25 Best Online Galleries to Study Human Anatomy

Published by Erin Johansson on Tue Nov 15, 2011

One way to get ahead in your nursing career is to obtain more education, including a higher degree. Another way to move up the career ladder is to learn more about anatomy through various galleries offered on the Web. The following list of the 25 best online galleries to study human anatomy include illustrations, photographs and even videos of actual human cadaver dissection. The images are professional, offered by companies or universities, and include histories of anatomical views as well as the impact of trauma on the human body. The views also include superficial to microscopic anatomy. [click to continue…]

20 Tips for Picking the Right MSN Program

Published by admin on Mon Nov 07, 2011

If interested in learning more about what an MSN degree (Master of Science in Nursing) can do for you, there can be loads of questions to ask. Everything from what is a bridge program to how to pay for it all can all come up. And with so much time, energy, and money on the line, being as informed as possible can help you make the right decision.

To help you, we have listed below 20 tips for picking the right MSN program. They include many tips for licensure and accreditation, as well as what to look for in a program. [click to continue…]

15 Startling Statistics About the History of Nursing

Published by Erin Johansson on Mon Sep 12, 2011

If you think about nursing, you might think about Florence Nightingale, but Florence (who was named after the Italian city of her birth) is just one small piece of history within a complex profession. You might not know, for instance, how many women served as nurses in the Civil War, or that women weren’t able to serve as nurses aboard military ships until 1978. The following 15 statistics about the history of nursing reveal the complexity involved in this age-old profession — one that once began with motherhood and that evolved into a nursing shortage today that could affect the health of millions. [click to continue…]

20 Excellent Q and A Sites for Nurses

Published by admin on Fri Apr 29, 2011

As you care for patients as a nurse, it can help to know where you can go to get answers to questions that you might have. You want to make sure that you are providing those in your charge with excellent care, and that you are prepared to deal with whatever comes your way. Sometimes, in order to do this, you need to turn somewhere.

Everyone needs a refresher sometimes, and there are a number of resources readily available. The Internet has been a great help to the medical community, providing a way to connect over long distances, as well as offering references to those in a variety of nursing careers. You can find answers to your questions online, with a few clicks of the mouse. If you are looking for helpful hints, here are 20 Q & A sites for nurses:

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One of the best ways to improve your knowledge and skill in health care is to learn from others. There are numerous ways for you to get knowledge and experience, and the Internet makes it even easier. From doctors to nurses to lab techs to medical assistants, it is remarkably easy to find information on different career fields in the overall medical profession. Twitter makes it even easier to connect with and learn from other health care professionals. If you are looking for a little more insight into medicine, you might consider following some of these 52 excellent Twitter accounts:

Doctors

Find out more about what it is like to be a doctor, thanks to these great Twitter accounts.

  1. @kevinmd: Follow this well-known doctor, and learn more about what’s going on in the world of medicine.
  2. @docrkp: A great doctor on Twitter with interesting tweets and good information.
  3. @DrKimMD: Follow this pediatrician with plenty of insight into child health and medicine.
  4. @drdrew: This Twitter account is verified for this famous Love Line doctor. He offers great information and advice.
  5. @DrOz: Follow the famous Dr. Mehmet Oz on Twitter and get interesting information on health and medicine, as well as the latest medical news.
  6. @DrMommy: This mom and MD has interesting insights and more on healthy parenting and pediatrics.
  7. @sanjayguptaCNN: Official Twitter account of well-known (and interesting) CNN contributor and doctor Sanjay Gupta.
  8. @DRoftheVaJayJay: This sassy ob/gyn offers great answers and straight talk about a number of issues, including reproductive health.
  9. @gruntdoc: This is a great account from an ER doctor who used to be a military physician.

Surgeons

Follow these surgeons on Twitter to learn more about the every day lives of these specialized doctors.

  1. @HenryFordNews: This health facility system in Michigan began tweeting live surgeries. Also a great place to go for medical information.
  2. @oracknows: Surgeon who blogs at Respectful Insolence and offers interesting insights on medicine and surgery. Medicine with a scientific twist.
  3. @JaxPlasticSurg: An interesting account that looks at plastic surgery and other medical issues related to surgery.
  4. @SurgeryLive: Tweets from the Surgery Live team, sharing information about operations, and news about surgeries you can watch as they happen.
  5. @ColumbiaAortic: Read about surgery and more from the folks at Presbyterian University and Columbia University.
  6. @spinesurgeon: Orthopedic surgeon from India with great insight and health information.

