It isn’t hard to imagine doctors getting burned out or depressed. They usually see people at their worst and their most vulnerable. The responsibilities on a doctor can become overwhelming. Surgeons, for example, have to make split second decisions sometimes as their patients lie open, literally, in front of them.

Mistakes by an accountant may cost someone a lot of money, mistakes by a surgeon can cost someone their life. Considering that many errors do occur in a hospital, from the nurses to the doctors, finding ways to cut back on the number of mistakes is essential.

Charles M. Balch, M.D., a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine led a study examining the issue of burned out and/or depressed surgeons. They sent out questionnaires to surgeons asking questions about mistakes and burn out. Among the 7,905 surgeons who responded, 9% said that they had made at least one major mistake within the previous three months.

In addition:

• 40% said they were burned out
• 30% screened positively for depression
• 28% showed signs of low quality of life

Of course, work isn’t the only factor that contributes to these types of findings, but some may be a bit surprising – such as younger surgeons feeling more burn out than older ones. Factors in this survey included:

• Being younger
• Having children
• Specialty
• Number of nights on call per week
• Hours worked per week
• Billing for pay rather than salary

When asked how they felt about their lives and their profession, only 51% said that they would recommend surgery as a career for their own children.

Sadly, medical professionals are known for their reluctance to seek help. But if their mental health is affecting not only their own lives, but that of their patients, then it’s time the whole medical community get its act together and help each other. Medical professionals need to recognize how to help each other – not just their patients.

~~~

Image: PhotoXpress.com

Post from: Healthbolt

It’s not something that I’d do.

But according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, it’s becoming a common occurence as more and more people check out against medical advice.

In fact, in 2007 368,000 patients walked out on their doctor.

So why did they leave?

Turns out that the majority of those who left were uninsured or on Medicaid.
 
They were also more likely to be…

• Male: Men left hospital against advice at a rate of 1.5 per 1,000 population, compared with 0.9 for 1,000 women. In contrast, women were more likely to be inpatients, at a rate of 102.8 per 1,000, compared with 91.5 for men.
• Younger than other patients: The average age those who left against advice was 46 years, compared with 58 years for all other inpatients.
• Urban dwellers: Patients in those areas were nearly twice as likely to leave hospital against advice than patients living in all other areas — 1.8 per 1,000 population, compared with about 1.0.
• Poorer than other inpatients: Overall, inpatient care rates were 1.5 times greater in the poorest communities than in the wealthiest areas, but the magnitude of difference was greater among those who left against advice — 2.7 times higher among those in the poorest communities than in the wealthiest areas.
• Northeastern residents: The rate of leaving against advice was 2.0 per 1,000 population, compared with 1.0 in all other regions.

(source: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2007 Nationwide Inpatient Sample)

The research, unfortunately, doesn’t show what happened to these early discharges – whether they ended up returning to hospital or not.

(image source)

Post from: Healthbolt

A new report released today by Press Ganey Associates has found that there has been a 27 minute increase in waiting time in ER nationwide since 2002.

The report, ”2009 Emergency Department Pulse Report: Patient Perspectives on American Health Care”, which analysed the experiences of almost 1.4 million patients who were treated in 1,725 Emergency Departments during 2008.

Interesting facts from the report include…

South Dakota has the lowest total time spent in the emergency department (3 hours, 52 minutes) while Utah had the highest total time (6 hours, 48 minutes).

Virginia patients spent 23 fewer minutes in the emergency department in 2008 than they had in 2007, while patients in Maryland spent 14 fewer minutes in the ED last year.

The metro areas with the highest patient satisfaction in the emergency department for 2008 were, in order, Miami, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth and New York/Long Island.

Patients who arrive in the emergency department between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. report higher satisfaction than those who arrive in the evening or overnight hours. Lowest satisfaction was reported among those who are in the emergency department between 3:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

While average total times have increased since data was first collected in 2002, patient satisfaction is improving as many hospitals are communicating better with patients about delays.

The economy is having a significant impact as the proportion of emergency department patients without insurance is increasing. Fewer patients are seeking inpatient and elective services.

