The Withings Blood Pressure Monitor is designed specifically for iOS devices, so it’ll talk to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Simply plug in your iOS device, strap on the cuff, and launch the measurement. The free app keeps your measurement history close at hand so you can detect trends early and be prepared to discuss the big picture at your next doctor’s appointment.
Kinda silly…but thought you guys would appreciate! 
Hello Nursing Students! There will be an NSA General Meeting between 11:30am-1:00pm this Friday October 14 in Cesar Chavez room T-160. Come on over, all levels welcome! 
It’s that time of the year to get your flu vaccine!
What you need to know:
1. Why get vaccinated?
The “flu” or the Influenza virus is a contagious disease that can be spread by coughing, sneezing, or nasal secretions. By getting the flu vaccine you can protect yourself from influenza and may also avoid spreading influenza to others. If you have these symptoms make sure to cover your cough (use the inside of your elbow), use a tissue, and most importantly: wash your hands! (For about 10 to 15 seconds — about how long it takes to sing “Happy Birthday.”)
2. Who should get vaccinated?
All people 6 months of age and older, especially those that are in close contact with others such as healthcare professionals (nursing students!)
Those that should not get inactivated influenza vaccine or should wait are:
You can get more information from the http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-flu.pdf
3. Where can you get a flu vaccine?
Student Health Center at SFSU:
The Flu vaccine will be available when SHS receives the supply (usually October or November) during the SHS Immunization Clinics. You must bring SFSU picture ID. Services will be charged to the client’s Bursar Account, and it costs $20.
The SHS Immunization hours are :
Wednesdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Fridays 8:30 am – 11:15 am
No advance appointments available; first come, first served.
Walgreens Pharmacy Clinic:
If you do not have insurance, it will cost $31.99. Walk-in’s are welcome or you can schedule an appointment online. To locate your nearest Walgreen’s pharmacy, visit their website: http://www.walgreens.com/topic/health-shops/flu-shots.jsp
Anthem Blue Cross Members:
If you want to receive the flu vaccine, contact your physician to schedule an appointment: http://www.anthem.com/health-insurance/home/overview
Kaiser Members:
Call the Kaiser flu shot hotline 1-800-573-5811 for locations and times.
Kaiser will be having Flu Clinics on the dates and locations below:
Adults:
Monday – Friday, October 3rd – October 14th from 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
2238 Geary St. in the 1st Floor Lobby Area
Monday – Friday, October 17th – October 28th from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
2238 Geary St. in the 1st Floor Lobby Area
Monday – Friday, October 31st – November 11th from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
2238 Geary St. in the 1st Floor Lobby Area
Monday – Friday, during the month of October, from 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
2200 O’Farrell St.
For information about the flu vaccine and other clinics in San Francisco:
http://www.sfcdcp.org/IZlocations.html#flulocations
At the recent meeting of the International Academy of Nursing Editors, I was struck by the great number and variety of “specialty journals” produced for specialty and even subspecialty nursing practices. When I speak with nurses, I sometimes ask whether they read AJN and, if not, why; many who don’t read AJN say it’s because they read their specialty journal. But is that really enough?
I don’t mean to minimize the importance of specialty journals. They cover, in detail and depth, the content that nurses practicing in a given specialty need to know. But often patients have more than one problem. Many patients have multiple comorbidities and complex treatment regimens—and problems with managing those conditions and adhering to those regimens. And there are overarching professional issues and changes in health care that affect all nurses, regardless of work setting. These are subjects covered by more “general” journals like AJN. Indeed, this issue of AJN exemplifies the reasons why nurses also need to read a broad-based professional journal.
For starters, this issue features the first article in a three-part series on supporting family caregivers—a group that, in 2009, included 61.6 million adults who provided care to another adult family member or friend, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute. The series is part of phase II of an AARP-led initiative, Professional Partners Supporting Diverse Family Caregivers Across Settings. (We reported on phase I, the State of the Science symposium, in a special supplement published in 2008, accessible at www.ajnonline.com.) Findings from focus groups conducted for this project with African American and Latino family caregivers and with nurses and social workers reveal that almost no one is satisfied with how caregivers are prepared. Most caregivers reported feeling invisible in hospital settings and unprepared when they arrived home, and many felt slighted because of their cultural or ethnic backgrounds or language difficulties. While nurses and social workers recognized that family caregivers were overwhelmed, they reported that available resource materials were too complex and that “time pressures and too many responsibilities [got] in the way” of their efforts to prepare family caregivers. This series and the accompanying videos aim to address these deficits by improving both nurses’ assessment of the needs of caregivers and their increasing awareness of the issues that caregivers from diverse populations face.
This issue of AJN also presents a systematic review of practices in and attitudes about deactivating implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) at the end of life. Because these devices are so effective in treating sudden cardiac arrest, many people with ICDs die of other causes. A patient’s death can be needlessly painful if the device delivers shocks during the active phase of dying; yet although device deactivation is an option, advance planning discussions don’t often include it, and many providers report being uncomfortable raising the topic. When should such conversations take place?
