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Soulfully preparing for the end of life
Lisa Cole Medical & Allied HealthcareThese past seven months I’ve been on a mission. Throwing caution to the wind, I moved out of state temporarily to be near Mom to set her up to "age in place." Amidst the plethora of preparations, we’ve shared many soulful moments. What began as an odyssey is ending with an opus. Before launching into all her current and possible future arrangements, it was important for us to sit down and talk. Heartfully and honestly talk — as if our lives depended on it. Because, they did.
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Study looks at causes of homelessness among ED patients
Chelsea Adams Medical & Allied HealthcareHomelessness is a prevalent problem in American emergency departments, which serve as social safety nets for indigent and sick. A new qualitative study of newly homeless emergency department patients found multiple contributing factors to homelessness. Now that the factors have been identified, they can impact ED-based homelessness prevention intervention. The study was conducted at a New York City public hospital emergency department.
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Optimizing quality of life and communication for older adults living with…
Carina Oltmann Medical & Allied HealthcareMiriam is sitting up in bed when I enter her hospital room. She is neatly groomed with a lovely short gray bob and large eyes that greet me warmly. Before her lie several untouched containers of vanilla pudding. The television is tuned to CNN and she tells me that she watches the business show religiously every day. I like Miriam’s warmth and friendliness immediately. As an oncology social worker, I have the privilege of working with adults undergoing treatment for cancer, primarily gynecologic and hepatobiliary cancer.
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5 strategies for reducing medication errors
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareAs a healthcare professional, you constantly monitor your hospital to make sure patient safety is the ultimate priority. But improving your approach on a constant basis is also vital. What strategies should you be implementing to ensure your patients receive their medication properly, without hazard and in a timely manner? Use these science-driven pieces of advice to accomplish these essential goals.
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Healthcare groups: ONC should delay data-blocking rules, focus on security
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareFederal policymakers in healthcare IT are up against it. As many as seven healthcare industry groups are encouraging these rulemakers to begin dealing with data-blocking regulations now, including delaying the publication of a final rule. The groups are raising the flag toward the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to issue another supplemental notice of rulemaking and clarify the language in the rules. The organizations cite confusion regarding ONC's definition and scope of electronic health information and health information networks.
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The upside of grief
Victoria Fann Mental HealthcareThe loss of a loved one is a major event in one’s life. There’s no way to prepare for it or to lessen its emotional impact. It’s one of life’s inevitable natural disasters, leaving families in varying degrees of shock, disagreements over the deceased’s possessions and myriad casualties from regrets over things said, left unsaid or undone to the daunting task of adjusting to life without this person. There’s not much good to be found at the end of someone’s life…or is there?
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Resistance to change in healthcare: Our fatal flaw
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareIt’s been said that change is the only constant in the universe, and that also pertains to healthcare. Since the days of Hippocrates, Florence Nightingale, and many others, medicine and nursing have continued to morph, and those individuals and organizations willing to do so have also evolved apace. But for those who resist or fight change, becoming an irrelevant dinosaur is the likely result. Are you and your organization willing to play along?
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Report: Many US healthcare employees receive no cybersecurity training
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareThere's a healthcare data security problem in the U.S., and news reports suggest that insiders are not getting the amount of education they need to help keep hospital data safe. Per a new Kaspersky report, a massive number of the healthcare sector’s workforce does not receive the necessary training required to improve awareness of their organization’s policies, regulations, and rules. Nearly a quarter (24%) of U.S. healthcare employees have not received cybersecurity training, "but felt they should have," Health IT Security points out.
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Study provides new insight into the decline of older brains
Dorothy L. Tengler Mental HealthcareAs people age, their ability to perform tasks may be impaired not just because they can’t remember but because they are unable to suppress other memories that are irrelevant. A recent study showed that some older adults who had no noticeable cognitive problems had a more difficult time separating irrelevant information from what they needed to do than younger people. According to Susan Courtney, a cognitive neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins, some memory problems are more a matter of retrieving the correct information at the right time to solve the problem at hand rather than a matter of specific memory.
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Healthy aging in the nursing profession
Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied HealthcareIf you’re a nurse, you may not be aging well. According to the ANA's Healthy Nurse Survey, 82% of nurses believe they are at risk for workplace stress. Stress at work can reduce your quality of life and lead to significant health problems — two significant hurdles in the path to fit and active golden years. September is Healthy Aging Month, so now is a great time to step back and assess your health. Are you aging gracefully? If not, here are a few ways to combat nursing-related health problems.
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