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• Clean Hands: Purell Ain't Getting It Done

  We had a nice but icky discussion last week about how healthcare professionals weren't exactly scrupulous when it comes to washing their hands between patients (and door touching, etc.) and that patients are being encouraged to ask them to wash up. And there was some talk of hidden hand santizer pumps that they might be using outside the patient's room, which made a few of us (and by "us" I mean "me") feel better and like they could go on living in denial about their doctor's dirty hands.  Well, a study out of Nebraska got down and dirty and concluded that Purell ... Read More... Posted Jan 30 2008, 02:38 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: research study, hospitals, doctor visits, health care, hospital, hand sanitizer, health risks, health news, nurses, medical issues, do the right thing, health and well-being of children, health and well-being of parents, illness, health and safety, hygiene, doctors, hand-washing, purell

• You Can Ask? Really?

  Have I mentioned I'm not terribly assertive with medical professionals? Well, I'm not. I've got a milllllion opinions and demands and I'm more than willing to share them, just not with the actual nurse or doctor. I just hate the double-takes, exasperation and sometimes mild offense of a reaction I get those times I have womaned-up and asked a question and/or made a request. So I am at once in awe/totally tense reading about these people, who have the nerve to ask doctors and nurses to do something they should have had the professional sense to already have done:   Read More... Posted Jan 25 2008, 06:31 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 14 comment(s) Filed under: hospitals, doctor visits, health care, hospital, health risks, health news, nurses, do the right thing, health and well-being of children, health and well-being of parents, illness, health and safety, hygiene, doctors

• Top Ten Reasons We Take Kids to the Doctor

  Taking kids to the doctor is always such a judgment call. Is it just a cold? Will they get over it in a day or two? That sore throat, is it strep or just a sore throat? What about allergies? And what about alternative remedies? Which ones to use when and do they really work? Those of us who have a $10 copay can take our kids in at will, risking only the accumulation of germs at the doctor's office (and the perpetuation of the out-of-control U.S. healthcare system, but that's another story), but in general, how do you know when to go and when to stay home? Here's a list I found on MomLogic of the top ten reasons kids visit the doctor:   Read More... Posted Jan 14 2008, 08:25 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: doctor visits, allergies, asthma, vaccines, kids and doctors, MomLogic

• The Basic Seven

  When it comes to the health of my kids, I'm a fairly laissez-faire mom. I'm not quick to call the doc. I don't bundle them to the ER at the first cough. They've been in my house long enough that I can tell when they need to see someone in a white coat.  Most of the time, it works out. I mean, they're both still alive. Read More... Posted Jan 13 2008, 03:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: doctor visits, health and kids, ER, fever, warning signs, WHO

• Helping Kids Recover from Doctorphobia

  A year ago at this time, we were experiencing one of those things no family ever wants to -- a post-bedtime visit  to urgent care with our then two-year-old. She'd gotten sick out of nowhere a few days before Christmas, spiking a high fever that didn’t respond to ibuprofen. Luckily, our local hospital has a pediatric after-hours urgent care staffed with lovely, kind doctors and nurses. And it was still awful. My girl was still in that two-year-old mode of doctor nervousness, and this Did Not Help. They had to take urine with a catheter and blood from the teensy  veins in her spindly little arms and hold her down to do so. I was so upset I had to leave the room so as not to freak out my bellowing child any further. The next day, we had to take her back to her regular doctor for follow up and she started weeping piteously the moment we turned into the parking lot – a theme that continued the rest of the year. So I thought this article in helping a child get over their fear of the doctor was interesting.   Read More... Posted Dec 26 2007, 11:02 AM by Amy Kuras with | with no comments Filed under: doctor visits, fear, positive thinking

• Some FDA Officials: Ban Kids’ Cold Meds For Very Young

  Fabulous! Just in time for cold and flu season, FDA safety officials are urging the agency to consider a ban on over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for all infants and children under 6 due to safety concerns. The American Academy of Pediatrics has apparently also joined in as critics of these over-the-counter medicines saying they are not safe for the very young and also not effective. My two-year-old woke up with the sniffles just this morning. It’s going to be a long, congested winter. Read More... Posted Sep 29 2007, 02:58 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: doctor visits, cold medication, prescription medications, flu shots, FDA, research

• Dad-To-Be Asks: Do I Need to Go to My Wife's Doctor Appointments?

  InsideBayArea.com brings us a couple of letters from two dads-to-be, both asking about their wives' doctors' appointments. Armin Brott (who, according to his website  is "America's Most Trusted Dad" - this prompted me to do some research and surveying, and I'm proud to say that I'm "America's 10,298,935th Most Trusted Dad", right behind "Red" from TV's "That 70's Show", but still ahead of Joe Simpson) provided some nice, pat answers to the inquiring future pops. What? You'd like to hear what I'd tell the first guy? Oh, all right... "Q: My pregnant wife has been bugging me to go to all her doctor's appointments. I want to be an involved dad but I can't see any real reason for me to go. Can't I just find out what I need to know by reading books?" A: Are you shitting me? Or did you fall through a temporal rift in 1955 that whisked you to a strange and frightening future, one where husbands are actually real partners to their spouses, and take an active interest in both their wife's and their child's health and well-being? Listen, the beauty of Pay-Per-View is that you can buy and watch Wrestlemania at any time, so you've now lost your biggest excuse to skip out on your wife's appointments. Sure, books are great - Will Smith can read a NASA instruction manual and pow! he's an astronaut; you can read The Expectant Father and pow! you're a dad! It's that easy! Do yourself, and your family - believe it or not, this fatherhood thing is actually not all about you - a favor and go to the appointments. While you're at the hospital, you can get your knuckles looked at. I'm sure they've got to be infected, what with them constantly scraping the ground when you walk.     Posted Mar 26 2007, 08:17 AM by JasonAvant with | with 13 comment(s) Filed under: doctor visits, dads, are you insane?, daddy, daddies full of fear, Armin Brott