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In My Day…Hot Water Bottles | Lynn Ruth Miller

May 19th, 2012 by Lynn Ruth Miller

Hot Water Bottles: A love/hate relationshipIn my day, we didn’t waste our money on electric blankets or heating pads, no sir. We used the hot water bottle for everything. My momma filled it with boiling water and wrapped it in a towel to put in the bed before she gave me a bath. When I got between the covers, the sheets were toasty warm. In those days, the hot water bottle eased aching muscles and tummy aches and my momma used it on our boils and abscesses to get them to pop. And you know what else she did? She wrapped it in a towel and put it on her head when we gave her a headache, which was just about everyday.

And she even used it for that most hateful, horrible procedure…the enema. Back then, everyone believed you must have a bowl movement everyday, but nice children didn’t call it that. They called it number two. My momma didn’t want us to advertise our functions to the whole world, so she told us to call it number four.  We foured, the dog foured and if we didn’t like someone, we’d say “He’s full of four!” Every morning we would report our condition to our mother and if our answer was no, the next thing we knew we were lying on our bellies in the bathroom floor and she was administering warm soapy water from the hot water bottle into our posteriors. Today, I can’t see a hot water bottle without reaching for the toilet paper and thinking of my mother. And this is Lynn Ruth Miller with another addition of “In My Day.”

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RN Jean Ross on 2012 Staff Nurse Assembly and the Robin Hood Tax | National Nurses United Sponsored Segment | May 19, 2012 | Show 447

May 17th, 2012 by Nurse Talk

And we talk with one of our favorite guests RN and Co-President of National Nurses United, Jean Ross. Jean will tell us about the upcoming Nurses Assembly in Chicago next week where over 1200 nurses will gather to talk about everything from healthcare to Medicare and beyond. The nurses will also hit the streets of Chicago in a peaceful demonstration to promote a Wall Street Transaction Tax. Check out this Bill Moyers (PBS) interview with National Nurses United Executive Director Rose Ann Demoro as she talks about the “Robin Hood” tax. Peeps—no matter what your political persuasion—it makes sense!

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RN Alison Whitaker on Vital Signs, RN Jean Ross on Robin Hood and Dr. Jamie Koufman on Dropping Acid | May 19, 2012 | Show 447

May 17th, 2012 by Nurse Talk

Casey and Shayne check in with RN and playwright RN Alison Whitaker. Some of you may remember Alison was on the show last year introducing her one-woman play called, Vital Signs. It’s a great show and she opens in June at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco. And if you are paying attention you can win two VIP tickets to Vital Signs simply by emailing us at pattie@nursetalksite.com or calling 800-977-1863.

And we talk with one of our favorite guests RN and Co-President of National Nurses United, Jean Ross. Jean will tell us about the upcoming Nurses Assembly in Chicago next week where over 1200 nurses will gather to talk about everything from healthcare to Medicare and beyond. The nurses will also hit the streets of Chicago in a peaceful demonstration to promote a Wall Street Transaction Tax. Check out this Bill Moyers (PBS) interview with National Nurses United Executive Director Rose Ann Demoro as she talks about the “Robin Hood” tax. Peeps—no matter what your political persuasion—it makes sense!

And then..for you 60’s hippies…lets talk about Dropping Acid! That’s right…but of course, not the kind you think. Dr. Jamie Koufman will be with us to talk about Acid Reflux and what you can do to control or cure it by simply changing your diet. Dr. Koufman has written a book called Dropping Acid, The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure. According to the book, acid reflux affects 30-50% of the population. You won’t want to miss this.

And of course, the Golden Bed Pan Award, In My Day with Lynn Ruth Miller, Phobia of the Week and more…not sure how much more…but more!

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In My Day…My Mother Used Vinegar for Everything | Lynn Ruth Miller

May 12th, 2012 by Lynn Ruth Miller

When I was a kid, my mother used vinegar for everything. If I got a bee sting she rubbed vinegar on it and if the kid next door bit me, she poured vingear on him and called his mother. There didn’t seem to be anything vinegar couldn’t fix in those days.

If you got the hiccups you drank a tablespoon of vinegar and they were gone. After your father pounded you on the back and your sister jumped out from behind the couch and screamed “BOO!” It was magic!

If I had a sinus infection, momma put vinegar in a vaporizer and made me inhale it until I started breathing again. She liked to help it along by pounding on my chest and if I turned blue, my sister jumped out from behind the couch and screamed “BOO!” Magic again!

My mom taught me to give my hair a vinegar rinse after I shampooed it to get rid of dandruff and those little bugs I got from the kid next door. Sore throat, gargle with vinegar and then swallow. The germs were gone and so was your appetite.

