Don't Make Me Break Your Legs

(Photo ; Bridgeport, Connecticut, seen from I-95, from Flickr)

Professors as YouTube Stars

The notion that fatty foods shorten your life began as a hypothesis based on dubious assumptions and data; when scientists tried to confirm it they failed repeatedly. The evidence against Häagen-Dazs was nothing like the evidence against Marlboros.

Get Out Now While the Getting is Good;
University of Connecticut economists say the state will lose about 7,000 jobs over the next two years.

These people scare me ; the first LOL-Cat wedding proposal.

Use Your Cell Camera to Find Your Parked Car

Got the flu shot? Don't be surprised if you still get the flu this year ;
The flu shot is a good match for only about 40 percent of this year's flu viruses, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Your daily dose of doom - for hard-core economics nerds and those looking for an excuse to feel depressed, only.

Listen online on Sunday evening ;
The Big Broadcast
A musical spotlight on the classic sounds of the 1920s and '30s, Sunday nights from 8pm-Midnight. (There's no podcast and almost no archives available, due to copyright issues. So, be there, or be square!)

And, if you like that kind of music, you might like "The Old Codger", who is
"playing 78 RPM records like they're going out of style!". Similar music, but delivered with a hefty serving of 'tude, and a weird, slightly randy sense of humor. One of my favorite podcasts to fall asleep to after a 12-hour night shift.

If you like weird humor, and 'tude, well maybe you'd like "The Best Show on WMFU". Well, no (sigh), you probably wouldn't. Unless you're either from New Jersey, 
or you enjoy making fun of New Jersey. Or, you're suffering from a terminal
 case of indie-rock hipsterism. Or, maybe you just have insomnia, and your TV is broken (bonus points if you just refuse to watch TV) and all the liquor stores are closed.

I mean, I don't even know how to describe this one. It's 3 hours of "music, mirth, and mayhem"?  (Perfect for those - like me - who don't fall asleep quickly.) I  absolutely love it? 
I  even voluntarily suffer through the requisite one Abba song per show
 - and I hate Abba? I listen to this in Vermont when I feel like I miss the grittiness of Bridgeport, CT (see above) - and how sick is that?

What can you say about a show which features a guy named Philly Boy Roy, who is described as, "Quite possibly the program's most hated frequent caller, Philly Boy Roy is a Philadelphia-based listener who does nothing more than attack New Jersey and its residents. Roy feels that Philadelphia is paradise on earth, and that Jersey is a "stinking swamp".
Roy is currently writing and co-directing a motion picture called "Philly Fever", in which the Philly Phanatic is kidnapped by some goons from New Jersey, and the best and brightest from Philadelphia history - the Hooters, Ben Franklin - must team up to rescue him."

Well, I'll tell ya' what someone else said :

"Scharpling conducts interviews, plays music, and opens the phone lines to the listening public. Often on the other end of the line is Jon Wurster, best known as the drummer for the indie rock band Superchunk. But Jon Wurster never admits to being Jon Wurster. Wurster usually pretends to be a ridiculously pompous and ill-informed rock critic, or a grown-up member of an eighties pre-teen punk band, or a middle aged loser looking to fill out the roster for his imaginary supergroup, or some other deluded and pathetic human specimen. Every Tuesday night Scharpling and Wurster take this classic comedy set-up and do something intelligent, cool and unbelievably funny."

Just listen to it. Don't make me break your legs.

Happy Single’s Awareness Day! (a.k.a. "Valentine's Day")

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.
Mark Twain

(Picture; seattlestreetart show opening at the Anne Bonny in Capitol Hill. From Flickr.)

Today's Photo From Vermont

Farmyard with crabapple tree near Taftsville, Vermont, November 2007.
(Taken by me. To view more photos of Vermont, click here.)

Cherry Ames, Travel Nurse

Many people have asked me questions about travel nursing. What's it like? How do you do it? Which company do you use? Do they supply your housing? Do you really spend most of your time standing around on Dude Ranches in an immaculate white cap and dress, giving handsome cowboys the eye? (Well, actually, yes, now that you ask.)

I think the best thing you can do is to ask those questions, even if this is something you're only maybe-kinda-sorta thinking about doing someday. You know what they say, network, network, network!

I spent years as a staff nurse shamelessly pumping the travel nurses I met for information, even though I was iffy about actually making the jump. I found out alot of interesting and useful stuff that way - even stuff that had nothing to do with travel nursing.

Like, for instance, I learned that some travel nurses without cars (they had flown down from British Columbia) were occasionally renting cars from Enterprise for the special weekend rate of $10/day in pricey Connecticut. A very good deal even in 2002. That info came in handy once when my car broke down and I was working the weekend.

