It is often difficult to get young patients to take deep breaths. This simple penlight trick can help.
A simple technique gets patients with Parkinson disease and dementia to ambulate.
A trick to help pediatric patients sit still during routine exams.
In patients with chronic headaches, ear or jaw pain, a tongue blade test can detect TMJ.
A tip for performing a closed reduction on a dislocated finger.
A simple technique can help stifle patients' gag reflex.
Applying triamcinolone prior to a transdermal patch helps prevent contact dermatitis.
Soda water or seltzer can help mask the flavor of bad-tasting medicine.
Omega-3 supplements can help constipation in postmenopausal women taking calcium and vitamin D supplements.
Consider unusual causes of chronic or recurrent ear pain.
Steps to follow after wound irrigation to ensure patient comfort.
A nurse practitioner shares a homemade gargling solution for patients with pharyngitis.
Tips for improving the taste of oral electrolyte solution.
Asking medical-insurance representatives for their identification number can save time.
Approximate proportions of skin rashes and lesions using your hand.
Advice for preventing shaving-related chafing, itching, bumps and lesions.
A nurse practitioner shares a tip for teaching students how to insert a speculum and locate the cervix.
Minerals in tap and bottled water can deactivate some of the hormones in thyroid medication.
A simple tip helps patients stay still during an eye exam by reducing eye pain associated with bright lights.
Many parents are anxious about cutting their infant's fingernails.
A 12-hour nasal decongestant spray can help provide relief for kids with eustachian tube dysfunction.
Excess fat around the gluteal region can make performing digital rectal exams in obese patients difficult. How can this challenge be overcome?
A medication for gastrointestinal disorders can help resolve pediatric skin lesions caused by a benign viral infection.
Individuals who smoke or have ever smoked should avoid high-dose vitamin A supplementation due to a high correlation between smoking, vitamin A and lung cancer.
Patients often complain they have a difficult time completely removing the adhesive from ECG pads. Pass on this simple tip for painless removal.
A clinician shares gender-specific advice for comforting patients with dementia in moments of confusion.
A nurse practitioner offers tips to get patients in the proper position for a cervical exam.
Conversations about weight loss can contribute tremendously to behavioral changes, but tangible examples may be even more effective.
Using plumbing as an analogy for atherosclerosis can help improve treatment adherence.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody remains active even in an individuals treated successfully or those who clear the virus. Learn how to avoid unnecessary referrals.
A helpful analogy for helping patients understand coronary anatomy.
Follow this easy tip to help get injured children to treatment before symptoms of shock develop.
Could a patient's anterior thigh pain signify osteosarcoma?
A simple tip to improve antibiotic eye drop adherence among women, who sometimes miss applications because they wear clothes without pockets.
A Foley catheter can help remove foreign objects from the rectum.
Distressed elderly patients — especially those with dementia — frequently have a paradoxical reaction to benzodiazepines, causing extremely agitated states.
The term "contract" when used in regard to agreements with patients who have chronic pain is dated, perceived negatively and not preferred.
Ruling out pes planus can help avoid unnecessary prescriptions and referrals.
A nurse offers a surprising, yet effective solution for helping patients catch their breath.
Getting pediatric patients to remain still and quiet during ear exams is no longer an elusive goal with this nurse practitioner's tip.
A physicians assistant offers an easy tip for helping patients cope with gag reflex during a throat exam.
Advise patients who are bothered by the fishy taste of omega-3 fish oil capsules to freeze the supplements.
Larger catheters are stiffer, thus better able to pass through the prostatic urethra.
Help patients avoid nose bleeds with this simple directive.
Getting patients to perform stretching exercises for minor rehabilitation can be problematic, but a physician assistant shares his secret for improving compliance.
Advising patients to take OTC antidiarrheal medications at specific times in relation to when they eat their meals can help reduce the number of bowel movements.
A nurse practitioner offers an easy tip to help increase patient adherence to antihypertensive medication by enabling them to visualize their condition.
A simple suggestion for patients can help reduce the incidence of recurrent urinary tract infections you see in your practice.
A nurse practitioner shares instructions for making an asthma medication spacer to use in emergency situations out of every day materials.
Cast saws can be terrifying for children. An orthopedic physician assistant shares a tip to help ease pediatric patient's fear.
A nurse practitioner shares a useful mnemonic device for taking thorough patient histories.
Teens often tell me they forget to take their birth-control pills (BCPs), sometimes as often as three or more times per cycle.
A simple tip to help you keep scalp medications where they belong, instead of saturating the hair.
A nurse offers advice for patients that are unsure how to properly place the contraceptive vaginal ring.
Many providers confuse metoprolol tartrate and metoprolol succinate. Learn an easy way to keep them straight.
Advise patients with dietary restrictions to manage their daily allowance like a checkbook.
A nurse shares a simple tip for converting pounds to kilograms when calculating pediatric doses.
Patients on dialysis much watch their potassium intake from vegetables like potatoes. Offer this cooking tip.
A nurse uses two easy-to-remember catch phrases to encourage pursed-lip breathing among patients with COPD.
Read this tip for making abstract concepts, like converting metric medication doses, go down smoothly.
Discourage teenagers from engaging in risky behaviors such as drug, tobacco and alcohol use in a meaningful way.
Are you doing everything you can to help your patients lose weight? Read this physician assistants' creative tip for helping patients kick those stubborn pounds to the curb.
A clinician offers a useful mnemonic device to help prevent falls in older patients.
Clinician shares an unexpected dermatologic use for fluticasone.
Read this tip for restricting fluid intake that still enables patient to quench thirst.
Reducing pain among patients undergoing cyrotherapy for warts on sensitive areas.
Consider the possibility of celiac disease, which even when clinically silent, as the cause of infertility in women.
Transform pediatric exam into a game to make apprehensive children feel comfortable.
Caregivers often experience burnout and compassion fatigue.
Treat the acute pain of gout aggressively and early on in the flare.
Treatments for elderly patients who have dementia and sleep disorders.
Solutions for prevent blood clots on long flights.
A simple solution for patients complaining of vaginal dryness and irritation with intercourse.
Practical advice to make life easier for patients who wear rigid collars.
Using lower doses of vaginal estrogen cream, customized suppositories may also be effective treatments.
If urinalysis findings do not suggest UTI, check the culture before prescribing antibiotics.
The antiseizure medication tiagabine (Gabitril) has been used off-label to manage neuropathic pain, either diabetic or spinal in nature.
Simple solution for patients complaining of vaginal dryness and irritation with intercourse.
Some individuals develop hyponatremia when on a diuretic — not because the sodium level is diluted, but because the diuretic causes the sodium to be excreted with the excess fluid.
Padding collars with fleece or felt is an inexpensive way to protect pressure areas.
An inversion table may help in the treatment of low back pain, which is usually caused by pressure between two vertebral bodies.
I see many children in the emergency department with a foreign body lodged in one nare.
