Monday, April 22, 2013
Dwell on heroism, not evil, when pondering bombings
Somebody asked me, as a nurse, what my reaction was to the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy. That question gave me pause. My first reaction was fear and horror — are my friends and family safe?
That question gave me pause. My first reaction was fear and horror — are my friends and family safe? My second reaction was to say a fervent prayer for all of the victims, especially the families of the three that were killed, including the 8-year-old boy, whose sister and mother are also hospitalized with serious injuries. It’s unfathomable.
I am always suggesting to people to “look at the positive” in life. But that’s a pretty difficult thing to do when tragedies like those in Newtown or Boston occur within months of each other.
I must admit I watched in admiration as the first responders, and the fire, police and medical professionals, heroically rushed to the aid of the victims. They put their lives on the line to help others without hesitation. How could they be sure that another bomb or assault wasn’t imminent? I have always believed that 99% of people in this world are inherently good, and I’m reminded of that when I see such evidence of how noble, generous, and self-sacrificing people are in the face of tragedy.
So what are some coping mechanisms to help us deal with the recent tragedies?
• Mental health professionals advise us to limit exposure to the media coverage of the tragedy. If there is nothing we can do to help, there is no need to see the same horrific images displayed on the TV over and over again. This is true for adults, but especially children.
• If you have young children, be prepared for them to ask if such violence can occur to them. Do not lie, but repeat that it is very unlikely and that you are there to keep them safe.
• Focus on stories of heroism and generosity to help fortify our belief in humanity.
As we struggle to find meaning in the face of tragedy, perhaps it is the perfect time to reach out to family and friends and tell them how much we appreciate and care for them.
Alice Facente is a community education nurse for the Backus
Health System. To comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy
Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs or e-mail Ms. Facente or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Asking three questions can make health care safer, easier
Perhaps the best piece of advice I have ever received about
negotiating the health care system is to “ask questions.” Being hospitalized can be an
intimidating experience, but if you don’t understand what is happening to you,
it intensifies the fear. How can
you care for yourself when you return home if you don’t understand your
medication regimen, or how to properly self-inject your newly-prescribed
insulin?
Health care workers often use acronyms when explaining
things. If your doctor or nurse
says you have “UTI” it really isn’t so frightening once you understand that
only means “urinary tract infection.”
Ask questions — it can make things easier, and safer.
I was hospitalized twice for short periods and still found
the experience somewhat intimidating, even though I was a registered nurse
working in that same hospital. I
didn’t take any medicine handed to me unless I asked the name of the medicine,
what it was for, and why it was prescribed for me.
Subsequent to my hospitalization experiences, I read about a
program called “Ask Me 3,” created by the National Patient Safety
Foundation. “Ask Me 3” is a
patient education program designed to promote communication between health care
providers and patients in order to improve health outcomes. The program
encourages patients to understand the answers to three questions:
• What is my main problem?
• What do I need to do?
• Why is it important for me to do this?
Patients should be encouraged to ask their providers these
three simple but essential questions -- in every health care interaction.
Likewise,
providers should always encourage their patients to understand the answers to
these three questions.
Come to think
of it, getting the answers to these three questions is probably wise for all
encounters in life. Whether dealing with health issues, childrearing, or
education pursuits, it makes sense that understanding will result in improved
outcomes.
Alice Facente is a community education nurse for the Backus
Health System. To comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy
Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs or e-mail Ms. Facente or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org.
Monday, April 08, 2013
Health can be a laughing matter
My exercise buddies and I were talking after Jazzercise
class one day. They said they
faithfully read my health columns, but one friend admitted she looked for the
ones with humorous stories in them.
She confessed that when I get “too preachy” she skims over the column,
or just skips it entirely. Another
friend agreed, and added, “We’re all going to do what we want to anyway.” Well, that stung a little bit, but they
were just doing what real friends do: telling me the honest truth, whether I
wanted to hear it or not.
I read somewhere that a child laughs 400 times a day on
average, while the typical adult only laughs 15 times a day. That is a puzzling statistic because
everyone agrees laughter feels so good.
But is it really good for us?
In my quest to provide accurate health information, I did a little
research on laughter and humor. The Mayo Clinic Health Letter reports that laughter aids breathing by
disrupting your normal respiration pattern and increases breathing rate. It can even help clear mucus from your
lungs.
Laughter is also good for your heart. It increases circulation and improves
the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues throughout the body. A good
laugh helps strengthen the immune system, fighting off colds, flu, and sinus
problems by increasing the concentration of immunoglobulin A in the
saliva. And it may help control
pain by raising the levels of certain chemicals in the brain called endorphins.
Possibly most important in these stressful times, laughter
is a natural stress reliever.
Some days it’s difficult to find humor in our lives. But it’s not impossible. Front page
news is rarely humorous or even uplifting, but newspapers devote a page to
cartoons, jokes, crossword puzzles and other entertaining games. A Google search of “Funny videos”
yielded 109 million hits. Laughter
is contagious. If you watch a
funny video or read cartoons with a friend or family member, it is nearly
impossible to resist when the other person is howling with laughter. If children can find something to laugh
about 400 times a day, maybe we need to hang around them a portion of each day.
Health care is serious business, but I promised my friends
to try to consider the lighter side when I write my health columns.
So forgive me, friends, if I am “too preachy” but let’s all
make a concerted effort to find a bit of humor in our lives every single day.
Alice Facente is a community education nurse for the Backus
Health System. To comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy
Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs or e-mail Ms. Facente or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org.
Monday, April 01, 2013
Tics and Tourette’s Disorder is common but misunderstood
In my role as community education nurse for Backus, I have
coordinated countless presentations by the experts on a wide variety of topics.
When Mahmoud Okasha, MD, Associate Clinical Professor at
Yale School of Medicine and a member of the Backus medical staff, approached me
because he wanted to present a community education program about Tics and Tourette’s Disorder, I must confess I knew next to nothing about the subject.
He is the expert in this field, so I made the arrangements
for him and then did a little research. What I discovered is that in every
school in America there is likely at least one child who has Tourette’s. It is a neurological disorder
that starts in childhood and involves involuntary repetitive movements or
unwanted sounds that can’t be controlled (tics).
Tics are classified as either simple or complex. Simple tics
are sudden, brief and repetitive, like head jerking, shoulder shrugging,
sticking the tongue out, or hiccupping.
Complex tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving
several muscle groups such as touching the nose, touching other people,
flapping the arms, repeating others’ words or phrases.
He will be showing a few clips of a documentary entitled “I
Have Tourette’s, but Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me.” Produced by the Tourette Syndrome Association, this
compelling video features children between the ages of 6 and 13 who tell their
stories about the challenges they face.
I confess I got choked up watching these courageous children share their
experiences — and how they strive
to fit in and be accepted.
The program will be held Wednesday, April 3, from 6-7:30 p.m. at
the Backus Hospital main lobby conference room.
Register for this free program by calling 860-889-8331,
ext 6381 and join us as Dr. Okasha educates us all about this unusual and often
misunderstood condition.
Alice Facente is a community education nurse for the Backus
Health System. To comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy
Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs or e-mail Ms. Facente or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org.
