Japan hiring qualified Filipino nurses, caregivers

Japan is currently hiring qualified Filipino nurses and caregivers, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said, citing a report from a Japanese agency.

Filipino nurses interested in working in Japan must have Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees, board licenses, and at least three years experience, the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (Jicwels) said.

In the meantime, Jicwels is also facilitating the application of Filipino caregivers to Japan.

Applicants need to be a graduate of any four-year course, a certified caregiver by the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) or a graduate of a nursing school with no board license.

Qualified applicants for both positions are also required to secure the following documents, which include a:

* Detailed resume
* Diploma
* Transcript of records
* PRC License
* Employment Certificates
* Valid TESDA Certificate
* Original and photocopy of first page of valid passport
* One 2x2 picture


Applicants from Cebu and Davao can submit the documents at their respective POEA regional offices. - GMANews.TV

Pinoy nurses fill vacancies in specialised areas in UK hospitals

by Rose Eclarinal,
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau, London | 11/21/2009 11:33 AM


SALISBURY, England - The United Kingdom nursing work force is ageing and British nurses are leaving the country to work in the United States and in recent years, in Australia.

These are some of the contributing factors for the shortage of qualified nurses in the UK both in the National Health Service or NHS and the private sector.

The UK faces the so-called graying of the population of the nursing work force and the younger ones are not interested in the nursing profession because they have more options for jobs that offer better pay and working condition. Those who leave the county to work elsewhere are driven by better pay and living conditions.

This is not the first time the UK has to deal with this problem. In the past, it has also turned to foreign nurses to do the job its peoples have pushed aside and snubbed.

Pinoy nurses for export

While the UK is in need of more nurses, the Philippines continues to produce nurses for export. Philippines is one of the biggest suppliers of overseas nurses to the UK, trailing behind is India, Britain’s former colony. UK’s overseas recruitment of nurses was criticized by the Brits because it is said to be designed as a short-term solution although it has helped the UK health sector manage the crisis.

The Salisbury District Hospital in Salisbury also turned to overseas recruitment to fill the vacancies in the hospital. Recently, it recruited some 17 OR (operating room) or theatre nurses from the Philippines.

“In the past two years our experience advertising for theatre nurses nationally and in Europe had very little success. Our reliance on agency nurses was high. We have now filled our vacancies in theatres, however we do have to look to the future and plan the workforce. There are a number of retirements in the next five years and recruitment will continue. Having established the current workforce we intend to recruit in this country and Europe,” said Colette Martindale, Surgical Directorate of Salisbury District Hospital.

She said there is no plan for another trip to the Philippines, however, that could also change. She also added that there is no preference over Filipino nurses but they chose to go to the Philippines this year because they knew ‘there was a reliable field of candidates.’

“There are still a high number of unemployed nurses in the Philippines. We have recruited from there in the past and we know the quality of work is good and the retention rate is good,” she added.

Nurses in specialized areas

Outside of any particular specialties, nursing has been removed from the ‘shortage occupation list’ by the UK Home Office. This means that employers with band 5 and 6 nursing posts have to prove that the vacancies could not be filled by nurses who are residents or nationals of the UK or of countries of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Salisbury District Hospital has advertised the vacancies for 2 years but there were no takers from the UK and from EEA.

The gold mine that the UK has found in the Philippines in early 2000 is still an attractive source to this date, providing work force for the UK health sector.

The 17 nurses that filled the vacancies at the Salisbury District Hospital have now started the Overseas Nursing Program. Nurses who were trained outside the EEA are required to pass the program and be registered at the Nursing and Midwifery Council or NMC.

“We have to undergo the classes and we have two days study at City College London. Nagpupunta sila dito. Para talagang school. Para ma-meet namin yun standards of nursing dito. At saka may different laws here as compared sa Pilipinas. Ang dami ditong laws na nagpo-protect sa patients so kailangan naming malaman yun,” said 24 -year- old Cathleen Lagtapon.

A pittance of a salary back home

Nursing work in the UK has always been attractive to Pinoy nurses because of the significant increase in their salary once they work in the UK.

“That’s one of the reasons I took up nursing because I wanted to work outside of the country. I really want to experience the hi-tech operations to further my career as an OR nurse,” said Lagtapon.

She was working as an OR nurse in Bacolod City earning a salary of P9,000 a month. As a nurse in training in the UK, she would receive a salary of 18,000 pounds annually or around P122,000 per month. Once registered with the NMC, there will be an increase of up to £5,000 in her annual salary.

Raising three children and working for a government hospital in the Philippines, Reynaldo Boy decided it was time to go where the grass was greener.

