Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

There were no takers for hosting this week’s Grand Rounds.  If you would like to be a future host:

… Send an email to Nick Genes (you can find his contact info at blogborygmi.com) and request to be considered as a future host. Include a link to your blog. Host bloggers must have been blogging regularly for at least 6 months, have a health theme, demonstrate good writing skills, professionalism, and respect for scientific medicine. If your blog meets those requirements (and is approved by Nick or Val) they’ll contact you via email to schedule your host date.

If you missed last week’s edition, then check it out.  Dr. Rich, Covert Rationing,  was the host. You can read last week’s edition here.

ZDoggMD will be hosting on September 27th. His theme will be Funny Medical Stuff but he will accept good submissions on almost any medical topic.  You can email submissions to him at zdoggmd (AT) gmail (DOT) com

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Dr. Charles is “Calling for Entries in the 2011 Charles Prize for Poetry Contest.”

Announcing the second annual Poetry Contest!

An award will be given to the writer who submits for consideration the most outstanding poem within the realm of health, science, or medicine. ……….

The contest began Wednesday August 31st and ends September 31st, 2011. The winners will be chosen shortly thereafter by an elite group of 8 judges (other doctors, friends with literary training, and select bloggers).  The contest is open to everyone.

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In case you missed it, I just want to point you to this lovely post by @doctorwes:  The Flywheel

(With apologies to Harry Chapin)

"Welcome to BA Cardiology Associates, young doctor, we're thrilled you've decided to join us. As you recall, we guarantee your salary for the first several years then when you're practice is established, your salary will be proportional to your productivity. Oh, and if you need anything, just let us know."

A child arrived just the other day. He came to the world in the usual way...

"I had the most amazing case today! His heart rate was so slow..."
"Doctor, we're impressed at how things are going."

He learned to walk while I was away...

"Thanks for helping out……

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (September 2011)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to the September, 2011 edition of Change of Shift!

This is quite the eclectic selection of posts from across the nursing blogosphere, composed of those submitted for inclusion and those I found in my travels through the neighborhood.

Remember, submissions are always accepted for Change of Shift, there is never a deadline to meet, so don’t hesitate to submit a post at any time.

Let’s begin! …………………….

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H/T to @scanman for retweeting this “@JenniferAdaeze: I helped found a Journal of #NarrativeMedicine theintima.org follow @the_intima & spread the word :) #meded”. 

It will be interesting to follow The Intima, a Journal of Narrative Medicine.  There are sections for poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art inspired by medicine.  Check out this fictional story by Dana Gage about a medical student struggling with a dying child:  Nightwatch

Rane entered the room hesitantly; she didn’t want to enter at all; she had pleaded with the intern and then to the resident, who just shook his head and said it wasn’t up to him. The Chief Resident had ordered, had insisted upon it, that she see this particular child, work her up. …………

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H/T to @evidencematters who alerted me to this Guardian article by Patrick Barkham:  Nazis, needlework and my dad (photo credit)

Not many men belong to a stitching group, but Tony Casdagli picked up his enthusiasm for the craft from his father, who kept himself sane by fashioning subversive messages as a PoW  ………….

Shout Outs

 Updated 3/2017:  all links removed as many no longer active and it was easier than going through each one.

Grand Rounds continues to be on hiatus.  If you would like to host a future edition of Grand Rounds send an email to Nick Genes (you can find his contact info at here).   The most recent edition can be found here at Medgadget.  Other editions can be found here on the Grand Rounds Facebook page.

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (May 2011)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog.

Welcome to the latest edition of Change of Shift, the nursing blog carnival!
…..Let’s get started!
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Sue Hassmiller is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Senior Advisor for Nursing. She is also a volunteer with the Red Cross. Abandonment Guilt, her final blog post from tornado-ravaged Alabama, can be found at AJN’s Off the Charts.

Best. Post. EVER! From BabyRNDeb at Life and Times of an L&D Nurse. What a difference One Year can make!

Over at oncRN, “the silence needs to be listened to and honored.”   …….

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H/T to @palmd  for the link to this article by  @stevesilberman:  23 amazing writers offer me tips on writing a book.  Here are just a few:

Bill Wasik (Author of And Then There’s This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture) --

The first tip is that readers expect books to be exhaustive on their subjects. That doesn’t mean they want the books to be long ….

Deborah Blum (Author of The Poisoner’s Handbook and Ghost Hunters)  -- …..the best advice i got in writing narrative non-fiction was to get my hero in trouble and keep him there. …..

Sylvia Boorstein (Author of Happiness is An Inside Job and It’s Easier Than You Think)  -- …..Do not read other people’s work on the same subject. That might be hard for you, since you are collecting research data, but I say very little about what other people have said or thought. They’ve already said or thought it. ….

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Kerri (@sixuntilme)  who will soon be a 25 year Medalist shares a Video from the Joslin 50 Yr Medalists.   Amazing and inspiring.  Go check it out.

To be a Joslin Medalist, you need to mark 25, 50, or 75 years with diabetes.  (Well, technically, you get a certificate at the 25 year mark, but it's definitely a milestone to celebrate.)  And over the weekend, I had the opportunity to spend the day with Joslin's medalists who have spent over 50 years with type 1 diabetes. 

……  These generous medalists allowed me to listen to their stories, and offered a few sage words of advice into my video camera. …..

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Not only is this year the 30th Anniversary of HIV/AIDS, but Margaret Polaneczky, MD (TBTAM) reminds us it’s also the 40th anniversary of the seminal journal article on DES – An Endocrine Disruptor

An interesting NEJM article on the 40th anniversary of the seminal journal article on The DES Story serves as a potent reminder of the potential effects of exposure to endocrine disruptors during critical times in development.

Beginning in the early 1960′s DES, a synthetic estrogen compound, was given to women in early pregnancy to prevent miscarriages. Females born from these pregnancies had an increased risk of a rare vaginal cancer during childhood, increased rates of uterine malformations that can cause infertility and premature birth, and are at a moderately higher risk for breast cancer. Use of DES in pregnant women stopped in the early 1970′s.  . ……….

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What great news this week regarding the treatment of melanoma.  Check out this NY Times article by Andrew Pollack:  Drugs Show Promise Slowing Advanced Melanoma

Two new drugs have been found to prolong the lives of people with advanced melanoma, representing what researchers say is notable progress against the deadly skin cancer after decades of futility.

The drugs represent success in two new approaches to combating cancer: one by attacking a specific genetic mutation that accelerates tumor growth; the other by unleashing the body’s immune system to fight the disease  ……….
The drugs do not cure melanoma, except perhaps in rare cases.   …………

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Shared by @DrVes on twitter:  The days of his life: NY photographer takes Polaroid picture every day for 18 yrs until his death from cancer at 41 (photo credit)

What started as a project, quickly became an obsession for one New York photographer, who managed to take a Polaroid picture every day for 18 years.

Jamie Livingston took his first snap of then girlfriend Mindy Goldstein and a friend on March 31 1979.

Six thousand shots later the series ends tragically on 25 October 1997 with Mr Livingston on his deathbed from cancer on his 41st birthday.  ……….
To see the whole collection go to www.photooftheday.hughcrawford.com

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I read about this quilt by Cathy Ott in my local Sunday paper but it’s subscription only online and there was no photo with the article.  So I googled it and found this Journal Sentinel article which had a photo (the one below):   Military uniforms across decades go into gift of quilt

Zach Radtke didn't notice right away when a few of his Army uniform patches went missing.

