Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:44 — 1.6MB) | Embed

In my day, safety was your responsibility. We didn’t have laws to take care of us. No seat belts or warning beeps. Either you held on, or you went through the windshield. But that was easier too, because we didn’t have double-paned glass.

When I was a kid, I could jump on my bike without worrying about helmets or shin guards. If I fell off, mama put an ice pack on my head and told me to stop complaining.

We didn’t bother with little lights on our shoes either, when we walked around at night. If someone jumped out of the bushes you just nodded and looked the other way because he was probably going to the bathroom. It was always a he. Trust me on that one.

I never thought of using mace or pepper spray to protect us. If someone scared us, we screamed and there was always a neighbor with a loaded gun. In my day, neighbors really did take care of each other. We used to give strangers at the bus stop rides and sometimes we even invited them over for dinner. But they had to eat what we gave ‘em. One guy said he was a vegan and my mother put on a mask. Read more…

I have been thinking a lot about death and funerals today. Missy’s best friend’s father died, and also her first boss at her first real job after college. I listened to her order flowers for each of them, and talk to their family members on the phone last night and today. She is going to both visitations and funerals in the next couple of days.

I thought about all the funerals I have been to in my life. A lot of people now put in the paper that they request no flowers, a donation to their favorite organization. I still always send flowers…I cant help it, I just know that all of the funerals I have ever been too, or involved with, that we always went around looking at the flowers, “Oh yes, those are from so and so, aren’t they beautiful?”, or, “Look at those roses, they are from so and so…oh how the deceased loved roses.” I always think too, walking into a funeral home and seeing the flowers just makes me smile. It’s kinda like…once you are in a room full of beautiful flowers…celebrating a life, anyway. I just like flowers.

My father died on Christmas Eve, and way back then the funeral was held the day after Christmas. Read more…

Rallies Tuesday, 12 Noon, Kaiser Oakland, Kaiser South Sacramento

OAKLAND—Registered nurses and nurse practitioners at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics across Northern and Central California will honor the picket lines Tuesday in sympathy and solidarity with other frontline Kaiser staff who will hold a one-day strike Tuesday to protest Kaiser demands for substantial cuts in healthcare coverage, retirement benefits and inadequate staffing for mental health services.

RNs will complete final sympathy strike preparations Monday 3:30 p.m. at the Oakland headquarters of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents 17,000 Kaiser RNs.

Media Availability Today:
California Nurses Association, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday Schedule:
Picketing Begins: Tuesday, January 31, 7 a.m., Kaiser Permanente Facilities
Rallies: Tuesday, January 31, 12 Noon
Kaiser Oakland: 3801 Howe St., Oakland
Kaiser South Sacramento: 6500 Bruceville Rd., Sacramento

RNs will be supporting mental health clinicians, clinical psychologists, licensed social workers and opticians.

The nurses say they understand the concerns of their co-workers about the erosion of services that affect the quality of patient care, especially in mental health, as described in the report Care Delayed, Care Denied. It asserts that Kaiser has frequently failed to comply with California laws aimed at protecting patients’ timely access to appropriate services despite receiving more than $10 billion annually from Medicare to provide a full range of services, including mental healthcare. Read more…

Does your life feel like a tug-of-war? Nurses continuously juggle the demands of their personal and professional lives. At work, they provide high touch-high tech care for sick and dying patients. In addition, many nurses perform ‘double duty’—caring for friends and family members when not at work. Being pulled in so many directions can seem overwhelming. Learn how to manage stress and regain your balance by taking a few small steps each day.

Kayla is a nurse on a busy telemetry unit; she is married, has two school-aged children and helps care for her aging mother. Today she agreed to work another double shift to cover a last minute call-in. Kayla slammed the phone down after arguing with her husband Mike—he resents Kayla choosing her job over the needs of their family. Kayla was already feeling inadequate when her friend Terry excitedly announced, “I passed my certification exam.” Although Kayla bought a review book six months ago, she hasn’t started studying yet. She worries, “I hate not being there for my family… I am falling behind in my career and I never have time for myself.” Kayla felt a wave of nervous tension in the pit of her stomach. Tom, the patient care technician, interrupted Kayla’s thoughts, “Mr. Read more…

Oh what a day, a day to just relax…very rainy and dark here in Newburgh Indiana.

