The sciatica I described recently didn’t settle down. Instead it got worse and the pain intensified. I initially visited the physio and although the first session seemed to help the second two didn’t and the pain continued to a crescendo where walking was almost impossible and I required urgent medical intervention and IM analgesics. Eventually […]
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The Francis Inquiry of Mid Staffs – why do we ignore the obvious and the evidence?
It has been a grim week for nursing in England. The long awaited Francis Inquiry into failures of care at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust (known as Mid Staffs) between 2005-2009 made swingeing criticisms of the whole of the NHS, drawing conclusions that patients were “routinely neglected by a Trust that was preoccupied with cost cutting, […]
Patient centered care and the electronic medical record
On a recent trip to hospital with a family member I happened to be present on the day before the introduction of a new electronic medical record (EMR) system. The system was about to ‘go live’ in less than 24hrs and the anxiety was palpable. Everyone appeared to be nervous and unsure about what this […]
Managing my sciatica
This blog will be short! I am at home on my back with acute sciatica – I have never felt pain like it and am extremely limited in what I am able to do. Standing is virtually impossible and the most comfortable position is lying flat where I can just about manage to balance my […]
Sharing Knowledge
This is my very first Blog! Similar to Roberta, I am excited to have this opportunity to use this platform to discuss with nurses from around the world. I find it rather mind boggling that there are no boundaries to sharing and discussing our knowledge. My research interests lie in how to transfer best available […]
Nurse education is in the news again
Over the New Year there was, once again, lots of discussion in the UK media about nurse education. Many (if not all) the issues relating to poor nursing care are, if the media is to be believed, the fault of nurse education. The current move towards a graduate entry profession in England is only fuelling […]
Social Media. A World of Possibilities
I grew up in a small town in Northern Ontario, Canada. When I was in high school I joined a pen pal program that linked students from across the world. I spent years writing and receiving letters from a girl in Germany. I still live and work in Northern Ontario and yesterday I organized a […]
Memories of Night Shifts
Welcome to 2013! I had a wonderful New Years Eve that ended with me snuggling into my warm, cozy bed just after midnight. As I drifted off to sleep I was reminded of all the years I worked shift work and thought of the nurses and other staff who had to work while I settled […]
Is observational data collection the way forward for nursing research?
I am delighted to be writing my first posting for the EBN Blog and would like to thank Roberta for getting it set up. I am looking forward to the Twitter journal club starting in the New Year. Many of the commentaries we publish in EBN are about systematic reviews. The Research Made Simple paper […]
Always Learning New Things
A few days ago I travelled from my home in Ontario, Canada to Quebec City. I am immersing myself in French for a week. I know that a week certainly isn’t enough time to learn a language! However, I stopped practicing and taking courses a while ago and hope that this week will put me […]