Medic Danny - On the Run

Pleasantly Confused

2011-05-30T01:07:00.003-04:00

I've heard this phrase again and again. Always in nursing home settings or at assisted living. Generally it's how staff refers to patients that have dementia with baseline confusion. And it's always when I ask the staff what their normal mental status is and if it's any different now.

Is it really ever pleasant to be confused?

When I get confused, I usually just get angry.

Skilled Nursing Facilities: An Oxymoron?

2011-04-07T22:38:00.002-04:00

Since my last post I've been pondering (yes, I ponder) what I should kick this off with. I bounced back and forth between a few ideas until I finally settled on the one that really gave me the idea to blog my thoughts and observations in the first place.

Warning: this topic has the potential to go off of multiple tangents, but I'm going to do my best to keep it focused.

Nursing homes.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but nursing homes exist to provide those that can't care for themselves, and are beyond being cared for at home, a controlled environment with trained staff that is able to help them with their daily activities, as well as provide some medical care (that would be the "nursing" part of nursing home). In fact, Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary defines nursing home as, "a privately operated establishment where maintenance and personal or nursing care are provided for persons (as the aged or the chronically ill) who are unable to care for themselves properly."

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A Brilliant Idea

2011-04-06T04:24:00.003-04:00

I've had some sort of internet presence for as long as I can remember (On a good day, that is. Some days I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast..). I created my first website years ago through a free website builder called Homestead when it was in its infancy (And lets face it, I was practically in mine). From the beginning I've continued to ask myself, "what can I put on a website or blog that people would actually care about?" Most of them started out as simple, poorly patched together messes of information that no one except for maybe family and friends would even look at, and unfortunately I'm now 24 years old and until the past hour I've had anything but a halfway decent idea of what to write about.

But now, fortunately for me (and I hope anyone that has found there way here), that's going to change. I've decided that I have a lot to say about something that I care a lot about doing and that is near and dear to my heart. Medicine. The Emergency Medical Services to be exact. I don't want to go too in depth yet about any of my ideas yet, but I do want to mention it's not going to be all postings of my personal stories (though my personal experiences will play a role in backing some of my opinions) and it's not meant to be geared specifically to EMS providers. I really hope to make people think, and ask questions. I hope to attract people from all different aspects of medicine as well as those with no medical training of their own.

My ultimate goal: change.