Last minute holiday gift ideas…

What about a pap smear, a prostate exam, a colonoscopy or a mammogram? Holiday public service announcements have been airing on network TV station CBS urging the gift of a pap smear or prostate exam for your loved one, spouse or significant other. If you haven’t seen it, here’s what you have been missing. I’m…

Should Flu Vaccinations be mandatory?

On August 13th, the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council adopted a regulation recommended by the New York State Health Department making approved annual influenza vaccinations mandatory, unless medically contraindicated, for health care workers in hospitals, outpatient clinics and home care services. Legislation applying the same standards to nursing home workers has also…

Can vs. Should

What am I talking about? I am referring to a very difficult and controversial topic in infusion therapy, the use of  medical assistants  (MA) in peripheral intravenous insertion and administration (infusion) of medications. Before I continue,  I would like to disclose that I have nothing against medical assistants and this discussion does not include nursing …

Why is this infusion nurse on Twitter?

Why not? If you are reading this and wondering what is Twitter, I would refer you to this video. If you watched the video, I’m sure you’re thinking, ok, this works for celebrities like Oprah and Ellen. Perhaps  it will work for my personal social life.  But what can Twitter do for someone like an…

Do you have any infections?

I give infusions of a biologic agent, often referred to as an TNF inhibitor to patients with immune mediated inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatis arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and plaque psoriasis. This biologic agent works by inhibiting the actions of a particular cytokine produced by the immune system called Tumor…