Vinegar and honey and a little cayenne pepper got rid of my cough, but if you boiled it with water, tomatoes, sour cream and peanut butter, you got soup! We got rid of warts with a mixture of vinegar and glycerine and we stayed away from toads. Vinegar may have kept us healthy, but I wanna tell ya, the whole family smelled like a tossed salad. And this is Lynn Ruth Miller with a box of croutons and another of edition of “In My Day.”

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RN Carol Barazi on Hospital Closures, RN Angil Tarach-Ritchey on Behind the Old Face | May 12, 2012 | Show 446

May 10th, 2012 by Nurse Talk

Shayne and Casey have some fun with the story about the dentist who pulled all of her ex-boyfriend’s teeth! At least as much fun as you can have over such a tragic loss. Dumping a girlfriend is never easy but having all 32 teeth pulled out by her is the worst that could happen to anybody. Listen and find out just how this happened. There is a moral to the story too. A fairly obvious one at that.

We also visit with San Leandro Hospital RN Carol Barazi about Sutter Corp’s announcement to close yet another hospital in the Bay Area—this time in San Leandro—which serves the East Bay. Of the 27,000 patients seen in the San Leandro emergency room last year, more than 60 percent came from East Oakland, patients who will now need to drive many miles over crowded freeways for care. In news reports, a registered nurse from Highland Hospital in Oakland, who lives in San Leandro said, “I’m hearing from Sutter that they think it’s okay to close San Leandro, because they can send the patients to Highland. I’m here to tell you that we have a 50-bed ER and we are full.” Again—closure of a hospital that serves the “underserved.”

Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerburg win the Golden Bed Pan Award for starting the majorly successful organ donor project. More than 100,000 new organ donors signed up during the course of a week. Congratulations and great work!

Ever wonder whats behind the old face? Angil Tarach-Ritchey RN, and national expert in senior care provides us with an insightful look at the lives of the aging. With over 30 years experience in senior care and advocacy Angil passionately talks about her elder advocacy project and book, Behind The Old Face. Angil is a frequent blogger on the Nurse Talk website and comes to Nurse Talk by way of our friends at Nurse Together.

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RN Carol Barazi on Saving San Leandro Hospital | National Nurses United Sponsored Segment | May 12, 2012 | Show 446

May 10th, 2012 by Nurse Talk

We also visit with San Leandro Hospital RN Carol Barazi about Sutter Corp’s announcement to close yet another hospital in the Bay Area—this time in San Leandro—which serves the East Bay. Of the 27,000 patients seen in the San Leandro emergency room last year, more than 60 percent came from East Oakland, patients who will now need to drive many miles over crowded freeways for care. In news reports, a registered nurse from Highland Hospital in Oakland, who lives in San Leandro said, “I’m hearing from Sutter that they think it’s okay to close San Leandro, because they can send the patients to Highland. I’m here to tell you that we have a 50-bed ER and we are full.” Again—closure of a hospital that serves the “underserved.”

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DC Correspondent Donna Smith | National Nurses United Sponsored Segment | May 5, 2012 | Show 445

May 3rd, 2012 by Nurse Talk

With us this week is D.C. Correspondent and National Nurses United Legislative Advocate Donna Smith. Donna gives a great answer to the question–why don’t we see the following headlines in the media?

  • “For Profit Healthcare Poses Threat to Medicare, Federal Deficit, and Overall Economy in Coming Decades”
  • “Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was Last Year”
  • “Growing Wealth Inequity Will Lead to Social Security Imbalance Later This Century”
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Humorist Terri Tate, Wiz Kid Cameron Harris and Activist Donna Smith | May 5, 2012 | Show 445

May 3rd, 2012 by Nurse Talk

On the show this week is RN, humorist, author Terri Tate. What makes all the wrong things funny? Terri Tate will tell you. Terri claims that humor saved her life. Most people wouldn’t find two bouts of disfiguring oral cancer, 30 plus hours of surgery, 7 weeks of radiation, endless complications and a 2% chance of survival all that funny. Terri wasn’t laughing the whole time but claims that her sense of humor never completely deserted her. Nineteen years after treatment—alive and laughing, Terri talks about her remarkable path and her new book, As Is.

Wiz kid Cameron Harris is stops by for a visit. Some of you may remember Cameron, at the ripe old age of sixteen, started a podcast company (Harwood Podcast Network) that now boasts over 900 different shows. The line up includes IN RANGE Cameron’s show with his advice about how to live a healthy active life with Type 1 Diabetes. Cameron himself was diagnosed at the age of eight.

Also with us is D.C. Correspondent and National Nurses United Legislative Advocate Donna Smith. Donna gives a great answer to the question–why don’t we see the following headlines in the media?

  • “For Profit Healthcare Poses Threat to Medicare, Federal Deficit, and Overall Economy in Coming Decades”
  • “Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was Last Year”
  • “Growing Wealth Inequity Will Lead to Social Security Imbalance Later This Century”
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