Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor, Author at Off the Charts

And You Thought PE Was Another Name for Gym Class

By Jacob Molyneux, senior editor

The template goes something like this: Start with a legitimate quality-of-life issue — like fitful sleep or shyness — that does not yet have its own prescription medication and is debilitating to a few people a lot of the time. Next, position the quality-of-life issue as a medical condition with symptoms so common it covers vast numbers of people who had previously not identified themselves as having a health problem, or who thought they were just experiencing an occasional and normal annoyance.

According to the rest of this article in the NY Times, the latest disorder about to enter our dictionary of accepted medical conditions is premature ejaculation (PE). Several companies are developing treatments in the form of pills or aerosol sprays. The net of nonspecific symptoms seems to have been cast fairly wide—a representative of one drug company is quoted as saying that one in three men have this condition.

Celebrities may soon be confessing that the anxiety occasioned by PE has led to ruined marriages, depression, drug use, and even the use of prostitutes. The ironies of the media campaign to push the term PE into our medical lexicon are worth considering as our legislators debate health care reform provisions and the crisis of rising costs. Medical bankruptcy is on the rise. Many cannot afford medications they need for serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

It may be premature to suggest it, but it seems likely the pharmaceutical companies expect health care reform legislation […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:20:37-05:00December 14th, 2009|health care policy|0 Comments

What We Heard from the Leaders of the New National Nursing Union

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, interim editor-in-chief

As we noted earlier this week, several major nursing unions have united to form a “superunion.” The National Nurses United (NNU) brings over 150,000 nurses together by combining the California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) with the Massachusetts Nursing Association (MNA) and some members of the United American Nurses (UAN).

There are three co-presidents: Karen Higgins (from the MNA), Jean Ross (from the UAN), and Deborah Burger (from the CNA/NNOC).

Ross told me this:

The CNA/NNOC will cease behaving as a national union and, like the MNA, be a state union; both will be affiliates of the new NNU.
The UAN will cease to exist as a national union; those state associations that were members will automatically be members of NNU, unless they decide not to.
NNU will focus on health care reform, will advocate for a single-payer system, and will seek to organize all non-union staff nurses in the country

Ross had this to say as well: “People in this country have been waiting for a long time for nurses to come forward to make true health care reform a reality.”

Co-President Deborah Burger told me that NNU will pursue the main objectives of a “massive organizing campaign to organize all nurses nationally” and an aggressive “social justice” agenda focused on advocating for a single-payer health care system. They will also work for passage of federal staffing ratios legislation introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer.

Said Burger, […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:20:40-05:00December 10th, 2009|career, health care policy|0 Comments

Secrets to Staying Safe and Sane on the Night Shift

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, interim editor-in-chief

I recently sent my sister Jean, who works as a night nurse, an article called “Six Ways to Make Working the Night Shift Less Hazardous to Your Health.” The article noted recent research suggesting that shift work could increase your risk of everything from depression to obesity to cardiovascular disease. It also made a few simple suggestions: be consistent, nap before you work, don’t use caffeine (!!!), don’t take melatonin, change your lights, and eat a healthful diet. Here’s what my sister had to say about the article:

Yes, I do agree with the article. I am a night nurse and I always feel like I can’t get enough sleep. The days I am off I tend to sleep too much. I have also suffered from depression and am on Cymbalta. The best way I found to cope is to try to maintain a “night” routine even when I am off. I go to bed at 2 am or 3 am and sleep until 11 am. I also do not eat a lot on nights. At work, I try to eat by 9 pm, and then if I am hungry I will have cereal or fruit. The nights I am off, we eat dinner at 7 pm. My house is quiet during the day as my children are older. If it is the weekend I sometimes wear ear plugs. I keep my bedroom dark. I sometimes take an Ambien to sleep if I work back to back. […]

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Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:20:41-05:00December 9th, 2009|nursing perspective|3 Comments

New National Nurses Union Forms — But What’s It Mean to You?

By Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN

Yesterday a new and powerful union was formed. The National Nurses United brings over 150,000 nurses together by combining the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee with the Massachusetts Nursing Association and some members of the United American Nurses. The new “superunion” intends to focus both on influencing health care reform and on improving quality of care through such efforts as extending California’s patient ratio law into other states.

I have never worked in a union-supported hospital, nor have I ever belonged to a union. My father was an electrical engineer and although he was a union member, he always talked about the “union guys” who worked as little as possible. I remember his frustration at members who took advantage of the positive conditions promoted by unions. When I was a newly employed nursing graduate, one of my friends was a card-carrying pipefitter. He bragged about not doing any work for days on end because there were no laborers around to carry his materials!

As a hardworking staff nurse, I was angered by his complacency. I couldn’t imagine not clearing away a patient tray if the nurse’s aide hadn’t had time. I approached my nursing role as a team member focused on taking care of the patients—sometimes to my own detriment, since I was one of “those” nurses who often skipped breaks to complete tasks or charting. That said, I have seen the good that unions have done for nursing, especially around working conditions and benefits.

Given the current push to reform health care, […]