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Medical, nursing schools need to work together | Healthcare Finance News
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No shit. Ya think?
And it'd be nice to have Nursing's voice taken seriously. Tell the truth- when's the last time (and I love my docs, love love love them) the doctor spent 8 hours at your bedside in ICU, put in your IV in ER, or wiped up your vomit on the med/surg floor? [And if your nurse/nurse's aid DIDN'T, that's not a criticism of nursing. It's a criticism of how thinly stretched nursing is.]
I'm inviting responses, dialogue, criticism, commentary, and your stories. I've got something brewing that can't quite come to a boil, yet, about all this and the health-care/health insurance/public health/personal health debacle/debate that's going on nationally, but I need more points of view, more facets, to properly focus the light so I can see what I'm really looking at.
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Yesterday, in the States, was Veteran's Day. I remember it being Armistice Day when I was very young...
Anyway, one US-centric article and one US-centric memoir-essay about war, and the wish for peace.
The Anguish of War for Today’s Soldiers, Explored by Sophocles.
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: November 12, 2009
A project uses ancient theater as a vehicle for sharing pain, learning and healing. (NYT)
( Full text in case link will not work )
Sgt. First Class Tony Gonzalez, an Iraq combat veteran from Brooklyn who was on the panel, recalled that post-traumatic stress disorder was rarely discussed when he first joined the Army. He described his own pain after his platoon captain was killed and he went to pay respects to the man’s wife, also a friend and member of the military.
And he praised the use of theater to help put a spotlight on trauma.
“I’ve been Ajax,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Ajax.”
~~
One Grizzled Veteran's Dream
Huffington Post
William Astore
Writer, Professor, Retired Lt. Colonel, Air Force
Posted: November 11, 2009 08:05 AM
( full text in case the link won't work )
On this Veteran's Day, what if we began to measure our national success and power, not by our military arsenal or by the number of new recruits in the ranks, but rather by the gradual shrinking of our military ranks, the decline of our spending on defense, perhaps even by the growing quiet of our legion posts and VFW halls?
Wouldn't that be a truer measure of national success: fewer American combat veterans?
Wouldn't that give us something to celebrate this Veteran's Day?
I know one old grizzled veteran who would quietly nod his agreement.
Professor Astore currently teaches History at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and can be reached at wastore at pct.edu.
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Starting on Thursday, November 5 at Boston University, Howard Zinn and producers and cast from THE PEOPLE SPEAK are embarking on a national college tour for Howard's forthcoming documentary feature film THE PEOPLE SPEAK.
All events are FREE!
To reserve a seat in advance (highly recommended) and for more info visit:
http://www.history.com/thepeoplespeakcollegetour
http://www.facebook.com/HowardZinn
( Coming soon to a campus near you! )
And check out The People Speak -- airing on History on December 13, 2009 -- the documentary inspired by Voices of a People's History of the United States and produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove and Howard Zinn, and featuring Damon, Brolin, Rosario Dawson, Bob Dylan, Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Viggo Mortensen, Bruce Springsteen, Marisa Tomei, and Kerry Washington.
See a sneak peek preview at http://www.thepeoplespeak.com
( Read more... )
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I would be remiss if I didn't link to ![[info]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) alliwantisanelf's marvelous series of posts from last year in honor of Fire Prevention Month, including the very useful stuff people brought up in the comments. It's too easy to take for granted that our cities won't burn to the ground, but in fact, it's always a danger- this is why I support my local fire department's fund-raising activities, and hope you support your local fire department, too.
That said, anyone bring the marshmallows?