The next time the Army Reservist saw them, they were on a beautiful quilt made by his girlfriend's mother. Five different Army uniforms spanning several decades make up the quilt.

When Cathy Ott came up with the idea for her military camouflage quilt she calls "The Boot," she didn't need to do much shopping for old military uniforms. She just opened her closet. ……

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.


Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, 33 charts, is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here.

The reason I love grand rounds is that it offers me the opportunity to see stuff that I might normally overlook.

No themes here, per se.  Just some good stuff from around the web.  The response was great and all offered something unique.  I have chosen, however, to select some of the best material for your reading pleasure.  Rather than generate a massive dung heap of disconnected links that no one can practically manage, I have made the administrative decision to focus on some of the more compelling content.  I’ve also tried to place an emphasis on new, potentially understated blogs that might not otherwise see the light of day.

Buckle your seatbelt and keep your arms inside the vehicle.

. …………

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 15)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift!
This is a miniature edition!
The quantity is tiny, the quality is superb!
Grab some coffee, kick back
Change of Shift is in da house!
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Editor’s Pick: At the AJN Off the Charts blog, Juliana Paradisi pens a fantastic post on privacy, both personal and for patients, in Nurses, Hospitals and Social Media: It Depends What Business You’re In.  …..

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Dr. Itzhak Brook, My Voice, shares an essay at KevinMD:  A laryngectomy shakes this physician to the core

As an infectious diseases physician with a special interest in head and neck infections, I had extensive experience in otolaryngological illnesses. However, when I was exposed to new, different, and challenging experiences as a neck cancer patient, I had to deal with these as a patient — not as a physician. I endured the consequences of radiation, repeated surgeries, and prolonged hospitalizations. I confronted medical errors in my care, discrimination following loss of my vocal cords, and the hardships of regaining my ability to speak.  ………….

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Listening to NPR last week, I caught Tina Brown discussing her Must Read selections for the week.  The one that caught my attention was the story of the 'The Man Who Saw Too Much'.  It profiles Michael Ferrara who suffered PTSD as a first responder. 

The original article in the January 2011 issue of Outside Magazine is by Hampton Sides:  “The Man Who Saw Too Much”

LOOKING BACK over his nearly 30 years as a highly decorated first responder in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley, Michael Ferrara has trouble pinpointing the exact moment when his life began to unravel. His ordeal arrived not all at once but in a long spool of assaults on his soul and psyche. A plausible starting point, though, might be March 29, 2001, and a nightmare that occurred at the airport in Aspen. ………

Starting in March, to boost the profile of his First Responder Recovery Project, Ferrara plans to ski across the state of Alaska.

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Don’t forget to submit your nominations to MedGadget’s Medical Blog Awards -- 2010 Medical Weblog Awards!  This marks the 7th year of the competition. This year's competition is sponsored by Epocrates® and Lenovo. (photo credit)

While you’re at MedGadget’s, check out  how “handyscope Turns iPhone Into Professional Dermatoscope”

The handyscope is an optical attachment and an accompanying app that converts an iPhone into a practical dermatoscope. The attachment provides up to 20x magnification for the phone's camera and illuminates the skin with polarized light thanks to built-in LEDs and internal batteries. The iPhone app is used to store and examine encrypted images, as well as for sharing with other dermatologists for second opinions.

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From LITFL comes a great post which takes you through the management of a toddler’s oral burn:   Hot Lips (photo credit)

You may want to check out my post on the same topic from September 28, 2007, Electric Burns to the Mouth

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KevinMD has written a commentary, Old Doctors Who Continue to Practice, which was inspired by the NYTimes article, Worry Grows About Aging Doctors’ Fitness to Practice.  The NY Times article begins this way:

About eight years ago, at the age of 78, a vascular surgeon in California operated on a woman who then developed a pulmonary embolism. The surgeon did not respond to urgent calls from the nurses, and the woman died.

…., he continued to perform operations for four years until the board finally referred him for a competency assessment …..
“We did a neuropsychological exam, and it was very abnormal,” said Dr. William Norcross, director of the physician assessment program there, who did not identify the surgeon. “This surgeon had visual-spatial abnormalities, could not do fine motor movements, could not retain information, and his verbal I.Q. was much lower than you’d expect.”

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Jessica, Endless Knots, has a nice post on “Taking verbatim notes.”  She describes how she does just that when conducting interviews in a step-by-step process:

……….Which brings me to my method for taking verbatim notes, which I'm guessing a lot of other writers/consultants use but just in case you don't...here goes. ……...

1. Open your fave word processing program and …..

2. In Tools>Autocorrect, enter abbreviations for the words you're most likely to hear your interviewees say. Example: current project is in healthcare. I enter "hc" for healthcare; dr for doctor; emr for electronic medical record; clbrt for collaborate, etc. The easiest way to create your own shorthand is by drpng vwls. Got it?

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Medi-Smart.com is hosting the Scrubinator Photo Contest.  The contest is open to everyone from students to seasoned professionals.  It launched January 19, 2011 and will run until April 20, 2011.

To enter the contest, participants must submit photos of themselves in their creative scrub apparel for a chance to win a $250 gift card to Scrubs and Beyond.

The official rules can be found here.  Each month, two winning pictures will be selected and announced on the official website and across the site’s social media profiles. 

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Dr Anonymous’ guest this week will be KevinMD  who will be talking at the Texas Medical Association meeting on Jan 29, 2011.  Dr. Anonymous will also talk about the future of the Doctor Anonymous Show on BlogTalkRadio.  The show begins at 9 pm EST.

You may want to listen to the shows in his Archives. Here are some to get you started:
GruntDoc, Sid Schwab, Dr. Val, Kevin MD, Rural Doctoring, Emergiblog, Crzegrl, Dr. Wes, TBTAM, Gwenn O'Keeffe, Bongi, Paul Levy, John Halamka, and ScanMan

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

FDAzilla blog is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds!   You can read this week’s edition here.

When when I read the posts from this week’s grand rounds, I am astounded at how advanced, how intense, how personal, how vast, and also how amazingly complicated health care here in America is.  It’s so complicated that probably only the most astute health care observers will even understand every post below.

As you read through the best posts from the medical blogosphere for the week, just think about how amazing all of this is -  health care leads to all kinds of misconceptions, frustrations, discoveries, inspiration, opportunities, tragedy, and humor. …………

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 14)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first 2011 edition of Change of Shift, the bi-weekly nursing blog carnival!

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Let’s get started!
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This is so the Editor’s Pick of the new year! The Muse, RN reminds us that there is …No “I” in “Team”, and believe me, it’s not what you think!!!  …..

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Need any good reading material?  Here are some suggestions from fellow bloggers:
Dr. Marya Zilberberg, Heathcare, etc:  Radium, dopamine and innovation: Name your poison

Reading Deborah Blum's "The Poisoner's Handbook" is an intellectual treat. Although non-fiction, it paints in understated sepia tones the crevices of New York City at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, where bootlegged booze and poisons were fare of the day, homicides went unpunished and the corrupt coroner system basked in the glow of its own willful ignorance and political approval. ……..

Fizzy, Mothers in Medicine:  Doctor chick lit?

…….  I'm mildly embarrassed to admit it, but I LOVE chick lit. I don't know why, because I hate fashion and flowers and jewelry and everything else girly. But I love these books….. .

……..I recently discovered a list of the ultimate top 100 chick lit novels and noting that I've already read and enjoyed 7 of the top 10, I've decided to make it my mission for 2011 to work my way through the list. Come on, who's with me?