“Kasi nung una okay naman ang work ko sa Pilipinas. Since nasa government naman ako, ayos naman ang suweldo. Then later, nag high school na anak ko, I began to think na parang kulang ang kikitain ko dun,” he said.

With so many nurses in the Philippines seeking employment abroad, he considers himself lucky. He said however that as a father, there are trade-offs. He now has to get used to the long distance parenting set-up he has conceived for him and his children.

“Hindi ko na sila mababantayan dun. [Pero] yun naman talaga ang purpose nung pumunta ako dito to give them a better life. Pag nakapag-ipon ako, pwede kong makuha sila. Kung di ko man makuha, yung naipon ko, pwede kong ipadala sa kanila para sa studies nila-- to give them a better future, para makapag -aral sila, maging good citizen din some day,” he added.

Work ethics and family values are just some of the qualities that endear Pinoys to their British employers.

‘Compassionate, caring and hard working’

“I have found the Filipino nurses to be caring, compassionate, intelligent and hard working. They treat patients with respect and kindness. They have strong family values and they are driven to protect and provide for their families. Once adapted into the culture and way of life in a UK hospital they are encouraged to develop and become leaders in the future,” said Colette Martindale.

For Lagtapon and Boy, the opportunity to work abroad, to further their career as nursing professionals and provide a better future for their families are now happening. They are very grateful for this chance and the fact that unlike many others who came here, they didn’t even pay an exorbitant amount. They said their dream to work in the UK only cost them P15,000 for fees. But whatever social cost the nurses have to contend with in the future, for now they are happy.

“I want to keep pinching myself kung nandito talaga ako,” said Lagtapon.

How Sweet It Is?

By Claire Suddath – Tue Oct 20, 2:20 pm ET
TIME

Too much sugar will make you fat, but too much artificial sweetener will ... do what exactly? Kill you? Make you thinner? Or have absolutely no effect at all? This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Food and Drug Administration's decision to ban cyclamate, the first artificial sweetener prohibited in the U.S., and yet scientists still haven't reached a consensus about how safe (or harmful) artificial sweeteners may be. Shouldn't we have figured this out by now? (See the top 10 bad beverage ideas.)

The first artificial sweetener, saccharin, was discovered in 1879 when Constantin Fahlberg, a Johns Hopkins University scientist working on coal-tar derivatives, noticed a substance on his hands and arms that tasted sweet. No one knows why Fahlberg decided to lick an unknown substance off his body, but it's a good thing he did. Despite an early attempt to ban the substance in 1911 - skeptical scientists said it was an "adulterant" that changed the makeup of food - saccharin grew in popularity, and was used to sweeten foods during sugar rationings in World Wars I and II. Though it is about 300 times sweeter than sugar and has zero calories, saccharin leaves an unpleasant metallic aftertaste. So when cyclamate came on the market in 1951, food and beverage companies jumped at the chance to sweeten their products with something that tasted more natural. By 1968, Americans were consuming more than 17 million pounds of the calorie-free substance a year in snack foods, canned fruit and soft drinks like Tab and Diet Pepsi. (See nine kid foods to avoid.)

But in the late 1960s, studies began linking cyclamate to cancer. One noted that chicken embryos injected with the chemical developed extreme deformities, leading scientists to wonder if unborn humans could be similarly damaged by their cola-drinking mothers. Another study linked the sweetener to malignant bladder tumors in rats. Because a 1958 congressional amendment required the FDA to ban any food additive shown to cause cancer in humans or animals, on Oct. 18, 1969, the government ordered cyclamate removed from all food products. (See the 10 worst fast-food meals.)

Saccharin became mired in controversy in 1977, when a study indicated that the substance might contribute to cancer in rats. An FDA move to ban the chemical failed, though products containing saccharin were required to carry warning labels. In 2000, the chemical was officially removed from the Federal Government's list of suspected carcinogens. (Read TIME's 1974 article on cyclamate and saccharin.)

In 1981, the synthetic compound aspartame was approved for use, and it capitalized on saccharin's bad publicity by becoming the leading additive in diet colas. In 1995 and 1996, misinformation about aspartame that linked the chemical to everything from multiple sclerosis to Gulf War syndrome was widely disseminated on the Internet. While aspartame does adversely effect some people - including those who are unable to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine - it has been tested more than 200 times, and each test has confirmed that your Diet Coke is safe to drink. Nor have any health risks been detected in more than 100 clinical tests of sucralose, a chemically altered sugar molecule found in food, drinks, chewing gum and Splenda.