Nurses

Nurses do some of the toughest jobs around. You can follow these nurses to learn more about the profession, and get insights into what it’s like in the trenches.

  1. @aydzb: Nurse educator and wellness coach, offering advice and information about healthier living.
  2. @crzegrl15: This flight nurse shares great stories and insights. Plenty of funny stories and experiences.
  3. @Emergiblog: The Twitter account of an experienced emergency room nurse.
  4. @BrianBowman: Interesting stories and more from this RN and transport pilot.
  5. @BonnieRN: This medical care manager and nurse legal consultant. The tweets from this nurse are a must read.
  6. @Geek2Nurse: Learn more about what it’s like to be a nurse — especially if you were an engineer first. Interesting insights from someone who changed her career path.
  7. @GrimalkinRN: An interesting and feisty nurse who shares her life, and sometimes does it in all caps (and with some swearing).
  8. @learae: Learn about being a nurse entrepreneur, and more about how you can improve your practice.
  9. @NurseDan: An interesting look at ER nursing from this business innovator.

Tooth Care

From dentists to orthodontists and everyone in between, you can get more information on caring for teeth when you follow these Twitter accounts.

  1. @WacoDentist: Learn more about dentistry and other interesting subjects related to teeth.
  2. @PCDental: Hans Skariah offers dental insight and information. He is also the blogger behind The Tooth Booth.
  3. @jflucke: This dentist offers information on technology and dentistry, and where the field is going.
  4. @jablow: This dentist offers solid information, with a technological twist.
  5. @markhambraces: Orthodontist offers interesting look at the future of braces.
  6. @mikenoorani: This MD is also an orthodontist.

Eye Care

Find out more about what it’s like to care for others’ eyesight when you follow these interesting Twitter accounts.

  1. @retinadoc: Randall Wong is an eye doctor who provides interesting information.
  2. @Retinologo: If you are interested in learning more about the eye, this is an interesting account — but the tweets are private so you have to request permission.
  3. @BrightEyesTampa: Shares information on proper eye care and more.
  4. @iarons: This retired ophthalmic consultant is also knowledgeable about using lasers for eye treatment.

Lab Techs

Radiologists and others make it possible to run and analyze many medical tests. Here are some interesting Twitter accounts to follow.

  1. @Radiologyman: This radiologist tweets about x-rays and more.
  2. @sumersethi: This radiologist is known for his blog, as well as his expertise.
  3. @Radiologist_MD: Great news and information on radiology.
  4. @scanman: Interesting look at lab technicians and other news.
  5. @radRounds: Great account for learning more about what’s happening in the radiology blogosphere.
  6. @goomedic: Follows medical informatics, and offers great information for medical technicians.

Medical Assisting

Learn more about helping others — even if you are not a doctor or nurse. A great look at medical assistants.

  1. @med_assistant: Learn more about medical assisting.
  2. @krisithern: Great insight into being a physician assistant.
  3. @jeflnyc: Learn about what it’s like to be a physician assistant in New York City.
  4. @PAChristine: Great tweets, but you will need permission to follow, since this PA keeps things private.
  5. @KimHarrisPAS: Learn about life as a PA student. Interesting insights and stories.
  6. @PhysicianAssist: Great information and more about working with doctors.

Alternative Medicine

If you are interested in learning more about alternative and complementary medicine, these Twitter accounts can provide you with interesting information.

  1. @HomeopathicDana: Learn more about alternative medicine, especially homeopathy from this knowledgeable homeopathic doctor.
  2. @homeopathyworks: Information on homeopathy from Joette Calabrese, a homeopathic doctor.
  3. @treatnatural: Joe McArthur offers information on natural remedies, and other helpful natural health hints..
  4. @tiensherbal: Traditional Chinese Medicine information, tips on how to use herbs and more.
  5. @debdrake: This naturopathic doctor offers information on alternative medicine, as well as nutrition information.
  6. @RawHealer: Naturopathic doctor Reilly offers information and guidance on natural healing and medicine.