Gizabeth Shyder, Methodical Madness:  Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

……Yup, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I missed the hell out of my kids last week and was glad to have four books (I recommend Little Bee by Chris Cleave, Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, and Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow - and I won't mention the other because if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it, right???) to read at night and lots of work to keep me busy all week and weekend. ……

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A couple of funny posts of kids making up new words ---
From Dino Doc:  Word of the Day
From TBTAM:  The “B” Word

A friend of mine was teaching her 4 year old daughter the nuances of feminine hygiene the other day. Here’s how it went down …….  

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I’ve received a few thank you notes from patients, but never as cool as this one Impacted ED Nurse received:  setting a new standard in thank you cards

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Via tweeter:  fnyc @precordialthump via @antidoped Cool way to practice or teach intraosseous cannulation http://tinyurl.com/crunchie-bone

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Via tweeter @MedicalNews Down the Hatch and Straight Into Medical History http://nyti.ms/fgDhLO

…… But Dr. Chevalier Jackson went much further than most.

A laryngologist who worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he preserved more than 2,000 objects that people had swallowed or inhaled: nails and bolts, miniature binoculars, a radiator key, a child’s perfect-attendance pin, a medallion that says “Carry me for good luck.”

Jackson retrieved these objects from people’s upper torsos, generally with little or no anesthesia. He was so intent on assembling his collection that he once refused to return a swallowed quarter, …….

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Threads has a nice tutorial article:  Weave a Celtic Knot (photo credit)

One day while browsing in a fabric store, I came across an appealing piece of English trim made from charmeuse bias tubes laid out in a design reminiscent of interlaced Celtic patterns. I decided to use this technique to make embellishment pieces for cuffs, collars, and pockets starting with Celtic designs from clip art. It’s not that complicated, as long as you get your work mapped out initially. I will show you how.  …….

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.


Pizaazz is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds!   You can read this week’s edition here.

Several key health care bowl games will be played in 2011. Their outcomes will affect the health and well-being of a hundred million Americans and help determine the timing of the nation’s inevitable economic double-dip. They’ll also help health insurance CEOs decide whether to re-decorate their offices with fur or linoleum, and who knows? They may even help Mrs. Farquhar find a PCP.  …………

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My first thought when I read Dr Rich’s title was in regards to HIPAA and privacy violations.   What about you?  Fugitive Busted By His Pacemaker (And His Doctor)

In Durango, Florida the week before Christmas, the FBI arrested fugitives Roger Gamlin, 62, and his wife Peggy, 54 at Mercy Regional Medical Center after a doctor determined their real identities through Roger’s pacemaker.

Wanted by the feds for 2 1/2 years on suspicion of embezzling millions of dollars from their south Florida title company, Roger and Peggy had been living quiet and unassuming lives as Ron and Nancy Jenner in Durango.  ….

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Via twitter and @kevinmd: Great read! NYTimes: The Doctor vs. the Computer http://nyti.ms/gd9QzN

Electronic medical records promise efficiency, safety and productivity in the switch from paper to computer. But there are glitches, as a patient of mine recently brought to light.  …….

Estimating my patient’s surgical risk and planning for his operative care is not a straightforward process. After our physical exam, I sit down to write a detailed evaluation, because I want the surgeons and anesthesiologists to fully understand the complexity of his situation.

As I type away, I feel like I’m doing the right thing, explicating my clinical reasoning rather than just plugging numbers into a formula. I’m midway into a sentence about kidney function when the computer abruptly halts……….

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The other side comes from db’s Medical Rants:  Resistance to change & electronic records

The growing literature on electronic records seems dominated by those who resist change, that is the majority of people!  Most human beings dislike change.  We prefer our comfort zones, doing things like we have always done them.  …………..

So I offer my first postulate – our current non-electronic medical records SUCK!!  ……………….

My academic colleague, Dr. Danielle Ofri (NYU), wrote this piece for the NY Times – The Doctor vs. the Computer

In it she tries to make the point that the new ways are not better.  Sorry, Danielle, but I disagree.  I remember trying to decipher other physician's handwriting.  …….

I happen to think she was making the point that EMRs aren’t perfect and have limitations.  Those limitations need to be addressed.

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I endorse reading DB’s Rants post:  Change marijuana laws – even Pat Robertson agrees.

I have written many times about this topic.  The rationale for criminal penalties for marijuana do not pass several tests.  First, this drug is much less harmful than alcohol.  …..  These laws are costing society dearly in financial terms and in general respect for the law.

Pat Robertson understands – Pat Robertson's Christmas Present to Marijuana Legalizers – and he states the issue clearly ……….

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I love this article which @burndoc tweeted:  How music can heal: A burn unit in Cleveland uses music to manage pain.   I often tell patients to sing if I notice they are starting to hyperventilate.  It helps regulate their breathing and calms them down.  I think there is definitely something to this.

A burn unit in Cleveland uses music to manage pain.

This story was originally covered by PRI's Studio360. For more, listen to the audio above.

After suffering extreme burns from a barbeque accident, Clifton Dobbs was taken to Cleveland MetroHealth Trauma Center for treatment. The burn unit at the center, run by Dr. Richard Fratianne, has been experimenting with music therapy to mitigate pain.   ………

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A feel good video:  Miracle Reunites Soldier and His Dog which notes the use of companion dogs as therapy for PTSD in returning soldiers.  The soldier refers to his dog as “Prozac with paws.”

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These photographs are amazing!  Via twitter and @Mtnmd “RT @hrana Pictures: "Vietnam's Mammoth Cavern" by National Geographic Magazine http://bit.ly/fla2UE”

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What do you think of this -- Wall Street Bull Crocheted?  I actually like it, but can’t say the same for all of Olek’s work.

NYC’s Crocheted Olek (a.k.a. Polish-born Agata Olek) hit up the Wall Street Bull and encapsulated it inside crocheted neon.

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

John Mandrola, M.D., Dr John M, is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here.

Hey all.
Welcome to another edition of Grand Rounds, a collection of writings from medical bloggers, the world-wide.
Here are this week's posts, collated into four chapters, with just a little commentary and a few selected images. ……….

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A really nice piece at EP Monthly by Dr. Greg Henry:  The ED as Political Safe Zone 

………..Now if you believe that the ED is that bastion of neutrality, free of all political bias, I have a bridge in lower Manhattan that heads to Brooklyn that I’d like to sell you. The reality is that politics are everywhere. The question is, how do we rein them in so that we can give out reasonably competent care without letting our innate prejudices control us? ………….

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As Movin Meat said in his post: An Anticipated Relaunch

One of my favorite writers has returned to the blogosphere!  Intueri has relaunched as In White Ink -- The Unwritten Details!  The early posts are promising, as one would expect of a long-time medblogger, and the site design is lovely, as one would expect from the beautiful, minimalist design of the old site.

…….I've added it to my feed reader, and I'd recommend you do as well.

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 12)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift!

…….Now, let’s get started!

Editors Pick of the Week and Dedicated to Raise Blood Pressure Post: A story of a frequent flyer who needs the flights, presented by NPs Save Lives at The Nurse Practitioner’s Place: He’s Gotta Ticket To Ride and The NP Says It’s Okay posted at The Nurse Practitioner’s Place.

