rnstar43

you know you are absolutely right girl. When patients write to facilities to compliment the staff, it is about the attention to personal detail, they want the human touch. Most of the time the patients don't care about our clinical skills if we are cold as ice. The human touch is where the difference is.

I can't honestly recall where there is any information stating CAM as a treatment modality for acute, chronic disease. Read the current info available. I think we are all in agreement concerning alternative medicine and it's role in personal health, wellness. we do not diagnose disease, treat disease,prescribe, or perform invasive procedures. Most health related events do not occur as single incidents, but as a result of unwellness. Part of alternative medicine is to teach people to approach their health and patterns of taking care of themselves differently. Did you not see the world news last night, concerning the latest research released about patients recieving spinal fusions who could have been treated and relieved of chronic back pain with physical therapy [aggressive, of course, but yet consistent] The studies showing most spinal fusions do not relieve the pain, but that long term physical treatment is more successful in many instances. The human body was not designed to maintain wellness without our personal attention to ourselves, it is not a perfect machine. We do not 'band-aid' the problem like traditional medicine has done, but we encourage each person to follow a better path.

I have been reading past posts concerning the validity of some of the modalities related to holistic nursing. Preventative medicine is quickly becoming mainstream given recent results and patient/client outcomes. Healing touch, reiki, reflexology, aromatherapy are all alternatives to maintain health balance. Healing touch has already proven itself to be effective for pain control. I applaud the nurse who is concerned about their patient's pain and how to help them control it. What I do question are nurses who are negligent, practice inappropriately, or make judgements daily based on their own personal experience and desired outcome. Prevention and wellness has gotten the attention of insurance companies, who are now giving employers incentives for smoking cessation programs, exercise memberships, etc. The employers and the insurance companies now realize everyone benefits from a healthy happy employee[less call ins, better morales, less insurance claims]. I am choosing a career after 15 yrs. as an O.R. R.N. , for holistic nursing. It is my hope that nurses can collectively explore the alternatives for patients other than traditional medicines, surgeries and treatments. It's time to teach people to maintain wellness before they reach imbalance with illness. It is also my hope that we collectively will stop these witchhunts, being hypercritical of nurses choosing different paths that make us uncomfortable and that we are unfamiliar with. I have become more frightened of a nurse's indifference towards their impact on a patient, than a concerned nurse who may explore alternative methods that I may not be familiar with or even know of at all.

You are incorrect with your information. Dr. Perry and Dr. Anderson were both doing high volumes of patients. Everyone know the reimbursement for total joint surgery is excellent. With a service as big as orthopedics, and the admissions, bloodwork required, x-rays and other services needed in the hospital for this service the whole hospital benefits from it and stays busy. It has been established that the hospital was recieving the reimbursements but not paying the vendors. They owe Biomet ALONE almost $500,000.00. The open heart program is still open but does NO VOLUME AT ALL. Last week they recieved 8 Medtronic off pump kits for the heart room and they have not done an off pump open heart for months. Care to guess how much those kits cost? Why is that program open if it was about volume? Go check the stats if you are able and look at the numbers, and please report this information correctly. The O.R. does not have what they need half the time to do their cases, and all is not well at Forest Park. Most of all they do not care. This is how a hospital closes. One service at a time.

I graduated from Jeffco in 1994 as RN. All the instructors did a wonderful job. McDaniels, Clayton, Eimer(who was stricken with cancer) she was wonderful loved them all. I feel they sent me out to work being completely competent and I would recommend Jeffco to anyone.

Be wary if what you hear and listen with your eyes. What are the predictions for the future nursing shortage? I truly believe we are just beginning to see what is going to happen. Do not settle for what you do not want to do or for "scare tactics." Hospital managers and administration network as we do [i"m sure you know this], and at times they make a collective decision to try to eliminate travel nurses.Whether they like it or not, the nursing shortage will continue to grow as the populations get older re:supply and demand. Hang in there!