Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C virus is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States with an estimated 4.1 million American infected. World-wide there is an estimated 170 million persons chronically infected. The number of new infections per year has declined from 240,000 in the 1980s to 26,000 in 2004.

Potential risk factors include contact with infected blood, instruments or needles - such as IV drug users, health care workers, or public safety workers. Additional potential risk factors include intranasal cocaine use, tattooing and body piercing. Before 1992 the hepatitis C virus was also transmitted through blood transfusions. All blood is now tested for the presence of the virus. The risk post-transfusion has been estimated to be reduced to 0.001% per unit transfused.

Because infection with the virus can be asymptomatic or have vague symptoms, as many as 60% of individuals infected are unaware that they carry the virus. Many are found as a result of routine blood tests. Chronic hepatitis C is a slowly progressive disease that may gradually advance over 10-40 years. When it is acquired in later life there is some evidence that it may progress faster. In those with cirrhosis due to hepatitis C there is an associated increase in the chance of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. Drinking alcohol can make the liver disease worse.

There is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C. The best prevention is not to use IV drugs, not to share needles, razors, or toothbrushes. Think about the risks if you are thinking about getting a tattoo or body piercing; and get vaccinated against hepatitis B.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is an association between sexual exposure to someone with a history of hepatitis, or exposure to multiple sex partners and contraction of hepatitis C. Women with hepatitis C do not need to avoid pregnancy or breast-feeding according to the CDC. Expectant and new parents should be advised that approximately 5 out of every 100 infants born to HCV infected females might be infected. HCV-positive mothers should consider abstaining from breast-feeding if their nipples are cracked or bleeding.

Currently there are FDA-approved treatments for hepatitis C. Hepatitis C positive patients should be evaluated by their physicians for liver disease.

References:
1. The American Liver Foundation Fact Sheet on Hepatitis C http://www.liverfoundation.org/
2. Center for Disease Control Fact sheet on Hepatitis C. http://www.cdc.gov/
Find out more about gastrointestinal disorders with The GI System in Detail: http://www.ed4nurses.com/gi-in-detail.htm

By: Patti Radovich, MSN, RN, FCCM
Clinical Nurse Specialist Consultant to Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com

Ed4Nurses, Inc.
571 Ledge Road
Macedonia, OH 44056

Why the Flu Likes Winter

Why the Flu Likes Winter

(December 6, 2007: In the News)

Researchers at the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine say the flu's seasonal preference for winter has to do with the virus itself. It is more stable and stays in the air longer when air is cold and dry. In test animals, the virus was transmitted best at a low humidity, 20%, and not transmitted at all when the humidity reached 80%. The animals also released viruses nearly 2 days longer at 41 degrees than at room temperature of 68 degrees.

As Reported by The New York Times

The 15 Percent Solution

The 15 Percent Solution

You've heard it before and so have I: the average person only uses 10 percent of their brain. This means as you go through your daily activities on average you only use 10 percent of your mental capacities. Can you imagine how much more you could accomplish if you could use more of your brain?

I'm not asking you to use 90 percent, but how about 15 percent?

How much more could you accomplish if you were using 15 percent of your brain on a consistent and persistent basis? Could you do better assessments? Could you provide better care? Would you be better equipped to evaluate your treatments and avoid complications in your patients? I think most of us would.

But how do you squeak out another 5 percent if you are using only 10 percent of your brain and you feel like you’re using a lot. You’re stressed and at times you go home mentally exhausted. How can you squeeze that extra 5 percent out?

I believe the key lies in your knowledge base. The greater your knowledge base, the more information you have to go back to. The greater your knowledge base, the more connections you find between concepts. And the greater your knowledge base, the more creativity you can use in finding solutions to complex problems. So read, observe, pay attention, keep an open mind and be receptive to learning. Remember that there's plenty of room for extra potential and strive for a little more, just 15 percent.

15 percent of your mental capability is 50 percent more than you've been using. Your assessments would be 50 percent better. Your interventions would be 50 percent better. Your ability to respond in a crisis would be 50 percent better. That's a big jump for a little bump in brain power.

So how do you go about achieving this lofty 15 percent? The first step is to learn something new today. Learn something new every week. I use what I call the idea quota; I require myself to come up with one new idea every week. It maintains my creativity and it keeps me looking for unique and innovative solutions all the time. You could do the same thing with your care by making a creativity quotient or an idea quota for every week. Require yourself to learn something new every week. Come up with a new idea every week and you'll find that your brain power is expanding and before you know it you'll be up to your 15 percent which would dramatically improve your outcomes.

Best wishes,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN, CNS
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com

Opportunity is all around us

Opportunity is all around us

For me the ground is too close, the walls are too close, but the sky is endless. I think this is also true of opportunity. Opportunity is all around us if we can only see it; but many times we spend too much time looking at the walls and the ground and not enough time looking up to the open sky.

As this pertains to goal setting, you might find that you are hesitant to make large goals because of the limitations that are right around you. When you look up, you can see that the possibilities are endless and that the goals that you achieve in your life can be endless as well. To go up, you must look up.

If you want better health, more opportunities and greater prosperity in your life, stop looking around at the limitations next to you, and below you, and start looking up at the endless opportunities that really exist. You are an incredible being born into a time of limitless opportunity. Look up to see the vastness of opportunity and abundance that really surrounds you.

To your success,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com

Empowerment for Nurses

Empowerment for Nurses

October 27, 2007

Nurses have incredible power; but few realize it and even fewer use it to improve care and to help their patients. Empowerment is not a gift that someone gives you. Rather it is a gift you give yourself by realizing the excellence you already have, embracing it, and developing it further.

Your clinical practice will improve. By recognizing the excellence that others have, it will help patient care in general improve. Nurses are the only caregiver that is at the bedside 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Nurses are also the largest body of employees in any hospital system. For these two reasons alone nurses have incredible power. For six of the last seven years the Gallup Poll has listed nurses as being the most ethical and trusted profession. Nurses are respected by their patients and by society.

So why is it that so many nurses feel disempowered?

I believe it is because most nurses do not embrace, develop, or use the incredible power they have for the good of the healthcare system. Empowerment comes from recognizing those things you do well, embracing them and wanting to validate and do them better. To “Embrace your Excellence” means to recognize what you do well and what your peers do well and to encourage your peers to embrace and develop those things that they excel at. Imagine what healthcare would be like if nurses embraced their excellence, developed it further and used their incredible power to change the healthcare system for the better. Could we solve the problems that we face in healthcare today? I think we could.

Nurses are an incredibly intelligent, creative and empathetic group of people who could come up with unique and powerful solutions to the problems we face today.

Embrace your excellence!

“Get out there and give real help!
Get out there and love!
Get out there and testify!
Get out there and create whatever you can to inspire people to claim their divine being and origin.
This is what has to be done now.
There is no time, there has never been any time for dallying and being depressed."
-Mother Teresa

Best wishes,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN, CNS
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com