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From twitter comes a link to a very nice article

@Mtnmd RT @apjonas Sedentary Physiology Part 1 – Not Just The Lack of Physical Activity http://bit.ly/hlZrxq VERY interesting

The article is written by Travis Saunders who is a PhD student researching the relationship between sedentary time and chronic disease risk in children and youth.  It begins:

Welcome to our 5-part series delving into the fascinating research being performed in the emerging field of sedentary physiology.  Today, we’ll start with an introduction.  For Part 2 in our series, click here.

……., I’d like to give a bit of background.

What is sedentary behaviour?
Sedentary behaviours are those characterized by very low energy expenditure – typically those requiring 1.5 METs or less.

Here are links to all 5 parts:
Sedentary Physiology Part 1 – Not Just The Lack of Physical Activity
Sedentary Physiology Part 2 – Can Sitting Too Much Kill You?
Sedentary Physiology Part 3 – The Importance of Interruptions in Sedentary Time
Sedentary Physiology Part 4 – How Does Sitting Increase Health Risk?
Sedentary Physiology Part 5 – Future Directions

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Medical advances can be amazing!  This NPR story by Richard Knox is exemplary of just such an advance in the field of congenital heart malformations:   Stitch In Time: Fixing A Heart Defect Before Birth

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About 17,000 U.S. babies are born every year with a serious heart defect. Nobody knows how many might benefit from the kind of fetal surgery Wells had. ……

The root cause of HLHS, much of the time, is a partially blocked valve that regulates blood flow from the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, to the aorta, which carries blood to the entire body. …

The goal of fetal heart surgery is "to open the aortic valve at a point when the left ventricle is not quite beyond irreparable damage," says Dr. Wayne Tworetzky, a cardiologist at Children's Hospital in Boston.  ….

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NPR story by Susan Stamberg: In Paris, A Display From Hockney's Pixelated Period.   All the drawings are done on either an iPhone or iPad.  Beautiful!  (photo source)

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Shout Outs

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Kim, Emergiblog,  is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Welcome to the Doctor Who edition of Grand Rounds!

We’ll travel through the medical blogosphere of 21st century Earth, where we will find that Grand Rounds can be found on Twitter (@grandrounds) and on a website known as Facebook (Grand Rounds).

Our spaceship/time-machine, the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions in Space), is standing by.

“All of time and space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?” – the Eleventh Doctor

The adventure begins…….

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 10)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to the latest edition of Change of Shift!
Good stuff this week, so let’s get to it!
*****

A warm Change of Shift welcome to Erin, a school nurse who blogs at Tales of a School Zoned Nurse. Every single one of Erin’s posts would make a wonderful addition to CoS, but I was taken by One.  …..

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The New York Times has an article by Gardiner Harris on new cigarette labels:  F.D.A. Unveils Graphic Warning Labels for Cigarettes.  I approve this message!

Federal drug regulators unveiled 36 proposed warning labels for cigarette packages on Wednesday, including some that are striking pictures of smoking’s effects.

Designed to cover half of a pack’s surface area, the new labels are intended to spur smokers to quit by providing graphic reminders of tobacco’s dangers. .….

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Dr. Rich makes a great argument on How the Obesity Crisis Is Like the Mortgage Crisis

………..So, while few people actually stuck to a strict low-fat diet, many, many people became addicted to refined carbohydrates, and as a result became fat.
……….  We now hear somewhat more reasonable advice about good fats and bad fats, and good carbs and bad carbs. But much of the damage has been done, and at least partially because of the major push for low-fat diets, we Americans are fatter and less healthy than we used to be.
By the way, to this day it has never been shown that low-fat diets applied across the population would reduce the incidence of heart disease.  ……………..

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Fellow bloggers do you remember Wellsphere?  Well, the latest “thief” of our information using our reputations and twitter feeds in a similar way is Organized Wisdom.  Check out @laikas recent blog post on the topic:  Expert Curators, WisdomCards & The True Wisdom of @organizedwisdom

 Organized Wisdom (http://organizedwisdom.com and @organizedwisdom on Twitter) is a 3-4 year old company that uses a similar approach to filter useful health information out of the daily junk.  ……

Part of the problem may be that Organized Wisdom doesn’t only share links from “Health Centers”, but also from Wellness Centers (Aging, Diet, Exercise & Fitness etc) and Living Centers (Beauty, Cooking, Environment). Apparently one card can have information for 2 or 3 centers (diabetes and multivitamins for example)

I feel used.

Organized Wisdom uses the credibility of me and other curators, including so-called “top expert curators” as Dr Pho (Kevin MD – blog), to cover up the incredibility of others, with the intention to lure users in.  ……..

Just as with Wellsphere, I have asked Organized Wisdom to remove me from their expert curator list.  I hope you will do the same.

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From twitter: @ksboulden: I just RSVP to attended the meetup of Arkansas Women Bloggers. Can't wait!

Arkansas Women Bloggers Meetup Scheduled! (photo credit)

When: December 11, 2010 11am-1pm

Where: Museum of Discovery @ 500 President Clinton Avenue

Why: Meet other bloggers and help decide future activities/goals for AWB

We will keep you updated with event details as we pull them together.  

To RSVP, you can leave a comment on this post.  If you're on Facebook, you can RSVP and invite friends at the event page. You can also RSVP by emailing us at arkansasbloggers@gmail.com.

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The Alliance for American Quilts received 118 quilts for it’s “New from Old Quilt Contest Contest.” You can see all the quilts here. My entry was “Label Me” and is included in this weeks quilts being auctioned off.

Click on an auction week below to view or download an auction guide for that week.

Week Three: Monday,Nov. 15-Monday, Nov. 22

Week Four: Monday, Nov. 29-Monday, Dec. 6

The bidding for each quilt will start at $50 and each 7-day auction week starts and ends at 9:00 pm Eastern.

All proceeds will support the AAQ and its projects.

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There does not seem to be any Dr Anonymous’ show scheduled for this week. 

You may want to listen to the shows in his Archives. Here are some to get you started:

GruntDoc, Sid Schwab, Dr. Val, Kevin MD, Rural Doctoring, Emergiblog, Crzegrl, Dr. Wes, TBTAM, Gwenn O'Keeffe, Bongi, Paul Levy, John Halamka, and ScanMan

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Dr Wes is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Welcome to this week's mid-term edition of the medical blog-o-sphere's Grand Rounds! Before we begin, be SURE to get to the polls to VOTE!
This week submissions were classified by state or country of origin. Politically incorrect posts by state were colored RED whereas politically correct posts by state were colored BLUE. (States with both extremes are represented in PURPLE.)
Now what would any political post be without a POLITICAL MAP of the states represented in this week's Grand Rounds?  …………….

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 9)! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift!
After a Vegas-induced vacation, our nursing blog carnival is back!
There has been lots of activity in the blogosphere over the last four weeks, so let’s get right to the heart of it! ………..

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Check out Dr. Rob’s recent House Call Doctor podcast: When Should You Worry About a Nosebleed?

……….Doctors call nosebleeds epistaxis. I’ve mentioned before that doctors like fancy names for things; it just sounds smarter to use a Latin or Greek word. It’s especially good at parties. ……….

As someone who has had many nosebleeds within my life, you may also want to check out my old post from two years ago: Nose Bleeds. Either way, Dr. Rob and I have you covered.

