Owner: Digital Doorway URL:http://www.digitaldoorway.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:40:36 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Views of life, healthcare, nursing and spirituality by a 40-something male nurse somewhere in New England. Site statistics:Click here
Mental Health Parity? 2008-06-19 20:33:21 Parity for mental health coverage by insurance companies is a goal long out of the reach of most Americans. While both houses of Congress have passed their own versions of the original bill offering such parity, Congress has yet to offer a compromised version of the original legislation.
Please click here to read the rest of my article on Nurse LinkUp.
Read more:Health
, Mental Health
The Gift of Pain 2008-06-19 09:11:56 Whatever you do, don’t shut off your pain; accept your pain and remain vulnerable. However desperate you become, accept your pain as it is, because it is in fact trying to hand you a priceless gift: the chance of discovering, through spiritual practice, what lies behind sorrow. “Grief,” Rumi wrote, “can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain
Mindfulness and Nursing: An Inquiry 2008-07-08 17:25:38 Please be so kind to click here in order to read my new article on mindfulness and nursing, recently posted on Nurse LinkUp. Whether you're a nurse or not, mindfulness and related practices can be powerful tools for personal growth and exploration. Read more:Mindfulness
, Nursing
, Inquiry
Of Vacations and Relative Privilege 2008-07-07 19:02:22 Well, we're back home, pleasantly vacated and rested from the toil of the workaday world.Now, if only everyone could afford and enjoy even a brief holiday, then there would be economic justice in the world. But alas, only some of us can afford such luxury, and I am very grateful that this is possible for us. While our vacations are modest affairs, they're still vacations nonetheless, and I bear in Read more:Vacations
, Relative
Vacation! 2008-06-30 06:18:47 Dear Readers,We will be on vacation from July 1st to July 6th. Thus, Digital Doorway will also have a rest.Be well, and please stop back next week for the continuing saga..... Read more:Vacation
Reflections.... 2008-06-29 21:23:14 Life moves along a trajectory and it often seems that one is simply along for the ride. However, as powerless as we may sometimes feel vis-a-vis our life's development, I feel certain that I must take full responsibility for how my life has grown and changed. Whether there are unseen forces at play or not, taking responsibility for my life is one way that I empower myself to reflect on the choices Read more:Reflections
Impermanence 2008-06-28 21:39:11 Reflect on this: The realization of impermanence is paradoxically the only thing we can hold on to, perhaps our only lasting possession. It is like the sky, or the earth. No matter how much everything around us may change or collapse, they endure. Say we go through a shattering emotional crisis . . . our whole life seems to be disintegrating . . . our husband or wife suddenly leaves us without war
Obama, Healthcare and A Trio of Mythic Figures 2008-07-25 20:07:48 (Note: This is my second post under the auspices of the nurse blogger scholarship which I recently received from Value Care, Value Nurses.)Barack Obama
, the presumed Democratic nominee for President, faces a tough crowd when talking about healthcare in America. As a nurse, I myself am a tough crowd, and my cynicism towards politicians of any stripe runs relatively deep. In my (potentially naive) h Read more:Healthcare
, Figures
Comfortable with Uncertainty 2008-07-24 20:39:02 Just the other day, I had tea with a good friend and talked about life, love, and our own pursuits, both professional and personal. This friend, with whom we have reconnected very strongly in the last year or so, is a man of great insight, knowledge, sensitivity and kindness. While I historically don't usually enjoy the company of men a great deal (and consequently have few good male friends) this Read more:Uncertainty
Change of Shift, Vol. 3, No. 2 2008-07-24 06:38:35 Change of Shift
is up once again at Emergiblog. Kim gives thanks to everyone who contributed, and also to those who contributed and don't yet know it. ( I happen to be one who forgot to send in a submission but somehow Kim got me in there, anyway!)Please stop by and see what's new in the nursing blogosphere. Read more:Change
Thanks to Kim at Emergiblog 2008-07-23 19:18:36 Many thanks for Kim over at Emergiblog for the following post:"Congratulations are in order for nurse blogger colleague Keith of Digital Doorway! Keith has won the ValueCare, ValueNurses Nurse Blogger Scholarship! I’ll let Keith describe what he’ll be doing with his new award: Basically, I was chosen as the one nurse blogger in the United States who will receive a generous stipend to blog se Read more:Thanks
Grand Rounds Celebrates Its 200th Edition! 2008-07-23 19:15:37 The 200th edition of GrandRounds
(the first and most famous medical blog carnival on the Internet) is now up for your reading pleasure at the popular medical blog, Grunt Doc.For those of you not yet acquainted with blog carnivals, they are like online magazines usually devoted to a particular subject, featuring links to posts by multiple bloggers, and usually "hosted" by a different blogger eve Read more:Edition
, Grand Rounds
Measles, Mumps and Rubella--Oh My! 2008-07-21 12:01:58 The author's need for an MMR booster vaccination leads to a brief review of CDC guidelines for the vaccination of healthcare workers. Please click here to read the article posted today on Nurse LinkUp.
