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Monday, September 23, 2013
A LIttle Drop Will Do Ya?
What if routine bloodwork was near-instant and near painless?
What if a pin-prick of blood, say a microliter, could provide enough sample to allow hundreds, maybe even thousands of tests to be run?
That future is actually be here and you can see it yourself at the local Walgreens Pharmacy in Palo Alto, CA. Starting today (Monday 23 September 2013) and soon nationwide.
A recent Wall Street Journal article profiles the genius and entrepreneur behind Theranos, a med-tech company you'll be hearing much about soon. Meet 29-year old Elizabeth Holmes. A Stanford drop out at age 19 (sound familiar?) she cashed in her college fund and started up Theranos, Her company has been quietly working on dramatically reducing the time and cost of common and not-so-common laboratory tests.
Imagine, as nurses, you could eliminate the pain of large volume blood draws. Lower risk of anemia. No more dealing with collapsed veins. No tears from a sick child. No long waits on critical tests. Welcome to the next wave of medical science.
What if a pin-prick of blood, say a microliter, could provide enough sample to allow hundreds, maybe even thousands of tests to be run?
Photos courtesy of Theranos, Inc.
A recent Wall Street Journal article profiles the genius and entrepreneur behind Theranos, a med-tech company you'll be hearing much about soon. Meet 29-year old Elizabeth Holmes. A Stanford drop out at age 19 (sound familiar?) she cashed in her college fund and started up Theranos, Her company has been quietly working on dramatically reducing the time and cost of common and not-so-common laboratory tests.
Imagine, as nurses, you could eliminate the pain of large volume blood draws. Lower risk of anemia. No more dealing with collapsed veins. No tears from a sick child. No long waits on critical tests. Welcome to the next wave of medical science.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Let the Clinicals Begin!
Congratulations, N211 Students! You've completed your Pre-Clinical training and are on to your clinical rotations. Welcome to the next level of your nursing education.
San Francisco VA Hospital - one of the many hospitals CSM Nursing Students will experience.
New Warning from CDC
Superbugs - mutating strains of disease-causing pathogens - are increasingly killing people worldwide and the problem is getting worse. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics are often cited as the most common reasons.
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As healthcare professionals we are not only on the front lines of a global battle but in some ways we are also vectors. CDC notes that annually, 250,000 hospitalized patients contract Clostridium difficile - aka C. difficile, and that 14,000 of those patients die from the infection.
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Looking at the range of growing threats, the numbers are staggering. In the U.S.: at least 2,049,442 illnesses and 23,000 deaths. The latest CDC report outlines the impact on patients and healthcare costs.
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You can download this 113-page report from the CDC (PDF) from this LINK. Find out who
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