November 10th, 2011 by CodeBlog in True Stories
No Comments »
So, Megen wrote this post recently about “Therapeutic Presence.” The following passage really caught my attention:
Question is: are there more things in nursing, Horatio, than science can explain? Can we touch patients and zap them with calmness or take away their pain? Can we, by our mindset during our provision of care, substantially affect our patients’ outcomes? Can any of this be taught? Can we do it on purpose? I don’t know. That situation has captured my attention, though, because the flip side must also be true—if I despise my patient, she can probably tell that too, regardless of how tightly I’m controlling my behavior.
Little backstory: A few weeks ago I had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Basically, a very nice surgeon made a few incisions into my abdomen, inserted a camera and some wrenches or something, and took my gall bladder out. I had never had surgery before. Never been intubated. I have been on “the bed side” quite a few times, but never for surgery.
A week elapsed between the time we decided to do surgery and the time the surgery actually happened. It was a really hard week for me as I was very anxious about the whole thing. I’m not even sure what exactly it was that I was nervous about. I Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at code blog - tales of a nurse*
October 27th, 2011 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Opinion
No Comments »
Health care professionals are a cynical lot. We joke about the “fad or buzz word of the month”…usually some vague concept heralded by the powers on high. Our job is to promote the idea…knowing full well that the “next big thing” is probably right around the corner.
Take “Patient-Centered”…it sure feels like a buzz word. I suspect most hospital and physician executives, and their ad agency partners, would agree. But this time things are very different.
Why Hospitals and Physicians Should Get Serious About Patient-Centered Care
Reason #1 – Patients Are Starting To Discover That Their Doctors & Hospitals Are Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
September 11th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
No Comments »
Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents said they look up information online in front of a patient sometimes or often, and another 11% said they do when absolutely needed. Only 13% deliberately avoid it.
ACP Internist polled its readers in relation to its story on computers in medicine, in which it focused on whether doctors should look up information in front of a patient. From this, 362 readers responded in August that: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
May 10th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
No Comments »
A newly-created index of consumer healthcare confidence has fallen steadily this year, reports The Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index. Consumers report declining confidence in their ability to access, use, and pay for healthcare. The index, set at a baseline of 100 in December 2009, is now at 97.
More consumers reported difficulty paying for services and insurance, or reported a reduction or cancellation of their insurance. More delayed or failed to fill a prescription in the past three months or canceled a diagnostic test (such as blood work, X-ray or mammogram). Further, consumers expect the situation to worsen in the next three months, including putting off elective surgery.
Thomson will report figures monthly and has published their methodology online.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
February 19th, 2010 by Nicholas Genes, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
There’s an adage I often think about: “A physician’s job requires the expression of confidence. The researcher’s role is to express doubt.”
This was never more apparent than when I transitioned from the research environment into the clerkships of medical school. The language of decision-making had abruptly changed — in the lab, a year’s worth of experiments is summarized with “seems” and “suggests,” and every assertion is carefully calibrated to acknowledge uncertainty and a high standard for proof.
As a student on clerkships, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the residents’ ambitious plans for patients: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Blogborygmi*