25 Fun and Useful Wii Games to Help You Stay Healthy and Fit

Published by admin on Wed Aug 11, 2010

Normally, video games are not thought of as providing a great deal of physical activity. Indeed, for years health care professionals have warned against the problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle — of which video games are a part. Things have changed somewhat since the advent of the Nintendo Wii, however. Instead of seeing video games as a plague to human health, some nurses and doctors are beginning to see merit in certain types of video games.

The Wii uses motion, so that players can interact with the game. As a result, some of the video games played with the Wii can actually be quite physical. Some games even get up the heart rate and can help players improve their health. Here are 25 Wii games that can help you stay healthy and fit:

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Nursing Care Plans on the Web: The Ultimate Roundup

Published by Erin Johansson on Fri Aug 06, 2010

Are you a nurse or a caregiver who needs help caring for a loved one or patient who suffers from a disease or disorder? Nursing care plans, or treatment plans, can help you stay organized and address needs for that client on a daily basis. This article and list of 25 nursing care plans on the Web is, basically, the ultimate roundup of nursing care plans, samples and “how-to” instructions for writing your own plans for your caregiving and nursing tasks. [click to continue…]

10 Awesome Android Apps for Nurses

Published by Jeremy Hull on Fri Jun 11, 2010

Your android phone puts all kinds of medical information at your fingertips, which not only helps you, but can help your patients also. These 10 Android apps allow you to access the latest medical research and diagnostic tools in seconds.

  1. Nursing Central combines a number of useful apps into one, like Davis’s Drug Guide, Taber’s Medical Dictionary, Diseases and Disorders, Davis’s Laboratory and Diagonistic Tests, and Unbound MEDLINE. Using these apps-in-one you can look up diseases, tests and procedures within seconds.
  2. Pediatrics Central is similar to Nursing Central in that it combines many apps into one database of diseases, drugs and dosages, but everything is aimed at children and pediatric care.
  3. Harrison’s Practice for Mobile has information on over 800 medical conditions with lists of drugs, dosages, and their side-effects. The app also includes over 400 figures and tables, disease backgrounds and symptoms, diagnosis and treatments.
  4. Drug Facts is a giant guide of drugs and their interactions with food and other medications and reviews on natural products. The database has more than 3,900 trade name drugs and 900 generic.
  5. Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests lets users know which test is best for diagnosis out of more 350 diagnostic tests. It also says how to prepare patients for each test, including how to get specimens.
  6. ACP Handbook of Women’s Health covers female-specific medical conditions, and how common diseases present themselves in women. Physical and psychological issues are also included, like behavioral disorders and substance abuse.
  7. MedSurge Notes is a guide for how to care for patients with complicated conditions or post-surgical conditions. Assessments, interventions and follow-up care notes are listed. This app is especially useful for nurses caring for older patients since there is a higher risk of drug interactions and multiple health conditions.
  8. Red Book is an app that specializes in infection diseases in infants, children and adolescents. It has the most up to date AAP recommendations for diagnosing, treating and preventing infectious disease in those populations, and covers immunizations, drug treatments, and school safety.
  9. Evidence Central has the latest research and analysis of medical issues, supporting evidence-based medical practice by giving access to Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines, Cochrane Abstracts, and MEDLINE Journals.
  10. Skin Rashes may not win the award for best title of an application, but it is very helpful for identifying and treating common skin conditions like measles, chicken pox, and shingles.Whether you need to check a diagnosis, learn lab results in a flash, or explain conditions and treatments to your patients, Android has apps to do it.

Nurses are integral and core to the health care industry as they are binding factor between doctors and patients. They look after patients as according to instructions provided by doctor. A doctor can be considered as academic part of health care industry whereas a nurse deals with implementation of that theoretical knowledge.  If a study is been made into scope of Nursing Career, than it would come out that Nurses have influenced health care scenario in a greater way in America and there are ample reason to believe so.