Our article on preoperative fasting reviews the arcane practice of issuing an “NPO after midnight” order for patients who face surgery the next day—still the norm in many facilities, despite 25 years of evidence that it often causes patients unnecessary discomfort. Indeed, allowing carbohydrate-rich clear liquids a few hours before surgery actually benefits most patients. The American Society of Anesthesiologists issued guidelines reflecting this evidence way back in 1999; yet the outdated practice continues.
Other articles in this issue cover topics as diverse as how overzealous use of performance measures can lead to bad care decisions and how nurses can improve medication calculation skills. This month’s In the News reports on, among other topics, the promising results of California’s mandated nurse–patient staffing ratios. Then there are the columns that readers consistently rate highly: Drug Watch, Art of Nursing, and Reflections, the last providing insightful narratives about the work we do.
Our patients are multidimensional and so should be our knowledge. Read your specialty journals—but also read more widely. I know a broad-based journal I can recommend…
http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2011/10000/Advocating_Broad_Based_Knowledge.1.aspx
© 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
WHEN: 09.23.2011 (FRIDAY)
TIME: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
(ELECTIONS WILL PROMPTLY START AT NOON)
12:00 – 12:20 – CANDIDATE INTRODUCTIONS
12:20 – 12:35 – VOTING
12:35 – 12:40 – BALLOT COUNTING & ANNOUNCEMENTS OF NEWLY ELECTED OFFICIALS
WHERE: ROSA PARKS A (CESAR CHAVEZ BLDG)
BE ACTIVE BY MAKING YOUR VOTE COUNT!
FOOD WILL BE SERVED.
WE ARE EXCITED TO SEE YOU AT ELECTIONS.
Sept. 14, 2011
An estimated 366 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and the global epidemic is getting worse, health officials said yesterday.
The International Diabetes Federation described the number of cases as “staggering,’’ with one person dying from diabetes every seven seconds.
The federation called for concrete measures to stop the epidemic, urging officials focusing on chronic diseases at a United Nations meeting next week to commit to specific targets to prevent cases and to invest in more research.
© 2011 NY Times Co.
For complete article, visit:
http://bo.st/pYiBW0
http://www.globalhealth.org/news/article/13772
FREE Admission
Registration/Hours
For experienced, licensed RNs
(with at least one year of experience)
8 a.m.: Registration
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Exhibit Hall hours
For Students and New Grads
10:15 a.m.: Registration
10:45 – 11:30 a.m.: Discussion Panel
11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Exhibit Hall hours
Benefits for RNs
Free Admission
Free CE Seminars
Free Parking
Free Totebag (limited quantities)
Free Chair Massage
Free Wheel of Fortune
Free Coffee Break
Grand Prize $500 VISA Gift Card
Career Opportunities! and more.
Event Sponsor
Attendee Packet
Free Continuing
Education Classes
(Earn up to 4 contact hours, provided by Gannett Education)
Speaker:
Connie Merritt
RN, BSN, PHN
8:30 – 10 a.m.
Raiders of the Lost Spark
10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Special Discussion Panel
“Straight Answers for New Grads & Nursing Students”
A straight forward panel discussion with leading nursing professionals (Limited seating)
Noon – 1 p.m.
Tame the Lions in Your Life
2 – 3.30 p.m.
Stress Breakthroughs in Your 24/7 World
Exhibitors
American Mobile Healthcare Sutter Health
Brandman University The Gideons International
Health Plan of San Mateo UCSF School of Nursing
Kaplan University School of Nursing Vitas Innovative Hospice Care
Pathways Home Health, Hospice and Private Duty Western Governors University
San Mateo Medical Center More to come!
Hey everyone!
This is a reminder that the 2011 CaHPSA Northern California Healthcare Conference is less than two weeks away! This conference will take place at UC Berkeley on Saturday, September 24, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Whether you’re completely new to the movement or have been involved for years, this conference will be a great opportunity to learn more about single-payer health reform and what actions you can take to make it a reality in California!
The 2011 CaHPSA Northern California Healthcare Conference will explore the current state of healthcare in the United States with an emphasis on California. We will address the need for additional healthcare reform in the wake of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Participants will learn what advocates in California are doing in response to the healthcare crisis to provide universal coverage to all Californians and how you can become involved. Experts in the field will provide training on legislative advocacy and how we can effect change in California.
There are a limited number of tickets available for this conference. Secure your seat now by registering online HERE. A catered lunch is included in the $10 registration charge.
The conference will take place in the Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB) 2040 on the UC Berkeley campus from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 24. Registration will be open from 9:00 – 9:45 am.