The fear-mongering and misinformation plaguing the faux-sweetener market seems to be rooted in a common misconception. No evidence indicates that sweeteners cause obesity; people with weight problems simply tend to eat more of it. While recent studies have suggested a possible link between artificial sweeteners and obesity, a direct link between additives and weight gain has yet to be found. The general consensus in the scientific community is that saccharin, aspartame and sucralose are harmless when consumed in moderation. And while cyclamate is still banned in the U.S., many other countries still allow it; it can even be found in the Canadian version of Sweet'n Low. Low-calorie additives won't make you thinner or curb your appetite. But they help unsweetened food taste better without harming you. And that's sweet enough.

The New Alphabet

You know you're getting old when-



Before...

A is for apple, and B is for boat,
That used to be right, but now it won’t float!
Age before beauty is what we once said,
But let’s be a bit more realistic instead.

Now…

The Alphabet

A’s for arthritis;
B’s the bad back,
C’s the chest pains,

perhaps car-d-iac?

D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight, can’t read that top line!
F is for fissures and fluid retention,
G is for gas which I’d rather not mention.

H is high blood pressure–I’d rather it low;
I is for incisions with scars you can show.
J is for joints, out of socket, won’t mend,
K is for knees that crack when they bend.

L is for libido, what happened to sex?
M is for memory, I forget what comes next.
N is neuralgia, in nerves way down low;
O is for osteo, the bones that don’t grow!
P is for prescriptions, I have quite a few,
just give me a pill and I’ll be good as new!
Q is for queasy, is it fatal or flu?
R is for reflux, one meal turns to two.

S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears,
T is for Tinnitus; there’s bells in my ears!
U is for urinary; big troubles with flow;
V is for vertigo, that’s “dizzy,” you know.

W is for worry, NOW what’s going ’round?
X is for X ray, and what might be found.
Y is another year I’m left here behind,
Z is for zest that I still have– in my mind.

I’ve survived all the symptoms, my body’s deployed,
And I am keeping twenty-six doctors fully employed!!!


source: Lafalooza

'Nurse of the Year' charged with not being a nurse

It ain't easy being a nurse. That is, if you're not one.

Here's the news from the Associated Press-

NORWALK, Conn. – A Connecticut woman who authorities say spent more than $2,000 to stage a dinner honoring her as "Nurse of the Year" has been charged with pretending to be a nurse at a doctor's office. Betty Lichtenstein, 56, of Norwalk was charged Thursday.

Prosecutors say Dr. Gerald Weiss believed Lichtenstein was a registered nurse, especially after she was named the Connecticut Nursing Association's "Nurse of the Year" in 2008.

According to the arrest warrant, that association does not exist.

The state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating after a patient complained about Lichtenstein.

She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation charges.

Lichtenstein did not return a telephone message for comment.

32,617 pass Philippine nursing licensure exams

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) A total of 32,617 out of 77,901 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination, the Professional Regulation announced Saturday.

Golda Manto Yap, a graduate of the Felipe R. Verallo Memorial Foundation, topped the exams, getting an average score of 86.80 percent.
The Board of Nursing conducted the test last June in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Sulu, Pagadian and Zamboanga.

Saint Paul University-Dumaguete had the best result when all 112 of its examinees hurdled the board for a 100-percent passing rate.

A total of 50 examinees made it to the Top 10 rankings.

The results for three successful examinees were withheld by the board.

The oath-taking ceremony for the successful examinees as well as those who passed previous exams but have not taken their oath will be held before the nursing board on August 18 and 19 at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.--Philippine Daily Inquirer




Click HERE to see the list of successful examinees.

Chart Toppers

I got this email entitled Hospital Chart Bloopers the other day. Apparently these were actual writings on hospital charts. Well, this will at least lessen the toxicity of a chaotic day at the ER.

As they say, laughter is the best medicine.

Enjoy!



* She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

* Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

* On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.

* The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

* The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

* Discharge status: Alive but without my permission.

* Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.

* The patient refused autopsy.

* The patient has no previous history of suicides.

* Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.

* Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.

* Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

* She is numb from her toes down.

* While in ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home.

* The skin was moist and dry.

* Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

* Patient was alert and unresponsive.

* Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

* She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

* I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

* Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

* Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

* The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

* The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stock broker instead.

* Skin: somewhat pale but present.

* The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.

* Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.

* Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.

* Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Swine Flu Away?

US firm makes 1st batch of A(H1N1) vaccine

Agence France-Presse
06/24/2009

WASHINGTON DC, United States—A US company that on Tuesday was awarded a $35-million contract to develop an influenza vaccine using insect cell technology has produced a first batch against (A)H1N1 flu, company boss Dan Adams said.

"We turned out our first batch of doses—about 100,000—against (A)H1N1 flu last week and we're continuing to manufacture it," Adams, chief executive officer of Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corporation, told AFP.

The US Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday announced that it has awarded a $35-million contract to Protein Sciences, which could be extended for another five years to reach $147 million.

The insect cell technology "has advanced in recent years to a point that we believe it could help meet a surge in demand for US-based vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu," Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

A(H1N1), or swine flu, which emerged in Mexico in April, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, killing 231 people worldwide and infecting more than 52,000 people in 100 countries.

As the novel strain of swine flu spread, scientists around the world scrambled to develop a seed strain, a necessary first step in developing a vaccine using either chicken eggs or mammalian cells—the way most vaccines are produced.

They warned that the virus could mutate during the southern hemisphere's flu season before returning north in a more lethal form in autumn, in a pattern similar to that seen in the deadly 1918 flu pandemic, which claimed an estimated 20 to 50 million lives around the globe.

Protein Sciences makes flu vaccine by infecting caterpillar cells with a baculovirus carrying the gene for hemagluttinin, a molecule that sticks out of the surface of the influenza virus.

"Using this method, vaccine candidates, clinical investigational lots, and commercial-scale vaccine production may be available faster than by using traditional vaccine production methods," the health department said in a statement.

The method does not need a seed strain to develop a vaccine, Adams said.

"While everyone else was waiting to get a seed strain, we worked with the genetic code from the virus," said Adams.

"The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) sent us a dead virus, which is perfectly safe, and then we extracted genetic information from that virus.

"We can be in manufacturing a lot, lot quicker than people who have to wait for a seed strain," he said.

Protein Sciences' technology is also safer "because these caterpillars don't have any association with man or other animals, so there's no chance for their cells to learn how to propagate human viruses," Adams told AFP.

Under the terms of the grant made to Protein Sciences, if the company's new insect-cell technology proves to be safe and effective, the pharmaceutical minnow, which has just 50 employees, must boost its US manufacturing capability "to provide a finished vaccine within 12 weeks of pandemic onset."

It would also have to produce at least 50 million doses of flu vaccine "within six months of pandemic onset."

That should not be a problem, said Adams, because manufacturing a vaccine using insect cells can be easily and rapidly scaled up because it does not require the same specialized factories required to produce vaccine using egg or mammalian cells.

"We can manufacture our product facilities that make monoclonal antibodies, which is a huge class of products with a huge manufacturing capacity around the world," said Adams.

Protein Sciences' new vaccine against swine flu "could be available right away" if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues an emergency use authorization for it, as it did for the bird flu vaccine developed by Adams's company.

Swiss drugs giant Novartis, which the US government gave $289 million to help develop a vaccine against (A)H1N1 flu, said around two weeks ago that it was poised to begin pre-clinical trials—tests in vitro and on animals—on its first batch of novel swine flu vaccine.

Sanofi-Pasteur of France has said it hopes to have doses of swine flu vaccine ready for clinical trials within weeks, while Taiwan's Adimmune Corporation said it expects to complete clinical trials on its A(H1N1) influenza vaccine around September.

The Heart of the Matter

NCLEX Review 3500

Click on the link below to view


NCLEX Review 3500

NCLEX Notes part deux

Just another study guide to help you in your NCLEX quest...


Note: Click on the "rectangle" located on the right upper part for full screen view.

2007 NCLEX RN Detailed Test Plan Educator

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Fiction Books nclex

NCLEX Notes

Just some tips for those who are planning to take the NCLEX in the near future. The plan outlined below is still relevant today as it was two years ago.

The bottom line is, nothing beats hard work and preparation when it comes to passing an examination. So, check them out and be guided accordingly...

Note: Click on the rectangle on the right hand side to view in full screen.

2007 NCLEX RN Detailed Test Plan Candidate

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Fiction Books nclex

The Woman Behind the "New" Face

This is where you can truly say, WOW!



Nation's first face transplant patient shows face
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Write




Five years ago, a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole where the middle of her face had been. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman.

Connie Culp stepped forward Tuesday to show off the results of the nation's first face transplant, and her new look was a far cry from the puckered, noseless sight that made children run away in horror.

Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.

But Culp had nothing but praise for those who made her new face possible. "I guess I'm the one you came to see today," the 46-year-old Ohio woman said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed.

But "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face." Up until Tuesday, Culp's identity and how she came to be disfigured were a secret.

Culp's husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.

A plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Risal Djohan, got a look at her injuries two months later. "He told me he didn't think, he wasn't sure, if he could fix me, but he'd try," Culp recalled. She endured 30 operations to try to fix her face. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell.

Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died.

It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive. "Here I am, five years later. He did what he said — I got me my nose," Culp said of Djohan, laughing.

In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said.

No information has been released about the donor or how she died, but her family members were moved when they saw before-and-after pictures of Culp, Siemionow said.

Culp said she wants to help foster acceptance of those who have suffered burns and other disfiguring injuries.

"When somebody has a disfigurement and don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them, because you never know what happened to them," she said.

"Don't judge people who don't look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away." It's a role she has already practiced, said clinic psychiatrist Dr. Kathy Coffman.

Once while shopping, "she heard a little kid say, `You said there were no real monsters mommy, and there's one right there,'" Coffman said. Culp stopped and said, "I'm not a monster. I'm a person who was shot," and pulled out her driver's license to show the child what she used to look like, the psychiatrist said.



Culp, who is from the small town of Unionport, near the Pennsylvania line, told her doctors she just wants to blend back into society. She has a son and a daughter who live near her, and two preschooler grandsons.

Before she was shot, she and her husband ran a painting and contracting business, and she did everything from hanging drywall to a little plumbing, Coffman said. Culp left the hospital Feb. 5 and has returned for periodic follow-up care. She has suffered only one mild rejection episode that was controlled with a single dose of steroid medicines, her doctors said.

She must take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life, but her dosage has been greatly reduced and she needs only a few pills a day.

Also at the Cleveland Clinic is Charla Nash of Stamford, Conn., who was attacked by a friend's chimpanzee in February. She lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids, and will be blind, doctors said.

Clinic officials said it is premature to discuss the possibility of a face transplant for her. In April, doctors at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston performed the nation's second face transplant, on a man disfigured in a freak accident. It was the world's seventh such operation.

The first, in 2005, was performed in France on Isabelle Dinoire, a woman who had been mauled by her dog.

Swine Flu Q & A

By The Associated Press
Fri Apr 24, 6:45 pm ET

Mexico is contending with an outbreak of swine flu, suspected in the deaths of dozens of people and sickening perhaps 1,000. In the United States, at least eight cases have been confirmed with the infection, all of them in California and Texas; only one person was hospitalized. Here are some questions and answers about the illness:


Q. What is swine flu?

A. Swine flu is a respiratory illness in pigs caused by a virus. The swine flu virus routinely causes outbreaks in pigs but doesn't usually kill many of them.

Q. Can people get swine flu?

A. Swine flu viruses don't usually infect humans. There have been occasional cases, usually among people who've had direct contact with infected pigs, such as farm workers. "We've seen swine influenza in humans over the past several years, and in most cases, it's come from direct pig contact. This seems to be different," said Dr. Arnold Monto, a flu expert with the University of Michigan.

Q. Can it spread among humans?

A. There have been cases of the virus spreading from human to human, probably in the same way as seasonal flu, through coughing and sneezing by infected people.

Q. What are the symptoms of swine flu?

A. The symptoms are similar to those of regular flu — fever, cough, fatigue, lack of appetite.

Q. Is the same swine flu virus making people sick in Mexico and the U.S.?

A. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Mexican virus samples match the U.S. virus. The virus is a mix of human virus, bird virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia.

Q. Are there drugs to treat swine flu in humans?

A. There are four different drugs approved in the U.S. to treat the flu, but the new virus has shown resistance to the two oldest. The CDC recommends the use of the flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza.


Q. Does a regular flu shot protect against swine flu?

A. The seasonal flu vaccine used in the U.S. this year won't likely provide protection against the latest swine flu virus. There is a swine flu vaccine for pigs but not for humans.

Q. Should residents of California or Texas do anything special?

A. The CDC recommends routine precautions to prevent the spread of infectious diseases: wash your hands often, cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, avoid close contact with sick people. If you are sick, stay at home and limit contact with others.

Q. What about traveling to Mexico?

A. The CDC has not warned Americans against traveling to Mexico but advises that they be aware of the illnesses there and take precautions to protect against infections, like washing their hands.

Source: Center for Defense Control and Prevention

Words of the Day

Three words that caught my attention today while looking into some patients' charts courtesy of a wet-behind-the- ears Nurse Intern fresh out of school and eager to prove her mettle in the chaotic world of the Emergency Room Triage...

HEMMERHOID
MAGGETS
TETNAS

Spelling Bee, anyone?



C2007

The Tree of Life?

I am no "Dr. No" and so this "From Russia with Love" thing is alien to me. We're here talking about whether or not "only God can make a tree"?

Nah, after watching the video, I am convinced of what Mr. Joyce Kilmer had known eons ago, that "Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree."

Nice try Doc but only a fool will fall into your claim of finding a growing tree inside a man's body. Ha-ha.

What's New in Stroke?

By a stroke of luck, I passed this interesting video of Ed4Nurses while surfing on YouTube.

I am sharing it with you now just to brush up on what we have learned in school that for some could be from way, way back in the dark ages. :)

We tend to neglect stuff that we think we already know but since medicine continues to evolve and is not an exact science, we need to refresh our minds even with short videos such as this--




video credits: ed4nurses

I can Pill it, baby!

There’s a new kid trying to make its presence felt on the Diabetic block with a promise that it is free from heart- related side effects (e.g. GlaxoSmithkline’s Avandia) often seen in other treatments.

Onglyza (generic name- Saxagliptin) is Bristol Myers’ answer to Merck’s Januvia, the leading drug in the market and the company is asking the FDA to approve the pill for patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Let’s hope that Onglyza fulfill its promise and not turn into another bitter pill to swallow in the lucrative Diabetes market, that way we can really proclaim that Life is indeed Sweet!

Please pass the pill, Sugar…

PICC Line, Anyone?

So, you passed the NCLEX without a sweat and you're good at IV insertions and what have you. Easy huh?

Well, sorry to burst your bubble but think again unless you know how to do this very common bedside procedure--

PICC Line Insertion!






Having cold fingers er feet now?

Well, you need not worry my friend. You will not do this procedure unless you're a certified PICC Line Nurse. Ha-ha. This is just FYI, since you will encounter this procedure a lot nowadays especially if you work on the Med-Surg Floor. :)


Here's more about Central Venous Line

Nursing Shortage in the US

"An estimated 116,000 registered nurse positions are unfilled at U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 jobs go vacant in nursing homes, experts said."


The excerpt above was taken from a "new" article from Yahoo!News. But the topic is certainly old news and conservative at the very least. Nursing shortage in the US is a harsh reality that the Obama administration should address the soonest possible time.

The truth is, the nurse-to-patient ratio is just horrible especially in the Nursing Homes where in most night shift cases, the ratio is up to 1 nurse for every 30 patients or more. The hospitals are not doing good either with a 1:12 nurse-to-patient ratio.

The Day shift ratio in most hospitals is a bit better at 8:1/ 7:1 but not the ideal numbers either. This is not only dangerous to the health and well-being of the patients but also to the health practitioners as well.

Since the US cannot provide the necessary manpower to address the said issue at the moment, the government should continue to look for measures that will help ease the burden on the overworked and heavily burdened US Nurses in order for them to continue to provide optimal health care to their patients.

One of the measures that they should do is to remove the quota for competent nurses coming to the United States especially from English-speaking countries (e.g. Philippines) wherein the nursing curriculum is very akin to that of the US system. This is necessary to answer the shortage for the time being.

And it has been proven time and again that Filipino nurses are not only competent and at par with their American counterparts with regards to their knowledge and skills but compassionate towards their patients as well. They treat every patient with dignity and respect.

Also these nurses are Bachelor's Degree holders and therefore are better equipped with the proper knowledge and expertise to handle the cases that they will encounter in the field.



Here's the article from Yahoo!News---

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare system is pinched by a persistent nursing shortage that threatens the quality of patient care even as tens of thousands of people are turned away from nursing schools, according to experts.

The shortage has drawn the attention of President Barack Obama. During a White House meeting on Thursday to promote his promised healthcare system overhaul, Obama expressed alarm over the notion that the United States might have to import trained foreign nurses because so many U.S. nursing jobs are unfilled.

Democratic U.S. Representative Lois Capps, a former school nurse, said meaningful healthcare overhaul cannot occur without fixing the nursing shortage. "Nurses deliver healthcare," Capps said in a telephone interview.

An estimated 116,000 registered nurse positions are unfilled at U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 jobs go vacant in nursing homes, experts said.

The shortage is expected to worsen in coming years as the 78 million people in the post-World War Two baby boom generation begin to hit retirement age. An aging population requires more care for chronic illnesses and at nursing homes.

"The nursing shortage is not driven by a lack of interest in nursing careers. The bottleneck is at the schools of nursing because there's not a large enough pool of faculty," Robert Rosseter of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing said in a telephone interview.

Nursing colleges have been unable to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand, and some U.S. lawmakers blame years of weak federal financial help for the schools.

Almost 50,000 qualified applicants to professional nursing programs were turned away in 2008, including nearly 6,000 people seeking to earn master's and doctoral degrees, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing said.

PAY DIFFERENCES

One reason for the faculty squeeze is that a nurse with a graduate degree needed to teach can earn more as a practicing nurse, about $82,000, than teaching, about $68,000.

Obama called nurses "the front lines of the healthcare system," adding: "They don't get paid very well. Their working conditions aren't as good as they should be."

The economic stimulus bill Obama signed last month included $500 million to address shortages of health workers. About $100 million of this could go to tackling the nursing shortage. There are about 2.5 million working U.S. registered nurses.