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An ethical question comes up regarding the use of social media as noted by @dreamingspires

A Tweeting Hospital and Kidney Patient: The Case of the tweeting Kidney Patient has caused a small whirlpool of a ... http://bit.ly/dfsREG

The original nhssm's posterous blog post: 2nd Case Study - St George's Healthcare NHS Trust and the Tweeting Kidney Patient

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From twitter: RT @MargaretAtwood @DrSnit @kidney_boy: Hey, you're famous! http://ow.ly/30LR1. The link is to a Guardian.co.uk article by Esther Addley: Margaret Atwood creates superhero outfits for Twitter avatars

With more than a dozen novels, 17 poetry collections and countless literary awards including the 2000 Man Booker prize to her name, Margaret Atwood's credentials as one of the world's greatest living writers are not in question. ……..

in a remarkable exchange over Twitter, which saw the Canadian writer contacting two readers who had expressed admiration for her work, and offering to design "superhero comix costumes" for their avatar alter-egos, @kidney_boy and @DrSnit.

"[They] both have excellent Twitter names – suitable for superheroes – and were comix fans, and were discussing Comic.con, as I recall," she told the Guardian. ………..

This tweet links to a companion article:

@steve_lieber Some of the @PeriscopeStudio artists (incl. me) have drawn @margaretatwood's Kidney Boy and Dr. Snit. http://periscopestudio.com/?p=3638

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The Alliance for American Quilts received 118 quilts for it’s “New from Old Quilt Contest Contest.” You can see all the quilts here. My entry was “Label Me.” The quilts are now being auctioned off.

Click on an auction week below to view or download an auction guide for that week.

Week One: Monday, Oct. 25-Monday, Nov. 1

Week Two: Monday, Nov.8-Monday, Nov. 15

Week Three: Monday,Nov. 15-Monday, Nov. 22

Week Four: Monday, Nov. 29-Monday, Dec. 6

The bidding for each quilt will start at $50 and each 7-day auction week starts and ends at 9:00 pm Eastern. No Daylight Savings Time changes this year to contend with--DST changes on November 7.

All proceeds will support the AAQ and its projects.

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Dr Anonymous’ show will be follow-up to FMEC Mtg. The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Sharp Brains is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds!  You can read this week’s edition here.

Wel­come to Grand Rounds, the weekly col­lec­tion of best health and med­ical blog posts. This week we invite you to enjoy a broad range of insights, tips, and first-hand sto­ries, pre­sented as a Q&A con­ver­sa­tion with blog­gers will­ing to answer, below, a total of 22 good questions. ………….

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 7) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift!
While this is a bit of a “mini” version of the nursing blog carnival, it is far from “lite”.
There are old friends and new blogging colleagues; musings, opinions and rants…it’s all here!
Let’s get it started! …………..

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Interesting NPR segment last Thursday on their show Here and Now:   “The Skinny on Supplements”  (photo credit)

More than half of all adult Americans spent nearly 27 billion dollars last year on dietary supplements to get healthy, stay healthy, lose weight and gain an edge on the sports field and in the bedroom. And in the process, some of them got seriously sick. We talk with Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor for Consumer Reports-Health about the findings of their recent investigation, “Dangerous Supplements, What You Don’t Know, Could Hurt You.”

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From  tweeter@grahamwalker last Thursday (September 30)

I'm announcing my new website: TheNNT.com -- an evidence-based resource for medical interventions. Spread the word! #sa10 #thennt

NNT stands for “number needed to treat” and is explained:

There is a way of understanding how much modern medicine has to offer individual patients. It is a simple statistical concept called the “Number-Needed-to-Treat”, or for short the ‘NNT’. The NNT offers a measurement of the impact of a medicine or therapy by estimating the number of patients that need to be treated in order to have an impact on one person. The concept is statistical, but intuitive, for we know that not everyone is helped by a medicine or intervention — some benefit, some are harmed, and some are unaffected. The NNT tells us how many of each.

Check out Graham’s new website.  It is full of useful information.

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If you are free later this morning (11:30 am CST, my local time) you might want to join in on the first #MDchat on twitter.

@MD_chat: Let's nudge more physicians onto Twitter. Tuesday 10/5 12:30pm EDT is #MDchat - http://MDchat.org #hcsm Plz support them! :)

For more information on MDchat, check out Phil Baumann, RN’s explanation:

………..So rather than waiting for doctors’ orders, I am launching @MD_chat for physicians to participate in advancing our collective understanding of the influences of emerging technologies on our culture, health, privacy, dignity and many other aspects of the human condition.

Below is a slideshow introducing MDchat and explaining how it works (if you can’t see it, you can view it here or here): ……………….

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An article in Evansville Courier Press by Karen Owen-Phelps:  Quilts help old barns become art form -- Local quilters use them like a canvas (photo credit)

An old barn is more than a storehouse for hay and livestock in the eyes of some area folk-art lovers. It's a canvas for their favorite art form — the quilt.

Quilting enthusiasts in Western Kentucky are encouraging farmers to let them hang large panels painted in traditional quilt patterns on their barns.

"The first time I saw a barn quilt I thought, 'I want one of those!'" said Judi Inge, 55, of Owensboro, Ky., who is active in the Owensboro Area Quilters Guild. "My mother felt the same way."  ……….

The article provides links for more info and photos:

Ohio County Barn Quilt Trail
Kentucky Arts Council:  Quilt Trails
Ohio Barns:  Quilt Barns  (photo credit)

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Dr Anonymous’ guest this week will be Dana Lewis & Swedish 2010 Health Care Symposium.      The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Upcoming shows:       
10/9 : From Seattle
10/14 : About Social Health Track at BlogWorld Expo
10/16 : On Location
10/21 : About DigPharm Mtg
10/23 : Saturday Nite
10/28 : About FMEC Mtg
10/30 : On Location

Shout Outs

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Pallimed.org is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

I am not sure if Nick(@blogborygmi) realized this when he approached me about a date to host, but this is the last edition of Grand Rounds for Volume 6.  A hospice blog as final chapter to a great year of medical blogging, there are things in life that are more serendipitous than this of course.  But of course here at Pallimed (@pallimed), we do cover things beyond just the last few days of life. So feel free to take a look at our 1,000 other posts.

On to the best of the medical blogosphere!  No themes here but I did ask (like GruntDoc) to include a post of  other than your submission to help broaden our reach this week…….

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 6) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

I can’t believe two weeks has passed already, but the calendar says that, indeed, it is time for the latest edition of Change of Shift!

Quite the eclectic collection of stories this week!

Before you begin, I just want to remind everyone that I still have discount codes available for BlogWorld/New Media Expo 2010. We’ll be getting together in Vegas next month! Check the button on the top bar for details.  I’d love to meet as many nurse bloggers as possible!

And now, I am proud to present……..

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Great Diane Rehm Show this past Thursday on Thalidomide and the FDA

Fifty years ago, a newly appointed medical officer at the FDA stood up to corporate pressure and refused to approve thalidomide, the drug already used for morning sickness in other parts of the world. The case transformed how Americans think about medicine and the FDA's drug-testing policy. Diane and guests explore how thalidomide is being used today and discuss how Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey saved thousands of babies from the perils of thalidomide.

I have posted about Thalidomide in the past.

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Orac has written a thoughtful response to the New York Time story  by Amy Harmon:    New Drugs Stir Debate on Rules of Clinical Trials.  His post is titled:  Balancing scientific rigor versus patient good in clinical trials

A critical aspect of both evidence-based medicine (EBM) and science-based medicine (SBM) is the randomized clinical trial. …..