The tentative agenda for the 2011 CaHPSA NorCal Healthcare Conference is as follows:
9:00 – 9:45 Registration
10:00 – 10:15 Welcome and Opening remarks
10:15 – 11:30 Morning General Session
Plenary 1: Health Inequities and the State of our Health System
Plenary 2: Single Payer 101 and the Affordable Care Act
11:30 – 12:30 Morning Breakout Sessions
Group 1: Healthcare Access Among Immigrant and Minority Populations
Group 2: Healthcare Provider Panel
12:30 – 1:30 Catered lunch (Included)
1:30 – 2:30 Afternoon Breakout Sessions
Group 1: Framing and Making a Legislative Visit/Advocacy
Group 2: Healthy San Francisco – A Public System in Action
2:30 – 4:00 Afternoon General Session
Plenary 3: Senate Bill 810: The California Universal Healthcare Act and Next Steps
4:00 – 6:00 No-host Mixer at Jupiter’s on Shattuck
We recommend using public transportation to avoid traffic and parking fees. The Downtown Berkeley BART station is located one block west of campus. Please allow enough time for travel and registration.
For more information, please visit www.cahpsa.org/ or send an email to joey@pnhpcalifornia.org
Hope to see you all on September 24!!
California Health Professional Student Alliance
CaHPSA.org
Facebook
Margot O’Neill
Updated September 06, 2011 08:17:35
The UN is calling for cost-effective interventions to reduce salt, sugar and fat in food.
Public health experts have accused the Federal Government of trying to weaken a proposed UN declaration designed to combat obesity.
According to a draft text obtained by ABC’s Lateline, Australia is seeking to remove a paragraph which calls for a reduction in salt, sugar and fat from food.
The United Nations will host a summit later this month on the spiralling global health crisis caused by so-called lifestyle diseases including diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and strokes, which are now responsible for two-thirds of the world’s deaths.
The summit is supposed to galvanise urgent global action, as happened 10 years ago for HIV/AIDS.
But negotiations to finalise a declaration on what governments should do have been bogged down and public health experts say richer countries like Australia, the US and Europe have squashed efforts to include specific targets such as reducing mortality by 25 per cent by 2025.
Boyd Swinburn from Deakin University says the declaration started strong, with outcomes and targets and accountability mechanisms, but they have since fallen by the wayside.
“Those have all gone and now it’s quite a weak, watered down political statement,” he said.
The draft UN declaration, dated September 1, calls for countries to implement cost-effective interventions to reduce saturated and trans fats in food, reduce salt and refined sugars in foods, and discourage the production and marketing of unhealthy foods.
But according to the draft, Australia wants that paragraph deleted, as do the US and Canada.
“I think this is a major concern that Australia, along with some of the other wealthy countries like the US and the EU, are seeking to weaken the wording, or in this case, pull out a whole paragraph which refers to the implementation of cost-effective policies to improve the food supply,” Mr Swinburn said.
Position ‘undermined’
He says developing countries are being devastated by lifestyle diseases, which are responsible for most premature deaths before 60.
“The food industry clearly wants to continue to grow its markets for high-fat, high-sugar foods in developing countries, and this is a little bit in parallel with the tobacco industry,” he said.
“Once the clamps come on in the wealthy countries, it shifts to the poorer countries to promote and sell its products.”
And Australia’s international position appears to be at odds with its own national agenda.
Michael Moore from the Public Health Association Of Australia says the organisation has raised its concerns with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“What we’re concerned about is on the one hand the Government is there establishing the National Preventive Health Agency, looking to deal with obesity, putting a whole lot of effort into it through the Department of Health, [but] on the other hand, through international treaties it’s being undermined,” he said.
“It just seems that one hand of government’s got no idea about what the other hand of government’s doing.”
A spokesman for Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Government could not comment on the negotiations, but said it was a world leader in combating smoking and that it wanted the strongest possible outcome from the UN summit.
And a spokesman for the Australian Food and Grocery Council says industry is working with government to reduce salt, sugar and fat in processed food.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-06/food-declaration-bogged-down-lateline/2872180/?site=newcastle
* Host: Nursing Student Association
* When: Friday, September 9 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
* Where: Rosa Parks A (Cesar Chavez Building), SFSU
Welcome to Fall 2011!
The Nursing Student Association (NSA) would like to invite all Level 1 students to our NSA Mixer.
WHAT: This is an opportunity for the Level 1 students to meet and get to know each other, higher level nursing students, and officers in a relaxing and fun environment!
12:00 – 12:15 – Sign up in the reception area for name tags and seating arrangements. Free pizza and drinks will be available for all.
12:15 – 12: 45 –A thirty-minute Q & A portion à la “Speed Dating”, in which panel representative from Level 2-5, Generic Masters Science of Nursing, and NSA officers will be available to answer your questions in a given amount of time (level 1 students will have 5 minutes with each panel representative for a total of 6 passes)
12:45 – 1:00 – Mingle, mingle, and mingle!
BRING: A list of potential questions you have about the nursing program. Bear in mind you will have 5 minutes per panel representative so prioritize your questions.
Sample questions:
1. What are clinicals like? What are good tips for preparing the day before clinicals?
2. What resources are available to me?
3. Have study groups been helpful for you? How do you go about it?
4. How many hours do you study for each class? How do you know which one to spend more time on?