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Stand Up To Cancer

On Friday night, September 5th, the three major networks aired the telethon, Stand Up To Cancer. It is estimated that they raised over $100 million dollars which according to their website:

...will support research projects conducted by interdisciplinary, multi-institutional translational and clinical research "Dream Teams" and high-risk Innovative Research Grants from which ideas for new Dream Teams may arise. The funds will be administered through the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the largest scientific organization in the world focusing on every aspect of high-quality, innovative cancer research.

This is an amazing cause and could've even had a larger impact had it been on more networks and if it aired on a night other than Friday. The show featured patients battling cancer as well as celebrities and their cancer stories.

The show followed actress Dana Delany for her annual breast exam. I was stunned and pleasantly surprised to see the exam performed by a nurse practitioner! The nurse practitioner identified an area of concern and sent Dana for a mammography and ultrasound (see video below). The NPs approach was very calm and reassuring.





Bravo to the producers for documenting this very real scenario and for using a nurse practitioner in this role as the examining provider. It helps to further validate our roles on the healthcare team as NPs are performing examinations like these every day and caring for all types of patients.

In just this past week, NPs have appeared on TV in prime time and in an political ad. That is change that I'm starting to believe in.
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Unknown said…
It is about time that we get the credit that we deserve when it comes to primary care and diagnostics. Thanks for the video!
September 13, 2008 at 3:28 PM
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