any solid scientific evidence, despite …
How much does a doctor make a year? You’re asking the wrong question.
Okay, enough already. It seems like the media’s flavor of the week is focused on determining what a doctor’s annual income is, and whether that magical guess-timation is too high or too low. The underlying assumptions driving this hunt include: 1)coming up with an average annual income (gross/net) would somehow be reflective of individual physician practices or be meaningful in any shape or form, and 2)even if the previous assumption is correct, that …
A thought on Nurse Practitioners.
Guest post by Linda B. I have been a nurse for 12 years. All of them practiced in Canada, most of which have been in critical care. I started with a college education and a specialty certificate. Within the year I will be a master’s prepared Nurse Practitioner (NP), and almost everyone I know asks me what’s next…? I could stay right where I am – at the bedside in the Intensive Care …
Drunk.
Defined as someone “having the faculties impaired by alcohol” (or a more practical version: “When you have to hold onto the grass to keep from falling off the earth“), those of us who work in an acute healthcare facility are witness to many illustrious examples of drunk patients coming through our doors. Underaged kids passed out at a house party? Yup. Raging alcoholics who are brought into the ER at least once a …
What is Patient Care?
Guest post by Shawn Mondoux. I have been asking myself where is the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to patient satisfaction. This basically gets down to a more fundamental issue which sums itself up as “how much does the patient want to know about and be involved in their own care?”. The difficulty is that there is no single answer to this question. Doctors like to simplify issues into neat …
Healthcare in Developing Nations – What They Truly Need.
Guest post by Barbara Watson. Health. It’s something that we should take seriously. As I see it, a good health is a foundation of a great nation. A country with unhealthy people won’t be able to produce well. If this is the case, one will always be a striving nation but will not experience improvement. That’s why we need to improve the health care status of developing nations. I have chosen 5 developing …