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Security Spending Primer:Getting Smart About The Pentagon Budget
How do people influence federal spending decisions and stop fighting over smaller and smaller “slices of the budgetary pie”? What will make our nation more secure? National Priorities Project is proud to release the Security Spending Primer: Getting Smart About The Pentagon Budget. (PDF Document) This Primer is a is a “one-stop-shopping” resource and has two main goals: ~ to provide comprehensive, easy-to-understand information on the complexity of the federal budget process; and ~ to help build the capacity of people across the United States who want their voices and their priorities to be heard in the debate over federal spending in general and military spending in particular. Even though federal spending and policy priorities have an enormous impact on individual lives, the budgeting and policy-making process remains mysterious to most Americans. NPP believes that good, concrete information strengthens social change work. In order to make our federal government more accountable, people – especially those most affected by social inequities – must play a central role in identifying the changes essential to creating better lives for themselves and future generations. They must have access to accurate information that supports effective strategies. The Primer answers the most frequently asked questions about, and supplies the most commonly requested information on, the Pentagon budget and U.S. military spending and is based on decades of experience in military budget analysis. It contains 16 two-page fact sheets on topics ranging from nuclear weapons to the employment impact of U.S. military and domestic spending choices to the military cost of securing energy. We designed these fact sheets to be read separately or as a group. We have also included a host of resources: organizational contact lists, sample NPP tools, resources lists, a glossary and more. Key findings in the primer include: ~ Total spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will exceed $1 trillion February/March 2010. From FY 2001 to FY 2008, federal grants to state and local governments increased 0.57% for every 1% increase in total federal budget authority. Yet, during the same period, federal military expenditures increased 1.47% for every 1% in total federal budget authority. In other words, as the “budgetary pie” increased, the defense slice got bigger and fatter and the “grants to the states” slice of the pie got smaller. ~ Even without including current war allocations, U.S. military spending is at its highest level since World War II. This takes into account the war-time budgets of Vietnam and Korea. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the Obama Administration is not cutting defense. In fact, the Pentagon budget is projected to grow25% over the next decade. ~ This is an unprecedented period in our nation’s history. Two wars, staggering national debt, the economic crisis and an impending climate crisis make these extremely challenging times. At the same time, President Obama endeavors to respond to the sweeping mandate for change. NPP is indebted to our collaborators in this project: Frida Berrigan, Senior Program Associate of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation Ruth Flower, Associate Executive Secretary for Legislative Programs at Friends Committee on National Legislation ( FCNL) Miriam Pemberton, Peace and Security Editor of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies ( IPS) Heidi Garrett-Peltier, Research Assistant at the Political Economy Research Institute ( PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Robert Pollin, Professor of Economics and founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute ( PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Susan Shaer, Executive Director of Women’s Action for New Directions ( WAND) For more information: Jo Comerford, Executive Director (jo@nationalpriorities.org, 413.559.1649) Chris Hellman, Director of Research (chris@nationalpriorities.org) National Priorities Project www.nationalpriorities.org
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(reposted in its entirety from deadlychameleon who is the "I" referenced below)
In regards to surveyfail: http://www.fanhistory.com/wiki/SurveyFail
I called the Boston University IRB office. The direct approach works.
They've gotten a lot of emails regarding Dr. Ogas. He is no longer in any way affiliated with Boston University, except as a recent graduate. They have asked him to stop using his official Boston University email address in connection with this project, or his website. He is officially on his own, and this project is NOT IRB APPROVED.
That is the official status as stated by the Boston University IRB office.
The problem with this is threefold:
1. The researcher has no expertise in the area he is researching, nor has he recruited anyone to give him guidance.
2. The researcher has substantial profit motivation to produce work in this area (book contract with Penguin) which may lead to unethical conduct/a tendency to misrepresent his results.
3. The research is in no way overseen by any external body which can examine it for potential unethical conduct.
In addition to all of these, the researchers have now alienated their participant population, who are now very likely to become unreliable participants.
The only way to salvage the study at this point, I believe, would be for them to change it to an observational one.
ETA: if you want to share, please repost with attribution, that way people don't have to click through to get the information. If people need to contact me, they're certainly free to do so, but I'd like the discussion to spread out.
Also, all comments here are based on the information I had at the time of posting - if it turns out to be inaccurate, my deepest apologies. My statements regarding the problems with this research are based on my personal opinions, and should be taken as such.
ETA 2: I need to do other things for awhile, so I apologize if comments go unanswered. I should add that the IRB stated they contacted Dr. Ogas, and confirmed that this was indeed his project (they also gave him some basic methodological suggestions, despite the fact that he's no longer affiliated). They claim he's been very receptive to their suggestions. I say this just to confirm that YES THIS IS HIS PROJECT, and probably not a case of stolen identity.
ETA 3: Oh look who just f-locked his entries. Anyone with screencaps? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
ETA 4: Hopefully the last ETA I'm going to need to make.
I don't even know offhand where the line between unethical and illegal begins here, because they're so far past anything I'd ever do.
To start with:
1. Lack of proper anonymity/privacy protections for participants potentially admitting to illegal activity.
2. Lack of proper anonymity/privacy protections for participants potentially admitting to things that could negatively impact them at work and in their communities were they to become known.