As held according to a research there Eight million Americans have not any insurance cover and 25% population is uninsured. Therefore, the huge population goes to take shelter with primary health care services. And even among medical care students it is only one forth take residencies in primary care specialties like medicine, pediatrics, general internal medicine and obstetrics/ gynecology.

This particular grim picture of health care scenario in America, it is the nurses qualified with advanced practice skills to meet out the increased demand of primary care services. Nurses can show medical attention to children, women, migrant workers, the homeless and the elderly in unconventional places like schools, work sites and health departments.

Apart from this scenario, healthcare is one of the noblest professions with sense of service and benevolence attached with it. Nursing is deemed as service to mankind and for the reason this is the career it is most revered and applauded by others. As in category and designation Nurses can work on different designations. Nurse Practitioner (NP) is one such grade that variably occurs among professional and working nurses.    Nurse Practitioners happens to be registered nurses with specialized training to treat a patient suffering from a diseases from what a common nurse is restrained from providing treatment for. With their vast experience and expertise sometimes NP are put even equivalent to a doctor.

A nurse can treat a patient ranging from varied age groups and maturity levels. A patient can be of any age group from small college going kid to elderly person they treat in. They even work in specialties like physical examination, diagnosis, immunization providing, management of blood pressure, diabetes, depression and other health related chronic diseases. According to Medical laws, a NP can even practice in all 50 states and 25 states in the United States.

Apart from NP, there are many other designation are also provided here, like Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) that is equivalent to dentist (DDS), physicians (MD/DO), clinical psychologists (PsyD or PhD), clinical pharmacist (PharmD) and other levels of health care providers.

As for the working environment of a nurse, she can either work in offices; manage care organizations, hospitals, managed care organizations, hospitals, rural sites, inner city community health center, college campuses, employee health center and other places. A better experienced nurse even can work in her personally operated private practice center too. As for the salary of nurses it varies from positions to positions and a Nurse Practitioner even as for their higher designation can take home upto $75,000 annual salary.

What Exactly is a MSN and why pick it As a Career?

Published by admin on Thu Jan 28, 2010

A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is an advanced-level education degree courses for registered nurses.  This degree is required for reaching at advance level nursing position like Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Midwife, Nurse Administrator or a Clinical  nurse leader and is considered as an entry level degree for nurse educators and managers. This post graduate-level degree in nursing helps an aspirant to specialize in areas of health care like acute care, adult, family geriatrics, neonatal, palliative care, pediatric, etc.

There a good number of degrees and programs are offered for the position of MN Master of Nursing, Master of Arts in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing and Registered Nurse to Master of Science in Nursing.  Even these basic degrees are offered with further variation and objectivity. As they are like Master of Science in Nursing with Master of Public Health, Master of Science in Nursing with Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Nursing with Master of Public Administration, Master of Science in Nursing with Master of Science in Information Science.

Though looking different from outside there are certain similarities in these degrees as they help in career of nursing when a person enters  into a specific organization and these degrees help a person out there. These courses strengthen core nursing skills with added benefit and advance roles in nursing leadership and clinical specialties.  RN to MSN programs helps to understand complex nursing concepts in an accelerated curriculum for a nurse having an accredited degree for earning MSN without obtaining a BSN. The MPA and MPH programs more inclined towards public sector orientation and MBA programs are suited for Top level management programs.

As for basic requirement for earning a Master’s degree program in nursing includes BSN from a recognized nursing school, an RN license and minimum GPA (grade point average).   Some other prefers nurses having experience in clinical nursing. The past experience as hold by you can help you in great way to decide upon your career in nursing. According to the AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing) advanced practice nurses (APNs) advanced practice nurses involve the four categories of clinicians.

Nurse Practitioners (NP): Nurses who can conduct many of the tasks that doctors historically have performed. Many NPs work in pediatrics, family health, women’s health, and other specialties and some have private practices. Nurse practitioners can prescribe medications in all states, while 25 states have given NPs authority to practice independently without physician collaboration or supervision.

  • Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS): or nurses who can provide acute care and mental health services as well as develop quality assurance procedures and serve as educators and consultants.
  • Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM): These nurses provide prenatal and gynecological care to normal healthy women.
  • Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CNRA): The Nurses under this category administer anesthetics to patients for operating in emergence room.