The ethics of clinical trials, however, demand a characteristic known as clinical equipoise. Stated briefly, for purposes of clinical trials, clinical equipoise demands that there be a state of genuine scientific uncertainty in the medical community over which of the drugs or treatments being tested is more efficacious and safer……

In oncology clinical trials, as in clinical trials for treatments of any life-threatening disease, there is always a tension between wanting the "cleanest" possible results versus doing the best for each individual patient. It is a balancing act that relies on the ethics of physicians and a combination of hope and altruism in the patients who become subjects in such trials. … How to maximize the good for as many patients as possible is the goal, but, as we have seen, this is a goal that is not so easily accomplished, just as clinical equipoise is a concept that is easy stated but not so easily applied. PLX4032 teaches us that.

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This is worth reading (and listening to):  New York Times article by The Voices of Schizophrenia by Tara Parker-Pope (photo credit)

Few mental illnesses are as complex and confusing as schizophrenia, a mental disorder in which people may experience hallucinations or delusions, hear voices or have confused thinking and behavior.

Although the word “schizophrenia” means “split mind,” the disorder does not cause a split personality, as is commonly believed.

The latest Patient Voices segment by Karen Barrow, a Web producer, offers rare insights into schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, a related condition that combines thinking and mood problems, as seven men and women share their experiences.  ………….

To hear these and other stories of schizophrenia, click on the Patient Voices audio link. And then please join the discussion below.

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I love Jimi Hendrix’ music, so really enjoyed this piece on NPR last week:   Send My Love To Linda: An Untold Jimi Hendrix Story

January 16th, 1970.

The greatest rock guitarist to ever play the instrument, Jimi Hendrix, has eight months and two days to live. He spends part of the day at New York City's Record Plant laying down some tracks. After a few busted takes, Jimi launches into one of the most amazing instrumentals that few people have ever heard.

Hendrix called the piece "Sending My Love to Linda," and ……. Despite being a Hendrix fan, I had to go back and find out more about who this Linda was……….

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Dr Anonymous show this week will be a follow-up school name change & value of alumni.   The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photo and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Dr. Dino, Musings of a Dinosaur, is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Ah, fall. That wonderful season when the heat recedes, the leaves descend, the children go back to school…and the pennant races heat up. Once again this year my Phillies are in the thick of it, so as the host of Grand Rounds I avail myself of the privilege of dragging you all down to the ballpark with me.  ……

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 5) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift!
Boy, that was a fast two weeks!

For those who don’t follow me on Facebook, I’m a little slow on the computer front as I am recovering from Lasik – please excuse any typos that have made it through my blurry proof-read.

Also – I have discount codes for BlogWorld/New Media Expo 10, so if you are planning on attending the second annual Social Health track (and you should!!), shoot me an email via the “Contact” button. Details can be found up top under the “BlogWorld” button!

Time to dive in…

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A very thoughtful post by Dr. Howard Luks (@hjluks), The Orthopedic Posterous:  Can a Simple Inquiry Close the Patient-Physician Communication Gap

……Many physicians are surprised by the findings of a group of Yale researchers who were recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine

They found a huge disconnect and a huge communication gap existed between patients and physicians.  ……

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Check out these medical postage stamps found over at Street Anatomy: 

Above is …. a series of 3 stamps for the New Zealand Post, that portrayed New Zealand Innovations. Carly Hitchcock created these medical stamps ….  Cool work!

I love that plastic surgery connection:  Harold Gillies.

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Thread’s Teach Yourself to Sew series is for beginning sewers or anyone who wants to brush up on their skills. The topics range from demonstrating basic sewing techniques, to sharing tips, and giving step-by-step instruction for beginner sewing projects.  Here are some of them:

TEACH YOURSELF TO SEW

• Project: Make a Felt Jewelry Bag
• Knit Fabrics
• Woven Fabrics
• Project: How to Sew a Bias-strip Scarf
• How to Sew a Basic Seam
• How to Sew French and Lapped Seams
• How to Mark a Dart
• How to Sew a Dart
• Project: How to Sew a Skirt
• Sleeves 101
• How to Sew a Sleeve

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Dr Anonymous doesn’t appear to have a guest scheduled for this Thursday.

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Fizzy, A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor, is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

I am proud and honored to be hosting this week's grand rounds. As usual, I'm going to open with a cartoon:

And finally, Webster's Dictionary defines "grand rounds" as nothing, because it's not even in there. ……

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 4) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift – a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short!

We have some old friends and some new additions.  Our submissions cover the best of nursing and the most difficult moments. Some share successes and others could use some collegial support.

So, grab a latte, put your feet up and enjoy..
Change of Shift.  ………..

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KevinMD has published a guest post by  Peter J Polack, MD:  Balancing a surgeon’s beliefs with the needs of the practice

Not long ago, we interviewed a physician for possible partnership in our practice. After showing him around our town, some of us partners had dinner with him to discuss business. He was a quite pleasant fellow, well trained, and seemed to be a good ‘fit’ for our practice. As dessert was being served, he said he needed to get one more thing off his chest: he prays aloud in the operating room before starting each surgical case. If we couldn’t allow him to do this, it would be a “deal-breaker.”

So, what would you have done?  …………….

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.  Have you submitted one yet? You only have until August 31st to do so.   The entries have been amazing!

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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The flood in Pakistan has not gotten the attention on tweeter or in the medical blogs (from me or the ones I read) that the earthquake disaster in Haiti received.  So let me do a small part in passing along how you can donate to the relief effort.  This information is from the U.S. State Department:

Text "FLOOD" to 27722. Your $10 will go to the State Department Fund for Pakistan Relief…..  See Pakistan Relief Fund Page»

Text "SWAT" to 50555. Your $10 goes to UNCHR, which is also collecting Pakistan relief aid.

Additional Organizations: The most effective way people can assist relief efforts is by making cash contributions to humanitarian organizations that are conducting relief operations.  Learn More»

SAVE THE CHILDREN  Donation Phone #: 1-800-728-3843  Website: http://savethechildren.org

IRC  Donation Phone #: 1-877-REFUGEE
Website: http://www.theIRC.org

OXFAM  Donation Phone #: 1-800-77-OXFAM
Website: http://oxfamamerica.org

MERLIN  Donation Phone #: 202-449-6399
Website: http://www.merlin-usa.org

ACTED  Donation Phone #: 202-341-6365
Website: http://www.acted.org/en/support-us

AMERICAN RED CROSS   Donation Phone #: 1-800-435-7669  Website: http://www.redcross.org

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A tweet last week from @DrVes  led me to this CNN article by Cody McCloy:  Do-it-yourself solar power for your home  (photo credit).  I look forward to this “plug-in” technology.

Imagine outfitting your house with small, affordable solar panels that plug into a socket and pump power into your electrical system instead of taking it out.

That's the promise of a Seattle, Washington-based start-up that is working to provide renewable energy options -- solar panels and wind turbines -- for homes and small businesses. The panels cost as little as $600 and plug directly into a power outlet.

The company, Clarian Power, aims to be the first to bring a plug-in solar power system to the market, in 2011.  ……………….

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Another “building” story came my way via a RT from @EvidenceMatters “@snowcroft  Did the ancients build to please ears as well as eyes? Claims of acoustic archaeologists: http://is.gd/evLxo (RT @bldgblog)”    The link is to an article in New Scientist by Trevor Cox:  Echoes of the past: The sites and sounds of prehistory

……….Might we be missing here something that both Hardy and our prehistoric ancestors understood? Some archaeologists have begun to think so. They argue that sound effects were an important, perhaps even decisive, factor in how early humans chose and built their dwellings and sacred places. Caves that sing, Mayan temples that chirp, burial mounds that hum: they all add up to evidence that the aural, and not just the visual, determined the building codes of the past. But is that sound science?