The Nursing Shortage: A Global Crisis, Close to Home 2008-07-19 23:27:32 (Note: This is my inaugural post under the auspices of the nurse blogger scholarship which I recently received from Value Care, Value Nurses.)The nursing shortage is here to stay. At least that's where the signs all seem to be pointing. From reports of teachers doing the work of school nurses to a profound lack of nursing faculty, the shortage---predicted for years by many in the know---is an ines Read more:Nursing
, Shortage
, Global
, Crisis
, Close
The Ego and the Spirit 2008-07-17 07:23:52 Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. As you listen more and more to the teachings, contemplate them, and integrate them into your life, your inner voice, your innate wisdom of discernment, what we call in Buddhis
Value Care, Value Nurses Scholarship 2008-07-16 07:36:34 I would like to announce that I was thoroughly shocked and humbled this week after learning that I was selected as the national winner of the Value
Care, Value Nurses Blogger Scholarship
. I applied along with many of my nurse blogger friends and colleagues, and never suspected that this honor would be bestowed upon me at this juncture in my blogging career.Under the auspices of the Service Employe
"So, You're A Nurse?" 2008-07-14 19:18:13 Nursing has many occupational hazards, but there are some more irksome than others. My newest article on Nurse
LinkUp explores just what irks me so.
Notes on Hospice: The Gift of a Death at Home 2008-07-13 06:31:30 He lay there in the bed, feet extended in permanent contractures, arms curled at his chest, immobile. Ulcers burrow deep into various parts of his body: sacrum, hip, elbow, shoulder, right ear. He is non-verbal, eyes intermittently open, but what---or if---he sees is up for conjecture.At this point of the end of life process, there are no more fluids being given, and no more food. Morphine is deli Read more:Notes
A Rock and a Hard Place 2008-07-13 05:48:00 Last night I underwent the second in a series of sleep studies to determine the best treatment for what appears to be relatively severe obstructive sleep apnea. My apnea was discovered a number of months ago when I underwent my first sleep study due to symptoms of Restless Legs Syndrome. That study did indeed prove that I have Period Limb Movement Disorder, and medication now controls those sympto Read more:Place
Pain, Depression, Service, and Healing 2008-08-08 22:15:03 For the past week or so, I've been experiencing an acute exacerbation of my chronic back pain, and that increase in pain has triggered a low-level depression that has been dogging me as August (and my upcoming 44th birthday) signal the waning of the summer season.Pain has been a constant companion for several years now, and a number of medical and alternative modalities have offered little respite Read more:Service
, Healing
The Nursing Shortage: Political and Personal 2008-08-07 11:23:55 Please be so kind as to click here to read my first post as a Guest Blogger over at NurseConnect.At the invitation of NurseConnect, I will occasionally be posting to their site about issues salient to the nursing profession and the healthcare industry. Thanks for taking the time to read my post, which, for understandable contractual and copyright reasons, will not be available on any other websit Read more:Nursing
, Shortage
, Personal
Change of Shift, Vol. 3, No. 3 2008-08-07 11:18:33 The newest edition of Change
of Shift
, that wonderful blog carnival for all things nursing, is now up over at Kim M's Emergiblog. Please surf on over and read to your heart's delight!
The Aging World 2008-08-05 18:09:30 (Note: This is my third post under the auspices of the nurse blogger scholarship which I recently received from Value Care, Value Nurses.)The predictions are in. The number of Americans over age 65 will double by the year 2050, and this demographic shift is occurring on almost every continent.Personally, although I am not a member of the Baby Boom generation that accounts for the majority of this Read more:World
, Aging
NPR Radio Series on Healthcare in Western Europe 2008-08-02 03:10:54 Please visit Nurse LinkUp for my recently posted piece on the latest National Public Radio
series covering universal healthcare in five WesternEurope
an countries: Holland, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, and France. The stories are extremely interesting and well worth a listen. Read more:Healthcare
Be Silent and Listen 2008-08-01 03:24:01 The apartment is stiflingly hot. The carpets are worn and stained, and the kitchen floor is ghastly in its filthiness. Cigarette butts litter the tables, and it's difficult to tell how many were put out in the overflowing ash tray and how many were simply snuffed out on the scarred wooden coffee table.I am shadowing a psychiatric visiting nurse, learning the ropes so that I can help out with menta Read more:Silent
, Listen
Graduating From Hospice 2008-08-01 02:35:30 "So, my supervisor asked me to let you know that since you're doing so well, you'll be 'graduating' from hospice in two weeks. We're sorry, but we have to discharge you from our service."I watched his face for his reaction to the news."Wow," he said. "I had no idea that was gonna happen. Do I really have to be discharged?""Well, based on the relatively strict guidelines, I'm afraid so. Your breath
Attachment and Its (Dis)Contents 2008-07-28 16:55:27 Over the course of the summer, I have been working several days a week at my former place of full-time employment while several of my colleagues take well-deserved vacations. As an agency that specializes in the care coordination and care management of the urban poor who live with chronic illness, it is by nature a challenging and potentially draining job. I was a living testament to the vicissitu Read more:Attachment
, Contents
Toxic Chemicals Found in Common Scented Laundry Products, Air Fresheners 2008-07-26 20:25:01 For Immediate ReleaseJuly 23, 2008A University of Washington study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels.'I first got interested in this topic because people we Read more:Common
, Laundry
, Products
The Uninsured in America 2008-08-26 19:57:48 Please be so kind as to click here to read a new article that I have posted on Nurse Linkup about the plight of the uninsured in America
.
Ayurveda in Kathmandu 2008-08-26 17:16:44 My friend and colleague, the writer Rick Baker of Sedona, Arizona, has posted his second article on Nurse LinkUp as a guest columnist. This time, Rick regales us with a captivating story of an acute amoebic illness contracted while visiting Kathmandu, and the subsequently compassionate ---and ultimately effective---treatment he received at the hands of an Ayurvedic doctor.Please stop by and treat
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