Alongside this report, Press Ganey has also released easy to use information on Solutions for Consumers and Tips for Hospital Administrators.

Post from: Healthbolt

Veronica’s brother Eric is suffering from severe cardiomyopathy (a disease that enlarges the heart and makes it incapable of pumping blood effectively) and  desperately needs a heart transplant. But because he registered for Medicaid in a state (Nevada) that has no transplant center, authorities will not put him on a list for a heart transplant in another state. It’s bureaucratic red tape at it’s worst and highlights America’s flawed healthcare system.

The irony of it all is if Eric was living in another state -one that had a transplant center – he would already be on transplant list.

Veronica and her family have been lobbying the government in an attempt to get them to look at this flaw in the healthcare system but time is running out.

So Veronica is reaching out to people through Twitter to rally support to break through the red tape and get her brother on a transplant list.

Want to help? You can use the power of social media to bring new pressure on authorities in this matter by twittering about Eric’s plight (use hash tag #ERIC), lobbying the government (addresses and a form letter are here), and maybe even donating a dollar or two.

(image source)

Post from: Healthbolt

Meningitis UK, Test Your Knowledge of Meningitis Quiz

I thought I knew quite a lot about the disease but only scored 5 out of 9 on the first quiz and 6 out of 8 on the second. But because it’s an interactive site, I quickly get to find out where I was wrong and discover more about the disease.

Post from: Healthbolt

It’s Healthbolt Carnival Time again. So grab a coffee and start clicking…

Madeleine Begun Kane from Mad Kane’s Humor Blog entertains us with Multi-Task Madness.

Orna Ross suggests people should F-R-E-E-Write Your Way to Wellness?.

To help you learn more about the Vegan lifestyle, Piotr Stepien from we overstep provides a list of Inspiring Vegan Links.

C. Myers from Mind Mart suggests several natural remedies for Boils in Boil, Boil, Toil and Trouble.

Tami Blodgett from Online Wellness: A Safe Haven offers a review of the book FAMILY MATTERS the Soul of a Family.

Dan Abshear from Informaproject reports on The Power Of Bacteria.

myln from ManageYourLifeNow.com looks at How to tell if someone is lying.

Alvaro Fernandez from SharpBrains: discusses Brain Training: It Works, and It Doesn’t Work.

Brain Blogger asks Is Obesity Contagious?.

Nancy Miller from Nursing Assistant Guides says just relax with these 77 Easy, Painless Tips to Focus & Invite Tranquility In.

James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor Blog asks What is a medical home? Will it cut health-care costs? Definition and doctors’ opinions.

Gem-Publishing from Weight Loss Tips asks Can you lose 30lbs in 30 days ?.

Kalidasda from Natural Healing and Applied Kinesiology writes about Back Pain Relief Naturally, An Example Of Gentle Self Adjustment.

Pregnant Woman from Pregnancy looks at Identical Triplets – Three Bundles Of Joy, saying, “Triplets occur in one of every eight thousand live births”

And that’s it for this edition of Healthbolt Carnival.

Don’t forget to stop back again next Wednesday for more interesting health and wellness posts.

And you can submit your blog article to the next edition of Healthbolt Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: a healthbolt carnival, blog carnival.

Post from: Healthbolt

Birth Control Has Side Effects: I Should Know
by
Caitlin from the University of Alabama

As college students, we pretty much think of ourselves as invincible, I know I certainly have. Until recently that is. I’ve been in car accidents, including one where my car hydroplaned off a cliff. I’ve drank myself to the point where I should have gone to the hospital. I’ve had my life threatened. But those things never quite hit me to the point where I realized I could have died.

On January 2nd, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with a searing pain in my left lung and back. It felt like two cinderblocks were pushing on either side of me and every breath felt like a knife going through my lung. I have a low pain tolerance, but this was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I managed to walk to my parents’ room to wake them up as I was gasping for air. My mom helped me back into my room while my dad furiously researched the new medication my dermatologist put me on, convinced it was a side effect. I eventually fell back asleep, but when I woke up again I was greeted by pain that was even worse than before. My mom came in to check on me, and I told her I needed to go to the hospital.

In the emergency room, one of the doctors listened to my symptoms and said “I think you may have a blood clot in your lung.” What? A blood clot? In an 18-year old? I was so confused and scared; I immediately started bawling. They quickly took blood out of my left arm while putting an IV in the other, and I woke up in the middle of a CT-scan. They did ultrasounds on my legs to make sure there were no clots because that’s where most clots originate. About an hour later, another doctor came in and told me they did find a clot in my lung.

I was terrified.

