Fighting Infection is in Your Hands

Fighting Infection is in Your Hands

When you were growing up, how many times did your mother tell you to wash your hands? It was likely one of the early lessons our parents and teachers taught us. We know that feces (aka ‘poop’) from people or animals is an important source of germs. A...
SAD – Not Just an Adjective!

SAD – Not Just an Adjective!

The Thanksgiving holiday typically signals the season of celebration and holidays—Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwaanza. But for many, the darker, colder days herald another type of period: one of fatigue, lethargy and depression. Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD —...
What is RSV and Why Are So Many Kids Sick?

What is RSV and Why Are So Many Kids Sick?

Hospitals, both pediatric and adult, are filled beyond capacity, patients are waiting in already-overcrowded emergency rooms. Nurses are being assigned more patients than is safe. And thus begins a flu season that’s hitting harder and earlier than usual. There’s...
More Than a Color. More than a Month.

More Than a Color. More than a Month.

Since 1985, October has had a special recognition of being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Maybe you’ve noticed the color pink everywhere. Likely everyone reading this has had someone they love diagnosed with breast cancer. And many of those same folks have also...

It’s Greek to Me. Or Maybe it’s Latin.

Well, for most school-age children and their parents, September means ‘back to school.’ And it shall be no different this month for readers of The Flame. This past month, I’ve had the enormous pleasure of volunteering at the Florence Nightingale...
Do Nurses Have Pet Peeves? (Yes.)

Do Nurses Have Pet Peeves? (Yes.)

It’s July and the temperatures are climbing. A nurse colleague in Tucson, Arizona reports that today, outside of her office, it’s 108 degrees. Walking outside to go to lunch in Philly you’ll be hit with stifling humidity. So it’s no surprise...