It was also interesting just to meet people from all over, and learn their stories. I once worked with a nurse from Ireland, who came to the states, to do a 2-year contract, after doing a 2-year contract in Australia. How's that for interesting?

Anyway, I just wanted to post some links to some of the online resources I use that are specific to travel nursing. I plan to do another post in the future focusing on general travel sites.

Healthcare Traveler Magazine has alot of useful information. I used to get their paper version, for free, until I moved out of my house. Believe it or not, I kind of miss the ads in the paper version, because they were actually full of information. Like, you'll find the occasional company
that offers the opportunity to work in England(on a 1-year contract), or the Virgin Islands, on an Indian reservation, or as a civilian on a military base. I particularly like their Career Center, Starter's Kit, Tax Facts, Travel Deals, Tales From the Road, and Lifestyles articles, all of which are available online. Check out their Recruiters of the Year article under Lifestyles. Mad props to my recruiter, Kristen Ricci-Hunt (Novapro), a 2005 – 2007 award recipient!

The downside of Healthcare Traveler is that it is a vehicle for the advertisors, so, while it does offer some useful advice about dealing with problems, it really won't come out and say anything negative about anyone, anywhere, or anything. So, for the real lowdown, I turn to The Delphi Travel Nurses and Therapists Forum. This is a free website, although it requires registration. You can also pay for the premium version, which allows you to search posts older than 3 months old.

I think of Delphi as the opposite of HT - it's so heavily weighted towards complaints that it might scare you away from travel nursing totally. Just take what you read with a grain of salt. Think of it as "Dear Abby" for travel nurses - people are often writing in for specific advice on how to solve ( or avoid ) problems, not to talk about how wonderful everthing is in HappyLand today. Just because 10 other people have problems with their Mother-in-Law doesn't mean you will, too. But, it's worth reading because it's a treasure trove of extremely specific advice, right down to which apartment complexes to request or avoid in a specific town.

Allnurses.com is a great site for reading about nursing in general, and they've also got a travel nursing forum listed under "Nursing Specialties", and you can also ask questions about specific hospitals in the various state forums. Note - they also are read by and friendly towards LNA's/PCT's and student nurses. They have a Male Nurse's Forum and a very active forum called "First Year in Nursing". It's a great place to go when you have a bad day that really makes you doubt yourself, or when you're feeling burnt-out - especially for new nurses. In terms of travel-specific info, I don't find it quite as helpful as Delphi, but, it's worth checking out, and you don't have to register.

If you know of any resources that I've missed, please feel free to post them in the comments section below!

Nursing News

New Program Treats Chronic Disease in Unconventional Clinic
The underserved and uninsured population of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, now have an opportunity to seek medical help while they get their groceries with a new program called the Community-Based Chronic Disease Management Program (CCDM). Created by Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in conjunction with the Medical College of Wisconsin, the program offers treatment for chronic health problems including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking on-site at a local food pantry.

Metabolic Syndrome Is Tied to Diet Soda
the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none.

Aerospace Industry Trains Nurses
Soaring to new heights in patient safety, nurses practicing at Memorial Healthcare System’s Broward County hospitals are borrowing successful aviation practices — checklists, briefings, and debriefings — to improve care.

Deaths Halt Part of Large Diabetes Trial
Increased mortality seen in patients receiving aggressive drug therapy to cut blood sugar levels.

FDA Issues Health Advisory On Pfizer's Chantix Tablets
The Food and Drug Administration said it is "increasingly likely" that Pfizer Inc.'s smoking-cessation drug Chantix may be tied to serious psychiatric symptoms. The FDA's comment is part of a public health advisory issued Friday.
The public health advisory highlighted warnings issued by Pfizer last month stating that Chantix users should be monitored for suicidal behavior, depressed mood and other changes in behavior.

Heart bypass better than stents, study says
Death rates lower for surgery patients who had several clogged arteries
In the study, heart attack and death rates were lower among people who had surgery than those given artery-opening balloon angioplasty and stents — mesh cylinders oozing drugs to keep vessels from reclogging.It is latest setback for drug-coated stents, which have revolutionized heart care and have been implanted in about 6 million people worldwide. They are far better at keeping vessels open than older bare metal stents. However, sales have been hurt in the past year by safety concerns and studies questioning the value of angioplasty itself for certain patients.

Stroke treatment vacuums clots from brain
Device might prevent permanent disability — but only for good candidates.

Chronic pain can alter the brain
Study: Scans of sufferers found activity in areas that should be at rest