How a Nurse Helped My Health Anxiety

IF Photo by Sheila Steele, via Flickr.

By Amy M. Collins, editor

As a person who suffers from health anxiety, going to the doctor is always an ordeal. While some hypochondriacs tend to seek medical care with fervor, I am of the variety that avoids it at all costs. Unless it’s necessary.

Recently I had a necessary diagnostic test that involved a contrast agent. Several things about the test worried me. I was told it might hurt; I’d never had a contrast agent before (and on House—a show I should never watch—patients are always allergic to it!); and I was afraid that during the exam I would panic, faint, or cry.

Some people might be thinking: “suck it up!”—and I wouldn’t blame them. But I promise you, this isn’t something I’m proud of. I’d love to be more stoic when it comes to medical procedures/visits. Unfortunately, anxiety is a real thing. It is illogical and it can sometimes take over one’s senses. I spent the days preceding the test sleepless and tense. […]

2016-11-21T13:04:21-05:00July 1st, 2014|Nursing|1 Comment
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Making a Case for Therapeutic Hypothermia

Photo © Rick Davis 2011.

One of the articles published in AJN’s July issue that’s proving popular is “Therapeutic Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest,” by Jessica L. Erb, an acute care NP at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital, and colleagues Marilyn Hravnak and Jon C. Rittenberger. The article points out that, despite evidence supporting its effectiveness, therapeutic hypothermia is not widely used.

According to the article’s overview, “Irreversible brain damage and death are common outcomes after cardiac arrest, even when resuscitation is initially successful. Chances for both survival and a good neurologic outcome are improved when mild hypothermia is induced shortly after reperfusion. Unfortunately, this treatment is often omitted from advanced cardiac life support protocols.”

The article discusses the efficacy of therapeutic hypothermia, indications and contraindications for its use, various induction methods, associated complications and adverse effects, and nursing care specific to patients undergoing this procedure.

Read the article (it’s open access)—you can earn 2.3 hours of CE credit.—Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

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2016-11-21T13:09:39-05:00July 23rd, 2012|Nursing|2 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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