"You will not find a group less in favor of automatically aggressive, invasive medical care than intensive care nurses, because we see the pointless suffering it often causes in patients and families. Intensive care is at best a temporary detour during which a patient’s instability is monitored, analyzed, and corrected, but it is at worst a high tech torture chamber,
a taste of hell during a person’s last days on earth."
posted by Baron Kriminel
on Nov 26, 2012 -
45 comments
Florence Nightingale's Statistical Diagrams. Famous as the mother of modern nursing, she was also an immensely talented applied statistician and visual information artist. These skills were instrumental in persuading 19th century British health authorities to improve hospital hygiene. She originated a graph type now known as “Nightingale's Coxcomb” and used it to dramatic effect. Examples of these graphs were presented in her monograph, “Notes on matters affecting the health, efficiency and hospital administration of the British army” published in 1858. That same year she became the first female fellow of the Statistical Society of London (now Royal Statistical Society). An animation of the coxcombs
here. The Nightingale Crimean War coxcombs are considered by some to be
one of the three best graphics in history.
[more inside]
posted by storybored
on Sep 15, 2011 -
30 comments
It may increase schadenfreude.
It's an assistant to abortifacients and it's produced by stimulating the nipples. Got a clogged lizard? Your mom used it to turn off your brain for your own good. In women, it peaks at orgasm,
but in men, it might be elevated throughout sex without peaking.
And what do you mean "social" monogamy!? Is it the love 'em and leave 'em hormone??
Well, it's NOT Vasopressin For Her, contrary to what some people think.
Is it an impedance to feminism?
Could it be the key to treating Autism? Ism... ism... jism? YEP.
It's in the jism! Its synthesis was the end of
A Trail of Sulfa Research,
and its master was awarded the Nobel Prize. (Chemistry, not Peace.)
You can scent your loveletters with it,
but sorry, peaches... you can't huff a good cuddle, but you might like to huff while you cuddle. Previously.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur
on Mar 14, 2010 -
48 comments
When Jamaican-born
Mary Seacole, an experienced nurse, volunteered her services to the British Army during the Crimean War, she was rejected. Undaunted, she travelled to Crimea at her own expense and built a "mess-table and comfortable quarters," which she called the "British Hotel," and began taking care of soldiers. Her work was snubbed by Florence Nightingale, who called Seacole "a woman of bad character" and insinuated that the convalescent hotel was little more than a bordello, but Mary was beloved by the men in her care who called her "Mother Seacole." Her autobiography,
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands [link goes to full text and illustrations], was published a year after the war ended. Mary, who was feted by high-ranking military men and high-born civilians, went on to other nursing-related pursuits, including a stint as personal masseuse to Alexandra, Princess of Wales. Her work in Crimea was but one highlight in a very interesting life.
[more inside]
posted by amyms
on Aug 12, 2008 -
11 comments
"I am on a near-daily treasure hunt of sorts. I scour our American past to help understand modern breastfeeding..." The
Black Breastfeeding Blog, with photographs and history.
posted by kmennie
on Nov 12, 2007 -
43 comments
Breastfeeding while driving seemed like a good idea to Catherine Donkers, but now she is (thankfully) on trial for it. Since she's a member of a
weird cult that believes the Bible should be the law of land, this should be entertaining. Presumably, they can just keep appealing for a few years until the crazies run the country.
posted by peterb
on Aug 6, 2003 -
45 comments
"Sometimes I question the wisdom of continuing on in a profession that is under siege and under valued. I am aging, I am tired and some days I don’t know how I can continue to teach the newest and brightest of our profession." Part of an
essay written last year by
Cheryl McGaffic, one of the nursing professors
killed by a disgruntled student at the University of Arizona yesterday.
posted by rcade
on Oct 29, 2002 -
13 comments
What's grosser than gross? Ask a nurse. On this nursing bulletin board, nurses who have to deal with really disgusting stuff in the course of their day-to-day work reveal what even
they have difficulty handling. Sputum and stinky feet are both more popular choices than I would have guessed. If you're brave, read the whole thread, including such gems as extremely overweight folks who hide foot items in the folds of their flesh. [WARNING: not for the faint of stomach, even though it's all text, no pictures.] I won't mention details of the dog story...
posted by beth
on Apr 4, 2002 -
29 comments