Assessing the claims of "acoustic archaeology" rapidly encounters a fundamental problem: sound is ephemeral.  ………….

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I seem to be on a building this week.  Do you like tree houses?  Check out 39 Crazy Tree Houses.  Not sure which is my favorite, but I do like this one

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be a celebration of the 3rd Anniversary of the show.  Come join us.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Jackie, Dispatch From Second Base, is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

I once worked with a psychiatrist who called listening the most underrated skill, and his words are truer now than ever. Listening is hard work; too often, we just wait for our turn to talk. And that’s if we’re being polite. We don’t talk to each other; we talk at each other or sometimes over each other in the loudest voice possible.

This trend is both sad and wrong, but there is hope, as evidenced by the thoughtful posts I received on all facets of communication. In the wonderful post The Hidden Pearls of Medicine: Stories From Our Patients, Medical Resident recalls a first patient encounter. MR calls hearing patient stories a privilege and ”has been left with a sense of wonder” after these encounters. On behalf of patients everywhere, thank you.

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 3) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Wow – another two weeks has flown by, which means it’s time for another edition of Change of Shift!
Once again, my nurse blogging colleagues have written an interesting, thoughtful group of posts for your perusal!
So ready…set…peruse!

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I have been following @krupali on twitter lately and following her blog, Krupali K. Tejura, MD.   She is currently on a mission trip to Uganda.   She has used twitter and her blog to help her obtain help for several of the people she has encountered there.  Here are two examples: 

Elephantitis. and Elephantitis Update

Baby needs Help--Omphalocele!

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Another physician I have been following on twitter @GregSmithMD blogs at Shrink Rapping.  Currently, he is doing a series “Psychiatry A to Z."   All of them have been good, but the one on grief is especially so.

"Your father has collapsed."
The call comes at the worst time possible. My mother-in-law is moving into a new house, we are moving into her house, we need to pack, someone needs to watch the kids.  ……….

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.  Have you submitted one yet?  The entries have been amazing!

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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The New York Times had this article by Roni Caryn Rabin  Feeding Dementia Patients with Dignity

First Alzheimer’s disease stole Rosemary DeFelice’s speech, mobility and independence. Then, at 75, she lost the ability to eat.

She would chew away at her food, coughing and sputtering and spitting up but swallowing very little, said her daughter, Cyndy Viveiros. And like many relatives caring for patients with advanced dementia, Ms. Viveiros had to decide whether or not to have a gastric feeding tube inserted. ….

But social workers advising Ms. Viveiros suggested another option: continuing to have her mother carefully fed by hand, giving her only as much as she wanted and stopping if she started choking or became agitated.  ………..

which promoted a wonderful post by TBTAM: We’re Feeding Dementia Patients with Feeding Tubes???

An article in this weeks NY Times entitled Feeding Demented Patients with Dignity suggests that hand feeding dementia patients may be a better option than tube feeding them.

My God, are we really putting feeding tubes in the elderly demented? When did this happen?

During college, I worked as a nurses aide in a nursing home outside Philadelphia. For 20 hours a week (40 hours in the summer) for two years, I cared for patients in all stages of dementia, from the walking confused through to the end stage, stiffened victims confined to wheelchairs or beds. But in all that time, I never, ever saw anyone with a feeding tube.  ……

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Via MedPage Today comes an update by Todd Neale:  Tweeting Surgery 

Have you ever wanted a play by play of a colorectal cancer operation on your mobile device of choice? Well, you're in luck.
This coming Tuesday, August 10, at 1 p.m., Southern Regional Health System in Georgia will post updates from a low anterior resection on Twitter (@srhsatlanta). …

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A tweet from @DrJonathan 

Mail carrier who delivered secrets recently retired,here's her blog entry about reading secrets: http://www.fromuktouswithlove.blogspot.com/

I had never heard of the PostSecret project until I followed the tweet and read Kathy’s post:  PostSecret

This is a post that I have been looking forward to writing for some time now. And it has nothing to do with the United Kingdom or the British! It is a project that I became involved in (unknowingly) a few years ago that has turned out to be a very interesting and unique experience. If you are unaware of PostSecret, let me start at the beginning...

As a mail carrier (in Germantown, MD) you get used to seeing unusual things go through the mail. …... But nothing prepared me for PostSecret!  ….

If we could be as open to each other as the people who pour out their secrets, I think it would be a more understanding world. But too often people are afraid to show their inhibitions, sufferings and well, their secrets. As long as we have PostSecret, there is an outlet for those want to share. I have no doubt that it has been a good thing.

Frank's website is one of the most visited websites in the whole world. www.postsecret.com  …….

Some of the “secrets” shared are very, very sad.  Others are equally funny.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be Pre-Med Student (@premedhellblog).

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/19: 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Inside Surgery is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

Favorite Post of the Week

Dr. Toni Brayer has a guest post at ACPInternist about how insurance companies are killing primary care. I would like every Grand Rounds Reader to take a look at this and think very hard about what they will support in terms of insurance industry oversight. This post was first published on Dr. Brayer’s blog EverythingHealth.net.

From the Surgeons – hey, what can I say, I am a homer

Bongi is a surgeon working in South Africa – he shares part of his day. …….

Don’t forget LITFL is hosting next week.  They are looking for your “killer posts".” 

Trawl your archive, dive deep into the soul of your writing and send us your best; most inspirational; clever; witty; well-researched; head-turning; gut-wrenching; magnificent; glorious requiem of a post…A post that is pathognomic of your writing. A post that is empathic and understanding. A post that is idiosyncratically and inimitably…YOU

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 2) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to the latest edition of Change of Shift!
The nursing blogosphere came through in a big way this week, many thanks to those who have submitted.
I’m excited to showcase these colleague contributions!
So, without further ado,
I present…..Change of Shift!……..

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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There is a nice article in the New Yorker by Atul Gawande on hospice care:  Letting Go -- What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?

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People have concerns besides simply prolonging their lives. Surveys of patients with terminal illness find that their top priorities include, in addition to avoiding suffering, being with family, having the touch of others, being mentally aware, and not becoming a burden to others. Our system of technological medical care has utterly failed to meet these needs, and the cost of this failure is measured in far more than dollars. The hard question we face, then, is not how we can afford this system’s expense. It is how we can build a health-care system that will actually help dying patients achieve what’s most important to them at the end of their lives. ……………

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This tweet from @Doctor_V

RT @Ed: Hundreds of people have asked about my long-time Twitter background. Here's the story http://bit.ly/ArmWeekly

led to the story in the Armenian Weekly:   Armenian Orphan Rug Lives up to Its Name about a rug

Not just any rug, but one created by 400 Armenian orphans from 1924-25 in a town called Ghazir, about 40 miles north of Beirut.

This colorful piece of tapestry, which measures 18 feet by 12 feet, lives up to its name: It has remained an “orphan” rug since it passed through the hands of President Calvin Coolidge in 1926.

The intricacy is woven with a passion unlike others of its kind, containing some 4 million knots made to characterize the biblical Garden of Eden with its collection of animals and other symbolic features…….

