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Nurse-to-patient ratios? What’s acuity got to do with it? On this show we visit with RN Tracy Pelletier, a med surg nurse from the Aroostook County Medical Center in Presque Isle, Maine. As Maine goes so goes the nation. Tracy says staffing levels and acuity issues in her hospital are “a little bit of an issue.” Are YOU the one who is going to suffer?

And, Dr. Victoria Sweet, author of God’s Hotel says that it’s when medicine is personal that  it really works. Tune in for more. You can listen to the whole show! Read more…

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ow! Do we have a great show this week! A couple of months ago Casey read a book called God’s Hotel, A Doctor, A Hospital, and A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine. The book was written by San Francisco physician Dr. Victoria Sweet about San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital, the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hôtel-Dieu (God’s Hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves — “anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times” and needed extended medical care — ended up there. Dr. Sweet ended up there herself, as a physician. And though she came for only a two-month stay, she remained for twenty years. Casey couldn’t put the book down and then couldn’t stop talking about it. So we decided to invite Dr. Sweet to talk with us about her amazing book. For more information about Dr. Sweet and God’s Hotel, visit victoriasweet.com.

Need a nurse? Let’s hope you can find one when you are in the hospital. Every week we talk about hospitals around the country and the nurses who work in them. Most people don’t realize that nurses take an oath to advocate for their patients. Read more…

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Need a nurse? Let’s hope you can find one when you are in the hospital. Every week we talk about hospitals around the country and the nurses who work in them. Most people don’t realize that nurses take an oath to advocate for their patients. For some this doesn’t mean advocacy just when patients are in the hospital and in need of hands-on care. It can mean—and especially now—that nurses advocate for better conditions in which to care for patients at healthcare facilities all across the country. On this show we visit with RN Tracy Pelletier, a med surg nurse from the Aroostook County Medical Center in Presque Isle, Maine. As Maine goes so goes the nation. Tracy talks about the staffing and acuity issues in her hospital. Read more…

“How about those GIANTS”, says co-host Shayne Mason. “What about them?” replies host Casey Hobbs. Disgraceful but true. It turns out neither one of them knew their own San Francisco Giants were in the national baseball playoffs! I know they’re nurses but–I also know nurses get around. Go GIANTS!

Wow! Do we have a great show coming up. A couple of months ago Casey read a book called God’s Hotel, A Doctor, A Hospital, and A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine. The book was written by San Francisco physician Dr. Victoria Sweet about San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital, the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hôtel-Dieu (God’s Hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves — “anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times” and needed extended medical care — ended up there. Dr. Sweet ended up there herself, as a physician. And though she came for only a two-month stay, she remained for twenty years. Casey couldn’t put the book down and then couldn’t stop talking about it. So we decided to invite Dr. Sweet to talk with us about her amazing book. Read more…

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RN Judy Brown calls in to play “Wheel of Misfortune” with us. Of course that is the game where you spin the wheel and land on one of the country’s ten worst governors. Right now Arizona governor Jan Brewer is ahead by one spin! Judy lives and works in Bangor, Maine and has been a nurse at the Eastern Maine Medical Center since 1982. She has been on the board of the Maine State Nurses Association for 15 years. Judy will give us a “state of healthcare” update for her state and talk about her governor’s proposed legislation and how it will impact patient care. Read more…

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Podcast (boston-edition): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:50 — 37.0MB) | Embed

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The cat’s away so Maggie and Casey play. Dan is off on vacation this week so Maggie stepped in to sleep in the chair. It’s been a while since she was in the studio and the producer forgot to give her a tumbler of box wine before she put on her headset. Sorry Maggie.

Good show this week—RN Judy Brown calls in to play “Wheel of Misfortune” with us. Of course that is the game where you spin the wheel and land on one of the country’s ten worst governors. Right now Arizona governor Jan Brewer is ahead by one spin! Judy lives and works in Bangor, Maine and has been a nurse at the Eastern Maine Medical Center since 1982. She has been on the board of the Maine State Nurses Association for 15 years. Judy will give us a “state of healthcare” update for her state and talk about her governor’s proposed legislation and how it will impact patient care.

And later Casey and Maggie talk with our friend from Hawaii, Advanced Practice RN Hob Osterland. Hob talks with us about the new video Humor Rumor that she created to promote a recent study she conducted at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. Read more…

Is it Arizona’s Jan Brewer for eliminating state funding for low-income Medicaid patients in need of organ transplants? Or Ohio’s John Kasich, Ex-Lehman Bros. exec., whose anti-union law bars public employees from bargaining for healthcare, staffing levels, sick leave and much more? Well, spin the wheel and find out. Then, get involved to help make a few changes. Read more…