3. Lack of any kind of age statement - this is methods 101 people, you always ask if a person is over 18, otherwise you need parental consent for any research study.
4. Lack of ANY kind of informed consent. No statement that you may withdraw from the research at any time. No statement saying what the research will be used for. No statement of risk vs. benefit. No statement regarding deception. No statement giving the affiliations of the researchers.
This is BAD RESEARCH, not to belabor the point. As one commenter pointed out, it's one thing when it's a survey about ice cream flavors. But the risk level here is fairly high. It's possible for someone to lose their job were this information to become public and identified with a given person.
ETA: Wearing the Juice: A Case Study in Research Implosion, wonderful entry from a research-end person.
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Paul Rodriguez narrates this one hour doc on salt in the water supplies of various parts of California, and how what we do here in the Bay Area affects and is affected by water use elsewhere, statewide water policy, and other things. I had a chance to see it tonight at work. It's well worth seeing.
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“El lamento del cabrón” from Perceval Press
( text of article )
I'm not through translating this (for my own use, I'm not so good to try and translate it for everyone! but if someone DOES translate it, I'd love to see it) but essentially Sr. Gelman says Mr. Bush and his administration lie now, lied then, and have lied all along, about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, and that for Mr. Bush to say that one of his main regrets about his presidency is the lack of good intelligence about that is like a goat crying. (Cabrón translated at wordreference.com- street meaning and formal meaning. crying goat, my ass.)
I got curious about the song El Lamento del Cabrón, so here is some information about that and the band Orthodox:
( lyrics, english )
about the band:
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1494
http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=109944
Orthodox performing on YouTube
for download (ripped from youtube)
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Sacred Contract of America audiobook, Caroline Myss. 4 CDs.
What were the intentions of the founding fathers? Who is, really, the pioneer woman? What's the shadow side of America's psychology? How did we lose our way in the '70s? And what's to be done with the last 8 years? What do they mean, not as economic or political times, but in what they tell us about America, how it's lived up to its Sacred Contract, and where it has work to do?
And, most importantly (to me, anyway): what does this time mean for the individual? "Find me 10 honest citizens..."
Please. Take, listen. Comment. She speaks, as well, to non-Americans- every country has a Sacred Contract, a role in the way life lives through us in the world- how does where America is affect others?
x-posted, some. feel free to share elsewhere.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4xfMisqab8
11/6/2008
WASHINGTON – The following is an op-ed from Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. This editorial is intended as free use and can be quoted or published.
You can't take this away from me: Proposition 8 broke our hearts, but it did not end our fight.
Like many in our movement, I found myself in Southern California last weekend. There, I had the opportunity to speak with a man who said that Proposition 8 completely changed the way he saw his own neighborhood. Every "Yes on 8" sign was a slap. For this man, for me, for the 18,000 couples who married in California, to LGBT people and the people who love us, its passage was worse than a slap in the face. It was nothing short of heartbreaking.
But it is not the end. Fifty-two percent of the voters of California voted to deny us our equality on Tuesday, but they did not vote our families or the power of our love out of existence; they did not vote us away.
As free and equal human beings, we were born with the right to equal families. The courts did not give us this right—they simply recognized it. And although California has ceased to grant us marriage licenses, our rights are not subject to anyone's approval. We will keep fighting for them. They are as real and as enduring as the love that moves us to form families in the first place. There are many roads to marriage equality, and no single roadblock will prevent us from ultimately getting there.
And yet there is no denying, as we pick ourselves up after losing this most recent, hard-fought battle, that we've been injured, many of us by neighbors who claim to respect us. We see them in the supermarkets, on the sidewalk, and think "how could you?"
By the same token, we know that we are moving in the right direction. In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 by a margin of 61.4% to 38.6%. On Tuesday, fully 48% of Californians rejected Proposition 8. It wasn't enough, but it was a massive shift. Nationally, although two other anti-marriage ballot measures won, Connecticut defeated an effort to hold a constitutional convention ending marriage, New York's state legislature gained the seats necessary to consider a marriage law, and FMA architect Marilyn Musgrave lost her seat in Congress. We also elected a president who supports protecting the entire community from discrimination and who opposes discriminatory amendments.
