Halloween – a time filled with costumes, fun, and, for kids, a seemingly endless supply of candy. While it’s an exciting season for children, it can be a challenge for nurse practitioners caring for pediatric patients. The increased sugar intake can lead to heightened risks of cavities and tooth decay. As nurse practitioners, it’s important not only to understand the dental concerns associated with Halloween but also to educate families on how to manage the candy craze without sacrificing oral health.
Bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis, are increasing across the United States. In June 2024, the CDC announced new recommendations for a novel approach to combat this rise by using doxycycline as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). You may be familiar with using PEP to prevent viral infections like HIV or pregnancy, but this represents a new public health strategy for bacterial infection prevention.
Feel that in the air? Yep, it’s fall sports season! But let’s be honest – these days, it seems like youth sports never really stop. With year-long practices, seasons blur together, and before we know it, our kids haven’t taken a break from organized sports in ages. While the physical and emotional benefits of sports are undeniable, the demands on young athletes are higher than ever.
As healthcare professionals, our days are filled with many tasks, such as patient encounters, documentation, and administrative work, not to mention keeping track of a household or family. Time management becomes crucial in ensuring that we provide quality care while maintaining our well-being. In this blog, we'll explore some valuable pearls for efficient clinical time management, and I’ll note some tips that have worked well for me.
Selecting the ideal suture material for deeper layers involves careful consideration since specific materials offer varying absorption rates, making them suitable for different wound depths. When speaking with Dr. Christina Shenvi on an episode of ERcast, Dr. Cohen recommended the following suture material options for closing the deeper layers of the skin (buried):
Fever in children is one of the most – and anxiety-inducing – concerns for parents and caregivers. While many pediatric fevers are harmless, some can signal more serious underlying conditions. A systematic approach to evaluating pediatric fever can help ensure that serious conditions are not overlooked. One effective method is to categorize potential diagnoses into three main buckets: Common Infections, Serious Infections, and Non-Infectious Causes.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for about six months, continuing breastfeeding for two years or longer as mutually desired by parent and infant. But with increasing diagnoses of tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) in recent years, conversations among pediatricians, lactation specialists, and parents have ramped up. So, what’s the deal with tongue-tie, and when does it really matter?
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is a silent threat – seemingly harmless at first glance but with the potential to cause severe, life-threatening harm. It’s one of those rare exposures that many medical professionals may never encounter, but when it does happen, prompt and precise action is crucial. In this post, we’ll break down the crucial first five minutes after identifying an HF burn and the vital steps that urgent care professionals should take before transporting the patient to the emergency room.
Selecting the most effective antidepressant for patients can be a challenging process. Trial and error often leads to treatment delays, and no one likes to see their patients suffer through it. Enter pharmacogenetic testing – an approach designed to predict how a patient will respond to a particular antidepressant. But what is the science behind it? And more importantly, how reliable and practical is this in clinical settings?