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I actually learned of this program, Spokes for Little Folks, from an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette but they don’t have an open policy – you have to have a subscription to read their articles online.  I found this Daily Record article which tells the same story:  

On a recent sweltering Saturday morning, Realtors from North Little Rock rallied together to clean, fix and organize bike parts. Their time was donated on behalf of Spokes for Little Folks. …..
Working with Ron King, who refurbishes donated bikes and donates them to kids who are in need of them, Martin decided to get the NPBOR to join in on the effort. ……..
Anyone can donate any type of bike, working or not, to Spokes for Little Folks.   For additional information or questions, contact Janene Inzer at 501-834-0710 or Bruce Martin at 501-425-5042.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be  4th year Student Kevin Bernstein and 3rd year FamMed Resident Gerry Tolbert  giving a report on the 2010 AAFP Resident and Student Conference.   Show time this Thursday is 8 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/5: Pre-Med Student Erin Breedlove
8/12: Pre-Med Student @InsaneMo
8/19: 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

Bongi, other things amanzi, is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

it's not just the soccer world cup that is on south african shores but the great grand rounds, something that some would say is far more important than the world cup (ok only one guy would actually say that and he is in a psychiatric institution in outer mongolia) is also presently hosted in south africa!!! proudly south african!!!

but time to see what the bloggers have dished up for us this week.

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 1) which marks the beginning of the 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to the Change of Shift anniversary edition!
Today marks the beginning of Change of Shift’s fifth year.
Thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions for our carnival! I’ll be compiling those thoughts into a future post (let’s just say link lists are out…).
Many thanks to those who contributed! This week, I’ve added a few new-to-me nursing blogs I’ve discovered along with favorite CoS regulars………

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NPR has a wonderful series called StoryCorps were family members interview one another.  In this one, two young children interview their father about his bionic hand:  For Kids, Dad's Bionic Hand Recalls 'Star Wars'

In 2007, Eric Jones survived a bout with cancer, but complications from his treatment led doctors to amputate his right hand. He then became one of the first Americans to receive a bionic hand. He recently spoke with his son Alex, 7, and daughter, Lanie, 10, about his recovery.
"How did you get your bionic hand, Dad?" Lanie asks.
"On the Internet," her father says.
"Did you just go to Google and look up, um ... 'bionic hand?' " she asks…..

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Interesting article on lack of remuneration to organ donations via a tweet by @txmed -- “The organ donor—alone among all the participants in the world of transplantation—receives no benefit http://bit.ly/cWImng”:  Our Deeply Unethical National Organ Policy (bold emphasis is mine)

………Everyone involved in the organ transplantation process benefits handsomely, except the donor. Organ transplantation provides a wonderful example of life-saving science and technology deployed in serving mankind. It is also a thriving industry. The entire transplant team, including the surgeons, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, nephrologists, and other specialists are well-paid for their respective roles in providing organ transplant service. The medical centers at which transplants are performed are also handsomely compensated. The procedure feeds revenue into virtually every facet of the hospital. It occupies rooms, keeps labs busy, requires numerous expensive tests, and staff at all levels benefit. The pharmaceutical industry certainly benefits, as transplant patients remain on various expensive drugs to protect their new organ for the rest of their lives. Then, of course, there is the recipient who is, perhaps, compensated best of all. He or she gets his or her life back. Only the donor, who gives the most and without whom the entire process would grind to an abrupt halt, is required to forego any material recompense for his or her service.………………..

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TBTAM has been interviewed by Womens Health.gov

I was privileged to be the featured interview this month at the Spotlight on Women's Health series at Womenshealth.gov, the website of the Office of Women's Health. Thanks to the editors for their thoughtful questions and  for the opportunity to speak to women about HPV, healthy living and, of course, cooking!

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The Alliance for American Quilts received 115 quilts for it’s “New from Old Quilt Contest Contest.”  You can see all the quilts here.  My entry was “Label Me.”  The winner was this lovely quilt called “Metal Measures” by Jamie Fingal of California.

Measuring tape fabric, wool felt, old zippers, embroidery thread. Fabric was Mistyfused onto zippers and handsewn into place. Zigzag on domestic machine to felt.

The quintessential American design made into a modern day log cabin that is heavy on the metal.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be on summer break until late August.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

Jul-Aug: Summer Break
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

Dr. Elaine Schattner of Medical Lessons is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds. It’s the “customer service in healthcare” edition. You can read this week’s edition here.

Learning about medicine is a lifelong endeavor whether you’re a patient, a doctor, a caregiver, a hospital administrator or, perhaps, even an insurance company executive. In today’s Grand Rounds, we’ve an array of eleven perspectives that, directly or indirectly, bear on the suggested theme of education.

If there’s a motif that emerged unsolicited this week, it’s empathy, a term highlighted in the titles of two submitted posts:

In Glass Hospital, Dr. John Schumann considers what motivates health care workers in a thoughtful post, Finding Empathy. Schumann, an internist and medical educator at the University of Chicago, suggests that doctors and nurses need to re-encounter and re-engage with empathy to continually find meaning in their work………

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Keith, Digital Doorway, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 4, No 26) !   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Well, after a long hiatus, I'm finally hosting Change of Shift once again, and I'm happy to do so from the comfort of our new home here in Santa Fe, New Mexico! (For those of you unfamiliar with Change of Shift, it is a nursing blog carnival wherein nurses from around the blogosphere are featured in an "online magazine" that is hosted on a different nursing blog every two weeks.)

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A truly heartwarming story from CNN:  Soprano serenades doctors after lung transplant by Ashley Fantz.

Charity Tillemann-Dick,  27, had a bilateral lung transplant done at Cleveland Clinic in September 2009.  She had been diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension in 2004.  What a beautiful voice!

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Jill of All Trades, MD has written a  wonderful post -- 5 “Bueno” Tips on How to Learn Medical Spanish.  She shares how she did so:

…….Thankfully, and perhaps somewhat miraculously, I now very rarely need an interpreter. Seriously, I think the last time I used one was “meses” (months) ago. I cannot even remember when.

So “como” (how) did I do it? Here’s my advice:
1. Find a good medical Spanish book: There are not that many. Buy the best one. And read the entire thing, word-for-word. Underline as you go. Then, re-read the underlined items from the first round. ……….

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Jeffrey Parks, MD, otherwise known as Buckeye Surgeon, has written a warning post which you should all read:  What Does Dave Weigel have to do with Sermo?

…….Someone read the post and decided to break protocol. Ultimately, several of his off the record email posts were published for the general public on both the Daily Caller and FishbowlDC. Weigel subsequently resigned his position as a writer/blogger for the Washington Post………

What if someone obtained access to Sermo for nefarious purposes? Perhaps a physician-turned-hospital administrator who went looking for dirt on a trouble-making internist. Or a malpractice attorney who used his brother-in-law's log-on ID to troll for cases……….

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I read about Dawn Warmbold recycling plastic bags into sleeping mats for the homeless in my local paper, but their online access is by subscription only.  Fortunately, I found a similar article in the Log Cabin Democrat:  ‘Sleeping mat-ters’ to local group

……..Warmbold has personally created 40 mats and instructed several church groups and organizations on how to create the mats. “The word is spreading like wildfire,” Warmbold said. “The homeless have asked us not to stop making them. There are more homeless than mats to hand out. That’s how much in demand they are.”

Warmbold, also called “the bag lady” has been teaching others how to carry the torch and encouraging them to create circles of their own to produce mats. She created an instructional Youtube video, which has received more than 2,500 views.

The video can be viewed by going to Warmbold’s channel at www.youtube.com/user/dawnw4848.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be on summer break until late August.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

Jul-Aug: Summer Break
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary