RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

Nursing: the recession-proof job market lies across an article from CNNMoney.com. A brief bit about the opportunities in nursing and how other career professionals that are experiencing layoffs and troubled times in their present career field are now jumping ship and entering nursing.

The leaves of the Banaba plant have been consumed traditionally in the Phillipines for the treatment of diabetes for years. Scientists, curious about this activity, decided to strike out and find the active components in this plant and to see if it really did have an effect on diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association has revised its medical nutrition therapy guidelines from those published in 2002 and 2004. The entire set of revised guidelines may be found in the January issue of Diabetes Care, 2008.

There were some great posts put up over the past seven days. In fact, I had such a hard time choosing the winner that five posts remained on the Honorable Mention list rather than the typical four. As long as you keep blogging, you have a chance at a free pair of red scrubs.

Of course, submitting a post directly to us will give you a little bit of special attention; as we are only human and love the attention. Not to mention you just may get an increase in traffic by making it on our glorious Honorable Mention list!

According to a recent publication by the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2008, omega-3 fatty acids play a compelling role in cardioprotective events. The most compelling evidence comes from 3 large controlled trials of 32,000 participants randomized to receive either omega -3 fatty acid supplements containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) or to act as controls. These studies showed a reduction of cardiovascular events between 19% and 49%.

Perusing the abyssal of medial bogs this morning I came across yet another winning accolade for healthcare that involves a young man [17 year old Nick Colombo] who lives in the Los Angeles area that is fighting a battle with metastatic cancer. His insurance provider Pacific Care had initially denied his claim for advanced radiation treatment it appears due to the cost of the therapy – some $100,000.00. Family and friends were predictably outraged and disappointed.

We have pretty much been beat to death with the news that the ACCORD study was discontinued due to an increased incidence of heart disease in the tightly controlled glycemic group. For those of you who want to catch up on the ACCORD study, click here to to catch up on the details.

What is proton therapy and how exactly does it work?

Headlines in the Sacramento Business Journal state “Study: Nurse staffing ratio hasn’t improved patient care”. The California Nursing Outcomes Coalition conducted the study to evaluate the quality of nursing since the advent of nurse patient ratio laws in California.

“The first study of the effect of nurse-to-patient ratios on care in California hospitals concludes hospitals have hired more registered nurses, but they’ve had little effect on two areas of care — patient falls and bed sores.”