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Since 1970, January has been recognized as National Blood Donor Month. Here are some good-to-know facts about our country’s blood supply from the American Red Cross: The demand for transfusions is growing faster than donations. Less than 38% of the US population is eligible to donate blood. Blood cannot be manufactured—it can only come from donors. . . . → Read More: Resolve This Year To Give Blood This week, I was driving on the PA Turnpike en route to Hershey Medical Center where I was planning to visit a patient and her family. During my trip, I checked in by phone (hands free, bluetooth!) with another client whose dad was recently diagnosed with cancer. Our plan was to talk that day so . . . → Read More: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Hershey Thanksgiving is here and gone. The annual holiday season is in full swing. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, you name it—this is it. This time of year can be one of the best, but it can also be one of the most taxing on our bodies. Stress, poor eating, and less sleep can take its toll on . . . → Read More: Tips for Enjoying Your Holidays I love words and language as much as the next gal. Really. I studied journalism in college and have always enjoyed writing. Part of the reason I enjoy producing this blog. So lately I’ve been thinking about all of the words and terms that we use every day in healthcare—even some of the new ones. And I have to . . . → Read More: The Marketing of Healthcare Academic studies show that what we learned in kindergarten is really true: it’s not things, but attitude that truly makes us happy. People who describe themselves as feeling grateful to others in general tend to have higher vitality and more optimism, suffer less stress, and experience fewer episodes of clinical depression than the population as . . . → Read More: Giving Thanks IS Good for Your Health This past week, I was struck by two separate incidents that highlighted the need for family members to talk to each other. One particular story involves a friend and colleague, in her 40′s, who after experiencing symptoms for weeks, finally relented and visited her primary care physician. After an examination and a thorough history, and . . . → Read More: Family Secrets…”I Didn’t Know My Mom Had…” Do you have a hospital fantasy? No, not the one involving Dr. McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy. The one where you want to be admitted to the hospital for a little rest and relaxation. I read a piece on the Huffington Post by Katrina Alcorn where she describes that she had conducted an “unofficial poll” of . . . → Read More: Do You Have a “Hospital Fantasy?” With thanks to Charles Dickens and his 1859 novel, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Surely, his words could be applied to our country’s healthcare system. But never was it so apparent (this week) that patients need advocates as it was when I interacted with two case managers, on . . . → Read More: A Tale of Two Case Managers Last night, while I was watching the Phillies vs. Braves game, my 17 year old nephew called to ask for my help with an assignment for his English class. He was supposed to write a poem and use a metaphor to describe the topic of his poem. In his case it was rowing. He is . . . → Read More: Our healthcare system, a metaphor. I believe in angels and in miracles. Many of my colleagues at Guardian Nurses do, too. While it may not be every day that we are offered proof, when we do—we recognize them and celebrate them. Like the patient who told us how she had been noting a cut on her hand that over a . . . → Read More: Angels Do Exist and Miracles Do Happen |
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