Separately, Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Nita Lowey, both Democrats, have introduced a measure to increase federal grants to help nursing colleges.

Peter Buerhaus, a nursing work force expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, said the nursing shortage is a "quality and safety" issue. Hospital staffs may be stretched thin due to unfilled nursing jobs, raising the risk of medical errors, safety lapses and delays in care, he said.

A study by Buerhaus showed that 6,700 patient deaths and 4 million days of hospital care could be averted annually by increasing the number of nurses. "Nurses are the glue holding the system together," Buerhaus said.

Addressing the nursing shortage is important in the context of healthcare reform, Buerhaus added. Future shortages could drive up nurse wages, adding costs to the system, he said.

And if the health changes championed by Obama raise the number of Americans with access to medical care, more nurses will be needed to help accommodate them, Buerhaus said.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Mohammad Zargham)

39,455 pass nursing board exam

MANILA, Philippines - Some 39,455 nursing examinees passed the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam in 2008, with a nursing hopeful from Baguio City topping the highly anticipated list.

A radio report quoted the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) as saying the latest results showed that the passing rate was 44.51 percent of the 88,649 examinees.

The PRC said the exam’s topnotcher is Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the Baguio Central University (BCU), who got a score of 89 percent.
She is joined by 72 other passers – most with tied scores – who were able to squeeze in to the Top 10.

While BCU produced this year’s topnotcher, Saint Paul University in Iloilo, the University of Saint Louis in Tuguegarao, Cagayan and the Foundation University were No. 1 in the passing rate, with all of their examinees passing.

Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro came next with a passing rate of 99 percent, with 336 of 341 students hurdling the test.

The November 29-30, 2008 examination was administered in 12 areas nationwide, including Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Sulu, and Zamboanga City.

The Board of Nursing is composed of its chairman Carmencita Abaquin, and members Leonila Faire, Betty Merritt, Perla Po, Marco Antonio Sto.Tomas, Yolanda Arugay, and Amelia B. Rosales.


Requirements

Board passers are required to bring the following: duly accomplished Oath Form, a cedula, two (2) pieces passport size picture, one (1) piece 1"x1" picture, two sets of metered documentary stamps, and one short brown envelope with name and profession.

Passers also need to pay a P600 initial registration fee and a P450 annual registration fee. They are also required to personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

Oath-taking ceremonies for Manila examinees and those who have not previously taken their oaths will be held at the SMX Convention Center in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on April 6 and 7 (Monday and Tuesday).

Passers must come in their proper oath-taking attire.

Oath-taking tickets for Metro Manila and neighboring provinces will be available at the Philippine Nurses Association office along 1663 F. T. Benitez Street in Manila’s Malate district, starting March 2.

Meanwhile, the schedule for oath-taking on other regions will be posted on the Board of Nursing website (www.bonphilippines.org).


Looking Back

In June 2008's nursing exam, 27,765 out of 64,459 passed, or 43.1 percent of the more than who took the test.

At that time, a University of Santo Tomas graduate topped the list of passers with an 86-percent score.

The Nursing Licensure Exam, like a few other licensure exams in the country, has had its own share of controversies, the most-talked about being the one conducted in 2006.

The alleged leakage incident that year prompted the PRC to form an independent fact-finding committee that recommended a retake of the exam.

Although Friday's results has just elevated almost 40,000 students into being a registered nurse, the government is still concerned they would be an addition to the current pool of nurses that might find difficulty securing jobs abroad.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) last Wednesday urged nursing schools to device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates.

The POEA said that more stringent screening and an intensified training could help Filipino nurses hurdle the now stricter standards being observed by nurse-importing countries like New Zealand. - GMANews.TV



Here's the link to the complete list of successful examinees.

PRC: 1,087 pass physician licensure examination

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Wednesday that 1,087 out of 1,685 passed the Physician (Complete, Prelims and Finals with Prelims) Licensure Examination given by the Board of Medicine in the cities of Manila and Cebu this February 2009.

The result of the examination with respect to one examinee was withheld pending final determination of his liabilities under the rules and regulations governing licensure examinations.

PRC said the results were released in two (2) working days from the last day of examinations.

Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will start on Monday, February 23, 2009 but not later than Friday, February 27, 2009.

Those who will register are required to bring the following:

Duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal
Current Community Tax Certificate (cedula)
Two pieces passport size picture (colored with white background and complete name tag)
One piece 1” x 1” picture (colored with white background and complete name tag)
Two sets of metered documentary stamps, and
One short brown envelope with name and profession.

Those who will register will also have to pay the Initial Registration Fee of P600 and Annual Registration Fee of P450 for 2009-2012.