Last night I had a bad Alzheimer’s night. I was very tired this morning, so I knew it had been a long night. Missy told me I was upset over not being able to see my husband. I have been thinking a lot about him lately. Missy said I was crying saying, “I know you are not telling me that he is gone.”

Missy does not smoke, no one does in our house, but a friend told her that sometimes smells help Alzheimer’s patients. My husband smoked, a lot, so Missy told me that last night she lit a cigarette and smoked a little of it to get the smell in my room. She then told me that my husband was in the bathroom shaving, he always smoked while he shaved…she said she told me, “Don’t you smell his cigarette smoke?” That calmed me and I went to sleep.

She showed me the video today. So sad. I am just a another person in my body…the same in looks, but my mind is not my own. I wish I could explain how scary this is. Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:48 — 7.1MB) | Embed

The assault on public healthcare workers continues—things are heating up in Fresno, California with major cuts proposed by that county’s Board of Supervisors. RN Mary Morrison joins us to talk about the proposed cuts and the potentially devastating impact on yet another community. Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:43 — 49.2MB) | Embed

We talk with Rob Horgan. Rob is a recruiter for the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions. Rob joins Casey and Dan in studio to share about the Master of Nursing Program USF offers at their Santa Rosa, California campus.

And as the assault on public healthcare workers continues—things are heating up in Fresno, California with major cuts proposed by that county’s Board of Supervisors. RN Mary Morrison joins us to talk about the proposed cuts and the potentially devastating impact on yet another community.

And later we visit with one of our favorite people Karyn Buxman RN, MSN. Karyn is a humorist who really does employ humor in the healing process. She’s here this week to talk about her new book “What’s So Funny About Diabetes.” Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:43 — 49.2MB) | Embed

Dan and Casey say they have really made an effort to stay away from the presidential primary but sometimes it’s hard. Roll clips of two presidential hopefuls with one having more hope than the other! We’re just sayin’—one of these men might need to look into “anger management.” Just sayin’. Check it out…on the show this week.

AND we talk with Rob Horgan. Rob is a recruiter for the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions. Rob joins Casey and Dan in studio (true) to share about the Master’s of Nursing Program USF offers at their Santa Rosa, California campus.

And as the assault on public healthcare workers continues—things are heating up in Fresno, California with major cuts proposed by that county’s Board of Supervisors. RN Mary Morrison joins us to talk about the proposed cuts and how they’re potentially devastating impact on yet another community.

And later we’ll visit with one of our favorite people Karyn Buxman RN, MSN. Karyn is a humorist who really does employ humor in the healing process. She’s here this week to talk about her new book “What’s So Funny About Diabetes.”

Read more>

I’m super excited to tell you that my latest book, What’s So Funny About Diabetes? A Creative Approach to Coping With Your Disease is now available!

What’s so funny about diabetes?

Maybe nothing. Then again, maybe everything.

Especially if you understand the premise that so much of our humor comes from pain and discomfort—our own, or somebody else’s. And let’s face it; if you’re a diabetic, you’ve got more than your fair share of pain and discomfort.

Currently one in 10 US adults has diabetes, but those numbers could go as high as 1 in 3 by the year 2050. A long-term solution can only come from getting people to change their lifestyles: better diets, exercise and coping mechanisms to deal with this serious illness.

The good news: Humor and laughter have been shown scientifically to have positive benefits for diabetic patients. Laughter has been shown to lower blood glucose in diabetics, as well as decrease hormones that can be harmful. Humor is recognized as a healthy coping mechanism. And humor has also been proven to increase the retention of information.

For these reasons, and more, author Karyn Buxman has written the first in a series of books for patients with chronic illness: What’s So Funny About Diabetes? Read more…

Vinnie Jones shows how hard and fast Hands-only CPR to Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees can help save the life of someone who has had a cardiac arrest. The Hollywood hardman is starring in a British Heart Foundation TV advert urging more people to carry out CPR in a medical emergency.

Read more…