Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, discussed the benefits of several Health Resources and Services Administration programs at NAPNAP 2013.
Testing for the breast-cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 is costly and not a standard screening tool for the general patient population.
Bryan weighs in at 210 lbs, and he's 10 years old. He wants to be a policeman, but gets tired going up stairs. What can we do for him?
Labeling changes indicating lower Ambien doses took affect this week, but taking a thorough drug history remains important.
Although there have been advances in the care of pregnant women, birth should still be viewed as a natural event, not a medical event.
A Certified Nurse Midwife recounts how skills learned while working as a clinical nurse serve as the foundation for a successful advanced-practice career.
Paying close attention to your patients' medications and how they relate to sleep symptoms aids in diagnosis and treatment.
A midwife discovers her personal philosophy while waiting on laboring moms.
Children might be exposed to media coverage of violent events without their parents' knowledge. Are you prepared to discuss their fears and anxiety?
Insurance companies are more often a hindrance than a help when it comes to providing quality healthcare.
Understanding a patient's heart health during sleep can be a valuable tool to assess overall cardiac function.
About 9 in every 1,000 U.S. kids are victims of child abuse. Are we doing our part as healthcare providers to stop it?
There are about 100 different sleep disorders. Are primary care clinicians prepared to recognize them all?
Despite recent declines, U.S. teen pregnancy rates are the highest among Western nations. What can we do to make a difference?
Parnters, friends and family often have no idea what to do in the support role when a pregnant woman is in labor. Here's what you should tell them.
Did you know that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have a 66% chance of having moderate sleep disturbances?
Answering friends' inquiries about another practitioner's professional reputation can be uncomfortable.
Transitioning telemedicine systems from resource limited settings to widespread use could improve health outcomes in patients with chronic conditions.
Respect for privacy and a little bedside manner can go a long way in provider-patient encounters.
As more military personnel return to the United States with PTSD symptoms, now is the perfect time to refresh our knowledge on treating this disorder.
When you choose midwifery as a career, you are choosing a life "with women."
Daytime sleepiness is not always a sign of obstructive sleep apnea or narcolepsy.
Advanced practice nurses are unfairly targeted by laws that could make it a felony for nonphysicians to introduce themselves as "Dr."
Patients should be encouraged to read up on their health, but make sure they are using reputable sources.
Sleep is important to the maturation of the brain and central nervous system, as well as future cognition, temperament, and psychomotor development.
Balancing the art and science of medicine with government and business is a tricky act.
Sleep deprivation causes irritability and lack of focus, both of which can make the already intense experience of labor and delivery less tolerable.
The demand for qualified nurse practitioners to precept students is outpacing supply. How can we change this?
Patients with REM sleep behavior disorder have a anatomic brain abnormality that prevents muscle atonia during sleep.
How often do you review family history after a patient's initial visit?
Time demands may make it easier to give a patient a sleep aid the first time they ask, but it isn't always the best practice.
Accessing developmental evaluations and services is one of the biggest challenges preemies and their families face.
Difficult interactions with patients can damage or preclude a therapeutic relationship between provider and patient.
Many patients are so overwhelmed with the day-to-day activities of life that health takes a back seat.
Complex precertification and authorization criteria, high patient copays and low clinician reimbursement rates are a plague on the U.S. healthcare system.
Preconception counseling provides an opportunity to identify potential pre-existing risk factors and address them prior to pregnancy.
What would healthcare be like if patients were involved in directing their own care?
Should more hospital systems institute smoke-free hiring policies?
The long-term health consequences of bath salts are not yet known, but experience suggests that proactive efforts are needed to minimize it's public health impact.
As the U.S. population ages, clinicians can expect more geriatric patients seeking evaluation and treatment for sleep disorders.
In general, the more people involved in treatment, the better the patient's outcome. But is this feasible in primary care?
Patient overuse of emergency call lines is rampant.
About one-third of patients aged older than 60 years experience leg cramps, and some will be visiting your office looking for solutions.
Traditional prenatal visits allow little time for answering the expecting mother's questions and assessing emotional well-being. Group sessions may be a solution.
Many people have forgotten how to let their bodies prepare for sleep by doing relaxing activities.
At the start of 2013, I am counting my blessings that I have a job that I love and that I work with amazing people every day.
Between 50% and 80% of menopausal women experience some trouble sleeping, but many feel their providers do not address these symptoms.
As the healthcare crisis unfolds, make keeping a positive outlook a priority for the future.
Efforts to end gun violence in Newtown's wake must address 'culture of violence.'
Sleep disturbance evaluation should be a part of regular antepartum and postpartum visits.