PRC said successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

The oathtaking ceremony of the successful examinees in the said examination as well as the previous ones who have not taken their Oath of Professional will be held before the Board on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon at the Tent City of the Manila Hotel, One Rizal Park, Manila.

Registration for membership with the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) will start on Monday, February 23, 2009.

The successful Physician examinees who garnered the ten highest places are the following:
RANK NAME SCHOOL RATING (%)

1 Marky Jod Abay Pandes - University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Mem. Medical Ctr. 87.25

2 Judy Emil Dela Cruz Dela Cruz - Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation 86.83

3 Kenneth Karl Liu Dy - University of Santo Tomas 86.58

4 Julie Rae Evangelista Lacson - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 86.33

5 Don Leo Sullano Pepito - University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Mem. Medical Ctr. 86.25

6 Victor Denoga Estacio - University of the Philippines-Manila 86.17

7 Aillen Eleizer Ng Mangulabnan - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 86.08

8 Charlie Ercilla Labarda - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 86.00

9 Clarito Diaz Demaala III - University of Santo Tomas 85.92

10 Jessica Alcala Amarante - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 85.58


Click here for the complete result.

Pinoy nurses may apply for nursing jobs in Japan online - POEA

The Philippine Star
January 18, 2009 12:00 AM

Filipino nurses and caregivers aspiring to work in Japan may now register online.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said Friday “applicants need not go to the POEA office because they can already register at the POEA Website

POEA chief Jennifer Manalili said applicants should wait for POEA e-mail for further instructions and only those who meet the minimum qualification shall receive the notification through e-mail.

Those who qualify, Manalili said, will have to submit the POEA e-mail notification and other necessary documents at the POEA main office in Mandaluyong or its nearest office in their respective regions.

Applicants for nursing positions must prepare their resumé, valid passport, college diploma, transcript of records, employment certificate indicating at least three years’ hospital experience, board certificate, and Professional Regulation Commission identification card.

Manalili said Japanese employers would shoulder the placement fee and language training for those who qualify.

Earlier, the POEA announced that Japan is hiring at least 1,000 Filipino nurses and caregivers in the next two years. Deployment will start by the end of April or early May.

Manalili said those who qualify for the jobs would undergo six months of language and culture training in Japan during which they will receive an allowance of $400 or more than P21,000.

After the training, Filipino nurses and caregivers are allowed to stay in Japan for three years to work in hospitals and other medical facilities.

During the three-year period, Filipino nurses can take the Japanese licensure examination.

Filipino caregivers will receive a monthly salary of $1,600, while nurses will get higher pay.

Saudi needs 60,000 staff, nurses for its hospitals

Although this piece is good news, I say if given a choice, Filipino health workers should try their luck first in countries like the US, UK and Ireland were their welfare as foreign health workers are properly addressed and insured.

This is not to say that going to the Middle East is bad but culturally and historically when a foreign worker found himself/herself in a difficult situation in a particular Arab country were trial is involved; their rights as well as receiving a fair one is often neglected and overlooked by both the host country and the Philippine government representatives alike.

But wherever one decides to go in pursuit of his/ her dreams, just bear in mind this old adage, "Do your best and God will take care of the rest."


A TOP Saudi Arabian hospital is interviewing Filipino nurses here to fill 60,000 hospital positions in the Kingdom in the next six months, an executive said yesterday.

“Even with the economic crisis, the demand for nurses and other medical staff in the Middle East is very high and very urgent,” said Lito Soriano, a senior officer of LBS E-Recruitment Solution.

“Unlike in the United States, the projected need for nurses in the Middle East is immediate.”

Soriano said the King Fahd Medical Center was only one of many Saudi hospitals looking for Filipino nurses, and that its officials were here to interview candidates.

He said King Fahd had only recently hired two Philippine recruitment agencies to fill up its vacancies.

“The top priorities in Saudi are security and health,” Soriano said.

“Its ministries of defense, aviation and health, which operate government hospitals, are doing the hiring not just for nurses but for technical medical workers like x-ray technicians, respiratory technicians and the like.”

Soriano said Saudi Arabia was paying $600 to $1,000 a month in basic salaries “on top of free housing, free transportation and yearly vacation.”

The Kingdom had only recently increased its inflation allowance to 10 percent from 5 to preserve its workers’ purchasing power, he said.

Soriano, also executive director of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters, said his group was urging President Arroyo to grant indefinite visas to foreign principals employing Filipino workers.

Mrs. Arroyo recently signed Executive Order 758, which grants indefinite visas to foreign businessmen who hire 10 or more Filipinos for their businesses here.

Soriano said his group hoped the President would extend the same privilege to foreigners recruiting for their respective countries. Michael Caber with Arlie Calalo