Yet on Proposition 8 we lost at the ballot box, and I think that says something about this middle place where we find ourselves at this moment. In 2003, twelve states still had sodomy laws on the books, and only one state had civil unions. Four years ago, marriage was used to rile up a right-wing base, and we were branded as a bigger threat than terrorism. In 2008, most people know that we are not a threat. Proposition 8 did not result from a popular groundswell of opposition to our rights, but was the work of a small core of people who fought to get it on the ballot. The anti-LGBT message didn't rally people to the polls, but unfortunately when people got to the polls, too many of them had no problem with hurting us. Faced with an economy in turmoil and two wars, most Californians didn't choose the culture war. But faced with the question—brought to them by a small cadre of anti-LGBT hardliners – of whether our families should be treated differently from theirs, too many said yes.
But even before we do the hard work of deconstructing this campaign and readying for the future, it's clear to me that our continuing mandate is to show our neighbors who we are.
Justice Lewis Powell was the swing vote in Bowers, the case that upheld Georgia's sodomy law and that was reversed by Lawrence v. Texas five years ago. When Bowers was pending, Powell told one of his clerks "I don't believe I've ever met a homosexual." Ironically, that clerk was gay, and had never come out to the Justice. A decade later, Powell admitted his vote to uphold Georgia's sodomy law was a mistake.
Everything we've learned points to one simple fact: people who know us are more likely to support our equality.
In recent years, I've been delivering this positive message: tell your story. Share who you are. And in fact, as our families become more familiar, support for us increases. But make no mistake: I do not think we have to audition for equality. Rather, I believe that each and every one of us who has been hurt by this hateful ballot measure, and each and every one of us who is still fighting to be equal, has to confront the neighbors who hurt us. We have to say to the man with the Yes on 8 sign—you disrespected my humanity, and I am not giving you a pass. I am not giving you a pass for explaining that you tolerate me, while at the same time denying that my family has a right to exist. I do not give you permission to say you have me as a "gay friend" when you cast a vote against my family, and my rights.
Wherever you are, tell a neighbor what the California Supreme Court so wisely affirmed: that you are equal, you are human, and that being denied equality harms you materially. Although I, like our whole community, am shaken by Prop 8's passage, I am not yet ready to believe that anyone who knows us as human beings and understands what is at stake would consciously vote to harm us.
This is not over. In California, our legal rights have been lost, but our human rights endure, and we will continue to fight for them.
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This from the NYT- Shipping Costs Start to Crimp Globalization.
(prior links dump Here.)
What can you do about it?
City Farmer
Community Gardening and Kids
Community Greens
Moss in the City: Urban Gardening
Urban Gardening Magazine
ETA Pick Your Own gardens and farms in US, UK, Europe, Canada, Italy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa</a>.
Perhaps you and some friends get together and lament not being in better shape. Can one of you donate land to a group project garden? Maybe all you have is a balcony in a climate with a short growing season. Can you grow herbs? sprout seeds?
Maybe you think it's inefficient to grow any of your own food. Well, maybe it is from a strictly commercial business point of view. But in terms of best use of the calories you take in / the calories you expend, which is more worthwhile? the giant pack from Costco or Tesco? or the oxygen-producing, carbon-dioxide reducing pot of chives or basil on your sill? The tomatoes you get from the pot on the balcony? the lettuce from the box on the verandah? Remember, even some flowers are edible. (I use nasturtiums in my salads. mmm, peppery!)
I dunno if the problems caused (to some extent, unwittingly) by globalizing trade and industrializing farming are all curably by home food farming. I do know that even if you have a 'black thumb', over time you can learn to listen to plants and come to recognize what it takes to have an honest relationship with sun-converting chlorophyll-using beings, and that in itself can be balm to a wounded soul, and help right some of the imbalance in the world.
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a) I voted.
b) I have read my studies for the day's courses.
c) I have double-dug in my compost! [have been taking the kitchen scraps, veg/fruit only except for washed egg-shells, out to compost in 15-gal buckets- works pretty well- a layer of kitchen scraps with a layer of leaves/dead nasturtium vines/grass cuttings- the worms found the buckets and had gotten going in them!] My five buckets were full, so it seemed prudent, since yesterday was pretty much dry, and today's dry and sunny, to go out, double-dig, layer it in, and let it start working!
d) now that i've done all that [had time today because my Gov't class was canceled], it's nap time. See you when I see you. xoxo
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