A Nurse Practitioner's View

We find ourselves in the midst of a massive egg recall. Current estimates say that 500 million eggs have been recalled. The CDC is the place to go for the latest information on these recalled eggs and salmonella . Foodsafety .gov also is a great resource with updated information. Here is a link to the FDA site on how to identify if you are in possession of any of the recalled eggs. Food safety surveillance must be vigilant and people deserve to have access to reports, citations, and above all the ability to consume food that is safe from contamination. Who is to blame in all of this - governmental red tape, the food industry, the distributors, the FDA for lack of oversight? Politico has an article that suggests a slow moving Senate may be the culprit. Will this latest recall affect how/where you purchase food?

Here is an op-ed piece that I wrote some time ago that unfortunately didn't get published. However, this blog is a great place to put it! Patient-Centered Health Care Patient centered. To the average health care consumer, the notion that they themselves are the main focus of the care received is a no- brainer . However, the reality that exists in health care today is quite the opposite. More often, interacting with the current health care system is often a deeply dissatisfying and frightening experience, fraught with errors, miscommunication and waste. As a community-based nurse practitioner for 10 years, I practice within the fragmented confines of an inefficient and costly system and know how this current system is too often harming people. Fundamental reform is needed. According to the Institute of Medicine, care is often delivered in silos producing poorly coordinated and overly complex care. The current healthcare system is fraught with opacity and is unnavigable for most o...

The NY Times recently wrote about pharmacists expanding roles on the health care team. This is one example of a concept who's time has come that has the potential to make a significant positive impact on health care outcomes. Conceptually, this makes sense since as we all know, health care doesn't just take place in hospitals or in private offices. Patients are constantly making choices about their health in their everyday actions such as choosing what and when to eat. Pharmacies are located in the communities where people live and work and having access to a health care coach or guide in the form of a pharmacist (or other professional) gives people the opportunity to discuss their options and perhaps make better every day health decisions. Community health nurses have long known this as they visit patients in their homes and assess their living environment and offer recommendations that could eliminate safety hazards for partially paralyzed patients following a stroke for ex...

Here are some of my top read posts from the past. I hope you enjoy reading them. Collaboratus Provider Ratings Your Chart: Do you know what's in there?

Nope, not a post on the dysfunction of the health care system, just on the wonderful New York State politics at play. Today, accidental governor Patterson vetoed a bill that had passed both NYS Senate and Assembly that would have allowed NPs to sign DNR orders. There were apparently some language/technical issues with the Bill. However, the most disturbing piece here is the Governors complete and total lack of understanding what NPs do (no real surprise there). He was quoted, "Finally, I am not convinced that this is an appropriate function to be carried out by nurse practitioners. Decisions of life and death should be made by physicians, not nurse practitioners.” Not convinced?!? Didn't you just sign a bill that eliminated collaborative agreements between physicians and nurse midwives? (That would be life). Ever hear of hospice care? (That would be death). I wonder if he understands exactly who is spending time with hospice patients in their final days of life. It is the tea...