Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between

Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between

Doctors heal, or try to, but as nurses we step into the breach, figure out what needs to be done for any given patient today, on this shift, and then, with love and exasperation, do it as best as we can. Critical Care... read more

PTSD, Workplace Trauma Lower Among First-Year Residents During COVID-19

PTSD, Workplace Trauma Lower Among First-Year Residents During COVID-19

Contrary to popular belief, rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and workplace trauma exposure was lower among first-year medical residents during the COVID-19 pandemic than in years prior, according to new research.1 In... read more

Overcoming Mental Health Stigma For Nurses

Overcoming Mental Health Stigma For Nurses

What’s the first thought that comes to mind when you think about mental illness? Is it something negative? If so, it probably comes from the stigma associated with mental health. A stigma is defined as "a mark of disgrace... read more

Fear and Insight in the ICU Bed

Fear and Insight in the ICU Bed

Mid-morning dressing changes, hours wasted, going through each cut methodically. Dressing off, wound cleaned, redressed. The brunt of pain dealt with by nature before giving in. The intensive care unit (ICU) nurse offers... read more

Feelings of Strangeness in ICU Patients

Feelings of Strangeness in ICU Patients

After several weeks in the intensive care unit (ICU) following a lung infection, Mr Pol wakes up from a coma and gradually becomes aware of his situation. The healthcare team rejoice in the successful outcome of his extubation:... read more

Who the hell would want to work in healthcare?

Who the hell would want to work in healthcare?

Our health sector is in crisis. Doctors are overworked, nurses are burnt out and underpaid. Many healthcare professionals are coming close to retirement and others are simply leaving their professions for greener pastures.... read more

Music Therapy Intervention to Treat Sedation-Related Delirium in Critical Care

Music Therapy Intervention to Treat Sedation-Related Delirium in Critical Care

Sedation is an essential component of treatment for some patients admitted to the intensive care unit, but it carries a risk of sedation-related delirium. Sedation-related delirium is associated with higher mortality and... read more

The 1,3,5 Approach to Pediatric Cardiac Arrest

The 1,3,5 Approach to Pediatric Cardiac Arrest

While pediatric cardiac arrests are thankfully rare, their shock waves can seem incalculable. Several studies have outlined the mental health toll that these events can have on everyone involved. There is an appreciable... read more

Plasma Hyaluronan, Hyaluronidase Activity and Endogenous Hyaluronidase Inhibition in Sepsis

Plasma Hyaluronan, Hyaluronidase Activity and Endogenous Hyaluronidase Inhibition in Sepsis

Elevated plasma hyaluronan levels coincided with a concomitant decrease in effective plasma HYAL activity and increase of endogenous plasma HYAL inhibition both in experimental and clinical sepsis. In acute pancreatitis,... read more

How One Patient Was Treated for a Stroke Via Telemedicine

How One Patient Was Treated for a Stroke Via Telemedicine

A patient believed to have suffered a stroke typically gets transported to the nearest emergency room for tests to determine the best course of action. Telemedicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine enabled one patient to have... read more

Omicron Magnifies the Distress in the Health Care Labor System

Omicron Magnifies the Distress in the Health Care Labor System

In December 2020, to the tune of rousing cheers, the first health care workers began getting vaccinated against COVID-19. A year later, the cheers have died down, vaccination rates have plateaued, and the Omicron wave... read more

The Relationship Between Vitamin D and Asthma Exacerbation

The Relationship Between Vitamin D and Asthma Exacerbation

Asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It presents with reversible bronchoconstriction that makes it difficult for patients to breathe. Asthma flare-ups have several triggers,... read more

Scripts for Subconjunctival Hemorrhage, Fainting and Syncope, and Viral Illness

Scripts for Subconjunctival Hemorrhage, Fainting and Syncope, and Viral Illness

Many parts of the ED encounter interfere with patient or family comprehension, not the least of which is the ED's noisy, hurried environment. But other factors affect what they understand and remember about the encounter—their... read more

Persistent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms After COVID-19

Persistent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms After COVID-19

The nature and extent of persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms after COVID-19 are not established. To help inform mental health service planning in the pandemic recovery phase, we systematically determined the prevalence of... read more