Nurses

Youth with gender dysphoria may be at increased risk for developing type 1 diabetes, a new observational study showed. The study of more than 2000 people aged 10 to 21 years at a single institution, published online November 22 in Pediatrics Diabetes by Santhi N. Logel, MD, and colleagues. The prevalence of type 1 diabetes among youth with gender dysphoria staggering nine times higher than in those without it. The prevalence of type 1 diabetes and youth identify as transgender, nonbinary, or broad gender / does not…

They’re called sexual assault nurse examiners, trained to treat and comfort victims who are struggling through the most painful, traumatic time of their life. These specialized nurses see it all and hear it all. “Some things in our job we can’t un-hear, we can’t un-see,” said Michelle Resendez, a registered forensic nurse and coordinator for Franciscan Health in Crown Point. SANE nurses, as they’re called, also testify in court about their medical findings, if needed, either helping to prosecute or exonerate a suspect…

There comes a time when some nurses are just sick of the day to day dramas of dealing patients and their families. But is there anything a nurse can do that doesn't involve dealing directly with patients? Of course there is! Nurses have established themselves in almost all aspects of the healthcare system, from face-to-face patient interactions, through to laboratory and executive roles, nurses are everywhere! You can read about the roles of nurses in Australia for a better idea of the levels of nurse employment and…

Nurses come in all shapes and sizes, with wildly varied skills and specialities and differing levels of education and training. It is important for the practicing nurse to understand the differences between each level of nurse, and understand the associated level of education that nurse has received. Nurses have received increasing levels of continued education to fill gaps in the healthcare system, and alongside these continued training systems, new advanced practice roles have developed for the nurse to…

A recent surgical breakthrough in the treatment of stroke victims has been shown to give some patients a healthy and independent life, even up to 24 hours after the stroke has occurred. A team of Melbourne researchers conducted a clinical trial looking at extending the surgical window for stroke victims from 6 hours, to 24 hours after the CVA event. Following a stroke (CVA), it was believed the medical team had only 6 hours to prepare and conduct a thrombectomy to remove the blood clot from the brain and salvage…

Hand hygiene is a vital part of any infection control practice. Nurses are constantly disinfecting their hands hundreds, if not thousands of times per day (or at least they should be) but this mentality has spread to the greater public, with antibacterial soaps becoming more readily available, and to some, a necessity. You would expect this to be good news, but it's not. Recently emerging evidence has shown that this over-use of antibacterial soaps outside of the healthcare setting may actually be doing more damage…

Traditionally, western medicine has been centred around the biomedical model and its underpinning philosophies to best determine a person’s health status. The biomedical model has allowed medicine to advance in leaps and bounds over recent decades, improving our understanding of the human body while also maintaining a superior standard of care through the evidence-based practice approach. Through this approach, we were able to isolate body systems and understand disease processes and how they impacted upon the individual…

A recent article released in the Journal of Clinical Nursing has revealed the healthcare industry to be potentially the most violent industry to work in. The study surveyed 365 doctors and nurses working in the emergency department which revealed that within the past 12 months, 76.2% of the participants experienced violence in the workplace, although the vast majority (88.8%) was not physical, but verbal abuse. The study also revealed that it was not necessarily the patients that are the source of violence directed at…

A recent incident involving a physician is a medical emergency whilst onboard a passenger flight in the USA has raised some questions about the ethics surrounding assisting fellow passengers whilst traveling. The incident in question happened in October 2016 when a 28-year-old OB/GYN resident from Houston offered her medical expertise in dealing with a medical emergency on board the flight she was traveling on. According to the New York Times, this offer was rejected by the flight attendant as they were not satisfied she…