In order to provide the best care for our patients, we as health-care providers must first take good care of ourselves.
A patient is concerned she may have a rare inherited sleep disorder.
Benefits of better access to contraceptives outweigh risks, and wide availability of information sources makes educating U.S. women easy.
Information from online health websites often results in unnecessary anxiety and expensive testing.
OTC birth control and less frequent Pap smears could clear the way for annual Ob/GYN visits that offer comprehensive preventative care.
Psychophysiological insomnia is a disorder that results from physiological arousal and learned sleep-preventing behaviors.
Time constraints make it difficult to adequately educate patients about the benefits of vaccines in the office, but there are several strategies that may help.
Making an effort to learn phrases can go a long way with Spanish-speaking patients.
Despite cultural shifts encouraging more autonomy for kids, children still need structure when it comes to their bedtime schedule.
If providers cannot match beautiful clinical atmospheres with quality patient-centered care, wise patients will quickly see beyond the facade.
Obsession with physical perfection extends to women's most private parts, promoting unhealthy behaviors among women of all ages.
During psychotic episodes or relapse, patients with schizophrenia may experience total sleeplessness, worsening their illness.
Diabetes treatments have come a long way, but continual efforts are needed to make the disease easier to manage and more affordable.
Highest-risk patients typically clear the HPV virus in 8 to 24 months without treatment.
Since health-care providers rarely see cases involving nocturnal seizures, it can easily be confused with parasomnias, including confusional arousals, cataplexy and REM sleep behavior disorder.
The AAFP's report recommending against independent APRNs lacks evidence-based answers to primary care physician shortage.
Invented in the 1980s, continuous positive airway pressure technology is relatively new and continues to evolve and improve.
Current dream research focuses less on the meaning of dreams and more on the neurochemical and biological functions of dreaming.
An obese 12-year-old experiences rapid weight gain over the summer. Is granny to blame?
Consider your fellow medical professionals who are providing care and commuting in dangerous conditions in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
The annual physical exam is the best opportunity for primary care health-care providers to ensure that health maintenance needs are met.
It is time to upgrade our image, and unify our profession. Do not wait to be a part of health care's evolution.
Nearly one million people die of suicide each year, according to WHO, and sleep may play a bigger role in the problem than you think.
Not every noise made during sleep qualifies as a sleep talking. Learn about other sleep disorders that manifest vocally.
At what point should clinicians rule out stress and lifestyle factors as potential disease etiologies?
Remember to ask about caffeine and alcohol use when patients present with sleep complaints.
Unstructured play increases physical activity, provides stress relief and improves a child's ability to concentrate.
Understand the pros and cons of social media before establishing accounts for your practice with these useful tips.
Although patients' perceptions of pain vary dramatically, pain is usually a sign that something is wrong.
Applying systems theory to medicine to understand how patient-centered medical homes can improve America's health-care system.
During the transition to electronic health records patient face time may suffer, despite other benefits.
Learn answers to your patient's most common sleep questions.
Public awareness about the nurse practitioner profession is low. How can we improve it?
Successful DVT prophylaxis with pharmacologic agents and adjunctive treatment modalities depends on both consistency and accuracy.
Costs associated with untreated OSA range from $65 and $165 billion -- greater than the total cost of managing asthma, heart failure, stroke and hypertension combined.
A patient with a history of hemorrhoids presents with acute rectal pain. Could a lack of dietary fiber be the culprit?
Consider helping future clinicians practice examination techniques by volunteering at your alma mater.
If a spouse's snoring or other sleep disorder is keeping your patient awake, you may want to suggest they try sleeping separately.
A new nurse asks for advice on how to deal with the death of a patient.
A patient complains that he cannot sleep despite normal polysomnogram results.
Fungal infections are less common in men than women, and may present differently, making diagnosis challenging for health-care providers.
Despite the efficiency midwives enable in health-care settings, we often have to explain our training and qualifications to new patients and our colleagues.
Sleep bruxism is fairly common, affecting approximately 14% to 20% of children, but the condition generally improves with age.
Extensive counseling and informed consent should be required prior to any sterilization procedure.
The skills students learn from preceptors cannot be taught in textbooks.
Finding the right balance between work and family is a struggle for many in health care professions.
Sleep medicine is a fascinating area of study with no shortage of potential patients.
Skin abscess can be frustrating and confusing for patients, and the incidence of MRSA continues to grow.
Early recognition and treatment of sleep arousals could prevent the development of OSA.
If your patient complains of ongoing headaches, especially upon waking from sleep, consider obstructive sleep apnea as a possible cause.
