I thought it would be easier than ICU nursing. After 33 years as an ICU nurse, I had to leave. I just couldn’t take the pounding on the chests of little old men and women. Hearing and feeling their ribs crack while CPR was performed. I couldnR…
Category: Conditions
Prostate cancer, sex drive, male menopause and conversations to have with your doctor
Americans are having less sex than ever before. Should we be worried? Ask your prostate. A 2022 study from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior found that the rate of all types of sexual intercourse have declined from 2009 to 2018. While t…
This doctor got COVID. Here’s what it taught him.
Tuesday night, March 29 into March 30, I started to feel that sensation I associate with the start of a cold. It was a feeling in the back of my throat that’s almost hard to describe. I haven’t had that sensation in years. Because I have been wearing a…
Done with COVID? Not so fast.
Moving into the pandemic’s third year, as many settle into the notorious “new normal” of COVID, the challenge now is avoiding complacency and keeping attention and vaccination rates high enough to maintain protection against the still…
A bad death: the importance of truth-telling at end-of-life
“Death would not be called bad, O people, if one knew how to truly die.” — Nanak Her funeral was yesterday, and there was a huge turn-out. She was 67 and never cussed or said a bad word about anyone. She was much-friended and well-loved. In…
Looking across the glass door: a COVID-19 vigil
A small piece of lint is tickling my nose as I am desperately trying not to sneeze into the tight-fitting mask on my face. I know that I will not be able to adjust the mask as my gloves are sterile, and I am standing suspended over a patient’s bo…
Reduce your loneliness, improve your well-being, and take the first step
Just before the pandemic, I walked 96 miles (154.5 km) in seven days on the West Highland Way in Scotland, though I was hardly alone in this endeavor. About 250 people start the walk each day, including the amazing group of primary women that I walked …
We are the voice of reason, the scientific experts, and the advocates for our patients
These last two years have been extremely challenging for most health care professionals. Watching society challenge essential health and science principles that we have known to be fact has been difficult to bear. Being villainized, health care workers…
A tale of 2 nurses
There is no denying that we live and work in some extraordinarily trying times. Cast your eyes in the direction of any streaming news source, and another breaking story that describes the catastrophic dumpster fire of the current state of the U.S. heal…
A surprising way to create safer, more efficient patient care
For practicing physicians, inclusivity proves critical. Not because of HR mandates. Not because it’s a good thing to do. Inclusivity improves your patients’ care. It enables you to be a better doctor. Rising complexity, rapid change, and tr…
