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Take Note - April 2009
President Obama picks ANA’s Mary Wakefield as next HRSA administrator
Longstanding ANA member Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, has been named administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administ...
Hospice and palliative care
Several years ago, Linda, a 37-year old graphic artist, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Her disease took a roller-coaster course: diagnosis followed by radiation and chemotherapy, then lymphoma...
Quiz Time
Which of the following patient assessment findings are consistent with the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease?
a. The patient has multiple cognitive impairments, including memory impairmen...
Stemming the rising tide of acute kidney injury
Acute kidney injury (AKI), which arises secondary to another disease or disorder, is common in medical, surgical, and critical-care hospital patients. The most common precipitating conditions are seps...
What does the absolute neutrophil count tell you?
While reading progress notes for Martina, a 16-year-old with Hodgkin’s disease, you find out the physician will base the next chemotherapy dose on her absolute neutrophil count (ANC). You’...
What every nurse should know about hemophilia
As nurses, we know there’s no such thing as a simple patient. Essentially, every patient has more than one diagnosis. And as the U.S. population ages, our patients will have longer lists of chronic di...
Shiftwork sleep disorder: Raising awareness for yourself and your patients
More than 22 million Americans meet the criteria for shiftworker.
Among them are nurses, whose work schedules revolve around
the 24/7 needs of patient care. Nurses may be required to work
several ...
Soothing the sorrow of psoriasis
Audrey, age 28, is admitted to the hospital for surgery. The nurse who assesses her notes a large amount of psoriasis on her knees, elbows, arms, neck, and chest. When she asks about this, Audrey begi...
A new surgical intervention for reflux treatment
LINX is a new surgical procedure developed to treat chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Originally developed and tested in the United Kingdom, LINX was approved in the United States by the...
CDC publishes updates to immunization schedules for children and adults
Vaccines are known as one of the greatest achievements in public health over the last century. And each year, it seems more vaccines are introduced, or their uses expanded, to protect more people from...
Teaching patients about vitamin and mineral supplements
More than one-third of Americans take vitamin and mineral supplements daily. Vitamin-mineral supplements fall under the category of a dietary supplement. In addition to vitamins and minerals, a dietar...
FDA issues proposed guidelines for developing drugs for Alzheimer’s disease
On Feb. 7, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposal designed to help companies developing new treatments for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Read more.
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FDA approves Pomalyst for advanced multiple myeloma
On Feb. 8, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pomalyst (pomalidomide) to treat patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has progressed after being treated with other cancer...
A geriatric family-centered care model for hospitalized elders
Elders use healthcare services three times more often than any other age group, mainly because of their higher incidence of acute and chronic disease. Among elderly persons in the United States, 87% h...
Inhaled therapies for cystic fibrosis: Current and future trends
Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis (CF), a chronic, progressive genetic disease characterized by thick, sticky mucus. In this autosomal recessive condition, a protei...
Understanding core measures for heart-failure treatment
Heart failure (HF) occurs when the heart can’t pump enough oxygenated blood to perfuse body organs. This condition is the primary cause of more than 55,000 deaths each year in the United States. The m...
Post-concussive syndrome: What patients and providers need to know
Each year an estimated 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States. Nearly 80% of these are treated and released from an emergency department (ED), and 75% of traumatic brain injur...
Deep-brain stimulation: Hope for dystonia patients
Recently, the media have shone a spotlight on deep-brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of neurologically based movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. DBS also is...
FDA warns of potential risk of liver injury in ADPKD patients taking Samsca
On Jan. 25, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration notified healthcare professionals of significant liver injury associated with the use of Samsca in patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic K...
A probable meningitis case puts the ED on alert
William Mountain, age 54, arrives at the emergency department with the hallmarks of meningitis—fever, headache, and stiff neck. His wife tells you he has also been experiencing nausea, vomiting, photo...
Astute assessment saves a patient with PE
John Monroe, age 72, is admitted to the cardiac unit with shortness of breath, chest pain, and fatigue. He has a history of diabetes, hypertension, and myocardial infarction (MI). You place him on a t...
Taking a second look at stroke in women
Once considered primarily a man‚Äôs disease, stroke is now emerging as a major health risk for wo¬?men. In the United States, roughly 795,000 people have a stroke each year‚Äîabout 60,000 more women t...
Recognizing croup and stridor in children
If you think croup and stridor are basically the same, you’re not alone. Although both conditions can occur with airway obstruction, they’re different entities. The primary distinction: stridor is a s...
From our readers…Value all your skills
Anyone who’s been a nurse for more than 10 years will agree with me: you can make big leaps from specialty to specialty and sometimes leave a skill behind that will rarely have a practical application...
The most expensive one percent: A case study
There is a lot of talk today about the cost of Medicare and Medicaid—and about reducing the benefit. Policymakers and caregivers alike undoubtedly would find it helpful to examine the patterns of spen...