A nurse came in to give me a shot in my stomach that would start to seal the clot to the wall of my vein so it couldn’t break apart or move to my heart. I called my boyfriend and my best friend not really knowing what to say, partly because I was on a massive amount of painkillers and partly because I thought I was going to die.

The doctors believe that my birth control caused the clot, but they are still running tests. I was shocked. I knew blood clots were a side effect of the pill, but they are so rare, especially in women under 30. I received a shot to the stomach twice a day along with various painkillers from morphine to percocet. I was also told I had to be on a medication called Coumadin, a blood thinner, for 6 months. This medication comes with a lot of rules and requires weekly blood tests to determine if my blood is too thin or not thin enough. Depending on that level, I have to adjust the dosage of Coumadin I take. I’ve been on it for a week and the dosage has changed three times. I can’t eat foods high in vitamin K like salad or broccoli, I can’t drink more than 2oz of alcohol.

I left the hospital on January 6 and was allowed to go back to school on the 8th. I got tired and short of breath, accompanied with a much less severe but still noticeable pain in my lung which would not go away for about 6 to 8 weeks according to the doctors. But I’m alive. If I didn’t go to the hospital, I would be dead right now. The clot would have made its way to my heart or my brain, and I would have died. As much as the situation bothers me, and I keep asking why this happened to me, I am so grateful that I’m still here. Things like this don’t happen to people my age, and if it does, it’s usually too late. You hear about the funeral, not the recovery.

I’m glad I can sit at my computer and share this story with you all because I don’t want any of you to go through what I did. I want you to be aware of what can happen, to recognize the symptoms, and realize that birth control and other medicines do have side effects.

If you feel a pain like that, don’t assume it’s something minor because it’s probably not. Your body tells you things, so listen to it.

(reposted with permission of College Candy)

For more information on blood clots and birth control, check out the Wellsphere’s Blood Clots Birth Control page. It has comprehensive, up to date information on this subject.

Post from: Healthbolt

It’s just the type of present my dentist would like to see everyone get for  Christmas.

The fact sheet states that the lightweight Oral B Pulsonic toothbrush offers maximum maneuverability while providing more than 27,000 gentle sonic vibrations per minute. That’s a whole lot of teeth cleaning with minimum effort. And you don’t even have to think about how long you’ve been brushing for – there’s a timer that activates when the recommended two minute brushing time has been reached. Plus there’s an additional professional timer signals at 30-second intervals to encourage thorough brushing of the four quadrants of your mouth.

Want one?

Well, you might be in luck.

Healthbolt has one to give away to a reader who’s looking for whiter, brighter, sparkling teeth.

All you have to do is leave a comment by 1st Jan as to why you think this would be good for you and it might just end up in your mail box in the new year.

This giveaway is for US Residents only.

The winner will be announced on 2st Jan and sent an email with the subject heading ‘Healthbolt Giveaway Winner’ with instructions on how to claim their prize.

And don’t forget it’s ‘every day a giveaway’ this month at Healthbolt.

Post from: Healthbolt

So I’ve decided if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them.

In the spirit of providing fair and balanced (isn’t that what all the news channels are claiming they are doing) coverage, here’s Healthbolt’s list of healthcare election resources…

WebMD claims that they have cut through the clutter with their Health Matters in the 2008 Election. It’s a comprehensive report on both Obama’s and McCain’s Health Platforms, a side-by-side comparison chart of the where the two candidates stand on key health issues, and a WebMD reality check by three health care experts who analyze the candidates’ health care plans.

The Henry J Kaiser Foundation provides detailed information on John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s health proposals as well as a comparision chart. Plus there are videos and ads that each candidate has made on the issue of health.

Families USA also has information and comparisons of the healthcare platforms of Obama and McCain in their 28 page report Health Care and the 2008 Presidential Elections.

That’s it.

We provide the information.

You make the decisions.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…..Enter here to win a DVD of the Food Matters Documentary…..

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Post from: Healthbolt

Instead of dumping them in the trash or toilet, consider donating them to Flying Doctors or Aid for AIDS, where volunteer medical teams headed to Mexico or Central America will be able to make good use of them.

While the meds may not be 100% potent or effective, the mere presence of any kind of medical intervention for those who have no other options may just save a life. A pretty great alternative to wasting, no?

Thanks in advance for your consideration – this has been your Healthbolt feel-good Happy Living Tip of the day.

Post from: Healthbolt