Christina's Considerations

Not in Vain A Promise Kept

Years ago as a blogger, physicians and a few other clinicians found me and shared their books. Today, patients and their caregivers find me. Not in Vain is a daughter's advocacy in honor of her mother and her experience with... Read more →

The Long and Winding Road to Care

Rare conditions, syndromes and diseases can include a really long and winding road; especially during the diagnosis period. Rare doesn't mean there isn't a diagnosis, it just means more thought and referrals for second opinions or referrals to specialists are... Read more →

Legal Innovations & Healthcare Harm

Effective hospital risk managers and executives, learn the importance of communication when it comes to preventing most lawsuits. Clear communications that can be acted upon make for more efficient and effective workplaces, but also better quality and safer care. But,... Read more →

PHI Compliance: What It Is and How To Achieve It

This guest post from Nightfall (a cloud-native data loss prevention solution) is written for organizations that partner with those in the healthcare industry, but I share this post to help educate consumers. One reason is I often hear "you can... Read more →

Do you need a second opinion? The doctor doesn't always know best!

Too many consumers of health care services feel stuck. They know something is wrong, but their physician (or another clinician) doesn't find anything or suggests a diagnosis or treatment that just doesn't seem to fit. While we don't want to... Read more →

Disrupting the Healthcare Ecosystem - Again!

The healthcare system has been evolving over a long period of time. And, it seems, this evolution has been picking up speed given the rapid advancements we have experienced over the last few decades. Part of this evolution has been... Read more →

The ROI of DICOM: A Candy Striper's Story

I'm teaching this week - health informatics to nurses, public health and health administration students. Last week we discussed standards and interoperability; and it reminded me of a story. The memory was triggered by student discussions. One said it must... Read more →

Effective Communication for Patient Safety

Medical errors, delays in care, bias and misunderstandings are most often the result in communication failures. In fact, most lawsuits filed by patients and/or their families are the result of communication issues that sometimes lead to poor outcomes. This is... Read more →

The Mystique of Surgery: Three

Dr. David Gelber is a general surgeon and author. Over my career I've seen many surgery schedules, participated in clinical chart review activities and listened to doctors explain cases to me. A great deal was learned, but there is so... Read more →

Empowering Advocates: #ChronicTogether

I was recently asked how did I learn to advocate for myself as a patient. This made me reflect on my career in health administration, where I recognized the importance of patients advocating for themselves early in my journey. In... Read more →

Panic Buying Toilet Paper - Unintended Consequences

I've been quietly watching as panic buying of toilet paper (TP) and water has unfolded. What I've seen reinforces my preparedness belief, because if you aren't already prepared you may not have TP to use in your potty when it... Read more →

Chronic Illness Holiday Gift Guide: Top 5

Tis' the season of holidays and the giving of gifts. But, what do you get for someone with functional limitations caused by injury, chronic illness or aging processes? This year I've been keeping an eye out for a few items... Read more →

Canines N Kids - At the Hospital

I've been a delinquent blogger again, but have some new ideas.... and a few books to review. One of these books is "We'll Get Through This Together". It reminds me of the power of pet therapy in the hospital or... Read more →

Safety Leadership: Overcoming & Avoiding Bias

Earlier this year I wrote an article for healthcare professionals on safety leadership. The idea is that scientific methods, standardization and reliability are not enough to reduce error and failure. Sometimes human performance in the actual environment of care is... Read more →

Avoiding Delays in Neurological Diagnosis - The 1.0 Version

It is commonly reported that Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and other variants are rare conditions. Data on the numbers of cases diagnosed are used to create rates among the general... Read more →

A New Normal - Administrator to Patient & Beyond

Three years ago, I decided it was time to walk away from my healthcare career and find something new. I was no longer being challenged and the long daily commute was wearing on my aging body. It was a hard... Read more →

Ghosting: Tips for when your doctor disappears

I recently learned about "ghosting patients" - a term used when patients find their physician (or other provider) has left a practice/clinic/medical group/hospital/etc and they don't know how to find them. This often happens due to some sort of separation... Read more →

Safety In Healthcare: Considerations for Consumers, Patients & Family Caregivers

Safety in healthcare has been around for a really long time. Florence Nightingale is sometimes referred to as "the mother of patient safety" because of her attention to healthcare design. In the 1800's, she advocated for improved ventilation and sanitary... Read more →

Comfort in A Healthcare Facility

Since my post on Comfort in the Hospital, I've collected some new ideas and want to share them along with some new insight as a caregiver, as well as, a patient and former hospital administrator. With Easter and Mothers/Fathers Day... Read more →

Firearm Safety and a Dementia Diagnosis

The US Census Bureau estimates that older people will outnumber children for the first time in US history by 2035. So, it makes sense that we will see a corresponding increase in the more common “older people” conditions over the... Read more →

A Call to Healthcare Professionals: Contrary to what you’ve been taught, use social media

Way back in 2005, I began blogging. After a couple of years, I got tired of explaining to my hospital administration and physician friends "what's a blog?" and "why would I want to Twitter?" Since all of the young people... Read more →

Tips for Getting Through a Difficult Time

It isn't uncommon for people to make supportive and encouraging comments to me after hearing bits of my GBS story. I suppose it is partly because I am an optimist, but I explain that I truly am fortunate. I didn't... Read more →

Virtual reality: From the OR to the patient bedside

I haven't written much these last few months, because my typing accuracy and speed have not been the best. But, I'm still trying and just had a new article published after several months. Some of you may remember the old... Read more →

Patient Caregivers: The Importance of Self-Care

I just returned from a long trip to help my dad care for my mom. I was able to get my own scheduled treatments shifted over to providers in that state and community. Upon arriving at my parents' home; I... Read more →

Bed Rails for Home Care

Those recovering or being cared for at home after an injury, illness or surgery sometimes need a safety feature commonly found in hospitals, nursing homes and rehab facilities. That most common and effective (if actually used) safety measure has prevented... Read more →