Blogs
Reprioritizing your mental health
With a global pandemic, protests, fake news, real news, politics, home schooling, quarantine, and constant change to our day to day lives looming, the time to reprioritize is now. We need to step up for our patients, staff, loved ones, and ourselves. This week, I challenge you to reconsider how your mental health affects not only your life, but those of everyone around you.
Faith
For Jessica, an ICU nurse, 12-hour shifts were usually fast paced, challenging and productive. But the cadence and demands of work abruptly changed mid-March when COVID-19 came. Amongst her many ICU admissions she took care of Larry, who was instantly interesting and forever memorable. He had contracted the coronavirus less than a week before. He was a 60-ish yr. old man who tried to be humorous, but who was clearly distressed and worried. He was febrile, anxious, breathing hard and on the verge of being unstable.
Graduation
Congratulations!
Years of training and work, all your efforts and overcoming hurdles have culminated in where you are today – on the verge of a new life, a new plan and possibly a new career.
Our Privilege
Another lonely locked-down day. Seems like months. Rent is due, phone and EMR fees next week. Loan is pending. Seems impossible to treat complex diseases without touch and only computer screen rapport. And yet, it is a good day.
Safe Practices for Outpatient Appointments
As many parts of the country are lifting restrictions for businesses and allowing them to re-open, doctors are asking what they should do to keep themselves, their staff, and their patients safe. As rheumatologists, we have vulnerable patients who are at high risk for complications from COV
Need for Pre-operative Hyperglycemia Testing Prior to Total Joint Replacement
JAMA reports on a large Medicare cohort study showing that amongst patients undergoing total joint replacement (TJR), preoperative HbA1c testing was performed in 26% to 43% of patients with diabetes and in only 5% of those without diabetes. Importantly research has shown that an elevated HbA1c level is associated with postoperative complications.
Shutdown and the New Normal
COVID-19 is not going to suddenly end on June 1st. This is a long haul change and you need to be prepared for the aftershocks and fallout. It’s time to be be a Marine and ”Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome”.
Urgent or Not
Our practice standards have been flipped. The physician’s best clinical tool has become the webcam or telephone. The nagging question is: “who needs to be seen in clinic or in the hospital with a F2F evaluation?” It basically boils down to urgency.
Some Good Things, During the Time of COVID-19
It is not hyperbole to acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world, inflicting pain and suffering to many, and inconvenience to all. As everyone struggles to make it through these difficult times, it might be worth pointing out some small silver linings that have emerged despite this pernicious dark cloud.
