This is intended as a minor rant or exclamation of sorts. Just something I need to get off my chest.
I am an emergency nurse in a hospital in Queens, NY, which is part of NYC. For years now, I have been extremely passionate about primary prevention of chronic disease via healthy lifestyle. In my world, training is a major piece to that puzzle. That's one of the reasons why I decided to obtain my SFI. I recently did so at The Dome in Chicago. It was great to spend 3 days with lots of people who share similar concern for the the maintenance of their own health and that of their clients. It made me forget about my job temporarily. Then, on my first day back to work, the degree of sickness I see on a daily basis smacked me square in the face. It's something I've been aware of since I first started. But it didn't affect me until I spent some time with really healthy people at The Dome.
Of course, there will always be the need for acute care. But most of the patients I have are faced with sickness that could have absolutely been prevented in one way or another. It seems that almost everyone is diabetic, has hypertension, high cholesterol, multiple stents, is obese, smokes. The data show that even dementia is preventable. It's really remarkable how sick people let themselves get without taking even a second's responsibility for the situation. Just yesterday, I had a patient the same age as myself (43) who was morbidly obese. He already lost one leg below the knee to diabetes, and is on his way to losing his other foot, as well as his eyesight. In my head, I'm thinking "DUDE! WHERE IS YOUR OWNERSHIP OF THIS!?!?"
Anyway, I plan to go on to advance practice nursing in the area of primary care. My goal will be to keep people OUT of the emergency room for the same old preventable reasons.
I am an emergency nurse in a hospital in Queens, NY, which is part of NYC. For years now, I have been extremely passionate about primary prevention of chronic disease via healthy lifestyle. In my world, training is a major piece to that puzzle. That's one of the reasons why I decided to obtain my SFI. I recently did so at The Dome in Chicago. It was great to spend 3 days with lots of people who share similar concern for the the maintenance of their own health and that of their clients. It made me forget about my job temporarily. Then, on my first day back to work, the degree of sickness I see on a daily basis smacked me square in the face. It's something I've been aware of since I first started. But it didn't affect me until I spent some time with really healthy people at The Dome.
Of course, there will always be the need for acute care. But most of the patients I have are faced with sickness that could have absolutely been prevented in one way or another. It seems that almost everyone is diabetic, has hypertension, high cholesterol, multiple stents, is obese, smokes. The data show that even dementia is preventable. It's really remarkable how sick people let themselves get without taking even a second's responsibility for the situation. Just yesterday, I had a patient the same age as myself (43) who was morbidly obese. He already lost one leg below the knee to diabetes, and is on his way to losing his other foot, as well as his eyesight. In my head, I'm thinking "DUDE! WHERE IS YOUR OWNERSHIP OF THIS!?!?"
Anyway, I plan to go on to advance practice nursing in the area of primary care. My goal will be to keep people OUT of the emergency room for the same old preventable reasons.